"I'm going missing for a while, I've got nothing left to lose"

Well it's been something of a roller coaster since I posted yesterday.

First of all was the utterly dreadful, soul-destroying confrontation with Temper Tantrum.
Did you know that my going to France was yet another example of my selfishness?
Or that this kind of instability is so bad for The Boy that I've been threatened with greatly reduced access when I return?
That woman is nothing short of vile.

The whole "discussion" took about 2 hours, during which I hung up on her 3 times.

Then I told Nice about it, she took it pretty well & saw what a good thing it is for me. She told me she'd wait for me, bless. She also asked me that if I slept with anyone out there, would I tell her.
Fair enough, I suppose.
I think I'm going to ask her if she'd like to look after the flat while I'm away. I'd prefer it not to be empty & it would give her some respite from her mum, who can be something of a pain by all accounts.

This morning at work my boss, The Silver Fox, told me that it was now increasingly unlikely that I would NOT be going to France.
What???
We have a lot of work to do to achieve our TS quality standard & I was too important to that project to let go.
Bollocks!!!
I was major league pissed off!
"Do you have any idea what I had to go through with my ex for this?" I asked incredulously.
The Silver Fox apologised but I knew that none of it was his fault, so I found it very difficult to be angry at him.
I was fucking angry though.
I went on to go about my work with a major strop on. I was sulking, big time.
Whilst having lunch with Nice, Lil' One & Lil' Mum, The Silver Fox came to see me...
"You gotta minute?"
"Sure" & I followed him out of the canteen.
"You fly out on Sunday"
"What???"
"It's all go! You start Monday morning"
Yay!

It had all been a bit much to be honest. I felt shaken by the emotional up & downs the last 24 hours had presented me. It took me a little while to regain normality.

A colleague of mine who has been doing a similar job in the Czech Republic returned today, I asked him how much of his own money he had spent out there. His reply? None at all! Everything is covered by expenses. Fantastic! He said he'd managed to buy cigarettes on the company too but I fully intend to quit smoking at the airport on Sunday.
I know I can't guarantee success but I'm going to give it a try.

Then I phoned up the Passport agency. I made an appointment to go to the Peterborough office at 08.30 tomorrow. The company are paying for it, sort of.
They've given me the 90 quid needed to get the passport but I have to pay them back for the standard cost of a passport. This will be taken out of my December bonus. Result!

I've spoken to Dream Girl about it all & she's delighted for me. As was Buddy With Boobs when I saw her briefly as the shifts changed over. I also spoke to Funny Dance today who was most chuffed for me. They all said they'd miss me & wished me luck, which is nice.

So here I am now, I still have little in the way of detail but I do know this;
I am flying to France on Sunday.
I will start work at the Lyon plant on Monday.
I am very excited & a little bit scared.