My class starts tomorrow, not today. I read the confirmation e-mail multiple times, and absolutely tuned out the fact that September 9th, the first day of class, is not a Monday.
All was not in vain however; the area where the class meets has grown up a lot, especially for folks like me who don’t get out a lot. I now know where the building is, and won’t have to make multiple laps in a circle of decreasing radius to find it, like I did today.
Knowledge is Good.
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It serves to host my U3 uninstaller, which removes that “U3 Smart” crap that aggravates the heck out of me.
And, having just picked up a 16GB thumb drive from the Office Depot at roughly half-price, I really needed the 6MB that the U3 formerly occupied.
16GB?? That you can put in your pocket. I remember running an entire automotive business office on a 5 MB hard drive in a previous job. And now, U3 uses 20% more than that. And I wanted it back, and I got it.
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Tomorrow would have my first day on my new job in West Virginia. Instead, I’ll be in a class for some VMware book learnin’, and absent from the office all week.
We have a group calendar on which we enter AWS days1, vacation, days off, who has the stinking on-call pager, and the like.
I dutifully made my entry for the upcoming week. It read
Ken – Herndon – Class. Please don’t loot my shabbby cubicle while I’m gone.
Just in case not everyone got the word that I’m stayin’ put. Territory, even shabby territory, must be defended.
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After a lot of gut-wrenching moments, we’ve decided to remain exactly where we are, in regards to both residence and jobs1. The angst over the life/work situation came to a close today, about 20 minutes before what was to have been my farewell lunch, which turned into a salute to our team of admins, and the standing up of our 300th Red Hat powered server. Somehow, word that this wasn’t a farewell lunch had gotten out2, and the following dialogue ensued:
Co-worker: Ken, are we really saluting your last day?
Me: Salute anything you please, just don’t anyone plan on looting any shit out of my shabby cubicle come Monday.
A few laughs, and outstanding barbecue followed.
I talked with the CFWISF, had an interview set up for September 9. They then subsequently decided to fill the position “via promotion from within”3.
My current employer is a stand-up organization, and they are working on some ideas to ease my workplace concerns, and I’m sure they will come through as best they can.
Now, all that remains is to decline the West Virginia gig4, cancel the movers who were coming on Saturday to make an estimate, tell our WV real estate lady of our change of plans, and cancel my hotel reservations for next week.
I’m happy and looking forward to the future. Even in Northern Virginia. Even though there were at least three drivers on the commute home who richly deserved the proper salute for their Neanderthal driving courtesy.
You can’t have it all. We soldier on.
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In the spirit of blog-like full disclosure, the origin of the “I’d sweep floors” line is Ron Hornaday , who I heard on an ESPN interview years ago saying:
I’d sweep floors to work for Dale Earnhardt.
And one phone call from Old Ironhead set him up in the driver’s seat of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chevrolet. Ron went on to win a couple of championships driving for Dale.
I hope my willingness to sweep floors pays off as well.
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Let’s recap. I have a good job that pays me well; it has given me the opportunity to be immersed in a variety of great technologies. In the main, I’m left free to build RPMS, Solaris packages, run a substantial server provisioning environment, and write neat little scripts that help in automating sysadmin tasks. Political in-fighting and floundering are combining to make it a less than ideal situation, but I’ve hung in with companies who were swirling the drain financially and/or managerially before.
I have an offer in West Virginia; that opportunity is exciting, because I’d be in on the ground floor of a major effort. But it’s in West Virginia. Nothing wrong with that; for all my Northern Virginia Sucks rants, the prospect of packing up our stuff and heading out to parts unknown is as terrifying as it is thrilling.
Then there’s the still-to-be-interviewed CFWISF(Company for Which I’d Sweep Floors™); if the job they want to talk about is the one I hope it is according to their website, I’d be a good fit, in my opinion. No offer here, so no premature counting of chickens is a rule to live by.
Still, timing is key. Right now, I’m supposed to be in West Virginia on September 8; I’d hate to get there only to be contacted by the CFWISF, and have a one week career at this new gig. So, once I’m there, I’m committed. Game over. On the other hand, I doubt the West Virginia folks would entertain pushing my start date back. That may be the same thing as saying I won’t be coming after all, in which case it’s game over again, taking my only firm offer off the table.
My current employer is aware of my interest in the CFWISF, and as far as they are concerned, my last day with them can be extended while I pursue the other opportunity. I reached out to them yesterday. They are a stand-up bunch like that, and I’m thankful.
So, I have to reach out to the CFWISF tomorrow, and hope that I get a real warm fuzzy about my prospects with them, and navigate from there.
This seems like a lot to accomplish in a few short days; if I mess this up, we could be left thumb up and jobless and still in Northern Virginia.
So this week is huge. I can’t please everyone; I only hope I can please myself. I just jokingly said to my wife “I don’t think we can handle any more good things in our life right now.” She smiled, and agreed.
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Update: If you can’t tell, I’m hoping for the CFWISF. Time will tell.
That about sums up my condition at this point. I have a good job, another offer in hand, and prospects for yet another offer with a company I’d sweep floors to work for. It’s better to be in demand than not, though. That’s something for which I’m truly thankful.
It’s just that I never realized that so many potentially good things happening at once could be so nerve wracking. Great potential can be a very heavy burden indeed.
Remain calm. All is well. Or so I keep telling myself.
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My little bride and I are in the throes of relocation logistics. Planning, organizing, cussing and discussing. The butterflies are swarming with a vengeance. In short, it’s not the least stressful thing I’ve ever done.
Then, a check of the email reveals not an offer, but a strong interest from a firm I’d sweep floors to work for.
Of course, I have to pursue this one.
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Every other Friday is free franchise-made bagel day at my current job. Normally they are delivered to an office adjacent to my shabby cubicle. Yesterday, the three occupants of that office were gone1, so the bagels went to the hinterland parts of the fire-trap of a building where I work.
Bottom line, is I got no bagels. A Harris-Teeter pecan sticky bun that I had in my lunch pail more than compensated for the loss. Except that was my last shot at free franchise-made bagels.
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One week from now, I leave my shabby cubicle for the last time, to venture off to a new workplace. The work environs and suitability of the new gig are largely unknown at this point. Then there’s moving, selling our house, and acquiring new digs.
Times like this prompt me to ask the question: Are things really so bad in your current situation that all this upheaval is worth it?. I then summon all the fortitude I can muster, look at myself in the mirror, and say Yes, they are.
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