Friday, June 08, 2007

Good News, Bad News, Weird News

Um, Mr. Conductor- could you stop the roller coaster? I really need to get off now!

That has been my week- up, down, sideways, with a couple of barrel rolls thrown in for giggles.

  • öI had a half-day off Wednesday, which was interrupted by a call from Jessica. Long story short: she & the new housemate can’t seem to play nice- arguments, accusations, & now assault (police were called by Jess)- so she has a 30-day notice to move out & needs us to take care of the animals. The ensuing conversation, trying to understand what happened & get details on her plans, resulted in me losing my composure & venting my more perturbed feelings over her life & choices. I know it wasn’t fair to hit her when she was down, but when I heard “I didn’t do anything!” (second cousin to “It’s not my fault”) for the 264th time in the past 10 years, I admit that I flipped out- I am so incredibly frustrated over her inability to take responsibility for own actions & their consequences. Not productive, I know, but it felt good to speak my mind instead of biting my tongue yet again, & surprisingly, I’ve been sleeping pretty well ever since. So, we will be driving down to San Jose Saturday morning to bring Violet & the rabbit, Demeter, back to live with us for a while.
  • öSam started at the new Dojo yesterday; they are in temporary quarters while remodeling is done at the old site, which has been purchased from the city. Consequently, he’ll be training at the same site, the same days, with the same Sensei & the same students- but as a new, independent school. Chris & I both went for the beginning of the advanced class, since Sam was being awarded his new rank belt; Sensei G had it customized with Sam’s name & his 3 rank stripes embroidered in gold thread. After the ceremony, G pulled us off to the side & said that he won’t be charging us for Sam’s training anymore; he feels that Sam’s assistance (voluntary) with the beginners class, as well as the advanced class, more than covers the costs of the regular tuition. What a blessing this is- the tuition is only $50 a month, but now we can direct that money towards his tennis lessons or additional training with Sensei J in Livermore. Mostly, I’m humbled & honored that this man values our son so highly.
  • öI got a parking ticket in the mail yesterday; it was for the car that we are letting Jessica use. I went online to pay it (why bother- blood from a turnip) & found there is a DMV hold on our car. There are more tickets. Seven more tickets. One a week. All “Street Cleaning Obstruction”. At $36.00 each. The last one on Wednesday. I called her (surprisingly she answered her phone, even though she knew it was me) & asked- as calmly as possible- why she hadn’t parked the car somewhere else? Her response- the car hasn’t been running since the end of April. *SIGH* So, in addition to picking up the cat & the rabbit tomorrow, we will be having the car towed back to Tracy or maybe to our friend Keith’s auto shop in Dublin (he’s the one who bought her last car- which died in our driveway- sight unseen for $300); depends on the distance- we get free towing for 100 miles with AAA. Oh, well- another project for the guys; maybe they can get it fixed & running by the time Sam gets his license next year.
  • öMy first telephone call this morning was from the woman whose job I took over seven years ago; this is not that unusual- when employees leave, they tend to call me to be their personal banker instead of waiting in line like everyone else. Anyway, after finishing the pleasantries, she proceeded to offer me a job! It’s a long story, but she is now a VP at another financial institution, under the CEO who use to be our Accounting Manager, & she’s in need of an experienced accounting person. Evidently desperately in need, because I’ve had two emails in addition to the phone call today. Other than the money (a 40% increase- 25% after factoring in commute costs) I’m not really tempted; the site is a 45 mile commute each way, at the height of traffic; it’s more of a “Jackie of All Dept” position, doing member service, loans, cross-selling, back office- a little bit of everything. She has already poached 3 of our employees in the past 4 years- one of them my longtime partner in accounting- so I would know most everyone already, but to be real truthful, I never cared for this woman when I worked with her before & I think working under her would be a royal pain. Besides, I’m comfortable- I’m a fixture here, with lots of seniority & a certain level of autonomy; my commute is ten minutes & I can go home for lunch, or hit the dentist, doctor, or vet on break. I honestly have no career ambitions- I work for a paycheck, like what I do, & go home in the evenings to have a life. But it was nice to be asked; I’ll have lunch with her next week & let her know I’m not really interested in a change right now, but thanks for the offer.

Friday is here; no dance class tonight, so I’m going to knitting for a while, then home to reruns of “Numb3rs”. Tomorrow morning is the Farmer’s Market & I need to stock up on fruit & squash; our tomatoes are beginning to ripen & we have plenty of carrots for the time being. Sunday is my day at Ravenswood, & we are expecting Chris’ brother Dave, wife Kristy & Baby Tristan to drop in for a quick visit & maybe a picnic on the grounds. You all have a great, restful weekend!


1 comment:

Charity said...

Yikes - I'm glad you had a chance to say what you felt to Jessica, even though I'm sure you would have phrased it differently if you had thought about it ahead of time. :0)

That was cool, you being offered the job. Always a boost in the arm, eh?