My first week in Bristol

Has it already been a week since I've been at the BBC? Starting last Tuesday seems like an age away, and yet it's never felt so right to be there. I've come to realise that I thrive on variety, and this job gives me that in abundance. I never imaged this morning that I'd be speaking to Jeffrey Archer for example...

Removal day was a bit odd really. It had taken me a day to get everything down in the front room ready to go, and the removal guy put it in his van in about 10 minutes! We were about to set off when he spied a woman at the end of my street trying to start her car, and without any luck. Cue half an hour of him with jump leads from his van, and me stood there wondering what to do with myself

BBC Radio Bristol

About 5 hours later, we made it to where my items were to be stored, and the removal guy managed to offend my friend's mum (Sarah) by jumping out and demanding that she made him a tea that instant. This was especially awkward since I had been told what a nice guy he was! In any case, my life was promptly unloaded and stored away. Suitcase, laptop and towel in tow - we went to my current and temporary residence, the attic of a family house.

The original Broadcasting House on Whiteladies Road, bought by the BBC in the 1930s.

This house is rather nice actually. It's a 4 storey Victorian property, with an Aga kitchen, original Victorian toilet in the basement (I kid you not!) and a nice bunch of quirky features. I was left alone in the house while they went to the cinema on Sunday, and for once in my life I actually felt unsettled. Here I was 200 miles from home, in a strange house - without actually paying them any rent yet. I still don't feel confident using their Aga cooker...

I had a few days to explore, before Tuesday 2nd April rolled around and my first shift dawned. I gave a great impression by turning up 3 hours late. In any case, it was an awful lot to learn last week. The studio configuration of some older equipment, their house style, the layout - and the most important lesson, not to eat breakfast in the morning because we have a cooked one at 9am after the show!

The later extension to the complex. It's great to walk through these doors with a BBC badge in the morning!

The team here at Bristol are great to work with, and have been very patient while I get up to speed with everything. For once I can feel the career progression possible here. I can write scripts which are actually read by the newsreader and presenter, arrange all sorts of guests, and meet some very interesting people. Essentially I spend half the day being a reporter, and it's nice to know where I'm going and what I want to do. When that alarm clock goes off at 4:45am, I don't complain and groan - I look forward to what the day has to offer me.

Of course, it isn't without sacrifice. I've given up my social life, proximity to friends and everything I know up north - just to chase this job. It was hard not to burst out crying when my 85 year old Grandad shook me by the hand and said "you've made it, I knew you would". They are so proud of me, and whenever I get homesick I think about how happy all my relatives are that I am finally doing what I wanted to do in life.

It seems the adage "do a job you enjoy and you'll never work a day in your life" may finally be coming true for me. University paid off, and it is onwards and upwards from here.

Turning a corner in life...

Today, at 10am I noticed a voicemail notification on my phone. When I finished my PC World shift at 12, I sat down in the staff room and called them back. "Hold on a minute, I just need to get out of this room", said the chap at the other end. I waited, and waited - preparing myself for the eventual disappointment that was sure to follow.

"Well Jonathan, we've decided that we'd like to offer you one of the positions, the breakfast BA one". I was elated, relieved and amazed all at once. "We thought you were confident, spoke well and had some great ideas and we look forward to welcoming you to our team".

I thanked him and put the phone down. That was it. I've done it.

In recent months I had been getting rather down about my situation. I'm not the world's best salesman at all - and PC World was giving me enormous amounts of stress due to it. "You've got to think how to attach this, that, ask about leasing etc". They have a business to run and profits to deliver, and I was a liability in that respect! It was a pretty simple job, and I did enjoy talking to people but I ultimately didn't deliver the results, which is why my hours were cut to 20 a week. At the same time, hours at Radio York were scant to say the least, and I was starting to worry about my financial future. Why had I chosen to stay in York if it was just causing me to get down every day?

Today's phone call has changed all that. It is impossible to sum up how I feel, but the main emotion is that of relief. My life isn't transient any more. I can settle down permanently, make new friends and finally live life. Make no mistakes, York is a lovely place to live in - but at times I did question whether I was doing the right thing by leaving Lincoln just for a few casual hours at Radio York. Nothing was ever certain, and at times I had to literally ask for more work to do.

And now that has all changed! My life isn't going to be the same anymore. I can settle down with a full time permanent career, and plan my life for the next few years. I can have money to go out and do things, I can carry on playing my trumpet in one of the basement rooms - and most of all, I can get up every day and go and do a job I know I will love. I've only just turned 22, but my life is ready to be lived!

Starting the new year right...

I wish my January had been more eventful than it actually was! I don't think I really had much of a break over Christmas - it was just more of the same. The PC World sale continued (the joy...) and eventually my hours have tailed off there. I was so hungover on New Years' Day, thanks to Neil I found myself at a house party on New Years' Eve, leaving at 3am and waking up at 7am for work the next day. I actively judged those people who went shopping at 9am on New Years' Day. They should have been in bed hungover like the rest of us were!

Yet again, in a second job I am fighting for hours in order to stay in York! I think I should be ok, but it is motivating me to look for another job. Ultimately, the only reason I have this second job is so that I can stay at BBC Radio York, which is the main passion at the moment. I am enjoying the time off, since I feel like I can breathe again and sort my affairs - there is no way that I would be able to sort a house out on full time hours!

Of course, the downside is a lack of money. I did ask (and ask again) for more work, and the reply was "make sure you sell better". Sigh. It is to be expected in such a place I guess. What it does mean is that I can devote more time to my Radio York stuff, I have a lifeline in the form of Neil's afternoon show and a jazz slot to do with what I want. Perhaps if I left PC World I wouldn't be able to do all of this, so I may have to see how things pan out. It's also been great that I can pick up more hours because of this snowy weather, which I wouldn't be able to do if I was at Clifton Moor working.

In better news, I think I may have sorted a house out! It will be great to reclaim my independence again, I don't think I realised how much I missed it after university. Sure, it is great living with my mum again but I am eager to stand on my own two feet. It's been great to have her support for the moment though.

So looking ahead, I will now be able to do things as I want. Take driving lessons, make some more friends here and keep politely pestering to be paid for anything and everything. Onwards and upwards!