still here

Thanks for everyone who left a comment on my last blog post - much appreciated.

The Short-Stuff first - we had a great day out as a family for Miss Domino's 2nd birthday - and a great (but UTTERLY EXHAUSTING) weekend of birthday celebrations.

But the thing that kind-of prompted that post was obviously my appraisal. Like I said, no-one likes that sort of thing, even without our own particular special additional requirements.

The year under dicussion began with me having a really bad relapse and being out of the office for a total of 6 weeks - admittedly trying to do bits of work for much of that time (against the advice of the MS Nurse Team, silly boy). Which is why I was so worried.

Anyway - the long-and-short of it is that I'm very lucky to work in such a supportive environment. My Boss is uniformly awkward and uncomfortable talking about disability (not just my own) - ever since I disclosed my condition on my second day working here - but he's getting better.

Since my last relapse, I've been allowed quite a lot of time out of work to attend Physio / CBT / Urologist sessions. Also since then we've put measures in place which will support me if I have a relapse and which enable me to stay connected - great, but potentially mean I will never leave work, but swings-and-roundabouts.

I know that not everyone is so lucky - not to excuse the bad-bosses, but I think some of this might be because I work in the Arts. Think about it:

• a bit of a cliché, but people in the arts are more naturally sensitive and empathetic
• working in the arts means that (more often than not) you're funded by Public Money - so there are more strings attached and you're under more scrutiny - it's not just some big Private Enterprise that can do what it damn well pleases

There are other aspects, too:

• we're a small team here and we each have our own specialisms - meaning there are things that I can do which other people can't
• I'm pretty good at my job
  (in my defence, colleagues have told me - more than once - that I need more confidence in myself. So that is me being confident - Raah! Watch Out!)

So yes  - come and work in the arts if you want to be treated right - the hours and pay are uniformly shit, there are few benefits and you have NO JOB SECURITY, but still...