And there you have it ...we're moving!

That's the upshot of the big boss visit of Monday.

We're relocating to Papakura, in pretty short order by the sounds of it. So, significant changes ahead.

As part of adjusting to change, I try to look at the advantages and disadvantages of a situation and go from there.

This is what I have so far:


Advantages

1. It's closer to home and so my travel time and petrol costs will go down slightly.
2. I won't need to go anywhere near a motorway to get to or from work.


Disadvantages

1. It's Papakura
2. I repeat, Papakura.
3. Did I mention, it's Papakura?

OK, ok, serious forseeable disadvantages.

1. Customers who I see now on a regular basis will no longer come into the office. I will lose an estimated 90% of face to face customer contact.
2. Two of my work team who live miles and miles away (Helensville and Henderson) have said that they will now work from home due to the impact of the travel/time factor with a Papakura based office.
3. Our company is incorporating a new production division which will impact on my workload and responsibilities.
4. The location is a depressing looking industrial zone, the offices are a rabbit-warren and it's suffocating. Don't even get me started on the colour of my office which the GM has refused to change at this stage, due to budget constraints (despite most of the rest of the offices being OKed for repainting). It's a reasonble request because it's a dark colour, and there is limited lighting.
5. Getting mail to the post is going to be a pain in the ass. Luckily, at least, we will get mail delivery ala postie to us each day. Banking will have to be by courier.
6. I will no longer be able to indulge in my regular happy-credit visits to Luscious. I won't even be able to find a replacement coffee place as there aren't any. There also aren't even lunch places anywhere near the new office/warehouse/production facility. I usually take a packed lunch anyway, but sometimes it's nice to buy lunch.
7. Shopping will also be far, far away. Not that that really can be considered an issue at the moment. Remember that $2,800.00 car bill we are expecting? That's $2,800.00 plus GST as it turns out. Joy.
8. I will be largely deskbound due to the way the office is set out. If I was having lunch in the cafeteria, I wouldn't be able to see or hear anyone in reception. This also means that if the team want to having morning tea together, which is a regular thing here (daily if we're all in the office), they won't be able to.

9,10,11,12 ... If I stay there and we do IVF in the next year, it is going to be a nightmare due to the need to be at the hospital (Ascot) regularly for scans, blood tests (you can't do these at local labs. They have to be done at a specic location) etc. From Papakura, you can pretty much write off about a half day every time a coconut. From Penrose, it wouldn't be an issue because Ascot is just up the road.

So, I think it's fair to say that as a result of all of this, I'm reviewing my employment opportunities, my goals, my plans, a lot of things. There is something I am looking at at the moment which is very positive, and if it worked out it would also mean I could realise my dream to write. I'll keep you posted. If it doesn't work out, I think I'll be keeping my nose to the ground anyway.

Times, they are a changin'.