August: Canned Clients, Cups and Calabria
I’ve decided to write a monthly update on my life; places I’ve been, things I’ve tried, observations and thoughts I’ve had along the way. My mind works in some pretty weird and wonderful (mainly weird) ways and as such reading my monthly blog might be a bit of a rollercoaster ride. But everyone loves the fun fair, right?
So this month has been August. Summer. Summer Holidays. I took a little road trip around southwest Scotland and travelled the length of Italy stopping off in places along the way. My sister’s spaniel had puppies and I cannot wait to visit them at the start of September. I put on weight but that was kind of expected after doing a silly slow carb, Vicky-killing diet in July. I bought a spiralizer that should fix it. And I have done a number of things I’d like to share with you in more detail. Here we go.
Canned My First Client
I find this a bit awkward to write about because I always strive to be professional and the unspoken rule is that you walk away from these things and don’t talk about them. A bit like bankruptcy and abortion. However I believe we should talk about these things if only to help others in a similar situation. It’s really hard when, as a fledgling freelancer, your first client (big deal, whoop, highfive) doesn’t turn out to be what you expected.
I worked two half days a week for six months with someone who gave me no clear goals or indication of what they’d like me to focus on, regardless of how many times I asked. When I used my initiative I was either ignored or told no with no alternative suggestions. I was on a few occasions told off, even when what I had done quickly turned out to produce positive results. I never felt like my client liked me and I lived with the stress of the certainty I’d be fired at any minute. I wasn’t brave enough to quit, I needed the money, maybe things would get better…
Long story short and excuses aside, I quit and I’m now going to be poor for a bit but I have more energy and enthusiasm for everything else that I’m doing, for new ideas and opportunities. If you’re in a similar position ask yourself is it really, really worth it?
Hello Your Royal Highness
This is not a paragraph on the extraordinary amount of Downton Abby I have watched in August. No. I bought a Dutchess Cup . Now if for whatever reason you do not want to read about feminine hygiene I’d skip to the next section now. The Dutchess Cup is an alternative brand to the Moon Cup, and for those that don’t know these silicon cups collect blood during your period so that tampons don’t have to.
I’ve always been a bit of a hippy and cared about the world; anyone remember the “I’m going to cut my hair off to highlight water waste” episode? The more I travel, the more waste I see filling up the beautiful winding roads of Calabria and waters surrounding Gili Air. Don’t get me started on India. Now no number of unused tampons is going to make up for my carbon footprint this year but I started watching Trash Is For Tossers one day and decided that this little switch might just settle my conscience for a while.
I will admit it’s going to take some getting used to and I prefer to practice putting it in (looking for alternative to the C fold) and *ahem* retrieving, it whilst in the comfort of my own home. On day one I found myself in a restaurant where there was only one loo, no sink in the room and a queue of people – both men and women – waiting outside. I wrapped the bloody thing (tee hee) in lots of loo paper, grabbed a tampon from my bag to use instead, and ran out.
Horror story aside I will be using the Dutchess next month and might even invest in some of these reusable bamboo panty liners. Look, they’ve got birds on them, how lovely.
Sky High At Sunset
Manuel and I spent ten days of August in Calabria, Southern Italy, with a large number of his Italian family, all of whom have been going there for years.It was his birthday the day after we arrived and he’d insisted there was absolutely nothing to do there except go to the beach, read books, eat and sleep. Well challenge accepted!
It didn’t take me long to find a water sports company offering parasailing at what I considered a fairly reasonable price, plus there was the option of doing it in tandem. What could be more romantic than that? We floated gently off the boat, huge parachute dragging us upwards and hung 100m above the sea watching the sun set. Big tick on the bucket list and let’s just say I set the birthday-present-buying bar, pretty damn high. Roll on November!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtU14Pz3DM0[/embedyt]
So I think that’s it for now. If you liked this please do send to a friend, and if you have any comments or questions please just reach out to me via Twitter.
Sign up for news and competitions
[mc4wp_form id=”276″]