Thursday September 3rd
The time has come the Walrus said
To talk of many things
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax
And cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings
A very auspicious day for new beginnings - on September 3rd in 1939 WW2 started, in 1989 I started my first job at Beecham Bovril Brands and today, 20 years later, I start my new career as a teacher.
An INSET day is probably the easiest intro I could ask for as there were no children in the school but it did not diminish the enormity of the occasion. I walked to school with my packed lunch and QPR mug, got my new badge and then found out I was not on the list of staff. Oh well. I did get a laptop and login name on my first day which was very impressive.
Work finished at 3.15. I'll repeat that, 3.15 so I walked home, took Ted to practice, ran 3 miles, got home and didn't feel that tired. Cracking.
140 days, exactly 20 weeks since I left Diageo and I have enjoyed every single day of those 20 weeks. I've run a 24 hour relay race, done a triathlon, run a Beer Mile, moved countries, bought a house, got all three kids into school, two kids into football clubs and ticked off quite a few things on my bucket list. I really did have a dream to become a teacher for many years and now that is exactly what I am making a reality. I have always been more fatalistic than anything - taking each day as it comes, tackling whatever is in front of me and, I suppose, more often than not, taking the easy option and operating within my capabilities. This is the first time I've seriously set about achieving a big long term goal. Let's see if I'm any good at it.