almost witty

Thanks to a lovely blogger friend of mine (who says blogging gets you nowhere?) I have now embarked on the strange and interesting world that is freelancing, for one major employer (spending weekdays in ol’ London town), doing some online editing and writing, which is nice. It’s a bit of an eyeopener into the way that “real” publishing works, and I’ve got some stuff to learn but as the Amerikanski would say, It’s All Good.

However, the vexed question of my official status and how I should be paid has arisen. Should I:

- go completely freelance, and just invoice the company direct, and sort out tax and National Insurance at the end of the year? The slight flaw being I’m not sure i can be a “sole trader” if I’m just working for one employer.

- go on their payroll as a casual? Easiest option, but least lucrative I guess…

- employ an umbrella company to be the middle man for sorting out invoices and the like…

What do you think?

Way way back in the mists of dotcom time (1999), I worked for beeb.com - basically the website for the commercial arm for the BBC. Unfortunately, it eventually became the victim of a rather bitter squabble between public service BBC and BBC Worldwide, and the public service side won.

I’ve just stumbled across this article from The Economist which succinctly goes into the history of beeb.com. Unfortunately, it’s been put on a Facebook forum which isn’t exactly accessible, so without any copyright permissions whatsoever, I’m putting it up here.
(continue reading…)

When you hear the word induction, what do you think it means?

I thought it meant my work colleague was going through a corporate induction, and thought it was a trifle odd since he’d been working at the company for quite a while. But I made a joke about it anyway.

He thought I knew that it was referring to his forthcoming baby, who may well have to be induced. And he thought it was a trifle odd that I’d make a joke like that, and wondered if I was being wacky for the sake of being wacky, or I’d gotten the wrong end of the stick.

I’m already developing a reputation. Three weeks into the job. Oy vey. But it’s still a good fun place to be at!

It’s my first day in my proper office and my proper desk. And they’re throwing a party tonight! Alas not for me, but to celebrate some good results.

I think I’m going to like it here!

For the last three days, my work has taken me to a three day course on geology for non-geologists. Specifically on how the search for oil is conducted.

While some of it was quite interesting in a science-y geeky sort of way, most of the time my head was veritably lost in the clouds while my body slumbered, shook and occasionally slumbered. And not in any subtle way.

Apparently I’d be rolling around on my chair at the back of the room, my head lolling up and down and my leg shaking while the lecturer tried to ignore me. And then I’d snort, wake myself up and try to get myself paying attention to the study of sedimentary rocks. Today, I was doing this within 15 minutes of arriving at the lecturer room - despite having had a good night’s sleep.

The great thing about being an adult is that of course the lecturer couldn’t tell me off for (quite rightly) snoring through his lessons. Although this isn’t the first time - I’ve apparently also snorted and slept through BBC Web Editorial meetings, and drawing lessons. Which is a shame, because I’d have learnt how to draw properly.

The upshot of which is that I’ve self-diagnosed myself as having a wee bit of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Which is most annoying since I can’t seem to concentrate on anything - so any hopes of going to university to better myself will probably have to go out the window. Unless they can present all lectures in a dark cinema in a narrative film-based format - because I’ve never fallen asleep in a cinema. Well, aside from an IMAX screen in 1994…