h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Not a very catchy title, eh?

But the job itself is pretty exciting! All of Norn Irn's government departments are going to have their accountancy services centralised, and I'm joining the project team setting up the whole shebang.

Wish me luck! (Can't be worse than this place, shurly....)

Are you appealing (course you are) or have you got *it? (course you have)?

No crash helmet smiley, so you'll have to make do with

"I'm joining the project team setting up the whole shebang"

Thank god I left the NI Civil Service last year then!

Yup, lucky escape for you, Stu

I appealed. I lost my appeal. I really don't want to stay with this current bunch anyway, so am delighted at the transfer prospect.

That's the good thing about the civil service - if your job goes pear shaped, you just move on...

Best of luck with the new post,

sprout

*mutters* Read till I understand the text...*mutter*

Let me give you an example of the fabulous communication system we have here:

I went to ring my line manager to let him know the good news that I was leaving. I'd heard informally that he'd moved from his previous office to one in the same building where I am. Tried his old extension and that of his PA - no reply. Walked around the corridor where I *think* their offices are - but there are no name plates up yet.

I suppose it was a bit much to expect anyone to actually inform me of their new contact details ?

Absolutely crazy, but then again that's bureaucracy for you I guess

with the new post

So your going to be in posetion of all* the cash?

Oooh, I wish!

"Bill to cash" is all the processes that have to occur between issuing an invoice and receiving the dosh. So it's credit control, bad debts provision, aged debtors listing, coping with all the different payment methods, allocation of unidentified cash...

I'm in charge of making sure we have all the systems and procedures in place for that to happen.

Well you seem very motivated so good luck to you and everyone you are working with

And don't call me 'shurly'

all the best in your new role!!

allocation of unidentified cash...

Have I ever told you how intelligent and amzing you are? Or that one of your best traits is your boundless genorosity?

And you, sir , are an excellent judge of character

Conscience money is one I've had to deal with before...and my what fun we had in my auditing days trying to analyse a regular payment noted as "PM". After some discussion we decided "insurance" was the best description for what turned out to be protection money.

It is true then!

in the sheltered pharma industry labs...

I know of one business that makes regular voluntary donations *ahem* to a "prisoners' re-integration group". Very community spirited of them!

Phoned my new boss today, to say that if there were any team planning meetings in the next couple of weeks I'd be willing to sit in on them.

He said, oh actually, we're doing a team building session in Monday and Tuesday - fancy coming along?



Phoned my line manager to tell him a) I'm leaving and b) I'll not be about Mon and Tues. He's on leave until Monday. Phoned HIS boss ( er, that's the Cheif Exec...) to try to explain the same thing, and to get the OK on me having those days to go and do team building with my new people...then spent all afternoon waiting for his non-forthcoming reply to the message I'd left with his PA.

Huh. Tempted just to piss off without any sort of formal handover/ goodbye/ approval of days elsewhere.

Had a great team-building couple of days! really looking forward to working with these guys: there's about 40 of us, mostly finance background (so I know a few of them already), some old fashioned cynics but quite a few young blood enthusiasts as well.

On Monday the weather was AWFUL! Hailstones, gale force winds (I found that my ridge tiles had been blown off my roof when I got home. Than God for house insurance eh? ) We knew we were up for outdoor activities on the Tuesday, and I was not looking forward to them.

During the break between afternoon "make a collage that represents a high energy team" (i.e reading the juicy bits out of Hello magazine and complaining about there being no glitter ) and dinner , some hardy souls relished the weather, and went wind-surfing, climbing Slieve Donard... I just took the complimentary rubber duck to the still-ill Dai (20 miles round the corner)and, um, cheered him up a bit

Dinner was followed by a quiz (of course my team won! Competetive? Moi?) and I had a relativiely early night (midnightish)

Tuesday dawned calm, the mountains were at least visible, albeit with snow on the high ground, and there was even the odd patch of blue sky. Off we went to the Forest Park for some archery, wall-climbing/ abseiling, team challenges like getting a bucket of water onto a pole. Genuinely great fun and worthwhile.

I was very impressed at the use of modern technology througout the presentations - iPod videos in the background of powerpoint, a slideshow of photos of us in the forest barely 2 hours after we'd got back...but then these are mainly IT gurus.

really looking forward to starting with them next week.