Her Beauty and her Terror

The UK adventure wound up with two days at our head office in Maidenhead, also the site of another newish division of our group. I looked after the finance and admin integration for this division earlier this year when we acquired them, so had a few colleagues to meet in person. One of the team made me traditional Latvian soup for lunch - red broth with vegetables, cabbage and ham. Delicious! 

We did also manage to fit in a final pub meal at a five hundred year old pub at Windsor, the Fox and Crown. As we were driving there, we could see Windsor castle in the distance. 

Meetings and planning sessions took up most of the work time. The final board proposal had to be put together and submitted. I ended up working till 6pm on my last night to run a few more scenarios on my model for responses to board questions. I regret not putting more time into the model in the first place to make it “tweak” proof but I had no idea I would be needing a Rolls Royce model rather than something just functional. That analogy seems particularly pertinent since Flynn bought a car while I was away - at the cheapest end of the spectrum so I’m hoping that the repair bills don’t eclipse the car price.

I should have wrapped up the blog on the weekend, as the work parts don’t lend themselves to many stories, but since the reason I’m travelling at all is for work…a few reflections:

I tasted loneliness on this trip. Not a lot, and not often, but in a few tough moments. The blog was a way to  connect with “my people” - please accept my thanks to you for reading. Every comment, every like on Facebook, every messenger or WhatsApp message was a connection, a touch of home. I almost called this post “You’ve got a friend” but I wanted something about Australia and Carol didn’t fit. You may or may not have noticed but references to music or books in the titles are almost strictly UK sourced.

I went into this adventure without really recognising the magnitude of the task - show up at a business, learn how it works, build relationships, make a plan to set up in Aus, put together a proposal, then go do it. Well. I recognise it now. I’m humbled by their faith in me and grateful for the opportunity. I’m excited, but I’m terrified too.  The terror is mitigated by the support and assistance I’ve experienced from everyone involved, and also by a quiet, sure confidence that only came to me on my last day at the facility. I can do this. 

I’ve loved England - the history, the beauty, the people, but I’m SO looking forward to being home… the wide brown land for me.