Day 1: What next?

Today's soundtrack: Noel Gallagher - The Dreams We Have As Children, courtesy of The Sunday Times

And so it begins: a period of enforced leisure courtesy of the credit crunch and an employer forced into some tough (for me, anyway) decisions. Inevitably I've been through a range of conflicting emotions but, above all, there is currently a surprising feeling of calm. It helps that there is a nice redundancy payoff swelling (temporarily, at any rate) the coffers, and the foresight to take out unemployment insurance to cover the mortgage provides a touch more breathing space - but I'm still unemployed with no immediate prospect of a job. Why am I not panicking?

I'm amused by the irony of this blog title. "Stuck Between Stations" was originally a nod to my refusal to grow old gracefully - stuck, if you will, between the kid I was and the 'grown-up' I refuse to be. And, of course, a reference to the wonderful Hold Steady - a group of musicians who act no older than they need to. The song itself refers to being stuck between stations on the radio - when things are not as 'crystal clear' as they might be. Something else I can relate to at the moment.

But now, I'm stuck between two other stations - the job I had and the new job I've yet to find.

I can't allow myself to sit around feeling sorry for myself, so I thought that I should resurrect this moribund blog to document this period in my life - partly to pass the time, but also to keep me thinking and creating something. Not a diary as such - just a record of my thoughts and actions, and a discipline to make sure I do something constructive with my time off.

So what have I done with myself so far? Well, made a start on the paperwork and admin. Insurance claims, Jobseeker applications (online - no queueing up at the doley so far) and a trawl around the web for the elusive new role.

Buggered if I'm not going to enjoy the fact I'm not stuck in the office though. I've also finished Watchmen, read most of this month's Word, entertained the cat and struggled with the bass guitar that my workmates got me as a leaving present.

Watchmen - enjoyed it greatly...not convinced it's the literary masterpiece some believe it to be...at the end of the day, it's a comic, isn't it? A good one, no doubt, but still a comic.

The Word - still by far the best magazine on the market today, and the print magazine is just one element of the full Word experience - I commend the website and the podcasts to you all as well.

I'll keep you posted on the bass - suffice to say that I need to develop biceps on my fingers before I'm going to make any real progress here!

Oh, and the Noel Gallagher - I like Noel solo a lot, and the covers on this CD are especially entertaining - 'Butterfly Collector' and 'All You Need is Love' with Weller are fine, as is the version of 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out' that I'm currently listening to. And it's all for the Teenage Cancer Trust, which must be a good thing.