New Job Twists

As you may have read by now, I will soon be out of a job.

To be honest, I was not quite perfectly happy here and had not been for the last few years.

I was not displeased with any of my managers or coworkers, just the way the job had turned out. It had changed into something "else" over the last few years.

So March 31st I shall be set free. Sort of. They've made some noises that a few "key" personnel might be asked to stay on for a few weeks after the "official" plant closure to finish some left-over production jobs. I was invited yesterday and I accepted with the conditions that if I was offered a job elsewhere they would have to understand that I might have to leave immediately to take it. I also wanted to make sure it would not effect my status under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (it will not).

So dear friends and family, it looks like I may not get to sleep in on April 1st after all.

Random thoughts:

While writing the above, the fire alarms went off here at work. Don't know if was a scheduled drill, alarm fault, etc. It's actually a very nice morning out there, once you get out of the shade and into the sun light.

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As you may remember, my lovely wife and her sister are in Amish country. Unfortunately, this leaves me at home alone. I can only go so long without adult conversation, and I exceeded that time about 5 minutes after she left. This is actually a new record for me.

This may sound a bit extreme to some of you; let me explain.

As you may know, I'm from Oklahoma. Okies are a bit unique in that you can't know one for more than 5 minutes without them telling you their whole life story. We're not "stuck" on ourselves or anything like that, we just want to lay a really thorough foundation for any possible future conversation.

When I went home for my mother's funeral in December, I went to the barber shop I frequent in Oklahoma City to get, as my father used to say, my ears lowered. By the time my hair was cut, the barber and I had swapped life stories. It felt so good!

So even though my wife is not from Oklahoma, she has been exposed to this behavior for over 26 years now and is more than a bit used to it. She doesn't exactly practice it but she does understand.

I miss her terribly.

Let me also add that I presently sit in a room with glass windows and doors all around. I see people pass by all day, busy with their work. I am pushing numbers around on a computer screen and have little chance except when my eyes cross from staring at the screen too long to get up and actually go out and talk to someone. So my only real chance to get all these words out of me is through this blog and my dear brothers and sisters at church.

OK, I said all of that so I could say the following:

Since my wife left on her journeys, some of you have fallen into my sights and I'm afraid I may have talked more than one set of ears right off people's heads. I am truly sorry for this and I assure you everything will be set back to normal as soon as my dear bride returns. Please try to not be too dramatic with hugs and tears when you see her next.

If anybody requires a plastic surgeon, I have a special Okie-clause in my insurance that gives me a really low deductible in paying to have people's ears reattached.

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I am nearly drained of all my excess words for now. Have a great day!