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  • Well, I STILL haven't heard a peep or even seen hide nor hair from my boss, but I did fill out my exit interview today. It was nice to finally get those things off my chest. I didn't embellish anything, and told them exactly how I felt. We'll see if we do a face-to-face or not. I'm thinking it's more the "or not."


    I went by my new employer tonight and shot some photos of a new frame he's working on. Plus we've got to get a lot of projects going. I'm going to be a busy boy, that's for sure. I already feel like the creative juices are flowing ... haven't felt that way for quite a long time. 


    It looks like they are going to keep me until the bitter end ... I don't foresee them letting me go early. It figures, really ... there's been no movement made to replace me, so I'll bide my time and hang out. I'll let you know what happens around the office on my finals days.


    DG 

  • I gotta tell you ... I really hate corporate America. I put in my resignation on Monday before 8AM, and have still to this very moment NOT gotten a call from my boss to talk about it.


    Make me feel like a valued employee, that's for sure. But then again, I really shouldn't have expected that ... that's been the MO of the company for the last 4 years.


    Sad really. Oh well, the future is so bright, I gotta wear shades.


    DG

  • Okay ... I can tell you all the big news.


    I resigned from my job today.


    Over the last 3 weeks, I've been on conversation with a guy who owns a custom motorcycle shop, and he wants me to head up his PR division. This will be a welcome change from my last 4 years of point-click-cut-paste  that I've been doing. It's going to be a ton of work, but it's going to be WAY more rewarding in that I FINALLY get to be creative and stretch my wings.


    My first day on the new job is May 10th. There are some other cool things going on, but I don't want to talk about them until I'm at the new place. 


    WHOO-HOO!!!!!!!


    So there you have it ... my big exciting good news. More to come .....


    DG

  • Bike week was really cool ... I'd say there was about 150,000 bikes crowding into the city of Laughlin. It was an awesome time ... very few arrests, 4 stolen bikes (three recovered) and no shootings! Police were everywhere keeping the peace. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow after my announcement ... and yes, it's good news.


    DG

  • The absinthe convention was a blast. Met some really cool people. I'll bet it would be the same if all of us Xangans got together. I got back to work yesterday, and tied up some loose ends and now I'm out today to go to Laughlin, NV for Bike Week. It's going to be a blast, for sure.


    Check back Monday night, as I'll be able to give you details on one of the two big announcements that's going on in my life.


    Have a good weekend.


    DG 

  • This is going to be an action packed weekend. We've got friends from out of town having dinner tomorrow, then first thing Saturday AM I leave for the Absinthe convention. I get back late Monday afternoon, and then after catching up on my work on Tuesday, I'm off to Laughlin, NV for a week long bike show. I gut back Sunday afternoon, and then get up and head into work Monday morning. Now granted, there will be some fun involved but it's going to be a lot of work.


    Got something BIG on the horizon ... can't say anything yet, but after next week, I'll spill the beans. This isn't the BIG thing I've hinted about for the last year or so ... that's still moving forward, this is an immediate big thing. Sorry for being vague, but I don't want to jinx it until I see a piece of paper in my hot little hand.


    I'll try and check in, but I'm not sure how much Internet access I'll have.


    See you all soon!


    DG

  • Well, it's Monday morning. Sunday was nice ... went to sunrise service (I figure if Jesus could get up early that sunday, so could I), and then came back home to get things ready for the family to come over. By the time I got home, there really wasn't much to do, ecxept start the charcoal and have some absinthe and a cigar.


    Dinner was nice ... usually there's some sort of high drama, but this year was very mellow. We sat around and chatted and ate, and then the folks left. I watched The Sopranos and Deadwood and hit the sack. Not a lot going on this week ... we're having some friends over Friday night from Santa Rosa for dinner (Tom - got any good Vegan recipies that are tasty, quick and easy? I'm thinking Portabella mushrooms.), and then Saturday morning I fly to the Pacific Northwest for an invitation only absinthe convention. That's going to be big fun. Looking forward to rubbing elbows with folks that I've only known through a bulliten board.


    So how was your weekend?


    DG  


  • I went to a friend's funeral yesterday.


    He wasn't a super close friend, but I worked with him in the late 80's at the publishing company. We called him "Weird Paul," a nickname he liked. Paul was one of those real genuine people ... always meant what he said and said what he meant. He was just a nice guy. He was also an awesome photographer and a really funny guy.


    I found out he killed himself on April 1st. I'm not sure why, but his death really hit me hard. I don't know if it was the suicide aspect or the fact that it was someone close to me that took their own life, but it's been gnawing at my brain for the last 4 days. Word was, he hung himself in the Apartment complex he was living in, and his wife found him on the ground after the rope had broken. The service was open casket. It was strange seeing his body laying in the box ... it didn't look like him at all. Which is right, because he wasn't there.


    It was nice to see some of my former work mates that I hadn't seen in a long time to talk about Weird Paul, and the fond memories we had. We all wished we had gotten together under more pleasant circumstances.


    As I was driving home, one of the songs on my Fountains of Wayne CD was playing and this bridge kept going over and over in my mind:


    "He's got all kinds of time .... all kinds of time .... all kinds of time."


    I got to thinking about the times I thought about calling Paul just to say hi, and how I never followed through. Now it's too late. I guess what struck me the most is how short time really is ... we don't know when the "last" time you'll get to speak a kind word to someone is. I think life is too short to not take the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life ... even if it's just a genuine smile or a kind word or a call just to say, "I was thinking about you."


    Life's short ... love hard.


    DG

  • Well, it coming up on the middle of the week, and I'm stuck with a ton of month end paperwork ....


    I HATE PAPERWORK! It's truly the bane of my existance ... it serves no other purpose than to justify what you do, and to keep tabs on yourself by the man. I've spent the last two days gathering numbers and doing year-to-date averages, and putting them into nice little Excel spreadsheets that no one bothers to look at anyway. If they actually looked at them and offered feedback, I wouldn't have a problem, but they don't. One time, I really wish I'd grow a pair and fill every cell on the spreadsheet with "YOU SUCK," in big red letters. Of course, that would be the one time they'd want to review the spreadsheet. I could do so much more to my sites if I didn't have to fill out these stupid spreadsheets ......anyway, just had to get that out of my system.


    Hope all of you are having a good week thus far ...


    DG

  • Hope I didn't scare any of you away with my April Fool's prank. Nw ... I ain't going anywhere ... besides, wht would you all do without me?


    Had to go to Las Vegas for the weekend to cover a truck cruise and show ... it was a lot of fun ... the drive to Vegas sucked, but the event was a good time, and I had some big fun at the craps table. Did pretty well .... took $200 to play, got up to $377, and then made it home with $240. Anytime you come home from Las Vegas with more than you came with, you had a good time.


    I'll post more this week, hope you all had a good weekend!


    DG