It's Cold Wet and Windy

I'm missing the weather on St Helena, it used to be fairly reliable and consistent - not necessarily nice all the time but at least I knew what to expect.

Here I sit in my flat looking through the skylights at the glorious sunshine, listening to the wind howling, and then when I go out it seems to be tipping with rain, but with little wind. Of course at other times it's the other way round, and sometimes it's the same out the window as it is outside...

Everyone seems mesmerised by weather forecasts and very critical of when they aren't accurate. but are they ever accurate? I think the only ones which get it right are the ones on Newsnight (which I saw on Have I go News for You) where he forecast was along the lines of:

"It's genarally wet and windy, except when it's not. With sunny spells, except where there aren't"

So I have My Container!

It arrived yesterday lunchtime in the back of a van about 2% bigger than the container. I cannot imagine how it was put in the van (I asked and was told it took 2 Forklifts, including one through the side door???) Whilst this meant it wasn't easy to get it open (there wasn't space to try to get the lid off) it did mean the van driver had to help me as we had to empty it before we could get it out the van.

So having got the end off it became apparent that it had got wet. Very Wet. Not surprising really, but the huge puddle of water in the lining of the Lid was a surprise. Luckily the vast majority of my stuff was in plastic crates, and the majority of the rest was wrapped in plastic or in a waterproof bag. However my bags and suitcase are all slightly mouldy outside and everything inside is slightly musty. Also the plastic wrapping 2 of the 3 cardboard boxes had contained water that seeped in so while my Telly was ok, my computer box is very soggy... Hmmm... The other cardboard box holds bottles of cleaning fluid etc (the proverbial cupboard under the sink) so could well be wet from the inside! but from memory I think everything in that box was carefully wrapped to stop any leaks getting out.

So, about 40% s in my flat with another 40% coming up tonight in the car. I can then play what's in the box a lot more and unpack over the long bank holiday weekend (which some of you don't have).

The crate itself was pushed out the van when it was empty and rolled into the driveway. HTen the van driver left me to knock it flat. It is now sitting at the back of the drive in 6 panels - most with 6" nails sticking out on 2 to 3 of the edges.

So I nearly have my container!

My container arrived in the UK on Easter Saturday, it's now passed through Customs and is due to be delivered on Thursday. Many of the boxes were packed before Christmas when I moved and only repacked for shipping purposes so I haven't seen what's inside some for nearly 5 months. It means I get to play my favourite game 'What's in the Box?'

It'll be nice to have all my stuff again and not feel like I'm camping/living out of a suitcase, that's been quite depressing recently on occasion as I want to buy something, but I think I already have one so shouldn't, but don't want to wait to get it.

Anyway, I have enough space in the Flat for everything, I just need to get it here.

So What have I been up to?

I've now been back just over 3 weeks, and haven't done a lot it seems, so what have I done?

Well, when I got back I spent a couple of days with family and a day looking for a car before racing to Scotland for job interviews and racing back for another interview. Having got a job I had to get the car which I picked up a fortnight after being back in the country. It doesn't feel like I achieved much in that fortnight, but it was very busy spending a week travelling to, being in and returning from Scotland. I travelled about 2000 miles by car/train in that first fortnight!

I then set about trying to organise other things; found the flat; dentist, opticians and doctors check-ups; and getting a towing licence for a Caravan. Whilst I managed to book and have the medicals, the towing license was rather fully booked until after I was expecting to start work, so that's on hold.

I haven't done much else, started to get bored with daytime telly (which is probably a good thing). Relaxed, read, sorted some old stuff from Mum's loft for the bin,

Jobs and St Helena

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had looked at a couple of Jobs in Scotland, but that they weren't too keen on me. I've had good feedback from the first Council, but not heard from the second yet.

I don't regret not getting the jobs as it is quite clear to me why I didn't get them but why I did get the interviews. And it's kind of interesting.

As a bit of Background: For the last couple of years my direct line manager has been a succession of Directors managing a succession of Directorates. That Director has always reported directly to the Chief Secretary, who is effectively the Chief Executive. In Management speak I was a third tier manager (ie. the top person is tier 1 and then directors are tier 2, etc). The interviews I had were for tier 3 and 4 management positions, which is around what I've been doing, the job I have is not management at all, and would best be described as tier 7.

So my application shows that I've been doing this senior management role for a couple of years, which sparks interest and gets me interviews, but when I turn up I don't get the job - why? I think it has a lot to do with the general style of management I've been involved in on St Helena and my resulting Management Style; I'm struggling to reset my mindset to the UK.

I know there will be some people on St Helena reading this (yes you) and hope that you aren't too offended. But the Management style on St Helena that I have witnessed is not the same as the UK, it's a lot more informal, it's a lot more flexible, it's a lot more laid back and relaxed. In short it's not very businesslike and not very effective. As most managers I came across are from the Ex-Pat community I have to assume they are either rubbish, inexperienced/out of their depth (like I was) or go native. Unfortunately I think that it's a combination of the first two rather than much of the latter; with poor quality senior managers doing the hiring you end up with not necessarily the right candidates in the middle management positions, and frequently they will then find themselves moving up a level (kind of like I did) because of the view that someone who is on-Island and can sort of do the job is better than someone who can do the job but has never been there. There are some very good people in management positions, but the good ones are outnumbered and find themselves outvoted at every turn until they give up or get sacked.

With the overwhelming number of managers operating in similar styles, there isn't much of a role model for junior managers, whether Saint or ExPat, to model their management experiences on and so the style is perpetuated and the ineffectiveness continues. For those Saints who have never worked overseas they presumably have very little idea what good management is as they have only rarely experienced it.

So what is the solution - I don't really know. I think St Helena really needs to work at recruiting good people when they recruit overseas. With the airport opening within 2 years there should be less emphasis on people who will cope on the Island (3/4 of the questions at my brief interview were on this subject) and more emphasis on competence. However to attract the really good candidates may require adjustments to the terms and conditions. I truly believe that when I applied I was the best candidate (they did offer me the job), but I also believe that I was the wrong candidate as I didn't have the skills and experience required for the job. Put simply the right candidates weren't tempted to apply - right in the middle of the Construction Slump in mid 2011. So perhaps contracts should be for more than 2 or 3 years (it put me off knowing it was a short term post), perhaps the salary/benefits system should be simplified and better explained, perhaps they need changing. I don't know the answers, but I am sure that something needs to be done if St Helena is going to benefit properly from the mega investment it is currently receiving.

SO, back to why I didn't get the job? Well, simply, I'm so used to dealing with people who don't really understand what I'm saying, I treated the interview panels a little to obviously like children.

Insurance

So there are 2 questions left: Insurance and Shipping.

Having decided what car to buy I used various websites to get quotes to make sure there weren't any problems. The interesting thing is that the headlines all looked good, but having paid the deposit on the car I found the small print made it quite clear that I wasn't eligible.

There were 2 basic problems. The first was that I haven't been a UK resident for the last 2 years, but answering the question when did I become a UK resident threw up an error as it was more than 2 years ago. Putting in March 2014 made it look like I wasn't British, which threw up other problems.

The second problem was my no-claims. Despite on the price comparison website ticking the box saying my No Claims was overseas, all the insurance companies had in their small print that it had to be an EU No Claims, and St Helena doesn't count as EU.

So what did I do?

Well I went in to speak to Swinton in town. They fairly quickly established that I was a British Resident since birth and it was ok despite being out the country for 2 years. The no-claims was a bit harder. I had a letter from the AA saying that I had 8 years when I left, and I had a letter from St Helena saying I hadn't claimed for the last 2, however Solomon's hadn't said I had 2 years No Claims, let alone 10. Going back, Solomon's were quite helpful in confirming that I had transferred my 8 years and that I had their full discount, but didn't confirm I had built up a further 2 years or use the number 10. However as my premium was the same for 10 years and 8 years I have left it at 8 years which was accepted.

I am actually quite glad to have got it sorted. I'm paying about £500/yr but at one point it was looking like about £1,800/yr at which point I would have had to sell the car and buy something I could justify insuring. Next time I need car insurance I will simply say I am a British resident and have my nice recent proof of No Claims - unless I have to Claim in which case a cheap car to insure will be my punishment for driving stupidly, again.

One thing that did come up a few times was 'have I been on anther UK policy claim free?' unfortunately since December the answer is a resounding no:

But my Mum is ok now, and has a nearly new Fiat Panda as replacement.

How to Pay for Fuel?

Having bought the car and found somewhere to park it I do need to keep the diesel paid for, and insurance, and at some point some servicing.

So I had to get a Job.

So What job did I get? Well looking around there is no shortage of vacancies, few pay that well or are in good locations, but plenty of jobs. Having looked at a couple of senior management jobs in the furthest reaches of Scotland I kind of decided that I wasn't too keen on remote, and they decided they weren't to keen on me!

So for now I've settled on a job near the parking space, based in Clevedon working back for North Somerset Council as a Senior Asset Management Engineer (which I think is better titled 'Data Analyst').