Friendship and Loyalty

A boss at one of my old companies couldn't understand a friendship I had with someone there. Didn't understand why/how we could lean on each other in the toughest of times and hung out together.

He just didn't get it until one day about 3 years ago when I got a call from a friend in NJ. Our buddy Bill's dad passed away and Andy called me to ask if I still lived in NJ if I would make the drive to North Carolina for the funeral. My first question for Andy was what time he wanted to pick me up at my parents house. As we talked, I booked a flight for the next day to fly to NJ and the plan was to take a nap after I got to my parent's house and Andy to pick me up so we could drive together to NC for the service. For me it would be about 5000 miles in 2.5 days...

I walked into his office the next day, told him I was leaving for the airport at noon and would be back in a couple days. He asked what was going on and I told him. Told my other friend at work too because from all the stories she heard, she felt like she knew Bill and Andy as well.

Me, Bill and Andy are like brothers. I've known Andy since kindergarden and Bill since 7th grade. 30+ years... to me it was a no-brainer that I would do this - for Bill, for Andy, for Bill's mom and sister and for me as well. You don't grow up with someone like that and not get attached to the family, so it was natural.

While I was in NC, something blew up at work with my other friend and when I got back, I went off on someone because of it.

A few days later, my boss pulled me aside and proceded to tell me that he "finally understood what value I place in friendships..."

Unfortunately, all I could think to myself is "DUH! That's what it's all about..."

It's a shame that some people just don't understand what friendship is... being there...

I Don't Like When My Friends Hurt

Mood was soured later in the afternoon after I e-mailed someone I worked with and helped mentor. She's a good friend and we'd talk in the morning on our drives in to work. She was hurt when I left that outfit 18 months ago, but it had to be done because I was getting in her way...

Unfortunately, her boss (someone I reported to at that same company) is taking her for granted and she got thrown under the bus by someone and he said that he "heard things" and brought my name up again... There's history, but too much to go into here...

She's hurt and pissed off and I can't blame her because he was way out of line with what he said. It even pissed me off.

She said she's going to actively look for a new job now but somehow I don't quite think she's ready. I did give her some contact names today so she can get started so we'll see if she really does or not.

I'd like nothing more than to grab her, hug her, and tell her it'll be OK. I know it will, but I'm tired of her putting herself back into situations where she could get hurt. Maybe this is the slap in the face she needed. She knows I love her and trusts my opinions but she's always been her own person (unbelievably strong) and will get through it eventually.

It will all get better.. I know it will.

Now It Begins...

Interviewed today for a position... bit of a drive, but seems like a decent outfit.

The interview process (at least for round 1) was strange... HR and 2 techies in the room with me... answered HR type questions then answered some questions for the technical crew... didn't know the answers to all of them, but admitted it up front... I think they appreciated the honesty and some of the answers I had for them.

Next was a small technical "test".. not pass/fail, but was something for them to gauge my technical abilities, etc. I think I actually did pretty good with that part of it too...

Got home, had lunch and shot off a thank you letter to the person who coordinated the meeting.

Fingers crossed...

The New Chapter 1

So tomorrow is my first day of not going to work... I know I've said that I would take time off and relax - kind of like a vacation, but that's going to be hard I know. Hard for me, my wife and the kids...

I don't want them getting used to me being around during the day and want to find something new relatively quickly so that I don't drive myself nuts too.

I do actually have an interview tomorrow and feel that I'm well prepared for it. I'll go in, sell myself and hopefully get an offer near what I had been making. If not, we press on...

Over the weekend it was wonderful... no blackberry ringing constantly, enjoyed a ballgame (almost) uninterrupted and spent some real good time with the kids... Taking it in for now and will start up at the gym again on Tuesday so that I can get back into the routine. Could stand to lose a few pounds anyway.

Have a great week!

The Last Day

Last day at work today... it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, yet it was harder in some respects.

Caught myself a couple of times talking to different people getting misted up... I'm an emotional person anyway and saying goodbye to people isn't a pleasant thing no matter what the circumstances...

In some cases I felt like I was abandoning some and leaving others to die... shit.

Dealt with HR, a final staff meeting and making "the rounds".

The staff meeting was probably the toughest and I reminded the group that was there that they are a good crew and they need to press on because if they didn't I was gonna come back and kick their asses... at least that got them laughing.

In the end, I think I did what I had hoped and that was to leave quietly, with dignity and leaving behind a couple of potetial "fires" to burn carefully selected bridges... the world is too small to burn a lot of bridges - makes for a lonely existence - so you just need to be very selective...

Every ending is another beginning - so time to start with chapter 1... but afterI take some inventory and spend some time with the kids... With that, I leave you so I can go be with my youngest.

Peace, love and whatever else floats your boat!

Out!

The HelpDesk Turnip

Last week at work... rough start to the week because of a bunch of problems caused by AT&T nationwide. Network crap. Oh well - some things are just out of your control.

One of my co-workers and I came up with an idea that I should leave a big, ol' turnip on my desk when I leave.

Why?

So that people can be reminded that whoever takes over my position will have to squeeze BLOOD out of the damn thing!!!

Good luck to whoever that is...

This is Gonna Be a Good Day

Little things mean a lot... Today with the wife and daughter off on a Girl Scout weekend trip, it's just me an my son.

Saturday morning cartoons, baseball, a game of catch and a trip to the pool today. I haven't looked forward to a weekend in a long time and this is definitely something that's welcome. Little worry about work - only 1 week left before I leave - and no real concerns here other than trying to figure out what we're going to do for dinner tonight.

Later I plan on giving a friend of mine a call - someone who I haven't talked to in a while. She'll be surprised to hear from me and I'm looking forward to catching up a bit. A lot has happened in both our lives since we both left our native NJ quite some time ago. I'm nervous about calling though. She usually had that effect on me.

Time to go throw some batting practice for my son. Damn - this is gonna be a good day.