thirty days of blogging begins now

I managed to do this last year. And I hope to be successful again this year. I feel like I have been neglecting this space and my writing in general. Part of it, I thought, was having nothing new or good to write about. Actually that isn't entirely true either.

If you have been following along, you know that since we left Chicago in August of 2006, b has been looking for the next big thing. Well, it would appear that he found it:

Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you're a consultant.
--Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert

Of course, it isn't that simple. It is a contract position, which in February will be re-evaluated. At this point the job can be done from anywhere (with phone and Internet access), but part of the plan for the company is to open an office in the greater Los Angeles area. So for the time being, we continue as we have been.

Please don't misunderstand, I know how fortunate we are. It is hard though not really having a place to call your own. So one goal for this month is to create a space within these four walls that is mine.

It also means that looking forward, we can see the horizon, but not much beyond. Overall the prospect looks good. I just don't know how long b wants to talk about fish. I also don't see him working at a big company - at least not for a long time - so it still isn't clear what the future holds.

The big news actually came a week ago. I know, you would think that I would have been shouting it from the mountain tops. It just happened so fast and under rather bizarre circumstances:

We were staying at a hotel near SFO. I had stayed up the night before reading until 5:30am and so decided not to go into the city with b. He was going to a conference and meeting a friend for lunch. In between he was taking the call from Germany to make the job final. He called to tell me, but I was in the shower at the time. And then the fire alarm in the hotel went off.

The message he left was hard to hear and honestly even if I had been able to hear it I don't think it would have quite sunk in. Even b was having a hard time dealing with this new reality as he didn't bring it up with his friend over lunch.

The fire alarm turned out to be false. Of course. But it also hit home the fact that although the hotel may be in the final stages of a $7 million renovation, it is a fire trap. I watched as two women walked around in circles going 'where are the stairs'. Keep in mind we were on the second floor!

Automatic doors closed, but didn't lock, and blocked the area by the elevator. In doing this they also blocked the only way to get to the internal staircase which is by far the quickest way out of the building. They also blocked off the area where the signs are posted telling you about the fire evacuation procedures.

I was able to regain my composure and then headed off to Panera for a late lunch. It was there that b instant messaged me on gmail.In his phone message he had mentioned possibly meeting in San Francisco for dinner. That, he told me was a no-go and he was now in Livermore working. He suggested that I drive out there and meet them (his official co-worker, his wife, and their almost 2-year-old daughter) for dinner.

I left at five o'clock with the goal of arriving by six o'clock. It actually took me an hour and a half to get there! And even though I was driving solo, I put my purse and my phone in the back seat. Thus, I didn't get b's message that plans had changed.

When I arrived I was told that b was off to a business dinner and I was to meet the ladies downtown at a halloween event. I was a bit confused and somewhat upset. I still hadn't quite processed the whole job thing when clearly things were in full swing.

I followed them to the parking lot and then called the cell phone number I was given. It was now a quarter to seven and things were just about over. There were kids in customs running around everywhere with their tired parents in tow. I met up with the girls and we pretty much headed back to their house.

I felt terrible because I know I wasn't in the best of moods. Staying up too late, fire drill, changing plans, feeling out of control, still not talking to b about what this whole job thing means, etc. I also felt badly that I had been dumped on this woman to entertain. Honestly I would have just been happy to have picked b up after his dinner. I had things I could have done.

We ended up talking more when the guys returned. And then headed back towards SFO. It was after 11:30 pm, so the traffic was light, but all the ways to get across the water were construction zones at that hour. It took us another hour and a half to get back. We thought we made the right decision, crossing over on the Bay Bridge, only to realize after we exited the tunnel that they were shutting it down. All traffic was forced into the right lane and then off the bridge and into the city.

That's how it happened. We still haven't really celebrated. We need to do that as well. This is a big deal!

on the night stand :: Driving with Dead People