The biggest compliment

It has been a very strange week for me, and one in which I seem to keep getting my days mixed up. I am also extraordinarily tired, and as I write this, am struggling to keep my eyes open. This is largely due to the fact that I chose one of the busiest weeks of the year in which to work overtime. It was tempting to turn the offer down to work on Easter Monday. It turned to be a good thing that I did, as otherwise there would have been just two people in on the busiest day of the week.

An opportunity has arisen for me to apply for a paid job in the National Trust shop, where I worked as a volunteer one day a week until I was offered my current job. I am in two minds as to whether to go for it or not. In some ways it would help me tremendously, as the job would be just three days a week, at least one of which would be likely to be at the weekends. This would free up a lot more time during the week in order to concentrate once again on my writing. The basic hourly rate is slightly higher, but this would be outweighed by the fact that it is a shorter working day of only 5 hours in the winter and 6 in the summer. I am not convinced then that this would the right thing for me to do, since this would be a large pay cut.

One other option as the waffler pointed out, would be to apply for a transfer to our nearest alternative branch, whom he says do need staff at the moment. It is the same distance from home as my current job, and I would not have to worry about the cost of parking, since they have their own car park behind the store. Because this other store falls just within the M25 it would also mean that I would be entitled to London weighting, which would be the equivalent of around 50 pence an hour more. This then is tempting in a lot of ways.

Mind you, I was slightly chuffed when my Assistant Manager told me that there was no way they would let me leave. He said that they would rather pay me an extra 50 pence an hour themselves than see me go to another store! This is the biggest compliment I have ever received from an employer, as most of the other companies I have worked for have not exactly treated me well to put it mildly. I have been made redundant more times than I care to mention and once worked for a company who closed the kitchen showroom that I managed without even bothering to inform me of their plans! I only found out when the surveyor came in to measure up! My response was to write them a stinking letter telling them what I thought.