Puppy Papa

I love this dog, and this dog loves me. We've spent a lot of time together these past days, especially with Bella at school, Isaac up and about (but with a good nap in the day), and Pamela downtown attending the trial... yes it's been Jimmy and Zinsser in the house, and the dog stalks me at every moment. And I love it.

It's been very hot these past two days, and while I do have the AC on (yes, 90 degrees is pushing it), having a dog on your chest at all times is not the most refreshing thing. I can tell by the way he's panting that it's a bit warm for him too, so I move him off, and he climbs back on... the things he does for love.

On to other things:

The trial is now in the jury's hands, and Pamela spent most of the day with the family waiting for a verdict, which hadn't come by 8pm when they all went home. Hopefully by 9am tomorrow they'll have their verdict.

I'm not getting any more of a vacation this summer: One of my contacts in the business found out I have 6 weeks before starting my next gig and decided to put me to work for them doing strategic planning work. I'll be headed out to Philly/South Jersey on Tuesday to start the work.

It's actually fun work: I'll be figuring out the overall strategy a new hospital will be using for identification: Patients, Staff, Physicians - how do we know who a person is - for security, for access, for patient safety. I do the strategy and get the docs and management to sign off on it, then we hand off the project to someone else to DO. It'll get my brain all warmed up for the new job in July!

And since my new work is in Philly too, it's possible I could do fill-in work out there ongoing, upping the hours.... I mean, if I'm out there, there's no reason not to be working.

This is going to be hard on the family - this travel - and I am prepared to work extra hard on the Friday/Weekend home stretches to make my time count. But as I've been watching things continue to devolve at the old place, this is the right thing for me to do. The sales pipeline is bone dry. Morale is rock bottom, and the knives are regularly being unsheathed and sharpened. While I'd love to have work locally, right now my unique skills are in need in a different city, and I can help actually make a difference. And when the TC market warms up next year, I can be here to help with even more great experience under my belt.

In the meantime, I'll have iChat to keep in touch, and the family has my dear friend Zinsser to keep them company.

Oh yes: Zinsser has been sleeping a bit better: Going for 3-4 hour stretches before yipping to be let out. And he's getting to know his crate and it's not QUITE the insult it seemed the first few nights. We're still working on his biological processes. Twice now, we've gone outside for potty breaks, sat out there for 10 minutes, and then he came back in to poop on the floor. But tonight I got him out there and waited it out...

So that it that!