And I'll finish speaking STARRT!

Ok so almost a week into my new job and shit be looking good..my office is basically 10 feet away from that of the highest-ranking civil servant (ie not elected/mandated but career civil servant) in Belgium and it shows. I'm really at the power center, for as much as such a thing really exist in civil service.

Colleagues look nice and are all university-educated, which is no guarantee for coolness but at the very least narrows down the chance of being stuck with a bunch of retarded racists like at my last job. Boss seemed cool enough too, the work matter is interesting (was preparing a text for use in a meeting with the current US Secretary of Homeland Security yesterday, with secret service sweeping the building - heh) and I get/am expected to expand into more areas regarding the EU presidency of Belgium in the future.

The workload seems to be a mix of slow and frantic periods, which I like. Facilities, because this is the most central part of the administration, are ace. I'm now working from home because the trains are on strike, and they even have a computer tool that allows you to personally compose your lunch sandwich with like 70 or so different ingredients which you can then pick up during lunch break at the cafeteria. It ain't world shattering, but still pretty cool.

Yeah, I think I'm liking it there. And the money ain't all bad either.

The other stuff sounds cool as well, but this ... boy how i'd love to have this as well

ps: i live between Westerlo & Aarschot now (or Westerlo - Leuven if you don't know Aarschot). Google maps for Herselt, don't know if you're familiar with this region.

well, congrats man, glad you're digging it. Wish I could find a new place.

In Italy you get "Panini" (plural). A "Panino" refers to a piece of bread used generally as table bread for one person but in this case it's sliced in half and used as a sandwich. the inside is typically cheese + ham + mayo.

Then there's the tramezzino, which is common at bars but not at home. It's white (perhaps special) sliced bread with no crust and the filling varies a lot according to the bar. I personally dont like them much since they're a bit faggy:

Hahaha, Satis is gonna have your ass for not obeying his topic splitting nazi rules.

you bastard!

This week has been crazy for me regarding jobs. I've just had an excellent followup interview at the rather good corporation I was at back in Feb for a very good position. My prev position sucked. Yet at the same time i've been finally considering the army officer career ive always fantasised about. no joke. it's now or never cos im 25 so i've got alot of thinking to do.

I told them i need a week to make a decision.

Yay for a week of sleepless night!!!

Holy shit, derf in the army. I hope they dont supply you with autoshottie there or ill be reading about you in the newspaper.

Haha yeah thats a problem, but it would be the signals corps, so they shouldnt issue any.

Signal corps? Which Army? British I imagine. Are they still using flags, or have they graduated to smoke signals? To be more serious, that's interesting stuff and typically requires a security clearance since you deal with codes and ciphers. I had to have a secret clearance myself just because I dealt with encrypted radio communications as a (small) part of my military job.

Hope you're in decent shape, if you do decide to go. And be prepared to go to some not-so-friendly places.

I actually found a job I love. Still hate getting up in the am and going to work.

yea, you lucky bastard. I despise my job, but it pays the bills and keep my mind engaged. Actually, my job is fine, it's my management that sucks. But whatever, nothing's changed.

Well, based on my experiance, management always sucks in every job. I think its some kind of mental barrier where when you become a manager you go stupid. Luckly for me my immediate supervisor is awesome, hell work your ass off but hes well respected. Now everyone above him, thats a different story.

It's the Peter Principle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle

There's also an "extension" of it called the Dilbert Principle, which I like even more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dilbert_Principle



And dang Derf, could this mean the untimely end of all our MP sessions when you get a job? Good to hear you're getting back on track in any case, and good luck on making a decision!