25% discount at Florame organic aromatherapy
Monday, November 19, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ahh Christmas is fast approaching again -and for once I've actually got a few presents (I usually buy them all on the 24th of December) -not that I can take any credit for that, it's all down to Stacey. Anyway I wanted to share this 25% discount for www.florame.co.uk with you all just in case you were in the market for organic aromatherapy gifts this Christmas :)
And if you're thinking about treating someone to a hamper full of luxury food and wine why not check out www.WineAndHamperGifts.co.uk. Oh and don't forget Miss Mays for some festive fun ;) haha, ok that's all the pimping I'm going to do this year.
Well perhaps not!
Yey 2007's first snow has fallen!
Sunday, November 18, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
This is one for Cyan over at FreelanceSwitch more than anything else but I thought I'd share Birmingham's first snow with the world :)
Doesn't look like much there but it started this afternoon
Slowly but surely it fell over a few hours until there was this...
It's only November and it's snowing...
...I think it's going to be a cold one this year. That and the Russian swans are already over ;)
The morning after the day before
Saturday, November 17, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
So it's done :) Stacey's out, though it wasn't easy. Her boss made her explain her reasons for leaving to the Finance Director and basically justify herself for leaving.
After talking about it we think that's because there's more to this than they're letting on as it seems really odd she needs to justify leaving but that's not for discussion here :) so YEY the clocks ticking! We're waiting for a leaving date at the moment but be sure there'll be a ticker at the bottom of my blog soon!
Good on Stacey for sticking up for her cause! Now to tell the friends and family who'll be more than discouraging I'm sure.
Friday - crunch time
Friday, November 16, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
So today's Friday and saga of Stacey's rejected resignation is about to climax, I don't know about you but I'm excited ;)
Who thinks she'll cave in and accept their silly offer? And what'll that wizard be I wonder ;)
Tune in tomorrow for an update!
I don't think she'll cave in, I think she'll stick at it...
Amy Winehouse - the Birmingham gig
Thursday, November 15, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ever since Amy Winehouse hit the UK music scene Stacey, her father and I have been wanting to see her live because there's no doubt she'll be entertaining so when the opportunity to go see her just down the road from here came up there was no turning it down!
If you're like me and don't have enough time to follow the latest celebrity gossip headlines you'll not know that her husband has been jailed, I'm not entirely sure why still but I think it's got something to do with her beating someone up and then him trying to pay them off to drop the court case. Anyhow I digress.
I spent the entire week looking forward to the gig as we don't get to see many gigs (the last was a superb gig by Jack Johnson in the NEC) though despite my celebrity news ignorance even I knew the gig would be controversial as the first time I saw her on Jools Holland's show she was wasted out of her mind swaying on the stage and the second time she was just as wasted at Glastonbury but I wasn't expecting what we got.
After turning up 40minutes or so late for her performance she was clearly in pain. She started rushing through her set, from past sets I've seen her perform she tends to introduce her band before starting but that didn't happen and even her songs seemed to be rushed. Within two songs I had a feeling was wrong.
After 4 or 5 songs she stormed off stage without any explanation and we were left wondering whether that was it or not -a few people got up and left but after a while she came back on stage and started again but she was in tears though most of it. I can't say her words were overly legible and at times it sounded like a bag of cats.
It was one of those historic gigs that was awkward to be at but I'm glad I was even if it was just to see what everyone was going to talk about the next day. I really hope she sorts herself out (or as much as possible!) but I really disagree with her management who IMNSHO were out of order getting her up on stage.
If you ever get the chance to go see Amy Winehouse I really would because the band alone is worth seeing and her two dancers come backup singers are great. If you want to see photos of her gig you can check out my photo album of the gig here.
Day 2 - Did she or didn't she?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:12:11 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ok, so the attempt at drama failed! Believe it or not Stacey had the guts to do it, she handed in her resignation so it's only a matter of months/weeks before she's working with me full time right? Well we're not sure...
Turns out that when she handed in her letter of resignation her boss refused to accept it (being the diligent worker that she is I can completely understand that!) and instead he told her that he was going to put it in his drawer and not mention it to anyone to give her time to re-think and discuss it on Friday.
So the question is, will Stacey give in and chose the route of more money and/or less working hours over working with me? Well the suspense is killing me -probably more than you but I doubt she'll stay as she's already made up her mind and has started to get excited.
As far as the risk element goes -which is what I think would put her off- she's realised:
- There's enough work for her to do here
- If there isn't she can get another job
- She's chartered which means companies are screaming out for her skills so she can do agency work...
All good in my books but we'll have to wait until Friday to find out!
I can only imagine how the conversation went:
Stacey: "Please accept my resignation, here's a letter explaining why"
Boss: "No, sorry, I won't. Nope, no way, you can't"
Stacey: "Well I am, it's not you, it's me"
Boss: "Tell you what, lets hide this letter and pretend it wasn't written, I won't tell if you don't"
Stacey: "I'm still leaving"
Boss: "Tell me what you want that'll make you stay -more money? Fewer hours? Less work..."
Stacey: "Nothing, I'm leaving"
Boss: "Well, have a think, lets not rush into anything"
Stacey: "I've been thinking about it for months, I'm leaving"
Boss: "Lets discuss it on Friday, have a think about what you want/need and I'll sort it"
Stacey: "Fine whatever makes it easier for you. I'm still leaving"
TOP SECRET - Today's the day!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 9:49:43 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ok so today's quite an exciting -and pretty scary day. After a few months of speculating, Stacey has finally decided to hand in her notice and come and work with me full time. It's scary because although I know it'll make her much happier and drive the business forward but it also means that the business will now be the bread winner (main household earner) so there's no more time for messing around!
I think it'll be quite an interesting time both for us and for others worried about doing the same sort of thing so I'm going to try and keep a fairly up-to-date diary of the events, trials and tribulations here.
The main concern from Stacey's point of view is that as it's a web development business she can't add anything to it which I personally think is tosh as there is a lot of non-specialised work involved in running a business which she will be able to do and there are many paid aspects of our work that she can get involved with as well.
Anyway, here goes, lets just hope she remembers to hand in her notice ;)
A show of hands -why are you in business?
Monday, November 12, 2007 5:05:51 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
As part of the company's branding overhaul, I'm currently reviewing The Site Doctor's business plan to make sure it still fits in with where I want the business to go and what I would like to achieve and Stacey (our latest and greatest employee yet) asked the simple question "Why are you doing it?".
It's a good question and one I wanted a witty but honest response from but I couldn't think much further than "To make money" and "To improve our lifestyle" -both of which are perfectly valid I know but I would have liked something like "To make the world a better place through a variety of events aimed at improving people's outlook on live", complete tosh of course but hey.
So why am I in business? Why did I setup The Site Doctor -other than because I felt it was my calling and a quicker way to a better life? It's certainly not the money otherwise I would have given up a long time ago and it's certainly not the social status being a web developer brings so why do I do it? Personally part of it for me I think is to prove people wrong, this isn't the main motivator and I realise may not be the best reason but a part of me wants to be able to show all those people that told me I was mad when I first started talking about it they were wrong and they're the silly ones for suggesting otherwise...
Are you in business yourself? I'd love to hear why you do it, why you get and work hard -often for little initial reward. What drives you?