Puh-Hilly

Man, I have all KINDS of irons in the fire these days. The Florida thing is possibly heating up, the Cleveland thing is getting closer, my Jersey work is on the move, I'm delivering the assessment in Allentown this Friday, and I'm definitely wrapping things up in Philly. I'm actually pulling for the Cleveland gig the hardest, because it'll be 50-75% remote work, which would keep me near the family for a few months... after which point the legalities that keep me from being a Minneapolis King will have expired. Plus the Cleveland gig would also be a HUGE resume builder...

I'm just not sure what to make of the Philly thing: I was not invited to two completely relevant-to-why-they-pay-me strategy things right outside my office... so I got to HEAR these plans being made 6 feet away from me. I even stood up and lingered in the doorway, perhaps to be invited in to join the discussion. I mean, maybe he's looking for that initiative - "oh good, join us!". But no invitation was given, and THAT'S a strange thing... to then go "well I was just getting a cup of coffee... so... um.... "

I have a meeting tomorrow to work on a graceful rampdown. It's ridiculous. I did check with my other contact inside, who said that my deliverables were easily the best thing he'd seen come out of that area... and he's pretty sure I'm not the problem here. At times like these, I'm REALLY happy I signed up with my company, because even if things ended tomorrow, there's more than full time work available to me across our clients, in addition to the opportunities above. We've got work. And I like busyness. If I had stayed independent, I'd be feeling a panic right now, wondering what financial nightmare I might be subjecting the family to.

It's all very worth it, but I'm feeling the travel this week - mostly because I was away for 3 nights into the weekend and only had a day at home. The days are busy, but the evenings have been maddeningly quiet. Time for more Mandarin lessons... and hitting the elliptical machine. And some comedy: Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis on "Funny or Die" has been keeping my spirits up. That bearded man is so uncomfortably hilarious...

I had more "Pizza by the CUT" today. I don't think they're going to make it. I went in at lunchtime and I was the only guy there. The owner came by and was asking me details about what I did and didn't like about the pizza, and was it "different" tasting from the last time I came in, because they made some changes. So now I either need to go in there every day, because now we're buddies, or I need to never go back again and not set foot on the block or he'll gaze with eyes that say "why are you wanting me to fail? I CHANGED THE CRUST!"

It's all very complicated in Philly, I guess.