Out into nothing / BWE

In which our Hero sets a bare hook and starts frantically trying to think of bait

Today was the day after.

Not everybody at work knows that I or anybody else is on the way out. My own intention is to go as quietly into the night as it is humanly possible, yet without being willing to give up any paid days along the way. Though sooner rather than later would be just fine if I can pick up the income somewhere else. It’s going to be awkward when Hollywood is gone because we’ve spent the last 8 years there side by side and suddenly I’m going to be seen in the building without him. Explaining will be painful. I can’t make any awkward jokes because he’s not there to prove me wrong. Not to mention the emotional security blanket of having someone who has my back, thick or thin. Or the lack thereof, rather.

I’ve selectively reached out to a few people in the network, and word’s trickling back. Looks fairly good for me to land on my feet somewhere, so that’s good. I’ve got a few more people to bashfully network at, and my general failure at uddering the milk of human kindness will not work in my favour.

In the nearer term, I have a few simple things to do. I need to get a haircut, sooner, rather than later. I want to get a nicer portrait up on my Linked In profile since there’s a chance someone might be looking. Likewise, I am going to have to undo years of professional neglect and create myself a resume. Anybody have samples they like and are willing to share? Nah, kidding, I don’t imagine anybody would be in a hurry to volunteer, there’s something just slightly intimate to a resume, isn’t there? Is it just me, Gentle Reader? I mean, I’m proud of what I come up with, but I freely admit that my resume designs are frequently as… untraditional as my lack of sense of fashion makes my clothes. Having a non-standard resume makes one very self conscious, let me tell you.

My goals for this new resume are two-fold. One is to break out of the microsoft word rut I’m living in, and try to get some actual design into the document without the agonizing clutter that word seems to enforce on any resume that covers life outside of high school. Partly, because that’s a game for me, and I obsess. Nominally because information design is part of what I sell and I’d like to show that i can do it.

Hollywood does not care about the design aspect. He just wants a good looking template with an example he can use. Which is why he turned to me after we got the news and said, “When are you going to be done with your resume and how soon can you send it to me?” Which he well knows is exactly the wrong way to ask for something that I’d otherwise help him with immediately but “help me,” or “can I see” are way better ways to say it than “I need to steal yours.” I don’t know why it bothers me so much, because I’d put in the same effort and care if I knew he needed it. But now, he has to say it *that way* and then laugh at the expression on my face. Resumes are personal, and as much as they are documents of a moment’s import, they are also little calling cards. After putting in the time reading articles and studying resumes and trying designs he wants to steal my face.

Or at least don’t snicker as you wind me up.

I am sad. And sleepy. But on the plus side, this is day.. uh.. I dunno. Let’s say day 9 of my mile-a-day challenge. But I also pigged out on a dairy milk pretzel and peanut butter bar. It’s not that I have a problem. I don’t have a problem. But I don’t have my chocolate bar anymore either.