Day Seventy-Seven: I Don't Have a New Job

I ponder what to do today.  Being unemployed has its perks, but it gets old pretty quickly.  I’m happy to know that I’ll be starting my new job next week.

I clean out my closet to make room for the new clothes I bought yesterday.   I won’t be wearing all of these suits anymore.

I am out for a walk with Lyla, thinking about my new job when I get an email from Tom.  He informs me that the things I was going to work on got squashed and/or delayed and they are not going to fill the position.  I will not be the Director of Business Development.

Whhaaaaatt!?!?!? Suddenly everything changes.  After trying to reach Tom to discuss, I mope around.  There is nothing I can do.  I am utterly disappointed. 

I think about the positives:
1.  I don’t want to work for a company that would make an offer and renege it two days later.  Who does that?
2.  Clearly the opportunity was not what I had envisioned.

Ok, so now what?

I weigh my options.

It looks like I’ll go to Coachella this year.  I bought my ticket, plane tickets and rental car.  I thought it wouldn’t be wise to take two days off of work in my first week so I wasn’t going to go, but now I can.

Maybe I could finish my road trip with Lyla.  Drive out to California, stop in Austin along the way. But the idea of driving cross country has lost its glamour for the moment.  I want to be in California and I want Lyla to be with me, but the drive is long.  I don’t want to waste time.  I am ready to focus.  Ready to start.  I need to create new opportunities for myself.  That isn’t likely to happen on the road, though it might in San Francisco.

I meet Serafima for happy hour at the Mermaid Inn and invite Jay to join.  They are supportive.  “It didn’t seem like you were done with your travels.  I can’t believe you’re back,” Serafima says.  “You can always go back,” she suggests.  Maybe she is right, I wasn’t ready to leave, but I was chasing this opportunity. 

Do I keep going?  This is all too new.  I had my head set on this job all week.  I had my head set on this job since my first meeting with Tom. 

Here we go again.

Serafima and Jay at Ace Hotel