So I’ve been away for a long time.. Shockingly, I’ve not written a blog post since August of last year! Before I sat down to write, I wasn’t sure quite what this post would be about. I think so much has transpired – I think I’ll just make it a post to sort of “catch up” and bring you up to speed.
Why haven’t I been writing? Honestly, I had a crisis of confidence. The parallels between Jimmy Carter’s America in 1979 and today’s America notwithstanding – I think my financial and career propects in the middle of last year were bore some resemblance to that of the average American ’79. But, ultimately, in the words of my dear Bangs and a Bun – I simply couldn’t be faffed.
So I struggled along. I took a gig delivering pizzas for some pocket change. Yes, pizzas.. If nothing else, I’d have a story to tell my kids. I spent an inordinate amoung of money on premium fuel, and drove my 20 year old bimmer through all kinds of weather. It handled even the worst blizzard of the winter with aplomb, even when other delivery guys with SUVs couldn’t get through. (dedicated snow tires ftw) **puffs chest like a proud poppa**
In the meantime, I lost a co-worker. One of the old pizzaiolo’s at the restaurant. He just had a heart attack and collapsed behind the counter. That was a pretty heavy blow both for me and for the folks at the pizzeria who had worked with him much longer. Sort of a wake-up call in a way…
But, I was still dealing with my own demons. A long-overdue ADD diagnosis – to which anyone who knows me would say “DUH”- finally came through and allowed me to get some meds to help my focus, but have a long ways to go yet to manage better outside of the physiology in the way of coping mechanisms and behavioral adjustments.
Fast forward through a rather uneventful winter… I quit the pizza job, as the beating my car was taking was causing repair bills in excess of what I was making delivering pizzas. At the same time, FINALLY some traction on the job front. Started looking at roles that leveraged what I was good at, and made the decision to give NYC jobs a chance again. I’ve since scored a temporary contract position at one of the top digital interactive ad agencies. I’ll be there through the end of August at least. After that? Who knows… I’m hoping they like my work enough to keep me on board, either with this project or on other projects. In the meantime I’m enjoying being gainfully employed for the first time in 13 months.
But on a very sad note, shortly after starting this new gig, I lost a friend who I’d known for years, and who I worked with at the pizzeria. Yes, they lost another one of their own. This time a 32 year old spitfire of a woman who brightened any room she walked into.
That pretty much brings you up to speed. I’m working through this new gig, hoping to get some more experience in this space, as it’s a bit new to me – and hopeful for the future that at worst, I get some added experience and something on my resume in 2011 – at best, a new job with a more clearly defined career path.
Life… it’s a hell of a ride.
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Good luck with your assignment. I’m sure this position is one of the first steps in turning the corner.
-Richard (a.k.a. “That first ‘broad experience’ guy in ‘the Journal News Underemployment article’. Though instead of delivering pizzas, I worked for the Census.)