You know when you suddenly start to feel a little control over stuff and think normal (whatever that means) is just around the corner? But then somebody else has other ideas and comes to slap you in the face? That.
So we’re back home after our week at Midcraigs, week in Croatia and week in the Wee Cottage, with our kitchen still looking like an empty shell at the end of week 3. The entire contents of the kitchen, dining room and pantry are still mis-located in either the living room or the hallway, but we thought that as soon as we got home, we would be able to put everything back where it belongs. We did find out that this wasn’t going to happen at the start of week 3, but I had done such a great job of wiping all of the chaos from my mind that it was more than a little shock when I realised just how much stuff was EVERYWHERE.
We’ve been back since Saturday and had to move HUGE amounts of furniture around to carve ourselves a space to live in amidst all of the out of place furniture and kitchen paraphernalia, and actually, we’re not doing too bad. Sleeping in your own bed is a real bonus, as is your own shower and of course my bath. The power of these things cannot be underestimated and are (almost) more valuable than any of the drugs in my considerable cabinet. And now that I’ve created a space in the living room where I can sit to watch tele with my back to it all, it has made a huge difference to my sanity.
And then as the week has progressed, other things have dropped into place that help us feel that the end is in sight. Today, the last of the cabinets in the kitchen is being built and the protective film is coming off. This means that tomorrow, I might be able to get the cabinets sawdust free and actually start putting things away. Woo hoo! That will feel *momentous*. The floor still needs doing and the decorating has to happen so we can’t put shelving or anything back in the pantry yet, but we can fill cabinets thank goodness. Or at the very least start to work out where the heck things need to go. There are so many cupboards, drawers and shelves that in all honesty, I’m not sure we’ll fill them right now, but I don’t imagine it will take too long.
Hopefully tomorrow the electrician will come and reconnect everything so we can actually turn the cooker on and cook something that doesn’t come in a plastic tray. I’ve been fantasising what my first proper cooking will be, and as of now, I’ve not decided, but it will be something comforting like liver & bacon or even a roast. And it will be worth the wait. It will.
Today though, I had a lunch time work call that had been flagged as probably not good news. And then, when my boss, who had a similar call with her own boss, was offered the opportunity to bring her union rep to the meeting, that just confirmed this was not a good news call. But I have to say, I was more than a little taken aback.
In a Teams call, in which there were 391 Member Pioneer colleagues present, and many more joining another call later in the day, our lines were all muted, our video was off, and the chat had been disabled. And then we were told that the Member Pioneer role was being withdrawn, making us all redundant, with notice effectively served from July 21st.
But fear not, they understood that this might have come as a shock to us, so there was no need for us to work for the rest of the day. How lovely, thank you. After today though, they said, this is a super busy period for us all so we can get back to our plans for Great Big Green Week and Local Community Fund applications over the coming month. Thanks, that’s really supportive of you. And then, “So we have reached the end of the call, thank you for your time” and closed the call. Oh. Okay. Thank YOU. Not.
Let’s unpick some of that. Firstly, that was quite possibly the most unprofessional way to deal with that situation. There were no opportunities for questions, no raised hands responded to, not even any union rep or HR person to talk to us properly about the process. That will come in an email after 7pm. Great, something to look forward to. Then, telling us we can take the rest of the day off but get back to work promoting how great the Co-op is after that? I don’t think it’s that easy, is it?
Secondly, I’ve taken all this time to find my feet, and build a great relationship with the staff in the store, never mind the community groups, and now I don’t know what to say to them. I certainly don’t feel able to big up the Co-op on the radio right now, or encourage anybody to jump through hoops to have a grant application turned down.
The third thing is that I’m sad because I liked this job. It was just 16 hours a month, largely at times that suited me, and I totally feel that the work we have done has made a real difference to people and to the community.
And then of course there is the 30% discount on all Co-op own brand stuff and 20% of most other stuff. Even wine! Really. Of course, I’ll miss the pay cheque, which covered the costs for my physio sessions each month, but the discount saved us a fortune. It’s not all altruistic then hahaha.
Now where are we up to? Is that the fifth thing next, or the sixth? Whichever it is, this is a thing that surprised me in recent months. There are times when I’ve actually struggled to find time for the 16 hours in a month, because, you know, life and all that. You know how much we’ve had going on recently, and even not recently, but who would have thought you’d struggle finding just 4 hours in a week? Well, not me. So I am strangely relieved that I don’t need to worry about that come August.
Once it’s all over, do I want to go looking for another job? Not on your life! I didn’t actually go looking for this one, it kinda found me, so I think at least for now, I might apply the same approach and just see what happens. If I could find something with the same or similar flexibility then I might go for it, who knows. The right thing might be just around the corner. Until then though, I’m trying a little harder to do the retirement relaxation thing.
Of course, I’m still going to need physio for my osteoarthritic hips and that thing with my spine, and my gym membership has to stay so that I can swim, but there’ll definitely need to be a cutting of costs somewhere. Which of course is great timing as we need to be paying for all of this work on the kitchen sometime soon. Like everybody else, I’ll make it work because I have to, but those wistful moments thinking I might just be able to afford to do that Croatia cruise again in October, which realistically would never happen anyway, are now definitely not happening unless we win on the lottery. Perhaps I’d best buy a ticket eh?
Life goes on and all that. And just right now, the kitchen fitters have finished in the kitchen and I’m itching to get in and start sorting those cupboards out, but I’m off out to swim class in about an hour, so I might just need to apply a MASSIVE coat of patience and find something else to do until it is time to go out.
In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with a cocktail I created that reflects some of the frustration we’re both/all feeling right now. It is called ‘It WILL be worth it’, and features the walnut liqueur we brought back from Croatia as follows:
2oz spiced rum
1oz walnut liqueur
½ oz lime juice
½ oz simple syrup
As you’d expect, shake it damn hard over ice and strain to enjoy. I did think next time I might up the walnut liqueur and perhaps go 1 ½ oz each of rum a walnut liqueur, but if you’re lucky enough to have walnut liqueur you could try it both ways and let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Cocktail Queen 