...the devil you know...

...is a saying I absolutely agree with and unfortunately, readily identify with.

Just as we thought the flat was perfect - washing machine working, power shower working, window opens, bathroom door looks nice - things went horribly and very drastically wrong.

As Susan was opening the blinds last weekend, they came crashing down on top of her and the tv, tearing a chunk of plaster out of the wall. Susan was thankfully ok; so was the tv for that matter. But the wall looks horrendously bad. And it doesn't look like it's something that will be fixed in one day.

The landlady finally came out to have a look last wednesday and she brought a builder with her. Lots of umming and ahh'ing took place, with lots of "there were no cracks in the walls when we installed the blinds" statements by the builder.

Of course not, Susan and I got up on chairs and repeatedly hammered the walls just to get that effect (that's sarcasm by the way).

As far as I'm aware, they will have to tear out the loose remnants, mix up some cement, apply it, plaster over it, and then in a weeks time when the cement has set, re-attach the blinds to it. That's if the landlord decides that it's worth the bother and not just attach a curtain rod.

This means more time off for me and its at the worst possible time. Not only has Brett resigned and looking forward to leaving (which means he will only help me occassionally) but another guy has been made redundant and the 1st Line Support engineer has gone on holiday as well. Arrrghhh!

Over the past few days, the idea of working in a company where the 3rd Line Support Techie is leaving in 4 days, where the web designer is leaving in 10 days, where the 1st line Techie is on holiday for another 5 days is all too much for me.

I have been run off my feet the past week, and I have another week to look forward to. I can't take time off for interviews because I've been warned by management that any time off I may take will conflict with business-critical issues. A fancy way of saying "if you leave, we'll be up shit creek without a paddle".

The question I'm asking myself more and more is:

"And why do I work for these people exactly?"