UrbanSkies

Rollercoaster

When isn't life a rollercoaster?

For most people, rollercoasters are fun. But I hate them. Always have. It goes back to my childhood, with my mother reading such reassuring stories from the newspaper, such as "Did you hear that a rollercoaster was stuck upside for three hours in Tokyo?" or "Four people died when a rollercoaster ran off the tracks in New Jersey". It's always New Jersey. There was always a rollercoaster incident once or twice a year in the Garden State, all of which were announced by my mother to everyone at the breakfast table. And that my friends is why I hate rollercoasters.

But life the past several weeks has been a series of ups and downs.

First off, my Journey to Normal was a great life-changing experience. I learned so much about myself, met several new friends, saw a lot of America (and by America, I mean farms) and cleared my head and focused on what I will accomplish in the next several years. I won't write much now, but expect a blog entry about it in the near future. To satiate your appetite, here's a cool pic of the St. Louis arch I took. Full size available here.

Second, the job I interviewed for before my journey was offered to someone else. However, that is ok, because there may be an additional opening in the next few weeks, and I will apply for that job. I have a high chance of obtaining this opening. However, a positive outcome of the Journey to Normal is the realization that I don't have to continue on the path I am currently on, both career-wise and employer-wise. So should this other job opening fall through, I'm resigning in August and becoming a teacher. It can't be any worse than what I'm doing now, and I'll get summers off. I've already started looking at local school district websites for job listings, and there are a couple I'm qualified for (less the teacher certification). So that is promising.

And now the rollercoaster spirals downward. On Friday, I had a conference with my supervisor. One particular project I am working on has taken too long, and therefore, I am inefficient. Or at least that's what was conveyed to me in this conference. So now, I'm getting a "conference memo" in my personnel file indicating that we had this conference. I will file a grievance stating my side. This is not a big deal (as in, this is not the start of the firing process) and the memo carries no legal weight, but I am still obsessing about it. If anything, it's motivating me to find a new job.

Of course, this less-than-happy news meant I had to drink heavily on Friday night. Chase, Lana, Lynn, Abby (Lynn's roommate) and I caught Happy Hour at Maudie's II. A couple of margaritas later, the world is a happier place. After a couple of hours, we headed to G&S, a South Austin bar that was, uh, interesting. Chase kept laying his head on the table, so we departed for Ernest's abode. Chase crashed there, and I hung out with Kenton and Josh, who live in the same complex. The three of us were hungry, so off to Magnolia Cafe we went. Pancakes were delicious, as was our waiter. Hmmm...I really need to move below the river. More attractive bois there. I hung out at KentonAndJosh's place until I sobered up, then went home. While Friday did have its low point, I did get to see a lot of friends and started talking with Lana again.

Saturday was spent sleeping and errand running. Nighttime came, and off to Clyde's birthday party. We were there for a short while, drinking and staying safely within our own clique. Then off to Oil Can's. Earlier in the week, I was ready to go out clubbing, but once I got there, I had no energy. I had one drink, and then was ready to go. Chase made out with some boi from Georgia, and then we went home. Chase's version is here.

Me and Chase at Clyde's Birthday

Sunday was the Fourth of July, so again, Chase, Anant and I head to Zilker to listen to the Austin Symphony Orchestra and watch fireworks. The orchestra seemed better than in years past, and their programming was most enjoyable. The canons for 1812 Overture was directly behind us, so when they were fired off near the end, we collectively jumped out of our seats. The fireworks were spectacular, much better than previous years. And traffic was easier too, even if the walk was a bit further.

So now, back to work on Monday. Here's hoping the rollercoaster starts heading up again.

Posted by Ben at July 5, 2004 11:17 AM