After the fire and the memorials, Allen found out that his gig was ending a month sooner than expected. The company cut him loose with a nice severance package and with that, the move to Florida was accelerated. We had many parties and went out a lot for the next few weeks.
During this same period, Nick had a job change. The certifiable psycho that had been the IT guy at his workplace finally got sacked, so Nick stepped up to take over the IT duties in addition to his normal pre-press duties. Sounds real nice, but as of today he still has gotten no raise for all his extra work. The nutbag left the whole infrastructure of that place in a terrible mess which Nick cleaned up toute suite. If they don’t cough up a chunk of change pretty soon, however, there is gonna be a problem. So, although it’s a great opportunity and a real bonus to Nick’s resume, it’s also very stressful because Nick is working his ass off with nothing to show for it.
Last week, D/A finally got their shit together and got moved. They asked me to go with them (for some unknown reason), so I did. I got them into their small duplex. Allen and I drove back Thursday in pouring rain and I’m glad it’s all over. I’ll miss their company, yes, but they have people from here following them and I doubt we’ll hear much from them this summer. It’s ok.
While in FL, I called Nick daily to check in. On the Wednesday check in, I find out that the Bertha problem is solved. Bertha is his 1987 Chevy Celebrity that we’ve been nursing along for 2 years trying to avoid spending a large chunk of money for another car. One of his bosses had a 1995 Ford Contour sitting around that he decided to sell, so he hands Nick the title and says “anything over $500 you can keep”. Voilà ! We have a 1995 Ford Contour:
It’s in great condition for $500. Bertha problem solved. Schweet!
On Saturday, we volunteered at our Decatur Arts Festival which is always a pleasure. This year we found a really cool ring that Nick is getting for me (finally!) to wear all-the-time. It’s a peacock Topaz from Brazil set in white gold. Hold on, I just did a check and it’s actually called mystic topaz and it comes in many colors. The one I’m getting has deep colors that’s called Imperial Blue. Heh, I like that! They make the Topaz multicolored by firing it in a kiln with titanium which gives it various colours. Cool! It also has a very interesting cut. It’s rectangular with square facets all over the top surface called a checkerboard cut.
There is so much flux and change right now. I’m having a hard time keeping up, honestly. This is probably the first time in my life though that I am feeling the changes but not getting swept away by them. I don’t know if I’ve reached the place where I can have the blissful detachment that the gurus speak of or if I’m just deferring the chaos for later. I want to believe that it’s the former rather than the latter, but I just can’t tell. What I’m feeling right now is focus. I am focused on getting my online presence straightened out and attempting to make some money from the internet. I am focused on reclaiming my life and doing the things I want to do, such as seeing my friends in New York and San Diego this year – as well as getting Nick up to Detroit to visit his family. I’m not afraid, but I keep thinking that I should be.
Is this the wisdom that comes with age? If so, baby, gimme more of that shit, because it sure beats the hell out of constantly reacting to events rather than observing them or foreseeing them in the first place! Maybe Oprah is right again: life just gets richer and better as you go along. Isn’t that a reassuring thought? Works for me.
[added 5/24/09: Just fixed the pic links and I wanted to add that YES, this is the wisdom that comes with age. It takes a LOT more to rattle me now than it used to – like when this was written 6 years ago. :-) ]