Ever decreasing circles

Although I remember the name of this 80s tv show, and none of the detail, I'm starting to wonder if the title is aimed at me. You see, my work and study life has taken place over the past 20+ years in two parts of Wellington but largely within a very small radius. I don't know how it has worked out this way, but here I am again at the start of another job and within a stone's throw of where I have previously spent more than eleven years of my life already.

I went to college (high school) at a school close to Parliament, on the city fringe. Spending five teenage years in the area was just fine even if the bus ride home in winter wasn't so much fun. I then started teacher training in a suburb across town notorious for its fog when the rest of the city was basking in sunshine, or at least enjoyed decent visibility. After four years there, my friends and I were looking forward to getting teaching jobs elsewhere and avoiding the constant bad weather. Except, I got a job at a school merely three blocks away. Four more years in the fog; on some mornings, I couldn't see from one end of the playground to the other while my class were playing outside for fitness!

And then the time came for another career step. My new workplace was on the city fringe ... half a block away from my old high school. My friends thought that moving into town was a great idea, especially after spending eight years in the suburbs. I cautiously agreed before pointing out the location. "You haven't gone far!" I was teased.

A little more than six years later and I left to work for a company based in Christchurch, which essentially means working from home. The biggest advantage of working from home? There are many, but avoiding the twice-daily commute into town is probably the one I appreciate most. Also, the ability to throw a load of washing out onto the line on a sunny day, as well as the comfort (and convenience) of working in your jamies in winter. Bliss!

I started a new short-term contract this week. It involves working on site, which is a bit of a shock to the system but not unpleasant. The thing is that, once again, I am within two blocks from where I started more than twenty years ago. Yes, I have come full circle once again.

How about you? Have you managed to expand your circles, or are they ever-decreasing, like mine?