Yesterday was an interesting day, filled with a cornucopia of varied and fascinating experiences.
First, I helped Vicki in her ongoing search for the perfect rugs that will finalize and "tie together" the new decorating scheme that she has devised for our crib. If I've said this once, I've said it a hundred times, finding the right furniture is easy . . . finding the right rugs to go with that furniture is difficult. The thing about rugs is that the rug stores will let you take them home for a day or so to try them out and see if they match your furniture, which is really nice of them. The only problem with this set up is that these rugs are heavy! This isn't an issue at the store, because they load them into your vehicle. It's when you get them to the house that the problems manifest themselves. Have you ever tried to move a 10x14 Persian rug from the back of your SUV into your living room? Not an easy task, especially for two broken down old people like Vicki and me. We should have done this before Lance went back to Lubbock (silly us). And then, when the rug (or rugs) isn't (aren't) the right size or the right color and design you have to roll it (them) up and get it (them) back out to the garage and into the SUV. This return trip to the garage is made even more difficult by the fact that you haven't yet recovered from the injuries you sustained bringing the rug in. Which reminds me, there is a beautiful rug sitting on the floor a few feet from where I'm typing that needs to be relocated to the Toyota Highlander and returned to the rug place. The rug is perfect, except for being just a little too small for the room. We'll be ordering the identical rug in a larger size, which will be even heavier and more unwieldy to move. If you see us this week and we're a little hunched over it's because we've been "rugging."
After my rug experience I went off on my very first "networking" lunch. The last time I was unemployed (back in 1995-96) I did over 50 of these things. I discovered yesterday that I don't like them any more now than I did 14 years ago. The lady I met with is a consultant for one of the large national benefits consulting firms and we have been casual friends for several years, so our meeting was actually quite pleasant (at least for me it was). Ones like this aren't too bad, and I have several more people on my contact list who fall into this "casual friends" category. Once I have bothered all of them I'll be forced to move to the next category, which is "people I hardly know." Getting this group to even meet with you is difficult enough, but spending an hour with them over lunch can be quite painful - for them and me. After this I'll move to the "you don't even know me, but . . ." group. This will be excruciating, all around. I'm looking forward to all of this, really. I'll keep track of who picks up the check.
Closely akin to networking is outplacement. As part of my severance arrangement with Transocean (ugh!) I have access to outplacement services for 30 days, which start the day I first access the services. This morning at 10:00 I have my first meeting with my outplacement counselor. Once again, I did this during my last stint as an unemployed bum, so I think I know what to expect.
After my outplacement meeting I'm having lunch with a former Transocean (ugh!) colleague who called the other day. The (ugh!) applies to Transocean, not to the former colleague. She reminded me that when we parted company after working together for 14 years we agreed to keep in touch. Apparently her definition of keeping in touch actually meant keeping in touch. Go figure. Maybe she'll pick up the check.
Update on the Joseph show. Last night's rehearsal went quite well. We ironed out some major bugs and things are progressing very nicely, on course for a great show. I was dropped from the big dance number, which immediately improved it about ten-fold. With me out of that number we should probably increase ticket prices. Remember to get your tickets now, before they're sold out (don't forget my 100% satisfaction guarantee)
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