Morning Groaner

Ben came up to me this morning
       With a mischievous grin on his face
“Dad, can I show you something?”
      The twinkling eyes, the little grin
   He was planning something
         And I was walking right into it
     He showed me his pile of library books
          All thirteen of them
       All Hardy Boys books
         “You see this pile of books?”
“Yes” – still not sure why the grin is there
               “It’s thirteen stories tall.”
         Yep, he’s my son alright.    

Let the Games Begin

It’s official (almost) – Canadians will be off to the polls to elect a new Federal government. The current government was defeated in a vote of non-confidence today and the Governor General will be asked to dissolve parliament tomorrow. For the next 7 or 8 weeks we will be subjected to the rigors of a Federal election.

I’m happy the politicians finally got it over with. Canadians may grumble about having to go out and vote in the middle of January, but those who actually do take the time to exercise their democratic duty will go and vote despite the weather.

The thing really struck me while watching the coverage of the vote tonight is how simple our form of parliamentary democracy makes it to dissolve the government and call an election. The majority of the elected members of parliament voted that they had no confidence in the ruling party to continue to govern. Now it goes back to the people to decide who will go back in February and try again.

A simple vote, a simple outcome, now the people get to decide again.

Let the games begin.

Another Beginning

Today was my first day in my new job.

Last week I kicked back, relaxed, and spent the week with Karen. It was heavenly and a good time to recharge my batteries.

Back to today. I left early in order to make it there in plenty of time – I’m kind of old fashioned that you should actually show up on time for your first day. Well, the fog had a different idea. Having 5-10 inches of snow on the ground from the weekend and then temperatures well above freezing today resulted in dense fog this morning. I was 30 minutes late. It was more of a problem in my mind than for anyone at my new employer.

They were all just happy to see me and to finally have me “back” on board. While I am working with a lot of the same people I had worked with for five years (I left last December), the new company is a lot different then the one I left.

In very good ways, It was like I had never left. I had no first day nervousness or “newbie” feelings. I knew this is where I want to be. I felt completely comfortable. More comfortable than I had EVER felt at the employer I just left. I was even busy all day with a couple of organizational meetings and two customer calls.

Now all I need is my computer and phone and I can really get to work.

My last Day at Work

I quit
I’m done
Ooh ya-ah
Ooh ya-ah
Gettin’ outta hee-yah

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

I had hoped that my employment saga would be over by now. By all rights it should be, but things seldom turn out as planned.

I have a new job which I have now formally accepted. As I write this, I am less than two weeks away from my start date. Everything is great on that front – I am very happy with the offer I accepted and the people there are eager to see me start.

It’s my current employer where things are not going quite how I had planned. I had a meeting booked to speak with the owner on Thursday afternoon.  At that point, I had signed my new offer of employment. I was expecting the following things would happen:

1. I would meet with the owner. We would chat about the things that I had concerns about.


2. I would deliver the signed acceptance papers to my new employer on the way home.


3. I would arrive Friday morning and promptly resign.


4. I would be asked to leave and my notice paid since I am going to a direct competitor.


5. I would get a couple of weeks off work (during the paid notice) and start my new job.


6. I would have a clean break and leave this job behind.

Pretty simple, eh? But alas, the fickle finger of fate had something much different in mind. Here’s how it actually went:

1. I met with the owner Thursday. I had an hour booked with him. I got 15 minutes. He suggested booking something for late Friday afternoon to continue. Fearing a long day on Friday, I asked for an 8:00am meeting to get it over with quickly.


2. My co-worker, (a close friend who we will call X) called the owner and two of the managers (not our direct manager, mind you) and told them that he was afraid I would resign the following morning. He did this with my full knowledge, in part to offset any criticisms that he would have faced if I just went in and resigned.


3. I met with the owner on Friday. He told me about the call he received, and we chatted. I told him about the problems I had with my existing manager – the lies, the lack of leadership and, most importantly, the integrity issues. I kept my personal opinions to a minimum and concentrated on the facts and the resulting business issues. The owner appeared concerned with what I had told him.


4. At the end of the conversation I formally resigned. I told him that I was prepared to be walked out and I would understand. He told me to work it out with X, and that he knew I would not put myself in a conflict of interest. He also told me in no uncertain terms that I could come back at any time and a position would be there for me. So my dreams of two weeks off now disappeared.


5. I talked to X, he wanted me to work the two weeks because he really does not want to see me leave (separation anxiety). I told him I would stay until Thursday (new Harry Potter movie opens Friday and we are seeing it in IMAX).


6. The owner called my direct manager and told him I resigned. My manager was on vacation last week, and he lives in another province. When the owner found out he was on vacation in town, he told him to come in for a meeting on Saturday morning.


7. Our manager kept calling X every five minutes. When X actually answered the call, our manager lied to him. He told X that he had not heard anything – yet he knew that I had resigned and where I was going. He also told X that he had not heard from the owner – he knew that X had talked to the owner and then confessed that the owner had called him.


8. Our manager called X again on Friday evening. He said that we were trying to stage a coup and that he would get everyone back.


9. Now there is a lot of political maneuvering going on.


10. I want to get out of there. Thursday cannot come fast enough.

It’s amazing the way your perspective changes the minute you resign from a company. I’m still there only for X so I can transition the few things I had left.

One good thing that did happen today is that I bumped into the VP of sales. He expressed regret that I was leaving but he fully understood my position. He told me that he too had left several years ago because he was fed up and the resulting repercussions and changes after he left allowed him to come back to a better company and a better position. He told me that he would be more than happy to provide a reference at any time and that he would make sure a position was there if I ever wanted to come back.

At least I’m leaving on good terms. The bridges that matter are still intact. I haven't burned a single one.

Oh the weather outside is frightful (well, not yet)

It’s mid-November and all across this vast country weather forecasts are starting to use that four-letter word that no one is ambivalent about – S N O W. Yes, that’s right we are heading towards another Canadian winter. Without fail this even seems to take people who have lived here all their lives by complete surprise.

What? Winter? Already? It can’t be!  AHHHHHHHHH

Let me get this straight. All of us souls up here north of the 49th live in a country with four seasons (although never having lived above the tree line, I’m not sure exactly what the seasons look like in the Arctic – Proud Mum?). Winter seems to come every 12 months or so without fail and tends to hang around for at least 3-4 months (unless you live in Vancouver and once or twice a decade you have to go out and shovel in your Birkenstocks).  Winter is something that Canada is known for, and we quite often export Arctic air flows south of the 49th to balance the hurricane remnants that come north.

I’ve lived in Southern Ontario all my life. For those of you unfamiliar with Southern Ontario, we have a really interesting climate. Surrounded by the Great Lakes, we have very moist air. A humidity level of 40% is very dry for us and in the summer the humidity levels can stay up above 90% for weeks on end. We can go from a maximum sustained temperature of 38 to a wonderful -30 in the winter (not counting Humidex or Wind Chill – Oh, that’s in Celsius). But I love the fact that we actually have four distinct seasons. It allows you to measure your life and you can always remember what time of year things happened.

Yet, it becomes a Canadian tradition to complain, go into denial and just try and forget what will soon come down and cover the ground in a clean white blanket ready for the rebirth of life the following spring (whoa – too sappy!).

So, after that long setup, here are the types of people that get on my nerves at this time of year. What is really funny (to me) is that many people actually fit into more than one of these categories.

1. The denial junkie – Snow already? But it’s only November! I hate snow. When is it going to be summer again? Blah blah blah. You live in a country with seasons. You live in a country known for snow. If you don’t like it, there are many countries and areas of the world that don’t get any of this fluffy white stuff. They may even actually be happy to see you.


2. The White Christmas Winter – I’m really annoyed when I hear “I only love snow when it is on the ground from December 22 – 27. After that it can go away.” Well, I’m very sure that if you did an exhaustive search of global meteorological data that you could find the 5 square meters of the earth’s surface that actually fit these criteria and move there. As for Canada – where you live – we just haven’t gotten to the point where we can dictate when and where we will get the white stuff.


3. What is this stuff on the highway? – When the first significant snowfall of the year comes (read – “actually stays on the ground”), I like to stay home. Why, because commuting into and out of Toronto is a nightmare on those days. There is a certain subset of drivers that forget we have winter and obviously never listen to the weather report. All they see is this “white lumpy rain” and continue to drive like it’s a bright sunny day in July. So traffic becomes a mess because of these people. It’s really funny though, most of the vehicles I see scattered off the road during a snowstorm are usually the “safe” SUVs. It makes you wonder.


4. Wanna-be Snowbirds – Now these people really get me. These are the  people who say “I hate winter, I’m going to move to Florida”. Now, I have nothing against Florida, but why would your first choice for permanently escaping winter be an area that over the past few years has been a favourite target of hurricanes? Oh, I know, they’ll move back to Canada for hurricane season. Give me a break.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

    

Monte Carlo Ain't The Right Car

An ode to a rental car. My deepest apologies to the Smiths.

I was happy driving my old Subaru
But then I had to go rent a car

I was looking for a car, and then I found a car
And heaven knows that's not the right car!

In my life
I never thought that I'd be caught dead
In a Monte Carlo that's FIRE ENGINE RED!

When I got on the road in this automobile
I realized it wasn't for me

Why I'd ever rent this car, this really ugly car
The last car on the lot was Monte

So I'm stuck
With it for my five hour drive
In a red car that makes me quite sad

When I brought it home from the rental place
Karen started to laugh

"That car is really too red", she said
And I just shook my head

Why oh why
Did they not have
An auto that would much better suit my own style?

So I'm driving in this car down the 401
Showing the whole world my full Monte

"The moonroof completes the look", she said
And I just hung my head

And so I
Put up with this miserable car
Since my company is paying the bill.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

I must be tired to quote Shakespeare in a blog title. I'm sitting here during the middle of a two day trip for my current company to visit some of the customers we have here. I'm the token expert and the sales people here are making sure they get me out in front of some of their customers. So I'm doing my job and selling my company and our skills at providing high-end technical solutions.

Here's where the title comes in - I also was on the phone tonight with the person who I will soon be reporting to at my new employer. He came back with a verbal offer and wanted to go over the points that will be in the offer letter. We have an agreement.

So tomorrow, I have to meet some more customers and go through the whole dog and pony show again because it is what I am currently paid to do. But in my mind, I will know that I am one step closer to leaving to go to a direct competitor. It's enough to make my brain hurt.

To complicate matters even further, another key person in my current company resigned last week. Now, all of a sudden, certain managers I work with are worried that I might leave. If they only knew the whole story. One even met with me last week to ask what was wrong. I told her - not that I have an offer and am about to leave - everything that concerned me about my current manager and the company.

She told the owner, of course. I had expected that. Now he may have time to talk to me on Thursday. Who knows, I may have actually signed my offer by then and it will be moot.

I just wish I had been the first person to leave, then I wouldn't have some of these complications. I'm not the type of person to burn bridges - the industry is too small and you keep meeting up with people so you never know what the future holds.

However I will have to battle with myself to not use one of my favourite sayings if someone asks why I'm resigning:

It's been real
It's been nice
But, quite honestly, it hasn't been real nice

In the Home Stretch

Well, I’m in the home stretch with my job search (I hope). The company that was putting me through the marathon interviews finally made a decision. I was no longer being considered for the management position because they wanted me for the non-management one. After close to three weeks of stress and seemingly never-ending interviews, they informed me that I was their number one choice. We started talking seriously about compensation.

But wait, I did have my meeting last week with company number 2. I asked a lot of questions of the senior management team for this part of Canada. I needed to make sure that while a lot of the people are the same, the new company is actually a new company. To my surprise it is. None of the senior management from my former company are left. People are starting to come back. An office that was as quiet as a tomb for pretty much all of 2004 was alive with activity, noise and – dare I say – smiling faces. This was not the same company.

They have made me a verbal offer of employment for a position that was pretty much the one I held before the former company tanked. It was a job I enjoyed. They are offering me a technical management position with a national responsibility.

So on one hand I had Company A which I’ve wanted to be a part of for a long time has a lot of stability and ranked me as their number one choice. On the other hand is Company B which is full of people I worked with for 5 years who would like nothing better to have me back and want no one else for the position they are offering.

I chose Company B. I know I may never get a chance to work for Company A again, but I really won’t regret it. I’ve been offered a position that will allow me to use all of my skills rather than boosting a select subset of them. For the first time in months, I am looking forward to the future and I am relaxed – as soon as I had made my decision a lot of my stress left me and that further reinforced that I made the right choice for me.

I had to let the manager from company A know even though I don’t have company B’s offer on paper and signed. I know they need to move ahead quickly and I did not want to stretch it out for them. Besides, I know that I would never get everything I’m looking for in a job out of them. It took a moment for my decision to sink in. I don’t think many people turn down job offers from company A.

So, I’m cautiously optimistic. I don’t have an offer in writing, but that will come. Provided nothing changes drastically, I should be changing employers this month.