wheelin' and dealin'

Woke up at an unreasonably early hour again this morning to trudge into the office for yet another call from Sweden. The nine hour time difference between there and here will be the death of me!

Basically, this call was a follow-up from the billion back-and-forth e-mails and other telephone calls that have zipped back and forth from them to me (and vice-versa) for the past two-and-a-half months. There's no job offer at this point. The original position has been split into two functions now - one strategic, the other, operational. The operational role needed to be filled asap, so they pulled someone from another division within the project to ease the pressure. He's only been in the role for five days, but it sounds like he's going to be responsible for the day-today running of the website, updating content, editing, and putting together the monthly newsletter.

The strategic role is a little more up in the air right now, partially because the role calls for fewer tangible deliverables than the direct operative role. It's more of a long-range planning and development role, at least from what I understand, which means more planning and follow-through and less actual doing. It's something that they intuitively feel a need for, but want to be fair to the project and to the person they eventually recruit, so after a long vacation (apparently the tradition in Sweden is for everyone to take long summer holidays to be with family and enjoy the nice weather), they will put together a new job description and pick up the recruiting where it has left off.

I guess I was hoping for more concrete answers as to where this leaves me, but I really have no complaints. She was quite honest and frank with me about where the project is at this stage and how the roles (even hers) are eveolving on a daily basis. They seem keen to have me on board, but don't want to string me along until the fall (when they'll finalize the revised job description) unless I'm okay with it. I'm certainly up for a change, and if it means having to wait a few more months to see what will come of it, I think I can hold on...just...a...little...longer.

To be perfectly honest, at this point, I'm just glad to have made some contacts out there in the montherland. Although it all sounds positive, I'm not absolutely certain that this thing will pan out even in the fall (I would be stupid to bet on it). However, the fact that I'm starting to develop international contacts within the organization will hopefully make it easier for me to remain mobile should I choose to do so in the future. Look-at-me, the wheeler & dealer and master schemer!

Meanwhile, my manager is still oblivious to all of that's transpired thus far. I still haven't decided if I'm going to tell him about any of these goings-on during my upcoming performance evaluation. Part of me wants to keep it under wraps and spring it on him at the last posisble minute so that they're left scrambling when the time comes to evntually find a replacement for me. However, the other part of me wants to see him squirm uncomfortably in reaction to hearing about how I've managed to get these wheels in motion without him being aware. Delayed or instant gratification...which would be sweeter, I wonder?

lawd help us!

I've always enjoyed reading humourous church signs for roll-your-eyes-for-dramatic-effect puns or intended (and often unintended) witticism. However, I have never seen signs that have made me laugh so hard in these parts. Perhaps it's just as well...


always there to lend a helping hand


thank you? i think?

I can't take credit for these. That goes straight to the pastors of these unfortunate congregations. However, you can feel free to generate your very own nugget of holy wisdom. Tread lightly though...your personal salvation or damnation is on the balance!

wet paint

the invitation

Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a longhandled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the farreaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a treebox discouraged. Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail, and singing Buffalo Gals. Bringing water from the town pump had always been hateful work in Tom's eyes, before, but now it did not strike him so. He remembered that there was company at the pump. White, mulatto, and negro boys and girls were always there waiting their turns, resting, trading playthings, quarrelling, fighting, skylarking. And he remembered that although the pump was only a hundred and fifty yards off, Jim never got back with a bucket of water under an hour -- and even then somebody generally had to go after him. Tom said:

"Say, Jim, I'll fetch the water if you'll whitewash some."

- From "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", by Mark Twain

We had a backyard barbecue and fence painting party today. Okay, so it's not the most original idea we've ever had for a party. Young Tom Sawyer happened upon it first when he decided to get his friends to help him paint Aunt Polly's fence. Regardless, our fence needed to get painted, so we thought it would be the perfect excuse to get some friends together for some summertime fun and barbecuing. The fence got painted, we enjoyed good food, cold drinks, great beach party tunes from my university dorm days...and I even got a bit of a tan! I wanna do it again next week. Except for the painting part.

apparently...

Jenny Turpish, though she has no clue who I am, nor do I her, says this of me:

Wackiness: 10/100
Rationality: 50/100
Constructiveness: 90/100
Leadership: 66/100

You are an SECL--Sober Emotional Constructive Leader. This makes you a politician. You cut deals, you change minds, you make things happen. You would prefer to be liked than respected, but generally people react to you with both. You are very sensitive to criticism, since your entire business is making people happy.

At times your commitment to the happiness of other people can cut into the happiness of you and your loved ones. This is very demanding on those close to you, who may feel neglected. Slowly, you will learn to set your own agenda--including time to yourself.

You are gregarious, friendly, charming and charismatic. You like animals, sports, and beautiful cars. You wear understated gold jewelry and have secret bad habits, like chewing your fingers and fidgeting.

You are very difficult to dislike.

The whole 'politician' things worries me. should i be flattered or offended? the gold jewelry thing makes me laugh. The animals, sports, beautiful cars thing sounds very highschool. Everything else rings fairly true though. Damn, Jenny! Have you been stalking me? Well, do a better job, for goodness sake! At least I'm difficult to dislike... Does that mean that I'm easy to like?

In other news, I'm completely in love with the parasol. We ordered pizza tonight for dinner and ate out on the patio. It's like having our very own summer getaway in the backyard. Now all I need are pretty drinks with limes in them to make my life complete.

viva la parasol

Just in time for our painting party and barbecue this weekend, I have procured for the backyard a freakin' huge parasol (translation: patio umbrella). It stretches out four metres wide and has a clean, crisp white fabric shade. Just imagine sittting in the luxurious shade on the backyard sipping drinks on the patio. I'm giddy with excitement!

And I managed to snag the whole shebang for forty-three dollars and change, just a little less than half the regular price. It was one of the display models, and I had the J call me when while was taking down the summer displays to let me know if there was a parasol among the things for me. Another one of the perks of the job - first pick of the marked down cast-offs!

The word parasol makes me think of pretty pink umbrellas, or lacy, frilly things that Eliza Dolittle would hold with both hands and twirl as she sang. My newest acquisition is neither lacy, nor frilly. It's strong and heavy, and big as a sail. Speaking of which, I designed an ad promoting the summer range a few months back, playing with scale and proportion. It had a parasol stuck in some funky summer glasses. The tagline read "who said parasols were just for girly drinks?" It almost flew, but got pulled at the last minute in favour of another more conservative ad concept that I pulled together. Too bad. I would have liked to see the public response to the girly drinks ad.