Old and New

Being unemployed still ranks for me as the worst non health related problem, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was after Bowstreet. I was anxious but not panicked. As Amanda stepped up to working full-time (for which I'll be ever grateful) I get the kids where they needed to go, playdates and all, cleaned the house, washed and folded the laundry. Folding laundry was my favorite, actually, as I could catch up on some of those documentaries that TiVo had stored for months. Overall, it sucked, but could have been much worse. I refreshed some of the tech that I hadn't used in years, and organized for the PTA and Lego League.

I could do those things, but interestingly I found that I couldn't write. At all. Tech notes, sure, but real writing, even lowly blogging, negatory. I was stopped up inside, nothing moved, rush hour parking lot backed up for miles behind a multi-car pileup. I didn't feel the itch, the hunger to write. Ron speaks of his art as a polar bear who will either be fed or eat the feeder, and I felt like mine saw the situation and graciously decided to hibernate.

I had my first offer, which was total crap, after three weeks, and two weeks later had a slightly less crappy offer from the same group (more on them later), but after six weeks I had an offer from Liberty Mutual, where I start tomorrow. It's a Fortune 100 company, more stable than Gartner but sporting the same comfortable feel. Pay and benefits are good, and I've got friends from Bowstreet there, and speaking of Bowstreet it's in Portsmouth. It should be an old and new experience. I'm looking forward to it with relief and anticipation of a happier and more balanced life.