I had a very odd experience today.

Some of you may be aware of the Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad job I had once. I escaped from it two years ago, more or less, just before coming to Rinkworks. Remember that? Remember how much I told everybody it sucked, and how quitting that job was like being released from the black pit of eternal madness into a world of sunshine and happy skipping bunny rabbits?

Two years on, they want me BACK. And I AGREED.

I think I must be some kind of mental case.

In mitigation, it's only for a maximum of three weeks, starting from next week. Somebody quit suddenly due to extreme ill health (brought on by, yes indeed, working in the same conditions I worked in two years ago) and left them in the lurch right at a busy time. Meanwhile, here I am on my last day of my current job, with nothing lined up as a replacement yet. So when they contacted me I said, yeah, sure, I guess...

I also made sure this time I was getting paid by the hour, and that they were aware I would not be available to finish the full three weeks if another permanent job was offered to me in that time. So I think I'm safe to just make a little extra money with no strings attached, and I can give it up whenever I want. Really.

However, it was very, very creepy and strange being back there. Nothing had changed since I left. Although I'm not given to these sort of paranoid imaginings, it was *very* disorienting and bizarre, and I did have a momentary feeling that perhaps the intervening two years had all been a dream and I was really still working there. I mainly knew it *wasn't* a dream because I never used to get time off to sleep...

I'll be interested to see whether I can last the full three weeks or not, and what I think of the place now that I have a broader perspective. I won't be online very much during that time but I'll be around when I can. Hopefully I'll hear back soon from some of the jobs I've applied for on boats and things.

Brunnen-"still can't believe I'm doing this"G