I was minding my business working when I got a call from an old friend, who I am going to call Osman. Now Osman was one of my groomsmen at my wedding, so we go back a while and are good friends, we always have a laugh and I always remind him how he is punching above his weight with his lovely wife. Now, having not heard from Osman for a while I smiled at seeing his name on the phones display.

Unfortunately, it all went downhill, rather rapidily from there.

He had gone to his doctors because he had been having some back problems. The doctor asked while he was there and over 50, did he want to do a PSA test. Why not he thought, just another routine check.

You know exactly where I am going with this don’t you?

He had a decision to make, regarding which treatment he was going to have. He had called me because he knew I would tell him what I knew and, as he put it I would not ‘pretty it up’. As I spent the next 30 minutes talking to him, I reminisced on my journey and how far I had come. I told him how I had spoken to other people and doctors and how I thought that I was informed but the reality was cruelly much worse.

As I have said before I will never steer someone to make a decision one way or another. I just gave him first-hand knowledge on the what and why of my decision and what I know of the radiotherapy and hormone treatment. He said he was pleased to talk to me as he got the straight talk that he needed and wanted. He just has that, unfortunately, life changing decision to make.

One of the other decisions I had to make this month was about my career. I had been approached by a large telecommunications company. I wasn’t looking at all but when I saw their email I thought ‘What the heck, nothing to lose’ and went along with it. I had one interview, which went really well and another which was planned for the next week. I then got a call from their personnel department a day later and had a casual chat. He asked me about what I did in my spare time. I mentioned the blog and the radio show. As soon as I mentioned the radio show he was completely sidetracked.  

“Wow, I have never heard of that before. I wasn’t expecting to hear that.”

I spent the next 5 minutes telling him how the show was devised and he asked how could he listen to it. In the follow up email he reminded me to not forget to add him to the weekly broadcast list. By the end of the call, he asked me not to forget to add him to the broadcast list, and again in the follow-up email.

Well, I thought it was the personnel department anyway. It turned out that I had actually been interviewed by one of the managers that was going to be in the meeting that had been arranged for the next week. I emailed the next day because I needed to change the date of the next interview. My soon to be manager emailed back and said that I don’t need to.

They have already made a decision and when can I start.