A 6 month affair

I'm supposed to be working, playing catch up to the myriad tasks that I'm supposed to prepare for. It is a Monday tomorrow, the busiest day of the week. But I just can't pass up on this time to write. It's been a while, after all, and there is just no saying no to this little journal of sorts that I've been sharing.

*****

So this coming Thursday, I'd have been working for my new bosses for exactly 6 months. To tell you the truth, it doesn't feel like 6 months, it feels more like 6 years now. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but definitely it's been enough time lapsed for me to look back and assess where I've been and where I'm going to.

6 months ago, I had no idea what the future held for me. I was on vacation in a foreign land, looking out the window into the freezing cold ether, cigarette in hand and a tiny whisky bottle by my side. I had just ended an 8-year relationship with my old job, and admittedly, I was scared shitless. Funny how I viewed my old job as a relationship, throughout all the frustrations and pressure and abject poverty, I loved that job. My moving on had nothing to do with hate nor indifference, just the realization that there was a bigger world out there, and that I wanted to be a part of it. Selfish, ambitious prick that I am.

The new job, or relationship, proved to be a giant leap in a totally different direction. After ditching the small town girl next door, I found myself in the arms of a career woman who took no shit from anybody. This wasn't Kansas anymore, welcome to the real world of players, hustlers and sharks. Didn't I say I wanted to be a part of the bigger ocean? Well, I definitely came to the right place!

In no time, I found myself overextended and entertaining feelings of inadequacy. There was no place for sugar-coating and excuses, and no points for trying, either. Either deliver or go home. So I was doing everything and anything, holding on to apron strings for dear friggin' life. After 2 months, my boss resigned, apparently seeking a slower pace. So I was left to my own devices, somewhere between limbo and f*cked.

It was somewhere at this point, in the middle of inhaling 2 packs of cigarettes a day, that I realized I was actually in a great position. Not everyone gets an opportunity to go from being a cog in a small family-owned company to getting first crack to carve out his own place in a global corporation. I was serendipitously caught at the right place at the right time, with fairly equal chances of success and doom. I liked my chances.

That was 3 months ago, so far I haven't gone that far in my quest. There are just too many brick walls that need to be hurdled. But I haven't thrown in the towel just yet.

Well, my impossibly insatiable mistress awaits. I'll let you know what happens in the next few days, but whatever the case I can safely say that I learned more in the past 6 months than all those 8 past years. Hopefully the learning continues, because there's a heck of a lot more out there.