Sorted!

I did it.

After 8 Years of suffering hours and hours of driving every single day, I took the decision to offload the work situated in the outer regions of my self-imposed territory - Durham and Teeside.

I contacted my old colleague James, who runs a property marketing company called EMS in the County Durham area, and had a discussion about reducing my workload. We used to both work as freelancers for an online estate agency called Housesimple - now known as “Strike” back in the mid 2010’s, and we both endured the daily difficulties of no-show appointments, untidy properties, and daft visit times, all for a “nifty fifty” per job. Luckily, he was keen to get some more work in his home region, so after a quick talk with the agent, he’s on board, and ready to relieve me of the almost-daily 150 mile return journey.

I’ll still be doing the huge jobs that might require a bit of experience for the time being, but that’ll only be 2 or 3 a month in reality. It means that we should be able to cover each other’s holidays and the like, and provide a bit of support for each other. It can be a lonely existence, and just another voice can be a comfort along the way. He’ll be covering 3 branches of the agency chain south of the Tyne, and I’ll continue to serve those in the north of the territory.

Today is my first day without a job for 8 weeks or so, so I’m selling gear, getting more gear ready to be sent away for repair, and sadly binning a 70-200mm f2.8 lens that has served me well for 20 years. An element of the lens fell out while I was shooting out of a window, and the repair cost exceeded its value by a significant amount. I wrapped it in some kitchen roll and chucked it into the wheelie bin - an action which went against all my instincts, but hey-ho.

Now…..where should I go on holiday?