An explanation

I was a bit concerned about taking a career break now (although I'd been planning one for some time) and discussed this with my employer.  Won't people think you're getting rid of me?  Won't people think you're doing less well post-lockdown than we're saying? Won't I end up being the one who went off on a long holiday while everyone else is working hard to get back to normal? Do I have to give them back my graphics tablet 😭

While none of these are true we agreed they were legitimate concerns to an outsider.  But there's the thing - my employers do things differently, noone really knows what the new normal is going to be, it's not like in an emergency I can't hop onto my laptop and help out...  The general rule of a career break is that you don't work and you have your job back at the end of it.  That's what I'm heading off with the support of my employer with: a safety net - for them and me.  I do a good job, I'm able to plug in the gaps and hold fort and I'm worth keeping around and I'm part of the group. But I'm also overdue promotion (there's nowhere direct for me to go), noone can truly predict what's going to happen in the next 6 months and everyone knows I'm a nightmare when I don't have enough to do.   Do we expect that I will disappear off the radar and reemerge just when all the hard work is done?  Nah, that's not me.   Will there be a company when I get back?  IF and only if they merge or get bought over in some form as may happen, who knows...  Lets' face it, I'd get a great reference and they're not even UK based anyway.  And I can keep my graphics tablet in case.  But I can use my own laptop because, to be honest, mine's better. 

So what did we agree?  That I'd write a blog as I went and that's fine.  

This is what freedom smells like.  So it's 11am on my first day of career break.  I'm at my desk because I don't really know how to have a career break so my body was craving the comfort.  I feel like I've been dumped but I'm getting nice WhatsApps asking me how I'm getting on on my holiday.  Skiving lump of gristle was one too.  This is weird. 

So, I will have a think on what to post, this is just the explanatory note.  I may be the first person in history to have their six month career break hiding at their desk at home asking their employer to let them come back home.