Forced Attention

One of those slow days today, where I have manfully plodded through the things I needed to do, with zero enthusiasm or general viz, zing, or pep. People should have more pep in their lives. Especially me.

We've appointed a new ad agency to take us boldly in to the wilds of '09, with a slight shift in strategic direction. I've looked for someone with at least an equal understanding of the Exchange business to mine, which wasn't the case previously, and some comprehension of the oil industry, and I think we've ticked all the boxes. Still, as with any new appointment, I'm sure that it will be hearts and flowers for a few weeks, then we'll all fall out and everyone will point fingers in my direction and ask why we bothered to change. At least the new lot are cheaper, so I can always fall back on that. Though it definitely wasn't the deciding factor.

What this exercise meant, though, was that I had to phone the other agencies that had pitched and let them know they hadn't been successful. I absolutely hate letting people down, and am rubbish at imparting bad news, unless I'm worked up to fever pitch and them I'm completely capable of icily delivering anything at all. Or losing the plot and just screeching. However, I kept my calm and bit the bullet, and it left me rather flat. Even the happy call to the successful contenders didn't really offset the blue feeling. I blame it on Jan. I'm blaming a lot on Jan at the moment. I shall probably be cast down by some kind of thunderbolt from Janus to pay me back, but that would merely prove my dire outlook for the month. Bring on ye thunderbolts if ya think yer hard enough.....