CuzJoe In Town

Because the advantages of taking a LOA were not much better than just plain resigning, I decided to resign. Last day officially is Friday. What a breeze it was being at work today. Spent some time with HR and found out some of the things to do to prepare.

After surprising us all by buying a new house himself, CuzJoe was up visiting this weekend. He wanted to put more particulars around his vacation plans. So as of now, it looks like we’ll be leaving on April 8th, and heading for Pittsburgh, where we will probably spend the night and try to catch a ball game. We’d then try to travel most of the way to Chicago probably getting there Tuesday. We will stay there until Saturday, spend a couple days wandering and would like to stop over in Memphis at least on Wednesday. Then it’s the Big Easy through Sunday morning when CuzJoe will be heading home.

At least that’s the plan so far.

No bids on the condo (or Vader) yet. But had a couple of repeat visitors this weekend.

1 Work Week Remaining

I submitted my LOA request yesterday. If it gets approved as is, my last day will be March 2nd. I won’t be getting as much benefit from this as I hoped, so I am considering resigning instead just to simplify everything. Now that I have started telling everyone at work, it’s sort of fun to be here. Most people are shocked or excited, and some say they are envious.

With next Friday as the final day, that will give me one month to finish off all preparations. Among other things, I need to sell my house, sell and buy a car, get a laptop, get a new cell phone, put stuff in storage, figure out all the stuff I will be taking with me, and a slew of other things. Not to mention Battlestar's bachelor party in Tampa next month.


As far as the condo goes, I have had 14 showing with 3 more scheduled for this weekend and also the open house on Sunday. I believe 2 of the showings will be return visits, so that is a good sign. Who knows, perhaps at the end of this weekend I could have an offer if I am lucky.

LOA

This morning I sent an email to my boss indicating that I am looking to take a Leave of Absence from the job. Four hours later, I left her a voice mail. Four more hours later, she finally deemed it necessary to call me back. To my chagrin, she sloughed it off, played it cool, went with the flow. In order for me to actually get a LOA, I will need her to support me. And her response tonight seemed to be that she was OK with it.

Perhaps I underestimated her. There are multiple ways that my leaving could end badly for her; there are a couple of ways things could end about even for her; I can’t see how losing me on the current project could end good for her. By halting my march toward actually quitting, she may have found one of the ways she gets out of this without me putting her in an awkward situation…after all, I need her support to get a LOA.

So, Thursday I will be meeting with HR about whether this is possible. If it is possible, I would still be able to keep my current inexpensive insurance rather than going to Cobra, and there could be a few other benefits such as vesting in a few more options, etc. While not as fun as ranting about my out-of-states boss, it’s the smarter way to end it.

So, we’ll see…perhaps I can get a LOA and get the #ell away from here.

V1.0

I just went on a 1 day road trip to the MBK chalet. Awesome time. This is a photo from their front porch.

Enjoying Life!

Anyway, I think I've pieced together a part of the trip. The plan is, CuzJoe and I head out on the 8th or 9th of April. First destination: Chicago. The Cubs are in town that week, so I hope to be in the bleachers of Wrigley. From there, we meander down the Mississippi (I think I need to add Huck Finn to the reading list). After that, it’s the Jazz, Gumbo and Hurricanes (maybe a little bit Katrina and a little bit Pat O’Brien’s) of Nawlins.

By then it will probably be time to say adieu to CuzJoe. I’ll skirt around Crawford as I cut across Texas. Destination AZ. From there the timetable varies, side trips may be taken (I will get to the Grand Canyon before this is done), but it will likely be followed by a fling to San Fran, perhaps with a layover at Yosemite.

After that, there are a few possibilities…a trek to Alaska…visit the Coach and family in S.D. … aloha Hawaii…and a couple of others.

Either way, this is just Version 1.0 of the Road Trip. (Hey, I haven’t quit my job yet, I’ll unwind later.) While some of the destinations are firming up, it's certainly open to interpretation.

Craig

Since I thunk up this crazy trip idea, I have been googling lots of things about how I should do stuff. Like what car to drive, how to sell my place, the best way to vagabond, etc.

The one thing that has recurred most frequently in what I peruse is that I will be using Craig's List for a lot of things. My general knowledge prior to today was that it was a place to buy and sell things like ebay, but not as good.

I was wrong. Craig's List is very different. I still don't have a strong feel for what it is, but in about 6 minutes, I had taken a picture of my sofas and placed an entry there. I've received 2 responses already. This seems to be the free market that eBay started out as, but accidentally got commercial. Craig's List is super ez to use.

I now have 2 listings up, one for my sofas and one to give away my cat.

Freeze cat? Or Free cat. If anyone wants a cat, let me know.

(BTW, I heard from Treasonpal that even if you freeze a cat, they can thaw and still be alive. I don't believe it - might have to test the hypothesis.) - I was just sent this link: Frozen Cat.

A Wrinkle

Ok, so my place is ready to be put on the market, pictures were taken and it should be online tomorrow. Storage now has half my stuff…amazing how much stuff you accumulate. Cat is freaked out…all her comfy spots are gone. Living sterile is difficu; I guess it is a good transition living without.

The work situation had a little twist today. The department next to us had lay-offs. Lay Offs!

Perchance to dream. Getting laid off is the best thing that could happen to me. Instead of quitting and getting nothing, I would get 26 weeks pay and unemployment. Huge money.

The wrinkle is that it is a Catch-22 type of situation. If you want to get laid off you usually can’t. So the issue is: How do I get laid off?

One option (offered by Pa) is to offer to quit now (which I am doing anyway) or work hard 3 more months with the promise to be Laid Off then. It works for me both waysand gives management the option.

Another option is to confront my boss with the rationale of why it is in her best interest to Lay me Off now rather than wait for me to quit. I could be a terrible employee. I could have the worst case of “short timer syndrome”, ever. I could be taking half my remaining time off on vacation, sick and personal leave. The big project would fall into neglect.

A final option is to bribe my boss with a bucket of money.

Lots to think about. End game coming soon.

Busy Week

I have spent the last 6 days working on the tasks from the realtor. I nearly did everything on the list and it is easy to see the difference in the place. It certainly feels less homey, but also much more spacious. I spent about $850 on the work ($725 for new carpets), and I would think the return will be worth it. I rented a storage space for $85 per month to accommodate all the de-cluttering.

Tomorrow Armando comes and cleans and the realtor comes to take professional pictures for their window posting and web postings.

Again it is back to work tomorrow. While I have been thinking it over as to what to say, I really haven't come up with what to say if my boss asks if my time off helped me to come to terms with my disappointment. At some point I will have to say that I am looking at other opportunities.

Prepping for Sale

My realtor service provides me with a stylist who comes in and tells me all the things I can do to set my condo up for sale. As I hope to put it on the market beginning next week, it is really good that I have this week off.

Since yesterday when she came, I have repaired grouting in the bathroom, selected and scheduled new carpets for Thursday, begun the repainting of the bedroom by spackling, prepping, and priming and started the bathroom water damage repairs.

A great start, but lots to do. It may not be perfect to go on the market on Monday, but it should be a lot closer.

I received the email from the stylist and here’s the list of things she wants me to change:

First and foremost, the apartment needs to be immaculately clean and uncluttered.

The Top 3 Big Items
1. Repainting of your bedroom, along with the lesser painting jobs in the kitchen and the baseboard moldings
2. Water repairs in the bathroom
3. Installing new carpet in the bedrooms.

The list is:

• Repair the buzzer.
• Remove the brown recliner
• Remove the wooden end table, the small flag table, the dried floral wreath, and the Trade Center puzzle.
• In the bar cabinet, leave the glasses and the Eiffel Tower print and remove everything else.
• Paint over the blue band under the counter.
• Clean spotlessly.
• Remove all the items from the tops of counters, tops of cabinets, and top of the fridge.
• Remove the two small rugs, the key caddies, and the photos from the fridge.
• Clean the bowl of the light fixture and add the second bulb.
• Replace the curtain panels covering the closet opening with two new ones as we discussed. (neutral off-white in a heavier fabric). Also remove the metal tie backs and let the panels cover the opening.
• Get the shoes in the closet (which you will also be emptying out considerably).
• Remove the small gray table and swing the other night stand around next to the bed.
• Remove almost all of your personal photos and re-arrange those shelves.
• Remove the hanging plant bracket, the small dresser, the desk chair and the lounge chair.
• Take down the cubby hanging on the wall.
• Switch the mirror with the Hawaiian botanical print.
• In the guest bedroom, remove the shade on the window.
• If at all possible, try to hide the litter box, or at least perhaps get a smaller one and keep it immaculately clean.
• Remove the trash can with the kitty litter in it.
• I would also recommend repainting the guest bedroom.
• Remove the chairs and push the desk back against the wall.
• In the bathroom, you must repair the water damage around the tub and on the ceiling.
• Repaint the bathroom ceiling.
• Re-caulk around the tub, and re-grout around the tile.
• Remove your personal items from the sink and vanity.
• Throughout the apartment, replace the bulbs in the recessed lights with the correct bulbs and replace the switch plates with white ones.
• Gary is expecting your call. He will show you some carpet samples that would be appropriate for your bedrooms and within your budget.

Whew!

Vegas

Good morning. I just got back from the surprise 40th birthday party for my brother. Surprisingly, he was surprised. The whole family flew to Vegas to join their annual super bowl weekend. Lots of fun, some great meals, and fortunately was able to keep the gambling losses to a minimum.

Here's something that didn't stay in Vegas. 6Pack had me place a c-note on the Yanks to win the 2007 World Series (4-1 odds). So when Roger Clemens paraded in to the private party the casino was throwing our clan for the super bowl, I jumped up and had him autograph the wager ticket.

Roger also seems to think that quitting work can be a good idea.