Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Moving On

My first week of unemployment is off to a hot start. 109 degrees at noon, 90 at midnight- no relief in sight.

I've only been jobless for three days and I'm already losing track of the time and days...what year is it? I feel like I'm frickin' sixteen years old- is it 1982 again?

There have been some good moments lately- the heat has forced me to find cool places to spend my days ; consequently I have found myself drifting between recording studios, radio stations, music stores and women's apartments- it breaks my heart to think that I could be sitting in a windowless supply closet, doing data entry and working with Excel spreadsheets...sigh...I really miss data entry.

Hhahahaaa! Right...

Funny thing- while I was scanning the jobs ads I saw a new posting- for Mr. Hole's job! I was going to write a rat letter to the company re: Mr. Hole, but it appears that they are already replacing him...irony can be pretty damn ironic. ( Who said that? Berra?)

Truth is, I'm in a strange and scary place but it's exhilarating and exciting too; perhaps I'm lurching into the territory of platitudes, but to me, every day does have the potential to be great-I still haven't gotten over how utterly complacent I had become in life and how much I've been missing. I needed some boredom and routine following my release from the hospital- the steadiness of it helped me with the first months of sobriety- but it's been 23 months since I last drank and I am ready for some serious change- I need it.

It's sad that it took corporate stupidity on an epic scale to finally get me off my ass and take action- I don't want to jinx myself, but recently I met a man who's boss is opening a recording studio/nightclub/ music store and he said they needed an engineer who had strong local connections and was good at working with bands- he didn't know it, but I am a really good sound engineer and I am also co-director of local music at an indie radio station.

So I told him how great I am. I am good at pretty much everything related to music recording and I am not afraid to say so. Strangely, this time I wasn't being sarcastic- I would be great for that job and I meant it!
Gears clicked - I am to meet with the owner soon and get the details and submit samples of my audio work. I've had a lot of near-misses with studios, so I'm not counting chickens yet, but it was a damned auspicious beginning to my job search and I feel pretty good about it. Maybe my next job won't be in an office at all.

I have an appointment with the owner of another store tomorrow- I am selling radio ads- but I wonder if there will be any bonus opportunities there? The world's a lot bigger than my data entry closet lead me to believe.

More good news to follow. I believe that.

And no, I'm not stoned...







9 comments:

Craig D said...

Quote:"...it breaks my heart to think that I could be sitting in a windowless supply closet, doing data entry and working with Excel spreadsheets...sigh...I really miss data entry.

Hhahahaaa! Right..."


Ouch! You've hit me where I live! I'm happy for you, man. Go for it and grab the gusto or you'll end up like me and Milton.

(The paper sez look for a heat index of 111 degrees today here in Fayetteville, NC!)

AngelConradie said...

oh MAN that sounds SO COOL!!!
i'm so excited for you, i can't wait to see what the studio boss says...
my world completely opened up when i dared stick my nose out and look, so i know exactly how you're feeling!
now tell me allan dear- is that an oldish photo, or are you sitting in 90 degree heat WITH A TIE ON (i love what you do to those photos btw)!!?!

Allan said...

CD- Please don't live at your job- you are too kind and smart to define yourself by a crap office job...sometimes things have to suck before they get better. I'm hoping it gets better! 100 even here...index is 104...asthma is killin' me.

A- Yeah, it's from springtime- a DJ's daughter was doing a documentary about her dad for school, so I thought I'd make myself presentable for my small role...today is loin-cloth weather!
Thanks for the encouragement!Fingers crossed on the jobs...so impatient, I am!

Craig D said...

Well... I wouldn't call it "living!"

Asthma's a bitch! Keep the inhaler handy.

CS said...

Great attitude! I think huge un-asked for disruptions in your life (says the recently divorced woman) can be greta opportunities for making needed changes. Good luck!

yellowdoggranny said...

oh man..that would be terrific...and 'hark...is that rosy optimism i hear?'

yellowdoggranny said...

oh man..that would be terrific...and 'hark...is that rosy optimism i hear?'

Sling said...

CS is right I think.Everytime I lost a job,and there have been plenty of those,I ended up getting into something a little better.
I'm not really a big fan of the E-mail/fax thing though.I know it's a thousand times more efficient,but it lacks a personal touch.

Todd and in Charge said...

Good luck Allan!