Another week, another blog (its even longer, massive!); and I haven't even started the job yet!!
I have just got back from two lovely days in the French capital looking at places to live, mooching up and down the champs elysees and getting interviewed.
As always, the journey down was a blast. Let's picture the scene shall we;
It's a cool 20*C, you round a slight bend on the motorway and there, in front of you is 5km of empty, straight autoroute vaulting into the distance. You check your mirrors; nothing. You see ahead and the bright sunlight dances across the three pointed star at the end of your bonnet. You set yourself, aim for the middle lane and push your foot so far into the carpet you think it may break through onto the tarmac below. The speedo needle moves as if it is running from the rev counter and then BOSH!, in an instant you are where you thought you would be mere seconds earlier. You lift off as you fear a Gendarme hiding in a tree and settle back to your comfortable cruise, the car smiling at you as you've let it stretch its legs in the summer sun.
After the joy of speed, the terror of inner-city urban Paris driving; with one rule: You look after your front. Everyone else will look after your back. And I think it went well, no crashes, much horn honking and very much fun!
After having a go in an Executive Briefing Centre in a company in central Paris (see pic attached; I love swivel chairs! :-D ), I had to go to and see my lovely possible new boss, Jean-Claud.
He has a team! (yes I know, 'a team' think the A-Team, X-men but French. OK, think the three musketeers but there were five of them...) So I had a lovely chat with them about what I may want to do, what I may not want to do, what I like, what I don't like etc etc.
But one thing that did confuse and concern, yet interest, Jean-Claud was Asperges Syndrome.
See, he had googled the term as my CV said I had it and had dragged up all the things that 'aspies' have, such as:
- a dislike of people touching them
- a hatred of all social situations
- a fear of open space
- a fear of closed space
- a fear of working in groups
- a fear of being alone
and the list could go on.....
So as a possible employer, he was rightly concerned that this may impact business productivity if he had an apparent mentalist such as myself working for him! He was very concerned yet extraordinarily supportive in the fact that on one occasion to combat the 'fear of working in groups' bit, he offered to give me an office all on my own so I didn't have to interact with people!
I explained to Jean-Claud that whilst this was very caring of him, I 'only' mild symptoms of AS so I was not as mental as the internet pictured me to be.
After J-C and I had discussed life, the universe and everything I shook hands with everyone and thundered back up the A1 to Bruxelles.
That's all for now! :-)
Dom
