Month: September 2018

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Blast From the Past

Certain things burn into your memory. This is an ad that appeared in the February 25th, 1978 issue of Billboard magazine. At the time I had just recently purchased Romeo & Juliet and had no idea who Alec R. Costandinos was beyond that and his work with Love and Kisses. But I loved those records, so I was determined to "collect the entire set."

Even 40 years later I often found myself wondering if I had indeed succeeded in that endeavor. Finding this online I can confirm that yes, I have all of them in my collection—and then some—although when The Hunchback was finally released, it arrived with totally different artwork on the sleeve:

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Shower Thoughts

Shoppers will push a cart all over a store for hours but then leave it in the middle of the parking lot because it's too far to walk it back to the store—or even a half dozen parking spots to the cart paddock.

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Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago today, after a nearly a month of exchanging emails trying to set up a date to meet, Ben and I—on very short notice—finally connected in person at Starbucks on that warm Sunday afternoon.

And the rest as they say, is history.

And believe me, meeting such a wonderful, caring man at 50 was the absolute last thing I had been expecting. But then, most of my life since somewhere around the year 2000 had not been what I'd been expecting.

It's been ten years of adventures, both good and—stressful. And as I sit here and look through our Instagrams, I am reminded how wonderful it's all been.

This year was one of those "landmark" years and we had such plans for celebrating (I seem to remember a trip out of the country being discussed at one point) . I was turning 60. Ben was turning 35. We've known each other ten years, and in a few short days from now we'll be celebrating 5 years married. But life has intervened—as it is increasingly wont to do these days. So instead of jetting off somewhere, tonight Ben fixed a delicious steak dinner for us and afterward returned to the scene of the crime…

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Shower Thoughts

The chance of you dying on the way to cash in a winning lottery ticket is probably greater than your chance of winning it in the first place.

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Name Three Movies

Name three movies that no matter how often they show up on cable, you'll stop to watch.

For us, they're:

● The Fifth Element
● Pitch Black
● Resident Evil

What are yours?

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I'm Just DONE

About the same time the gears were grinding with the possible job at the architectural office, I was called back by a recruiter who'd sent me to the interview at a certain health insurance company shortly after all this started back at the first of July. It was for a relatively brain dead imaging and deployment job, but I thought I did fairly well in the interview. Of course nothing came of it, because—as I'm learning—age discrimination in the I.T. workforce is a very real thing.

Said recruiter told me that the health insurance company had decided they needed an additional body for the next six months and had asked if I was still available. Hey, second choice is better than none, right? But I put them on hold for a couple days, hoping the architectural gig would come through.

I called the recruiter back before I'd heard definitely anything one way or another on that job just to give her a heads up that I was interested if the other gig fell though.

Long story short, the IT Director wanted a "quick chat" with me (even though I'd spoken at length with him two months ago). I found this a little odd, but I spoke with him last week and he asked if I'd be willing to come into the office for another in person interview.

I said I wouldn't mind, figuring it was just going to be a chance to meet him face to face (he's based in the Louisville office) before being offered the job. After all they called me, not the other way around.

Well, I went in to the office today and learned it wasn't just a routine meet-and-greet. It was a whole other interview with him and the other member of the Phoenix team who'd been out the day I initially went in. THEY'RE STILL SHOPPING. His parting words were, "Great to finally meet you. I have three more in-persons to complete and I'll let your recruiter know our decision Monday afternoon."

I'm just DONE at this point. I won't say I'm giving up because I can't, but I am definitely stepping away from this madness for a few days. I've already started automatically deleting any and all emails coming in from off-shore recruiters because nothing has ever come from a single one of those contacts.

To this leave this post on a little more positive note, I'm getting some business cards printed. My friend Cindy convinced me that I need to start marketing my skills on a freelance basis. She said all the old folks out on her side of town would appreciate finding someone who actually knows their shit and would more readily trust someone referred by a friend to come into their homes and work on their computers than someone they might've found online.

So maybe I'll end up self-employed? It's not like I'd be losing any employer-paid benefits at this point anyway…

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Released 43 Years Ago Today

https://youtu.be/q6vOY8QLbK4

Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975)

I'm not a huge Pink Floyd fan, but this is one of a half dozen or so I have in my collection and enjoy quite a bit.