Blogging might be a bit quiet for the next week or so as I’m doing another freelance job at the moment, this one is “on site” as they say so I actually have to go and work in an office for the first time since March. Feels very strange to be commuting again, not to mention wearing shoes.

Don’t know yet how long I’ll be there, it was originally just meant to be a couple of weeks work but they’ve been hinting they may want me to stay right through July. It’s nice to be wanted, I was starting to wonder.

Download: Back To Life (12″ Mix) – Soul II Soul (mp3)

I’m doing a freelance job at the moment, not a huge one but it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick and good to keep the creative juices fresh. I knew this already but doing it has only confirmed to me how much I don’t like working from home. I wouldn’t call myself a people person but it’s nice having some direct contact with other human beings during the day, even if it’s only to bitch with them about what an arsehole the boss is.

I still go through the same morning routine as always — shower, shave, breakfast, get dressed, take the kids to school — but now instead of heading on to the office I turn around and come back home. My empty, empty home.

Download: Lonely Days – Bee Gees (mp3)

And what idiot was it said being unemployed meant more time for blogging? Oh right, that was me. Not quite working out that way so far.

I was thinking of adding this slogan to my business card, the job offers should come flooding in.

Download: Nice Legs Shame About the Face – The Monks (mp3)

I got laid off from my job last week which was a bit of a shock as I really didn’t see it coming. They used words like “restructuring” and “reorganization” which I guess is the corporate version of “It’s not you, it’s me”.

So I am now unemployed. On the plus side I should have more time for blogging.

Download: Smithers-Jones (Single Version) – The Jam (mp3)

work¹⁰⁰ + kids² = blog – posts this week

Download: So Little Time – Diana Dors (mp3)

Too busy at work to do anything here at the moment, talk amongst yourselves for while.

And enjoy this fine tune of course.

Download: Wat About Di Workin’ Claas – Linton Kwesi Johnson (mp3)

Remember when machines were going to free us all from the drudgery of work and lead us into a utopian life of leisure, novel-writing and blogging? As recently as the 1980s people were predicting that computers would make us so efficient our main problem would be finding ways to fill up all the free time we’d have.

So why is it I don’t even have time to draw breath this week, let alone write a blog post (well, apart from this one of course)? In my business there was a time when you could tell the boss/client he couldn’t make that last minute change because there wasn’t time to get the typesetting back or have the artwork redone or find a different photo — now no one ever says “no” because the deadline extends almost to the minute before the job gets printed. Those old limitations were physical, human limitations, but now it’s all possible with a few keystrokes our poor human selves are working longer and longer hours in an effort to keep up with the 24/7 flow of work that computers and the internet have made possible. All that computer-enabled “free” time has just been filled up with more work, I’m super efficient these days but I’m also completely knackered most of the time.

All of which is my way of saying I’m having a really bad week.

Download: Crushed By The Wheels of Industry (12″ version) – Heaven 17 (mp3)

…makes this a dull blog.

It’s that time of the month again (no, not that time), I’m up to my tits in work. Though if I spent less time online reading other people’s blogs I might get more done. Which makes me wonder how much work I used to get done before the internet was invented, of course everything took a lot longer to do in those days (you had to actually talk to people on the phone and sometimes even go and see them in person) so it probably all comes out the same in the wash.

Download: You Got To Have A Job (If You Don’t Work, You Don’t Eat) – Marva Whitney (mp3)