Frying Pan & Fire

Well this week ended a whole lot better than it could have done. There had been some uncertainty about the long term security of Freescale since they couldn't find a buyer for the cellular products division. This meant it was taken back off the market and subject to the same cost cutting drives that were being implemented throught the rest of Freescale. One of these is factory closures planned for every quarter this year and the other is the dreaded contractor cull. Contractors don't get paid during the closures either.

The first week long closure was to be the second week of Feb which I intended to spend in the UK. This was orignally supposed to be the third week though, and I must have had that in mind when I booked the flights, because when I tried to online checkin 4 hours before the flight was due to leave on Friday, I discovered I'd booked the wrong effing week. Not funny. It cost me £85 to correct it and I got crap connection times too. I also had to wait until Sat morning for the first available flight, but in the end I was just glad to be able to get home, and it serves me right for being a numpty.

So Friday afternoon at work I was a bit pissed off, as I wasn't about to go to the airport as I'd originally planned, but just before I left for home, I got some much better news. I, or more correctly, my project had escaped the first contractor cull. At this moment I don't know how far reaching this has been in Toulouse, but the first wave will be kicked out on March 6th. Maybe this will be the end of it, but unless people start buying mobile phones again soon things aren't looking too good.

I calculate that I will have to still be here at the end of May in order to benefit from my decision to quit SEMC early, so fingers crossed. I'm safe for now though, and there are some here that can't say that, but I guess I'd better accelerate my attempts to learn to ski and speak French just in case.