So, what is this retirement stuff about, anyway?
The universe continues to throw me curve balls. I got my air conditioner fixed. I've got to say that the Memorial day weekend weather was so perfect that I could hardly have picked a better weekend to not have an air conditioner, and then on Tues, they came and fixed it.
And then last night, my car started behaving most strangely. Like stalling when I was going 60 mph on the freeway. The first time or two this happened was disconcerting--the car started right up again almost before I realized what was happening. But it is a very strange experience to be going 60 mph and look down and see that not only is your tachometer reading 0, your speedometer is reading 0 also! Creepy!
So I started home last night at 11:30, and ended by stalling and having to pull off of route 17 around a blind curve. I was out of the traffic lane, but only by millemeters, and it was pretty scary. I got the car started, turned around and went to Diana's, shaking like a leaf. Got there at midnight, waking up her and Eson. She was amazingly good natured about it. This morning, up bright and early, at the dealers at 8. Ignition coil, covered under warranty. By 10:30, with no breakfast, I was out of there. By 11:30, with breakfast, I was heading up 17, eager to get out of yesterday's shirt, socks, and underwear. By 12:30 I was home, and had an hour nap. Much improved my mood, it did.
Yesterday was hot as could be. I had an appointment in the morning, and then did my volunteer work in the evening. In between, I made my second visit to the company my son is working for--I'm actually talking to them about running the group my son is working in! He had said that the previous person had left, and I said, somewhat in jest, "do you suppose they would be interested in talking to me?" He said "I'll bet they would love to!" He was right. I've had two wonderful sessions with the President, CEO, VP of Marketing and VP of Sales. Liked them all a lot.
So I'm contemplating "un-retiring". Easy come, easy go.
Actually, with the market being in the toilet, I am reluctant to sell what I believe to be a good stock at a cheap price to live on, so working for a while longer seems to be a good move. We haven't talked turkey yet (stock, salary, etc.). But I believe the company is a good one, with a good business story, a commanding lock on its target market, and some wonderful people (including my son) to make it all come true. I'm excited.
One thing I realized when I was interviewing. I'd worked at my previous company for 5 1/2 years, and I'm a much different person than I was then. I'm so much more aware of how other people work, and can get on their wavelength so much more easily, and communicate effectively with them. And my values are so different, too--being part of an effective team is so much more important to me now than the technology. In fact, the technology is a trap in this area--I suspect that competitors will address the problem this company is addressing by throwing technology at it, rather than looking for the right alliances and partners.
So, the ball is in their court. I await their action with eagerness...
Meanwhile, my phone line continues to plague me. My 2-way dish order was finally redisovered, and will be installed next Tues. So with luck I'll not only have downloads 50x faster and uploads 5x faster, but the frigging connection won't drop out every 5 minutes. I can only hope...
And, with a better connection, it should make updating this journal much easier. And this will make me update much more frequently. Yes, another paving stone on the road to Hell...
Thank you for reading.
Copyright © 2001 Pete Stevens. All rights reserved.
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