My God! What Have I Done?

 

This is a bit of a strange post, and not my normal sort of thing on this blog, but there's been a little news.

Today is officially my last day at my dayjob. As assistant manager of The Television and Movie Store. TVM opened in 2007, and while I wasn't there from the opening day (I had a week of notice to work at my previous job) I was there almost from the start. Blimey... Thirteen years (plus). 

It's one of those ultimate nerdy jobs. I got the position by answering an advert posted on the old Outpost Gallifrey message boards, and I sorta knew the boss from ordering from his company in my previous job at Ottakars. The shop itself is a former BBC Shop (remember when those were all over the country) and when we opened we really had very little stock, and about 80% of that was Doctor Who. 

Thirteen years later, and it has grown into an awesome geek-fest full of merchandise for everything from Marvel to Star Wars, with ranges from badges and pens up to Hot Toys. 

In the formative years of the shop we hosted signings with many actors from Doctor Who, including the legendary Tom Baker (a couple of times), Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Nicola Bryant, Nicholas Courtney, Deborah Watling, Peter Purves, Terry Molloy, and so many more. In fact, in a lot of cases when you look these fantastic actors up on Wikipedia, you'll find their photo has been taken at our store signing. We've had some of the cast of Torchwood, and even Red Dwarf, in store, signing for enthusiastic fans. This does mean that a lot of my collection of classic Doctor Who DVDs have been signed. Heck, I even managed to get Tom Baker (who was lovely at each signing, and an absolute star when it comes to talking to the fans) to sign my old FASA Doctor Who roleplaying game. 

Thirteen years. Of course, it wasn't the cool stock or the cool signings that made working there a pleasure. Luckily I had the most awesome staff with me at the shop. Over the years I've made some of the best friends I could ever hope to have there, and that's the part that is making this decision a tough one. I'm really going to miss them. On the plus-side, it's not like I'm going anywhere, and it's a shop! So at least I can go visit when I'm feeling up to leaving the house.

Why now? Why did I quit after all those years? Well, an opportunity arose (which will be revealed later) that I simply couldn't pass up. It's the culmination of a dream 35+ years in the making. From those first typed manuscripts hammered out on an old electric typewriter, photocopied and posted out, that dream has always been there. 

And now the chance to do it as a full-time job (from the safety of my own home) has come into view and I just had to go for it. Of course, now I'm filled with the doubt, the panic, being convinced that I'm not good enough, can't do it, and will be fired after my trial period only to go grovelling back to the shop with my head hanging low in defeat. 

It's also a particularly big relief for me as it means I don't have the massive stress of going back into the public at the shop during what is hopefully the end and recovery period of the pandemic. Seriously, the stress of being so close to people who just didn't care about the pandemic, coming into the store unmasked, putting my careful and concerned staff (and myself) at risk, was just getting to me. 

Anyway, Ostara is a time for new beginnings, of the light defeating the darkness. I hope this Easter is a new, and brighter, beginning for me.

Until next post, stay safe everyone. Take care of yourselves and each other.