Today is a day of changes. Today marks the day that the UK will leave the European Union. It is also a day of changes for me personally as I finished up my final day of contracting. To mark the day that the UK leaves the European Union (Brexit), the Mayor of London has advertised various #LondonIsOpen messages across the city of London. The UK will leave tonight at 11:00pm. On the London Underground, I noticed that the displays were updated to mark "London Is Open, today and always". This advertising reminds me of the Valentine's Day and other promotions that the railway had done in the past when station names were changed to celebrate the day.
Contracting. I could have stayed in contracting longer, but I was only guaranteed short extensions. I'm not sure if I would have been in this contract in March, so it was time to leave. While I thoroughly enjoyed my time contracting, I will not miss the long hours and short extensions that I have had for the majority. I will not miss having to cancel travel plans because of project deadlines changing or not knowing if I would be in a contract in order to make plans. For many others that I know, contracting offers flexible working and similar treatment to permanent employees instead of a resource; however, I found myself in quite busy and time-intensive/demanding contracts with short extensions and told to cancel my travel plans for my milestone birthday or simply fearful of making travel plans because the one time that I did have plans due at the end of the contract, it made finding the next contract difficult.
My big news is that I am starting a permanent job, and I am hoping that this will be an end to the lack of stability, overworking, and lack of time off that the past five years provided me with. It's also the right time to go because of new legislation being passed in the next couple of months around contractors. I'm not sure what traction that it will have, but that was not the reason that I personally have decided to stop contracting. I am hoping that everything works out well and that I can now start to make plans.
In addition to the above, the house renovation work has been completed a little over a week ago now; there's still a bit of snagging to do, and I am in the middle of moving/unpacking boxes and deep-cleaning. This is going to take awhile to sort everything out since I am working full time and do not have a break between.
I hope that everything continues to go well. And remember: London Is Open!
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