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Michael Gumbrell

Work and views

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Start with the positives.

400,000 views, thank you everyone. I am very humbled by the achievements in popularity of this blog.

Work is frustrating. The staffing problems and workload pressures of the crminal justice sector are well known and well recorded.

It would be foolish of me to expect it to suddenly be different.

Still the frustrations are there, in 21 months i have now been transferred 3 times, so i have worked in 4 offices, getting to know the team, the specific arrangements for each office, than as soon as it settles, moved on again.

6 line managers in 21 months, each one discussing in supervision the importance of rapport and working relationships, and then being changed for someone else 2 months later.

And the joys of a shared service cetralised payroll and HR system are boundless. Letters telling you that you have been over paid on bssic salary being emailled out, then no letter of apology or acceptance of error when it turns out the pay was correct all along.

I should list for balance some positive elements, as soon as i find one i will list it.

Permalink 1 comment (latest comment by Rachel Demain, Saturday, 30 Sept 2023, 00:52)
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Michael Gumbrell

300,000 views

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The view counter just clocked 300 000 views.

Thank you everyone.

I am looking forward to starting my civil service career on the 1st of November.

Remember, keep plugging away, do not give up, getting your OU qualification will change your life for the better.

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Michael Gumbrell

a quarter of a million views

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Wow, just wow.

i have so busy, i have not been on my blog for a couple of months.

Imagine my surprise and joy at loggin onto this blog and seeing 250,000 views.

A quarter of a million views, that is incrediable,

THANK YOU EVERYONE.

DD309 is really hard, and very dense, with a great deal of reading involved.

so i doubt i will have much spare time bewteen now and the finish of my degree in May 2021, to pop on here and blog.

I will try and blog as much as i can between now and my finish. I am 5 months out of gaining my politics,philosophy and economics degree, i just need to get to the finish line, sane and in one peice.

here is hoping....

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Michael Gumbrell

165,000 views

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Thank you everyone, my blog views counter just turned 165,000, which is amazing.

It might reach 200,000 before i graduate.

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Michael Gumbrell

Blog views

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Wow, just passed 155,00 blog views, 

Thank you everyone, it is starting to become a very amazing concept that so many people visit my blog.

When i first started i had no idea where the blog would go and could of only ever have day dreamed that so many of you would visit it.

Thank you all.

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Michael Gumbrell

Views

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Thank you everyone,

150,000 views, that is amazing.

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog.

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Michael Gumbrell

140,000 views

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The counter clocked 140,000 views.

Thank you to everyone who has visited this blog.

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Michael Gumbrell

130,000 views

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Gosh, 130,000 views, that is a lot of visits to this blog!!!!

Thank you everyone. Thank you very much indeed.

Well i got my TMA03 done and submitted.

I don't think it is very good, lets see what mark i get.

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Michael Gumbrell

120,000

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Thank you everyone.

My view counter just chugged past 120,000.

Thank you to everyone who visits and reads this blog.

When i first started, i had no idea it would get 100 views, let alone 120,000.

It's very much appreciated.

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Michael Gumbrell

Jump in views

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The view counter just clocked 110,000. So a 10% increase in 10 weeks. Thank you to everyone who reads my blog.

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Michael Gumbrell

Actually getting to 100,000

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Tuesday, 23 July 2019, 20:38

I actually got there. Well, i didn't get there, you got me there.

Into the 6 figure club... 100,000 views.

Thank you everyone, frequent visitors and new visitors.

I hope you all did the best you could in your exams, i did okay, but wasn't expecting to do better than okay.

I did not revise that much, so could not hope for a good result, so much of DD209 went over my head, instead of going into it.

However, a pass is a pass, so happy days.

After 5 years with the OU i have amassed;

1 CertHe

1 DipHe

1 hundred thousand blog views

1 student debt

And

1 desire to finish with the OU and move onto a Masters.


I am a lucky 1.

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Michael Gumbrell

100,000

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I have a really busy day at work tomorrow.

Which means i won't be around when i get to 100,000 views.

Thank you everyone. That is truly amazing. I am very humbled that so many of you have taken the time to come to my blog and wade through the stream of posts.

Thank you all so very much.

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Michael Gumbrell

Views creeping up. .

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Views to my blog are creeping up all the time, just about to top 95,000.

I still have no idea how to celebrate getting to 100,000

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Michael Gumbrell

Blimey 90,000

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Gosh 

90,000 views.

That's a lot of views.

Thank you everyone.

What can i do that would be 'special' if i get to 100,000?

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Michael Gumbrell

Hitting 70,000

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Well, my view counter hit 70,000. Which is fantastic.

Thank you everyone.

Well Tma 3 is done.

Thats 57% of the module done.

So i have turned the corner and have moved onto book 2. So macro economics are behind me, now onto micro economics.

It's all downhill from here.

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Michael Gumbrell

the magic formula

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What is the magic formula.

6 months ago, after 3 years of blog posting, I had amassed 33,000 views.

Across the next six months it has doubled to 67,000 views.

I find it interesting, what is the critical mass required to suddenly kick start the increase in attention.

If I am being honest, I made less blog posts in the last 6 months than the 6 months before it, but the number of views has doubled despite fewer posts. That is very counter intuitive.

Do any of my fellow blog posters have a theory on when you reach the moment of critical mass with followers and views?


On another topic....

Well done to the OU for achieving it's 50th anniversary. We can only hope that despite falling student numbers, controversy over fee's, Brexit (everything gets blamed on Brexit), emergency vice chancellors and the Daily Mail's constant criticism, that the O.U survives to it's 75th Anniversary.

Permalink 1 comment (latest comment by Matt Hobbs, Wednesday, 30 Jan 2019, 17:28)
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Michael Gumbrell

Thank you for viewing

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I should say thank you as well to everyone who visits my blog, it is much appreciated.

The view counter is bombing along now, just about to pass 59,000.

So by the end of the year, if not just before it should reach 60,000, which is fantastic, so thank you for everyone for that.

The number of views of my blog has taken on a whole new element for me,

If any of you have teenage daughters, then you might know how erm…….. 'challenging' they can be.

Teenage daughter is very proud of her Instagram account, because she has 5000 followers, any playful suggestion on my part that instagram is vapid or time wasting is met by distain from her. I am only able to maintain my authority over her at the moment by being able to put forward that my blog has 50,000 + views to her 5000.

This minor victory is maintaining my authority to berate her for being on Instagram when she should be doing homework.

#justaboutwinning....

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Michael Gumbrell

First tutorial (real life) of the year

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So tomorrow is the first face to face tutorial of the this year.

I always enjoy them. It is in Southampton, so only 20 miles away from home.

And a huge thank you to everyone who visits my blog... the counter passed 50,000. Very proud of that.

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Michael Gumbrell

Crikey 50,000 coming up

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Wow, the view counter passed 49,000, by the end of the week it will get to 50,000.

Thank you very much everyone.

Son #2 is an RAF Air Cadet, so this morning we all went down to Horndean village so he could march with his squadron in the remembrance parade.

My grandfather, George Gumbrell, served in the first world war. He was in the Royal Air Corp, which went on to become the RAF. George was a flight mechanic, keeping the engines running.

My grandfather survived the first world war, to old to serve in the second world war, he was in the Voluntary Corp, he drove all over Hampshire and West Sussex, delivering aircraft parts and ammunition for RAF bases, such as Tangmere.

Lest we forget.

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Michael Gumbrell

Crikey... 46000

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Been a bit lazy with the blog, have not posted for a couple of weeks, been busy writing my TMA01.

Pop back on here to find the view counter has shot up by 6000 !. So now it is up to 46,000 views.

Thank you everyone.

Moved onto block 2 of DD209-economics... Keynes theories of unemployment... it is still really hard to get my head around, lots of reading and rereading required...

Just keep plugging away at it  thats all i can do.

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Michael Gumbrell

Cracking 40,000

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Wow. 40,000 views. 

Thank you everyone.

The online lecture was good last night.

Had a 1st stage phone interview for a new job today, but they cancelled last minute, so will be doing it tomorrow instead.

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Michael Gumbrell

That is alot of views

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And thank you to everyone who visits my blog of things..  the counter just clocked 39,000... which is fantastic.

The counter really bombs along now. 

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Michael Gumbrell

Thank you

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The counter hit 37,000.

Thank you everyone.

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Michael Gumbrell

1st views, 2nd study groups

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so firstly, 36,000 views, that's is really awesome.

Thank you everyone, it is much appreciated. Always.

Secondly, i popped onto the FASS website and the PPE and economics forums.

There i exchanged posts with a nice chap called Barry.

Barry is on a different pathway to me, not Q45 Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

The good thing is that Barry is has just finished DD209- economics and is starting A222- Philosophy.

I have just finished A222 and am starting DD209.

So that sounds like an excellent opportunity to exchange experience's and tips.

So my unofficial study group of me, Simon and Stephen would benefit from Barry's advice and hopefully, Barry from ours.

I do like it when things work out like that, it makes me happy.

It is also a good way to help break down the barriers of remote/online study and stop any feelings of isolation when studying with the O.U.

I do use the LINE messaging app on my phone, all i have to do now is convince another 3 chaps, over 40, that it is the best way to communicate as a study group, instead of long email chains, like we currently do.

 

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Michael Gumbrell

Fairly bombing along now

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Well the views counter is fairly bombing along now...

35,000 views.

I am made up by that, thank you everyone.

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