Life moves pretty fast

...you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Quick. What movie was that from? Anybody? Anybody? Gold star for all who immediately answered “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.

The line’s been resonating with me, and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that lately, it's true. I wrote in a previous post that when my job was eliminated, I not only didn’t panic, but I had a distinct sensation that I’d land on my feet, or as my late grandmother liked to say, fall forward. In fact, there’s been a persistent little voice that’s been saying “hey, it’s their loss, dude, not yours. They’re going to come looking for you again sometime and you’ll be long gone, happy as a clam elsewhere. Too bad, so sad”. (We won’t get into a deep analysis of the Voices and the inner conversations we have in this post, ok? Perhaps another time).

So back to my point: Ferris was, and is correct. I’ve had some time to work on getting my resume in order – an ongoing work in progress, and my third floor office in shape – ditto. The dogs are happy to have daddy home during the day for extra walkies and the occasional snuggle, and P likes that I can take care of nagging little errands like food shopping, CVS, etc so she doesn’t have to worry about them on a time-compressed rush hour. It’s fun to have time to cook dinner, as well. P has always been, and continues to be the most incredible partner a man could ask for, and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t remind myself I’m the luckiest guy I know.

I’m very pleased to say that prospects are already appearing and preliminary interviews (plural) have begun. Confidence breeds confidence, so when you get one organization expressing serious interest, followed by another, that makes each day so much easier. I’ve found myself quite busy every day, from before 9 to after 6, returning calls and emails, researching people and companies, networking with friends and checking items off the to-do list. No tv, no naps and no “it’s 2;00, I’m going to call it a day”.

The new laptop is on its way. I’m very excited about that. Since my time at Cybersmith, I’ve always advised folks in the market for a new computer to get the biggest, most overhorsepowered, fastest system they can afford, since the technology will be speeding past them so fast it won’t be long before they’re overtaken by the most basic, entry level units. I followed my own advice, and I think my new Dell notebook will be a pretty decent thoroughbred for a little while. It won’t have a resource crippling encryption program that would slow it to the crawling speed of a maimed narcoleptic, and the battery will last more than 20 minutes. I’m proceeding on the assumption that in time it might need to house a sizeable database that will suck up all available RAM, so in the meantime it should be plenty capable of handling lesser chores. The color will be business black.

What never ceases to humble me is how wonderfully supportive and helpful my friends and former colleagues have remained. Lots of leads, good ideas, offers to make introductions to potential prospects and a number of great recommendations, some of which were even factually accurate! Again, thank you thank you thank you to everyone, and keep the good wishes pouring in. Karma matters.