"Lions and Lambs "
Isn't there some adage about spring coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb? Regardless, this spring, I've got it all backwards.
It's been a tumultuous season for me. My roommates will depart. Joel left sometime ago and Christine leaves next month. A coworker quit Wavefunction, and I've been doing his job, my job, looking for a new job, and looking for his replacement. I wonder if it's me...
I spent a week in San Francisco, a few random days climbing in the desert, and a weekend in San Antonio. Did a little climbing out there too and gave myself a twelve inch slice up my outer thigh when I fell off a boulder and landed on a tree. Could have been worse. I could have fallen a foot to the left and sent the branch up my inner thigh. (Shudder)
***A Graceful Exit?***
Before I left for San Antonio, I had received a good job offer from a local tech company, and decided to accept it. This was a tough decision. It's painful to leave any relationship after nearly 7 years. I almost cried while writing my resignation letter. Hell, I helped build Wavefunction.
I gave my boss 4+ weeks notice. But after confronting him with my resignation, he told me that the resulting loss of revenue would force him downsize up to five people. I knew my leaving would be traumatic (I'm a core employee), but assumed that a four week notice would minimize the impact. I wasn't sure what to do.
I did, however, decide to stay at Wavefunction until June. Leaving then would have resulted in a loss of jobs. Although I recognize this is neither my fault nor my responsibility, I also recognize that there are consequences to my actions. If by staying, I can do something to prevent those jobs from being eliminated, then, for me, it's the right thing to do. I am reasonably convinced that I will find other opportunities. My resume has been well received, the job market is good, and I *should* be able to find some great jobs.
This was the hardest decision I ever had to make. No matter what, I faced regret. Regret for the financial burden placed on Wavefunction, or regret that I was letting a great opportunity slip through my fingers.
I'm keeping a positive spin on the whole thing. I'm getting some severance pay, and hopefully I'll find a better gig by June.
***And a vacation...***
On June 1st, I'm leaving for London. From there I connect with my flight to Nairobi, where I pick up a bus to Moshi, Tanzania. I'm in East Africa for 25 days of safari, and a bid to trek Kilimanjaro.
(I really wish I had an MPEG of an animated Indiana Jones-esque map complete with theme music. Somebody get me a fedora and a bullwhip dammit!)
Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the world's seven summits, the tallest peak on the African continent. It tops out at nearly 20,000 feet above the Serengeti. If I can control the altitude sickness, by June 10th, I'll be watching the sunrise from the top of Africa. I figure I got a 50/50 shot of hitting the top. I'm prone to some pretty serious bouts of altitude sickness, and Kili is 5,000 higher than I've ever been before.
After Kili, I plan to safari in the Ngorogoro crater, maybe visit the Serengeti National Park, and if I have the time (and money), a trip to Zanzibar to relax on the Indian Ocean. Should I avoid getting trampled by a herd of pissed off wildebeest, killed in a bloody political revolution, or eaten by a lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, crocodile, or a rabid, carnivorous chimp, I'll end the month with two days recovering from malaria in London. Yeah, baby!
And with that, I'll have spent all of my savings, most of my month's severance, and I'll have just 11 days to find a new job before I start bouncing checks and begin mooching off my generous, charitable friends. I wonder if National Geographic is hiring…
Hey, you gotta choose your own adventure, right? What have you been choosing lately? Drop me a line and let me know.
Asante! (Swahili for thanks!)
