In decision

It looks like I’m going to go ahead and accept the new position.

Life is so weird – two weeks ago I thought I might be out of work completely, now I’m going to get promoted.

Philippa and I had a great chat about it and sat with a notepad looking at how it might affect us. With her heading for maternity leave later this year and the alteration to our income that will involve (not to mention the outlay on baby clothes, nappies, buggies and such like) it seems like a lovely turn of fate for me to be earning more money. If I’m being honest I really fancy the challenge as well. It pains me to say it for fear of an accusation of arrogance, but I’m running things pretty well at my own garage. I’ve got routines in place and a way of doing things that make my job pretty easy now, and therefore pretty repetitive. The chance to be in four different locations during every week, and to see if my ideas and systems can be made to work in all of them, has given me a bit of an enthusiasm boost at a time when I desperately needed it.

So tomorrow I shall give Head Office a call and tell them I’m happy to proceed.

I’m going to lay into them a bit and ask for more money than they’ve offered. I think I’ve proved I’m capable without ever hassling them for a pay rise. They’ll be cutting three management salaries in this change so I’m sure they could throw a bit more my way and still be making savings. My expectation is that they will say ‘let’s see how it goes and chat again in a few months’ but my experience tells me it’s easier to get some extra in advance than to have to chase them up for it later.  They might just say ‘yes’ straight away anyway – what do I know? – but I’ve prepared a few valid arguments just in case. This company is full of managers who say and do things that defy belief and encourage mystification so it could go any which way you can imagine, but my head is clear and I know that Philippa and I, together, have made the choice that is right for us, so I can approach my bosses with confidence and optimism.

There is, I must admit, lurking in the shadows of my psyche, one big negative thought hanging over all this that gives me a little pause:

“A new job and a new baby? Within a few months of each other? What the Hell am I doing? This could be worse than when we moved house three times in a year…”

RC 1-7-18