Rachel Killington is moving into a new flat next week, if she can find the time. It's all happening I once read that moving house is one of the most stressful things you’ll ever have to do in life. At the time I remember thinking ‘it can’t be that hard?' After all, it’s only moving a few boxes and stuff’? How wrong I was.
After the limbo that I’ve been in for the past few weeks, things have really taken off big style, at work and at home. I can move into my new flat next week - but I’m still completely unprepared. So much so, that up until today I hadn’t even bought a bed! There has been lots of stress and even more tears, and the worst thing is that it’s sure to get far worse before it gets better. My boyfriend Neil has warned me of this, and he’s somewhat of an expert at moving since he was offered a job at a local radio station on the day he finished university. He had to pack up and leave in a matter of days, and spent the first few weeks commuting over 100 miles a day because he couldn’t find a flat in time! I know my situation isn’t quite that bad, but it still seems such an amazingly hard thing to do, and I haven’t really got any choice in the matter. I’ve been digging my heels in almost trying to avoid thinking about the subject in the hope that it’ll all go away, but surprise surprise - it hasn’t, and now I’ve got to try and get everything sorted as soon as I can. My housemate has also got himself a flat and moves out the same week as I do so it’s sure to be an absolute nightmare! Work lifelineWork wise things are great. I decided to have a chat with my online boss Neil who was very understanding about the whole situation, and has assured me that he can give me work up until the end of the financial year, as the online side of the One Network radio stations just keeps on growing, and I’m getting more competent every day. I’m finally beginning to feel settled in my work, knowing that I’m actually an asset to the company now instead of feeling like I had to be babysat when I first started my freelance work six months ago. He has even suggested that I go and spend a couple of days at the other stations I do web work for which is fairly exciting, and has assured me that any freelance work that he needs covering will go to me before anyone else. At work I don’t think I’ve ever known things to be so busy which is fantastic news for me, and even events that seem disastrous can have their plus points. Eye of the stormA few days ago we suffered extremely bad weather. Without going into too much detail there was a couple of days of freak weather - very strong winds coincided with abnormally high tides which meant that there was predicted extreme flooding on the East Coast. Schools and roads were closed, homes were evacuated and people were panicking. It was national news, and was even broadcast around the world as we had listeners from various different countries getting in touch via the website to check if their homes or loved ones were in danger. We broadcast locally right through the night, and there was an awful lot to do. The page impressions for the radio station’s website went through the roof, and I was lucky enough to be right in the middle of the action. (Not literally though, unlike my poor boyfriend Neil who was on Lowestoft Seafront at 4am, reporting live!) Everybody worked their socks off and a couple of the presenters worked right through the night to ensure we could give people the most up-to-date information. In the end the flooding (thankfully) wasn’t quite as bad as was expected, but it was a terrifying time for a lot of people, and I’m glad to be able to say that I helped in some way. (And I’d much rather be in a nice warm, dry office updating the site information than reporting in the freezing cold floods!) We had a lot of messages from listeners and web users thanking us, and it’s good to know that the job I do can affect people’s everyday lives in such a positive way. Home in sightSo for me it’s onwards and upwards. Theoretically everything is going very well - I won’t have to panic about Christmas coming and then being jobless in the New Year which is brilliant news, I am still absolutely loving the job that I do, and taking pride in my work, and I’ll soon be in a place of my very own. I’m taking a bit of a break from blogging as I’m endeavouring to move house without taking time off work (which may be far too big a task to attempt) and hopefully by the time you read my next blog I’ll be all sorted and settled in my new flat. I’ve still got a ridiculous amount of things to buy, move, and sort out though, and I’m sure it won’t be plain sailing. Ah well, I can live in hope! Fingers crossed hey… x See Rachel's previous job logs: |
