So I've got only FIVE WEEKS left of full time (ish) work (FTW), and it's still a grind but after 4.5 months the end is very much in sight, especially with the assistance of two bank holiday weeks and a couple of days extra holiday meaning I've only really got three full weeks left.
But I'm defo feeling a little scarred from almost five months of the daily nearly full-time grind!
It's the repetitive nature of it all, really!
I mean this is probably the nature of one of the jobs, it all just becomes a little repetitive, a little deja-vu like, after the first month, things just start repeating.
I guess it's because the Citizens Advice role is quite narrow, there's a limited range of things I work on and a general script I work to and most clients have similar issues, so that's the same old thing over and over again.
And having to work in-house
Is a bit shit TBH. This adds to the deja-vue, even though this is only two and a half days in place, it's still walking through the same corridors, seeing the same people, and it's just not particularly comfortable working in a place that isn't home.
The saving grace of my work week is the Monday which is the only full work from home day, that is NECESSARY!
And the neediness grates...
I'm also finding that in around 25% of cases, they are quite complex needs, and in some of these I'm putting in a lot of effort to help people on benefits get more benefits, which grates. And I'm not necessarily talking about the poorest people in society here either, sometimes it's reasonably well-off people.
It's a matter of me being paid to redistribute wealth in a less than ideal way. Most of the time it's fair enough, but there's at least one or two cases a week where I simply don't agree with what I'm doing, and these kind of sit in my mind a little.
I did one benefits check last week in which the family were entitled to £4500 a month worth of benefits. They didn't bat an eyelid when I informed them of this amount, they just sounded mildly disappointed that they couldn't get any more.
I shit you not.
NB most of this was disability related which isn't means tested, means-tested benefits are capped well-below that figure.
Home then pub or sleep...
The main problem with the grind is that all I feel like doing after is going to the pub, I did that twice this week, only for a couple of pints, but it's not great behaviour, I guess at least it's not binging!
Final month discipline push...
Fingers crossed I can keep it together for a booze-free May, and then I'll be fine from June once half the grind has ended and I'm left with just two days a week of the more interesting of my two part-time jobs!
At least it's been nice spring time weather of late, I've enjoyed that!