New Work
Posted: Fri 20 June, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Getting Organised, Own Business, Work-related |2 Comments »From Monday, I’ll be working away from home during the week again – this time down in Basildon, Essex. It might be that the company allow me to work from home for the majority of the time after the first couple of weeks, but in the mean time, I’m going to be down in Basildon from Monday morning to Friday afternoon.
Yes, in theory I could do the commute on a daily basis – but that would be 200 miles per day all told, and would mean I was away from home for about 13 hours a day. Not ideal. So I’ll stay down there, and maximise the working hours during the time I’m there.
In addition, I should (with luck) be able to carry on and do some other work in the evenings, and/or get some of that writing out of the way as well.
All told, it should work out OK. Yes, I’d rather be based from home (or at least be working locally) but at the end of the day, if I have to work away from home in order to pay the bills then that’s the way it is.
It does mean that this week has been taken up with a fair amount of organising, getting paperwork sorted, booking a place to stay, checking out what the area’s like, what facilities are around, all that guff. But again, that’s just part of the way things are for this kind of contract.
Oh god. Basildon. I’ll give you The Inside – the area is Shit (unless you like drug dealers and Essex Men/Girls). 70s London overspill.
There *are* no facilities (that you’d want to go to). It is The Pits Of The Earth. I kid you not. Do you have a flack jacket? If not, I wouldn’t recommend going out in the evenings.
If you don’t want to stand out from the crowd, you’ll need 20 visible piercings and 40 visible tattoos, and a bare midriff, 4 urchins hanging round you, and to speak in a local dialect known as ‘Estuary’ (not dissimilar to Eastenders). Blacked out windows in your car and a large exhaust pipe, together with a non-standard font numberplate would help too.
I reckon it would take you 2.25 – 3 hours each way from where you are depending on the traffic (there are always accidents on the A12). I’d aim to stay somewhere around Brentwood if I were you. The nice(r) side of chav-ville.
Not that I’m prejudiced or anything, but.
Good luck… you’ll need it 🙁
Must also add – there are more speed cameras per linear inch than anywhere else in the country.
All down the A12 and on every road (they have umpteen mobile units that often operate out of unmarked scruffy old vans, and sit on overhead bridges).
Not sure if one can class speeding fines as business expenditure either!!!