The Apprentice, and, Dragon's Den...an opinion

Today was supposed to be a day off for me; a day before the real work begins tomorrow and one which I hoped would be spent relaxing and catching up with some non-Cerberus related stuff. Unfortunately, I decided that I would give TV, in general, another chance and watch a few programmes. I began with exhausting my recorded episodes of Deadliest Catch, when expecting bearded men catching crabs it is difficult to be disappointed, and I wasn't. Then I made the mistake of taking a suggestion from a friend and began watching 'The Apprentice'. First of all I understand the rationale behind the selection of the personalities for the show having worked on a number of reality TV shows. However, in the case of 'The Apprentice' it appears that the selection process involved lack of personality or realism, which would have pre-qualified the entire management from my previous paymasters.

The positive element that I took from this irritating, yet captivating, show is how not to do shit and that any approach to business different to that seen on this show is the correct way forward. In fact any show where individuals rely on winning in order for their business to be successful, and this includes Dragon's Den, should preclude them from ever being considered in the first place. Just an opinion and one which I will proclaim more vociferously if, and when, Cerberus succeeds.

On with the televisual feast.

Hope, false or otherwise, but hope never the less.

Truth be told, I was ready to throw in the towel this week, which was evident in the way I have continued to dress down through the week. I do realise that the way you prepare for a working day including the way you dress, breakfast and conduct your time has a direct bearing on confidence and hence results.

There are those who would feel superstitious about revealing potentially positive opportunities before they are confirmed and concrete. I, on the other hand, prefer to remain mindlessly optimistic about this and will always hold to the hope that if I maintain this approach, then one day, all will come good and, in the words of Bob Marley (as well as Edstanator) 'every little thing's, gonna be alright'.

Anyway, getting to the point, a number of things happened today that have prevented my towel throwing activities as well as backing the Hilux into the house and attaching a pipe to the exhaust. Firstly, Chris, my partner, shit better rephrase that as I've said it far too many times. Chris, my BUSINESS partner, finally released the idiot monkeys on Skynet to apply himself 100% to our cause. In fact, on that note I would like to state, once again, that the level of management and general business and (lack of) commercial approach taken by Astrium 3S, or Paradigm, or Government Communications, or whatever they wish to muddy the waters with a name change today, is beyond anything pathetic I have ever experienced.

A quick paragraph on that. If there are any corporate entities reading this, which is, hopefully doubtful, then, for heavens sake; never, ever, consider using the inept, arrogant, dinosaur structure offered by the clowns at Anchorage Road, Portsmouth. The amalgamation and downsize by Astrium 3S and Paradigm is a result of incompetence, lack of commercial knowledge and above all a slow slide, through arrogance, to a comedy nothingness that gives me confidence and hope. Cheers muppets.

Back to the hope. With Chris onboard 100% I can now move forward with a reasonable marketing and sales plan. Then, as I was expecting a visit from my partner, shit I did it again, the phone rang. It was the bank, well my bank anyway. It appears that I have been using my overdraft inefficiently and as such have an 8K option to extend and move forward. This fills a hole and allows me and Charlotte to resurrect the company and push forward. Secondly, our first gig for the London 10k road-race has been, eventually confirmed. I have an interview for a contract next week and Eddy came third at his sports day race.

There are probably a few more positive things to report but it's time to celebrate the basic happiness.

Can I ask a favour to you all? If you do take the time to read please like on FaceBook or please otherwise let me know. I know that there are a great deal of my friends and family who do take the time to read and it does help me and gives me the means to continue.

Thanks all.

Well I was going to write about...

a white paper I read today; 'The socio-economic effect of broadband in sub-Saharan Africa.' but then I saw this:

After 75Years Spam is now available in this 200g, easy to open, plastic tub. Available from Tesco early July and Asda a month later. How cool is that? Spam is a much maligned super-food. In fact, my memory of particular meals and snacks is somewhat limited but I do remember a sandwich I had somewhere in the wilds of Mali en route to Timbuktu.

Tony and I had driven 18 hours a day for four days at this point and eaten very little. We stopped at a shack in a rough village somewhere between Bamako and Mopti to buy some local bread, a bit like wholemeal flattish baguettes (the French probably have a specific name for this) and sliced up some Spam, very greasy in the heat, it was the most amazing taste, I felt slightly guilty as the local kids looked on in envy at my porky treat, sometimes religion can be a hindrance.

Thought I would share that. Maybe something a tad more high-brow tomorrow, although I doubt it.

Show us your hatch rash...and some slightly good news.

It struck me today, and not for the first time, that those who bang on about their time in the forces are generally those who have little else in their lives, or at least no alternative achievements to brag about. Don't get me wrong, I do respect and admire all of those who have given their time, blood and in most instances youth and freedom for a purpose and behind that a belief. To dedicate yourself to something takes heart, even if that purpose is not what others see as a just cause it takes character to do so and more to stay on that path. If you remove all arguments of whether particular conflicts are right or wrong, learning a place in a highly structured team environment teaches reliance and self discipline and that is priceless. Shit, listen to me ramble.

In the time I spent working with both Paradigm and Astrium I encountered many, many ex-Royal Navy    personnel. I was often embarrassed by a few, usually those who had risen to the dizzy heights of chief or fleet chief (un-capitalised on purpose) and had only ever had one job other than their current one. The title question is enough, no hatch rash, no real sea-time. I know I am a short timer and all that bollocks but my hatch rash is epic ;-)

A great day at Cerberus today, still no income but the Asda 'whoops' section is always attractive and helpful. Following our new, helpful and lucrative agreement with our primary suppliers we can now offer a Pay As You Go arrangement for those who need it and, I believe, that we are the first on the market to offer this particular service.

The good news, apart from the fact that I don't have to watch daytime TV, is that when I bought my trendy new trousers from Asda I had to downsize to a 38 inch waist. OK, as my doctor says, 'Meester Gledson, you obese' (she's Polish I think), but considering that I was up to a 44 inch waist four years ago that's good news. I only need to lose another eight stone and I'll fit in with my mates down the bus station.

Having time to waste time

After a good week another looms with the potential to go either way, beginning with a rather important meeting tomorrow afternoon at Blackfriars with our primary supplier which will shape our future in the most definitive of ways.

The latest Star Wars film has issued casting calls for major roles which means the production is about to ramp up, would love to get some of the action supplying the comms for the on=location elements, I guess we can all dream ;-)

I've been thinking about alternatives to my current situation, as in; if I had accepted the situation as I had lost my job as opposed to merely, 'shit my company has no contract', then I know that my attitude would be completely different. Granted, the effect is the same, no money coming in; from a contract or an employer it makes little difference when it isn't there. At my age, blimey, I never thought I'd ever admit that I was getting on a bit, the prospect of re-employemnt is slim to none, especially if there's an element of re-training involved. Not to worry, I'm not looking (not at the moment anyway) to do either go for a permanent position nor re-train.

I have found myself wondering if I had actually lost my job, in a permanent position type of way, and had accepted the lot of a career. Weatherspoon's is full of such, often a ten thirty, for a breakfast pint or three, followed by a few more, at some manky pub near a bus or train station. My point is that it is easy to despair and lose heart when things don't go your way. Endless mornings of daytime television, documentaries and repeats of Only Fools and Horses are motivation enough to get up and do something, anything!

I have also realised that until three weeks ago I have not been in a position to really understand the implications of running your company or indeed how much effort and time is required to break through into an area of operating profit. Pursuing the goals of Cerberus when earning from another contract is an ideal situation but it's not until there is no alternative but to go forward that any real progress, in a short time, can really be made. Desperation provides focus and focus yields results, now there is no time to waste any time.

Head above water? Oh yes...

Another week has gone by and I’m still ploughing ahead, indeed we have more team members working on this at 100%.

I remember a few years ago, more than a few, when I was still in the Navy. I, for some reason, unfortunately, seemed to attract rather active action stations on my ships and the time I spent on The Cumberland was no different. As a member of the aft DC party (Damage Control for the uninitiated) I was expected to await incidents where we would be required to respond immediately to extinguish fire, staunch floods, re-run cables and generally stop the ship form succumbing to the relentless attacks of a nefarious foe. On the whole this was rather tame, except from the time at Portland when the Green filth (FOST tossers) would throw thunder flashes and smoke grenades around like a cheap Janner wedding. Occasionally we would be required to visit the DRIU (Damage Repair Instruction Unit) at HMS Raleigh. This was a magnificent piece of machinery which replicated a large portion of a Naval ship complete with mess-decks, machinery spaces, galley and electrical supplies but was used to test the abilities of the DC units. To this end they could simulate a number of ways with which the unit could be struck and start to fill with water...don’t worry I am going somewhere with this.

In order to ensure that all were instructed, and understood the significance of all elements of damage control, the command of the sections were rotated and not the exclusive remit of the officers. On one particular occasion the command of an engine/machinery space was left to me. There is never a positive outcome when the action starts leaving the only question of, what point does the team commander give up on his task. I guess that you can see the analogy now. On that occasion I stayed until I was the last man in the compartment, evacuating my team and leaving only when I had no room to breathe. I’m not there yet, but, the point at which the decision is made to abandon the task is foremost in my mind.

There is a meeting with our supplier on Monday at which our position will be made clear and the support we require will either be accepted or not. If not, then we will be forced to take our hard work elsewhere, to another potentially more accommodating supplier.

We have a great deal of potential, hearing from one of our IT consultant advisors in South Africa a few minutes ago has only added to this.

Another a big push from early next week.

Hump day on week three of not having an income...

The snob in me feels that I have to mention that in the few years I have been blogging, this is the first time since my Timbuktu road trip in 2012, that I have had the misfortune, nay, displeasure, to use a PC and associated shit bits and bobs.

A pretty good day toady, meetings with old friends and the reiteration that the management at Skynet 5 are still a bunch of no nothing bell-ends, but we all knew that. A good demo which will lead to better things and, as they say in Monolpoly; 'An administrative error is in your favour...' collect enough money to pay for some of the direct debits.

It seems that, although there are a great deal of requests and interest coming in, our primary suppliers are going to be the problem. We have a meeting, Monday, I hope we can resolve.

As mentioned above, it's my first day for a while without a Mac and I find myself getting particularly angry at this poor PC, so I'll leave now.

I did have some really funny lines to post but can't be arsed to fight this keyboard so please laugh anyway.

Busy day with beef fajitas

After a bit of a punt on the event calendar, it seems that this approach worked with more than a couple event organisers responding immediately. Will chase this, as well as a rather excellent request to wifi up a regions towns centres.

Marvellous. 

Another day...another MacDonald's breakfast

Rather disappointingly when I stopped off at MacDonald's last Friday, just for a coffee, I was asked if I wanted 'the usual', I din't have the heart to say no. Today was slightly different in that I wasn't asked if wished 'the usual' and in that I did. It brings back memories when I was attempting something similar ten years ago when I became an expert, along with Monsieur Anfrew (typo on purpose, reason later) Briggs, could sniff out the biggest, cheapest and greasiest 'Full English' in the locale. Some of my best memories of this period, around 2002/3 & 4, involve large, thick rashers of bacon and a fried slice, awesome. I must say that my breakfast enjoyment has been shared by Emma, and I have had a great time working with her in the office.

For some reason, when we started off the company mobile phone accounts Briggsy was labelled as Mister Anfrew Briggs, when he rang to complain...well, the conversation went along these lines:

Vodafone: Can you confirm your name please?
Briggsy: Mister Andrew Briggs
Vodafone: We have you down as Mister Anfrew Briggs
Briggsy: Who have you ever heard of called Anfrew?
Vodafone: Just you mister Briggs.

Always loved the common sense of the call centre. (That actually happened)

A shift in approach again today as the goalposts have well and truly been moved by our main supplier. When I say moved I do in fact mean shipped off to two completely unrelated localities on a global basis, and by goalposts I mean a large bowl of jelly and a small fish. Never the less another forced shift in our approach has led to steps both forward and backwards. A company discussion is required as the landscape is now food, well for me anyway and an income for a fledgling company in order to achieve an operating profit.

Off to Hungerfordshire tomorrow to discuss matters with Chris, and hopefully a further meeting afterwards to better understand where we have been going wrong.

The new approach is  WiFi offering for events and festivals, already results are appearing.

Time for ribs.

The big push Captain Darling and Superman the Movie

I had given myself a week to progress, succeed and, above all, start bringing home the bacon sufficiently to survive. Now that the reality of the situation has filtered through my rather limp defences I have changed my approach. In fact, my approach has changed on an almost daily basis, shifting with the feedback and market intelligence that flows from the real action taken.

The ability to dedicate 100% of my time to the operation has yielded exponentially increased results but, as I have mentioned before I need to focus on ABC...ALWAYS BE CLOSING.

Next week will prove to be the watershed I am sure. I have all of the support from all of the right people so have no excuse for failure. Looking forward to some additional support from some old friends which can only help and push us forward.

On an other, completely different, subject, what the hell is going with movie remakes? OK, I've mentioned this before and will do so again, this time in a bit more particular fashion.

Why on earth has the film Superman been remade? The fact that the premise is sterile and uninteresting has made no difference to the decision to regurgitate another banal attempt at the ridiculous idea. Consider, an almost omnipotent and indestructible being exists, protecting a small municipal area, hiding his identity with a pair of specs, marvellous. He is made vulnerable only when a small chunk of rock arrives from his home world. What a load of bollocks. A film entitled 'God's lunch hour' would be more acceptable, or 'Buddha gets a Macdonalds'.

Missed Thursday, but here is the Friday and end of week update

A busy week. Two trips to Shepperton studios, Pinewood, to the uninitiated, have pushed Cerberus into the forefront of certain areas of communications support a lot quicker than I anticipated. Also there are a number of interesting partnerships in the pipeline that will, hopefully, give us a chance to move in areas that we didn't expect.

That's the work shit out of the way, dull yet important. My life and approach to life has changed drastically over the past couple of weeks. OK, I have little or no income, but I am a damn sight happier now than I ever was when I was contracting for the idiots at Astrium. I am waking up and feeling so motivated and excited about working in the office with my wife that it's a bit scary. I'm sure that if this continues, and if everything I've seen from the adult film industry is to be believed, then my MILF secretary will keep me busy in ways I cannot imagine.

Contacts and ideas are rocking in at an amazing rate and I have the great opportunity to utilise the expertise of an old mate of mine, if this works we will be moving along a lot quicker next week than this.

Sam is away at the Download festival and even though he is approaching his quarter century (he's not, but it sounds good) I still worry. Be safe buddy!!

We may have to sell all assets, caravan, car, kidneys, but tonight we are here at Solent Breezes calm and in bed, sleeping. Hope for next week is paramount in my heart and I thank all of you who read and care about our situation, you know you are (V and M ;-) and my wife who I could not do without, IS NEIL BENNET STILL DEAD?

More later.

Wednesday and unsure

First of all I would like apologise for the pompous and negative tone of yesterdays post. In particular the bit where I state that I despise those who have not counted coppers to feed their family. That was badly versed; what I meant to portray was that I have a real problem with those who have not lived at the edge of financial ruin.

For today, I would like to thank Pete and Chris, we are not only getting somewhere but, also, our credibility is increasing with every meeting.

I can't say too much about the events today, but, I can say that we have decided to bite the bullet. There is no prize for second place, we need to go ahead and retain our resources in order to sell and be successful without a negative and greedy approach to the market. This we can do and we will, tomorrow.

I am still in the shit with the tax man, but, as I have now decided to wind up my consultancy company and focus on the services company, the way forward seems clearer.

South Africa remains on the radar, get well Mister M.

Tuesday and some thoughts on time etc.

We live in a blip in the geological calendar. I've said this before but will go through it again for the stragglers.

Our species has grown from a massive downturn in the numbers of humanity around the end of the last ice-age. We have recovered and multiplied like a plague, or indeed a virus. The last cull was likely to have been caused by an unknown geological event, as have all major extinctions, exterminations and extinguishment of dominant species for as long as we can be bothered to look back in time, with the evidence available to us. My point is that we are well overdue for, even a mediumly impactive geological event, another volcano, earthquake or landslip tsunami will happen, but when? That is even ignoring extra-terrestrial influences such as meteor strikes, comet interaction or solar flares.

Our race has evolved and grown, in a distilled fashion, only over the past couple of hundred years. We ignore trends, history and likely events at our peril, yet we stress about tax, money and independent financial gain as though they are the most important elements in our lives. A wise old man once said to me that when those who have experienced an out of body experience and returned to a 'normal' life have not only spoken of a 'bright light' but also of a feeling of judgement. The judgement was based, almost exclusively, on two questions:

1. What have you learned?
2. How have you enriched the lives of others?

There are worse ways, and rules to live your life by, but inconsideration, selfishness and lack of empathy are all too prevalent in too many people.

Blimey, that took more words than I anticipated, never mind, get to the point Johnny.

My relationship with HMRC is souring rapidly and likely to cause a few break up problems, pretty soon actually. Time, the subject of the blog, is the key here. Many, many breakthroughs and opportunities today, some too sensitive to mention, but they will take time. I can only hope; hope and keep pushing, trying and remaining positive, until there is no way forward.

A final note for today and one which I know will upset some. I despise those who have never striven, aspired or given all for their dreams. I despise those who live off the success of others. I despise those who have never counted coppers to feed their family. I despise those who have not put themselves second or even last. And above all I despise those who ignore those close to them because it is inconvenient or difficult.

Belief never dies (thanks Em)

It's been a rather bizarre day, as mentioned on my Facebook post.

As time progresses certain dates in time begin to hold a greater significance. Consider, we have a finite tie to live and pack as much into our busy lives as we can. With this in mind; we only have so many days within which to fit these memories.

It does seem , however, that certain dates hold more significance than others. Today, for example, continues to attract emotion and gravitas. Initially my dad's birthday and through that an introduction to the tragedy at Oradour-Sur-Glane:

http://youtu.be/NbHjVxzoKKQ

Some time later though my mother died, following a long battle against a particularly aggressive brain tumour, on the same day.

As you can see, today, 10th June, began to take on a rather negative aspect so I can only hope that the news today for opportunities tomorrow, can change this.

Miss you mum...you're the first person Ems and I would always call with any life changing news.

Fear and Being Human being shit!!

Last night I awoke, well it was early this morning, at between three and four and experienced a feeling that I would prefer to forget. I worried. I awoke and spent over and hour worrying about the financial implications of my current situation. This is something I have done before and now understand the futility of the emotional stress and strain of doing so. Yet, I did this. I know that I am in a rather peculiarly difficult situation, but, by the same token, I am also in a rather peculiarly positive position also. Anyway, I lay awake for over an over worrying and stressing before I remembered that this approach is so counter productive as to be the worst approach to adopt. So I sighed and returned to sleep.

Now, hours later I see the sense, I see the way forward. This has been tempered with a positive call from Marko informing me that there is an immediate opportunity with our Angolan prospect. Time is a bitch...

I am currently selling personal assets in order to remain afloat, yet, such lucrative business opportunities present themselves.

On a completely different note, I was so disappointed at the conclusion of the BBC series 'Being Human' which I finally managed to get round to seeing last night.

What a continuity 'k up. The whole series was based on the fact that the devil was trapped in a manky old body for 100 years. Yet when the shit hit the fan, a sniper's laser assist appeared, the devil managed to leave his prison immediately. He then inhabited the murderer and left when the ritual was performed, only to re-inhabit the same body.

What a load of shit. Get a real writer, and a real editor!!!

Friday and the end of a busy week

I'm not sure what I expected to get out of my first week working directly for Cerberus without the safety net of the Skynet 5 project. It's a rather strange feeling; on the one hand I need the income but on the other without the time to spend to create and maintain momentum Cerberus would just plod along and do nothing, make no sales and remain nothing more than merely a great idea.

Five days full time on the case has yielded a great many contacts, interesting people all, there is a massive appetite for cost effective satellite solutions across many markets, CCTV, webcasting, and unified communications amongst those.

I must admit I was despairing on Tuesday but after a couple of days with a 'nothing to lose' approach the Cerberus contacts folder is a lot healthier with many successful and interested parties.

I need another week to keep this running at the current speed and keep thinking 'ABC', 'Always BE Closing' aside from the poor grammar it's a firm sentiment.

The other motivating factor to make Cerberus successful is the fact that I have spent more time at home in the mornings and evenings and there is no way that I want to watch Disney Channel or Jeremy Kyle any longer, I don't have the emotional strength to deal what either.

It appears that we will have to sell our caravan in Warsash, but I guess we knew this would happen one day. I just hope that something changes before i have to sell the children.

Upshot - looking good but still no cigar.

Thursday and offers...

It has been a rather interesting week with the focus of attention changing on a daily basis, or should I say a distillation of opportunity.

Today saw an increased interest in the Occasional Use model in that two more outfits have asked for a rate card, which I still need to update to reflect our new approach. Time is now, more than ever, against me with today a milestone on the Astrium calendar. If Chris can stay as a contractor for a little longer then Cerberus only has to support me in the short term, with the UKTI refund for the recent South Africa trip and the few gigs we've already secured.

It's difficult to maintain the UK momentum as well as to keep the South Africa opportunities ticking over but our potential (probably more than that now) partners in SA are finding their feet and ratcheting up the attack from Johannesburg. Plenty to do.

Wednesday...am I failing miserably and deluding myself?

Sorry, a negative heading generally draws people in. Feel guilty if that applies to you ;-)

A good day today after a rather wasteful start. Let me explain.

I saw the way forward, for us, and the real means to get the income flowing, as either production support or disaster recovery solutions. Now, both are equally viable and boring solutions but not
immediately likely to help. As mentioned yesterday, to a certain extent, the production world is so far up its own arse that they generally believe that the level of service they require exceeds that of the blokes fighting for us in Afghanistan and similar. I have very little time for that and as such stopped talking to them.

The other, disaster recovery, saw me sending a emails to every race course in the Uk and beginning to follow them up by phone. This took all morning and the end result was a contact with a lady who runs the ATM machine in Great Yarmouth, on race days only. I realised that the whole approach should be based on return against effort and they way it seemed to be proceeding I was taking a whole day to secure a £50/month contract, not too great. I decided to go back to what I know, the original idea, video contribution over cost effective means. Within ten minutes I had interest, a possible booking. £1000/day over £50/month? Which way to go?

I was bad today though. I let the negativity get the better of me and coerced Emma to accompany me to the pub at lunch for a quick couple glasses of wine, large ones. That's half a litre of wine each...Never again, I found it very difficult to focus. Fridays only I promise.

Nothing on the sad retained, contract job front yet but fingers crossed.

Tuesday

After a rather despondent end to the working day yesterday things took a turn for the better when it was announced that we nave secured the London 10k road race. That means that we are supplying two satellite units to provide video connectivity to the event, good news. This was improved when a further 'demo' event was secured.

The identified approach, for me, to call as many TV and film productions worked in as much that I got through to nobody and failed to connect at all. This approach is a great idea and we only need one major production to support ourselves for some time but the input and effort required to penetrate this rather woolly and indecisive world of the broadcast industry is too much. Instead an approach is needed to markets that need and indeed require immediately our services.

Saying that, there is still a very real and immediate need for video contribution at a rate and service cheaper and better than the established, conventional providers such as SIS or Arqiva, we can do that.

I now have a better idea of what is required to succeed.

In the words of Madness...'Tomorrow is just another day'

First major gig secured...

So happy and encouraged. Nice one Chris and Cerberus and k'you nay sayers...there is hope.

Monday

Having a safety net, a means of an income without the need to tax yourself or indeed try at all, is not fully appreciated until you are walking on the high wire without one Today proved to me how truly unprepared I was, am, to begin trading in earnest. Until today I feel that I have been playing at business, going through the motions without amy real consequence, without any real need to succeed. I realised today that I am woefully prepared to begin pushing our identified products and services.

The plan today was to throw together a couple of product sheets, sufficient, I thought, to get the show on the road. From this elevated position it would just be  case of making calls and sending out the relevant information. In addition to this I aimed to make a start on the documentation required to progress the South African opportunities. How wrong I was. In the background I was applying for short term contract jobs to tide me over, this also took time.

I sit here attempting to get a plan together for tomorrow. I have the product sheets finished, it was after four when I reached this point. I made the essential calls and began writing some of the stuff for SA but I feel that I have barely made a dent in what I need to do. I haven't even looked at drumming up new business. I need to get a list of calls I need to make tomorrow so I can make those before leaving for a meeting with UKTI at 1330.

Shit man, I'm so close and have put everything into this, I just hope that I have the energy and drive to see it through.

A day of preparation at the office and the shoddy approach from GC

Still trying to remain calm and mild about the recent turn of events with my previous employers but, I must admit, it is difficult. Lewis Page, the author of 'Lions, Donkeys & Dinosaurs' would be fascinated to hear about the approach taken by Atrium and the other actors within the Skynet 5 PFI. Critical communications for our troops around the world have been compromised by financial decisions which have ensured that an inferior product has been delivered late, untested and not working. Corners have been cut, issues shelved, ignored and massaged. I sincerely hope that the current bunch of idiots at Astrium or GC or indeed whatever they rebrand themselves to confuse and confound their customers, fail spectacularly and fall by the wayside allowing more professional organisations to bid for the next MoD satellite project.

That said it's been a rather odd day. I've been trying to get as much organised to hit the ground running tomorrow. Setting attainable targets and goals are paramount. Half a dozen tasks, all achievable, have been identified, giving me the morning for the creation of documentation and the afternoon for calls.

I will be in the office all day so if anyone wants to give me a call please do:

+44 (0) 208 133 3630

Hopefully more to tell tomorrow night.

The reason for no further blogs from South Africa

I managed to get the first blog out from Johannesburg but then, on the morning of day 2 I received a rather situation changing telephone call. My on-going contract with Astrium had been terminated, at the end of the week, in three days time. No explanation, no notice period no remorse and certainly no real sympathy. This came in the middle of a rather important meeting and skewed my mind somewhat. I rang my line manager back on-site and received a rather embarrassing, stumbling apology with no real substance or, indeed, sense. The spineless buffoon has ignored the employment situation since he took the job a year or so ago.

I realise now how it is easy to descend into a bitter diatribe towards those who have wronged us but not today, not for me.

Thankfully my exit strategy, the new business that offers communications from any remote location is almost at the point where it could, potentially, support at least one full-time member of staff. I would have preferred another two weeks at least with the safety net of an additional contract but Roger and the monkeys have now made my way forward clear.

With this in mind I have decided to ratchet up the whole approach and to give it a go.

I have a week, or more precisely six days within which I have to secure sufficient business to prevent a catastrophe. I will keep a record of the proceedings in this blog, it may end up as 'car-crash' blogging but alternatively it may be more positive than that.

Planning the next few days has taken some time today and will be completed tomorrow.

I have a lot of balls to throw at a great many coconuts, let's hope I win a fish.