It's All Who Ya Know

On my way home from the gym last night, I rang up S. He's an intrepid world traveler and very hard to reach. It's been at least a month since I handed over the big final consulting deliverable to the high muckety mucks and I've yet to hear a peep back from them. I'm still hoping this could lead to my dream job someday.

I know he's got bigger fish to fry with his insane travel schedule. Lately I've been distracted with personal matters, so it hasn't been that pressing for me but I figured I might as well stir the pot to find out if there's the potential for further work, or if this is "done and done".

Lo and behold, he was actually IN the States... and in Austin! He was having drinks with his peeps at the Cedar Door. I hopped in the shower and hightailed it downtown in time to see them crossing the street "Beatles-style" to Manuel's for dinner as I hunted a parking spot. My cell phone rang a few moments later to inquire about my drink preference. Nice!

His friends are great. Smart, savvy, fit, and funny. Married. One of them clearly has a crush on him. Who doesn't? Hell, I do too... although the sideburns aren't helping him much these days. The first time we met I got the weirdest vibe from her. Like I was competition. Doesn't matter that she's married, she cornered me in the ladies room to secure the story of my friendship with him. How long had we known each other? Did we work together? How did we meet? Ad nauseum.... She must have decided quickly that I was no threat. She's been super perky to me ever since.

These are people that you'd just naturally expect to be snotty, and somehow, suprisingly, they're not. I'd feel snubbed if they didn't completely embrace me the way they do. One of the girl's gave me the best compliment as we left the restaurant... something about how well I fit in with them and how they'd love to have me meet the rest of the group.

I don't know why that should mean so much, but it does. Maybe because I work with mostly men... mostly over 50...mostly in a very structured environment. Maybe it's all the crappy job interviews lately. I don't care... I'm taking that deposit to my self esteem account at Ego National Bank.

And in unrelated news... my good karma continues as my awesome friend Jace Toronto gifted me with a 300 song iTunes sampler from SXSW XX. That'll be a great addition to my Tron phone! God bless my groovy and diverse group of friends!

I love you all!