Category Archives: Life Events

Onwards and Upwards

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For the past 4 years (near enough) I’ve had the privilege to work with a boutique web design and development firm here in Jersey.

And after 4 years it’s time to move on. Friday the 9th March is my last day at BlueBox Creative.

When I joined, back in March 2009, I was coming from a very different environment – I’d been working as a developer for a managed services provider and had done very little classic web dev during that time. I also knew nothing about ColdFusion (above and beyond the fact of its existence) and hadn’t worked in a local client facing environment for 5 years.

The BlueBox team were making already waves in Jersey! By the time I arrived they’d  netted two CIM awards and had a range of impressive local clients. I had the honour of working with them to take the company through the next phase of its life!

During my time I had the opportunity to work on a range of projects and to work with the cutting edge in web technology. My job didn’t just mean a new set of work mates & clients but introduced me to a whole new community of very cool people by way of ColdFusion, CFML, and Railo.

My new role is just as exciting! I’ll be joining the Quidsin team to head up their systems development which will mean new challenges, different technologies and a new platform to take forward.

Yes, I’ll be heading back to PHP development for a while but the instant I can make a business case for CFML I will. And I hope my fellow CF devs won’t shun me just because of an outbreak of semicolons & braces.

It will be with sadness that I shut down my PC for the last time on the 9th  but with a hint of pride in knowing that I’ve been a part of some of the best web projects undertaken in the island over the last few years.

And now it’s time to move – onwards and upwards.

The joys of the Jersey Taxation System

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Warning – <rant> ahead

Despite the fact that the Jersey tax year runs January - January I just got my annual tax return through and, true to form, the States of Jersey have fucked up my tax rate … again.

Allow me a moment to fill you in on the backwards, shambolic chaos that is the Jersey Taxation system. A few years ago, in order to address the massive numbers of people “slipping through the tax net” the States introduced a monthly payment regime known as ITIS.

But, rather than  starting over with a Pay As You Earn system* they decided to settle for assessing last years tax liability and trying to “guess” the rate of your current salary needed to offset this on a month by month basis. In other words Pay As You Earned!

So to switch back to the current day, I’m not going to post details of my salary (I’m pissed off, not stupid!) but suffice to say I’ve been paying 15% tax for the past 6 months and have just been given a new rate of 14% by the tax office based on my 2010 salary / 2011 income … which will take effect from my July pay packet… and would leave me with a 3 figure shortfall at the end of the year.

A quick spreadsheet later and I’ve worked out that I need to continue to pay 15% for the next 4 months and then increase my rate to 16% for 2 months to almost break even. In fact it leaves me 77 pence in credit.

Given that my salary hasn’t changed this year (and even if it had they could base the calculation on my salary as declared quarterly) how the hell did they manage to get things this wrong?

Fortunately I’ve been burned by their incompetence in the past and so have managed to avoid having to find a few extra hundred pounds for the tax man at Christmas time.

My only remaining question is who do I bill at the States of Jersey for my time spent doing their jobs for them?

</rant>

* The reason they gave for not switching to PAYEarn  was the risk that they would lose a year of taxation if people left the island despite the fact that it would initially lead to an increase in tax revenue (due to cost of living increases in salaries year to year) and the loss would actually be staggered as people left the island or retired at different times.

As things currently stand they face the same staggering effect as, when I were to leave Jersey, I would be left with last year’s tax still to pay … as I said – Chaos!

Time to Quit – The Initial Referal

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This morning I had my first meeting with the Help2Quit programme member – a very nice bloke by the name of Richard.

With his help I’ve set a timescale for quitting which starts first thing tomorrow. It was an interesting session and raised some points I didn’t know about the process. For example I was not aware that, chemically, a craving for nicotine only lasts for 6 minutes. Richard recommended that I look at setting up a series of “Six Minute Strategies”  to handle these cravings in a positive manner. I’ve got a couple of days to come up with activities that can be used at home, at work and whilst I’m out and about.

I’ll be using Nicotine Replacement for the first few weeks (mostly for the benefit of those around me) but am already looking forward to the point where I can wean myself off these and go completely nicotine free.

I’ll also be using the tried and tested chewing gum (normal sugar free stuff not nicotine gum) technique to handle the first weeks worth of associated anxiety and to act as an apetite suppressant.

All in all I’m feeling positive and am almost looking forward to the challenge. I’ll be documenting my progress here (so apologies of you find it all rather dull) and am grateful for any messages of support you may wish to send my way.

So here’s to the beginning of the end of my life as a smoker!

Time to Quit

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During a slightly drunken conversation towards the end of last year’s Big Birthday Bash I made a commitment to a friend of mine … that I would have quit smoking by the time my 31st birthday rolled around.

Well, my birthday is rapidly approaching (no need to send gifts by the way … unless you feel you have to) and I’m gearing up to give up.

A bit of history; I started smoking late (well compared to a lot of my friends) aged 18.5, mostly due to being at university and redefining boundaries.

I have previously managed to quit for approx. 6 months when I was 24.

This means that, based on an average of 20 cigarettes a day I have now smoked more than 90,000 ciggies at a cost that is easily in the £1,000s.

I’m not trying this on my own. The local government here in Jersey runs a campaign called Help2Quit which offers support (both financial in terms of free patches or other aids and mental) for 8 – 12 weeks … which should be sufficient to get me past the worst of the process.

Whilst I’d be lying if I said I was “looking forward” to it, I am feeling positive about finally kicking a habit that has really started to intrude on my lifestyle and am looking forward to meeting my 31st year as an ex smoker.

Wish me luck!

The park that isn’t (yet)

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Minor comedy moment whilst waiting at the bus stop this evening. Dottie and I were approached by a group of French tourists carrying a map.

This is a pretty common occurrence at this time of year and I mentally prepared myself to not speak in an outrageous accent (you silly king) before thinking which of the many hotels or shops they might be preparing to ask directions to.

The ambassador of the group opened with a cheery ‘allo and then asked if I could direct them to the Millenium Park …

the new Jersey “Millenium Park”

the “Millenium Park” that is still being built and won’t be completed until December (at the earliest) this year.

I asked if she was sure that she meant the “Millenium Park” and, after a look of Gallic confusion pointed to her “free from the tourist department” map where, sure enough, an sweeping area of verdant green was proudly labelled as the “Millenium Park”.

Only in Jersey!