The first four months are over

Where did all the relaxation time go. When people said it would be great to be on your own, no bosses to worry about, no required attendance at fairly meaningless meetings, no more chasing your own tail trying to catch up with all the emails, telephone calls and of course the meaningless meeting tasks you were given that somehow seem to be important to everyone else.

Aye right! I feel like I haven't had a minute to myself, although of course I have. More time on the golf course? Don't think so. Haven't played since I left LTS in September and the weather can't be blamed for all that. More time to return to the Tartan Army and travel to obscure lands, drink obscure beers and, for some reason that beats the hell out of me, meet the rest of the fans at some Irish Bar in the middle of the capital city. Where are all the ex-pat Scots? Can't they open a Scots bar we can all meet in? More time to fix all the wee things that bug me in the house? Nope you can forget that one too.

Meetings. Yes but there's a lot more travel involved. You can't wait until a couple of minutes beforehand and then skite down a couple of floors to the meeting room. Nope. 40 minutes from my house, sorry office, to even a meeting bang in the town centre. Are they still meaningless? Some are. Some aren't. So you can't take the chance. You go along all spruced up having recently shaved and did a quick iron on the first shirt that looks respectable. And then hope you've got a tie that might match. Although according to long time pal Paul, I've never got that double act together.

emails. Still inundated with spam and people desperate to get you to come and see what they have to offer you? And I'm still waiting my first free lunch too, though that's bound to be just around the corner!

Project reviews? Well they're kind of a thing of the past in some ways. Though with so much going on just now I could do with some project structure and review even if just to confirm everything in the business plan is going OK.

Telephone calls? The worst thing about working at home is the amount of cold calls you get from people trying to sell you a new mortgage, double glazing, a second mobile phone - now why would anyone want a second mobile? So they can multitask with their hands to their ears looking like a complete richard.

Finances? Four months down and one cheque received so far. Kind of tells its own story, though to be fair I don't expect to get paid for a couple of jobs I've worked on, or are working on, for another couple of weeks yet.

Regrets? Not at all.