Week 2 into the new job, and I have also gone back to karate training, after a break of close to three months. And I am not dead yet! To make this week even more fun, I found out this evening that I won the bonus prize for the last trimester of 2010 when I was employed by the Ginormous Pharma Company.
So, Week 2: the rose tinted outlook that accompanies a new job has not yet faded. I had my first breakfast meeting in a long time this morning. 0700, and sitting outside a hospital Postgrad Education Centre, waiting for my contact to turn up, after discovering that the meeting room was on the first floor, and there were no stairs. As I commented to my mother some years ago, this was how I ended up with outsize bicep muscles. Still, the meeting went well, with some charming confusion from some of the attendees, who were used to seeing me with one company, and took a moment to realize that I had changed employer.
Returning to karate training after a break of nearly three months was always going to be tough. It could be argued that choosing to return on the day when senior grades have a special training session was likely to be a recipe for disaster, but I survived. Counting the bruises on my arms today, though! When I arrived at the club, one of the first things my Sensei (teacher) asked me was whether I was planning to try for my 2nd Dan grading in May this year.
Correct answer: "Of course, Sensei!"
Actual answer: "I would like to try, Sensei.", which was quickly amended to the 'correct answer' above.
Of course, the suggestion that I and a 3rd Dan candidate could have mock gradings that night should have been expected, but I was soooo not ready for that. My biggest problem is a lack of confidence. Unfortunately, the mock grading prospect does very little for my confidence, because I know that I don't know my syllabus well enough, and thus I panic. At that point, it all goes horribly wrong.
Still, my plan is that I will grade in May (even if I don't pass), and that I am aiming to train Mondays and Thursdays at my Honbu Dojo, with training sessions at two other clubs in the Association on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Might need to buy myself another karate gi, or I am going to spend all the time washing and ironing my present one.
To increase my sense of self-worth further (not!), I also trained at another club in our Association last night, given that I was going to be staying in near the bottom of the M1, and this club was en-route. Like I said, I know that I don't have my syllabus learned properly yet. However, in my defence, I would also point out that until recently, I had never been taught parts of my syllabus. This was one of the reasons for moving clubs, along with the change in my work pattern. I really want to do my grading, lack of confidence not withstanding, so not being taught new essential combinations or not practicing grade-specific syllabus is really unhelpful. At least DS and I are fortunate in that we were in a position to do something about it, and change clubs, but that is not an option open to everyone.
Oh, and for the record, I do not mix with my former teacher, speak with him or have any social interaction with him. So I don't know how he is, or why he didn't train this week. Rant over!
The week is only at the midway point, when I received an e-mail from a former colleague, who still works for the Ginormous Pharma Company. She informed me that I had won the short-term incentive for the last trimester of 2010. Yes, this does mean cash, but damn, I worked for it. It was always my intention that, even though I was not going to achieve my sales target, I would have a tangible way of demonstrating my dedication to my job. Considering I was being made redundant by the Ginormous Pharmaa Company, it would have been too easy to just sit back and not bother in the final month. But that is not the way that I work. So, it is good to know that such efforts are rewarded.
Of course, it would have been even better to have received that news from my former Sales Director, but, nooo, pigs don't fly.
Although I didn't know it at the time, I treated myself to a new set of arrows, which were cut to my size. I knew my arms were short, but not that short!!
Whiskey beckons, so g'night all!
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