Hurry up and wait

<rant on>

After losing the last bid (through no fault of my own, I should mention), I wasn't sure what project I would be put on next.  There had been talk of placing me on a government project, which would mean a daily commute to south London and lots of politics, so I was quite concerned.  I tried to point out that I didn't have security clearance -- and could not get it until I had been in the country for five years -- but that didn't dissuade them.

So it was relief when I heard one of the other technical architects, who was leaving the company, had recommended me to take over his work, and my boss agreed to lend me out for 6 weeks.  I set up a meeting with him on Friday to discuss his project.

Friday morning, one of his colleagues also gave notice, and so we talked about me taking over his project as well.

Then he mentioned they had was another project, currently awaiting approval by the CEO, that would need a technical architect as well.

So suddenly I was now taking over for two full-time people, plus a third project as well!  And it meant regular travel up to Manchester, which is about a 3 hour train journey.

This is not something I would have agreed to -- unless the alternative was a government project in south London!

So Monday morning I had a conversation with the new overlords, we put together a plan, and all I needed was for my old boss to release me.  (This was obviously required more than a 6-week commitment.)  I sent her an email, didn't hear back.  A voice message, nothing.  A text message, nothing.  I tried to catch her online, but she was always away.  This went on for three days!! I even got up early this morning, dressed in a suit, and packed my overnight bag just so I was ready to go once I got approval. She finally sent me an email saying she would get back to me on Thursday!

So I've essentially wasted the entire week waiting, and of course I come out looking pretty stupid--would you trust a multi-million pound project to someone who can't even get this done?  I've taken to saying that my company wants everything done yesterday, but will only make decisions tomorrow.

<rant off>