I Must Be Crazy

Turning down the offer from the new consulting company is probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done. The new offer was a 1099 position as opposed to my current W2 gig (1099 employees pay all of their Social Security and Medicare taxes while a W2 employee splits these cost with the employer). The uptick in hourly rate was not sufficient to cover my costs and three business day notice was not enough time to do due diligence on tax and legal issues. I sent out the obligatory farewell email before I closed the laptop on Friday.

I just paid for a new roof and I’ve got a tax bill to pay. There’s also the looming new fence expenditure. I must be out of head to walk away from this job but I felt like I was being railroaded into taking the offer. At least I have an emergency fund to live off of until I find a new job.

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Time For An Exit Interview

I turned down the offer from the new contracting company. My last day of employment is Monday unless a better offer is tendered. I’d better dust off my resume.

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A Bridge Not Burned

I met Willy when I first started as a contractor. He was a software engineer with a huge ego. I was in a few meetings with Willy but we never had a lot of interaction. I was thankful for that because I thought he was a pompous ass. I was cordial with Willy but never developed a buddy relationship with him. Willy left the company to start his own software consulting business about six months after I started. About a year later Willy’s company was awarded a contract to develop a new user interface. His company has been working on various contracts ever since. Most of Willy’s employees are in India. I rarely see Willy since I work from home most days.

This morning my work manager across the pond informed me my contract is being moved to Willy’s company. While I’m not thrilled about working for Willy’s company, I’m keeping an open mind. I’ll still take my daily direction from the guy across the pond. Willy’s company will just be a payroll administrator. I hope.

The lesson here is to never burn your bridges in the corporate world. You never know who your boss will be.

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Sentence Of The Day

Here’s another gem from an email I received this morning:

Okay will do but again this was one customer complaining and come to find out they shouldn’t have been requesting this product anyway so seemed a little ridiculous to have us do anything but guess its another way to get the information out but I don’t like how this was handled because this product should not be sold in Kazakhstan.

I think this person has a fear of punctuation.

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Who Needs A Living Room Sofa?

The tax returns arrived in the mail on Saturday. As expected, I owe money again this year. It’s less than I thought I’d have to pay. Some twelve thousand and change on top what has already been deducted from my paycheck. Sheila told be thankful I have resources to pay the tax bill. I have to agree with her. Even though I hate writing that check I am blessed with a nice income. I’m glad I didn’t buy new furniture last month to replace the pieces that left with K. Who needs a living room sofa?

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Out With The Old

I met the new owners of the house across the street last weekend. They’re a young Chinese-American couple with three small children. They own two other houses a few blocks south of Mike’s house. They plan on moving in at end of April when renovations are completed and the yard is re-landscaped. A fleet of pick-up trucks arrived Friday morning along with a tree trimming service. I expect a trash dumpster will be delivered soon. I’m relieved the house is being renovated instead of being scrapped off for another McMansion.

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Question Of The Day

I got this question in an email from one of the new hires just out of college:

Why can’t we design products for North Korea? Aren’t North and South Korea in the same country? You know, like North and South Dakota or North and South Carolina.

I told him to google it. I’m guessing he didn’t study world history in school or pay attention to current events for the last few years.

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Looking For Motivation

S had a second surgery to remove additional tissue two weeks ago. Test results indicated that S was just over the line that is used to determine whether or not chemo is needed. S decided to have chemo. S changed her next hair appointment from a $200 color update to a buzz cut session. S scheduled her first dose of chemo for April 10th and tried to mentally prepare herself for the chemo side effects.

S stopped by yesterday while I was working in the yard on spring clean-up. S’s surgeon had returned from a medical conference where a new test was announced that is more accurate in determining the need for chemo. S scheduled the $2,000 test which is not covered by insurance. The buzz cut has been put on hold pending test results.

I’m hoping S doesn’t need chemo. I’ve had chemo so I know what it can do to one’s body and mind. It’s a difficult road to travel.

I continued to work in the yard for four more hours while memories from my cancer treatment ran through my mind. My body aches today. I’m having a hard time finding motivation to continue working on the clean-up. The new roof is on so perhaps I’ll clean and re-hang the fifty something pieces of art that are leaning against walls and furniture. For now, I’m going to have a lazy morning lounging in the family room with my feet on the ottoman while I look through a stack of garden books Trish dropped off last weekend.

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Re-launch Cancelled

G cancelled two hours before dinner claiming a lingering sore throat he had all week took a turn for the worse. He did sound congested but why wait until the last minute? We spoke last night and he sounded fine. Tentative plans were made for next weekend. I’m not going to be waiting by the phone for a call.

I didn’t want to stay home on Friday night so I jumped in the car and headed to the galleries. I managed to hit RiNo, Navaho and the Santa Fe art districts in just a few hours. Ice Cube had a stellar show of works by Kristen Bartel and Amber Fries. Pirate had wonderfully crisp wall sculptures by Collin Parson in the main gallery. Edge had a group show with outstanding paintings by Sue Simon and Terry Lee Maker. Spark had beautiful pastel abstract drawings by Keith Howard. Kate McGuinness had an intriguing monotype in Spark’s north gallery member’s show. Sue Simon also had an abstract painting in the member’s show that would great in my house. I may have to splurge on a new piece of art.

I had to eat dinner alone but I saw some unbelievably beautiful art tonight. It turned out to be a great night.

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Date Night

I had two dates with G last summer. He asked me to dinner on a Friday night and then to brunch the following weekend. G never returned my call after the second date. I didn’t follow up with a second call thinking he wasn’t interested. I ran into a mutual friend at a holiday party who said G was still interested. I told the mutual friend to have him call me after the holiday season. G called on Tuesday. We’re having dinner tonight. He’s a few years older than me so we should be able to have an interesting conversation. I’m not sure if this re-launch will be successful but it’s worth a try.

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