Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Shortest job ever?

So many of you know that I started my new consulting engagement this morning and are probably wondering why I'm writing a blog entry at a client site. Fair enough. However, I'm not writing this from the client site. I'm writing from my office back at good old home base. So here's what happened:

I show up at 8:50 at the client site for my 9:00 meet and greet. The person that arranged my contract on their side wasn't in yet so I was asked to wait in his office. 15 minutes go by and the person who escorted me there stopped by to see if he was there yet. He wasn't and she offered a few things to help me out just as my phone rang. It was my sales guy from good old home base telling me that he got a call from the client late last night saying that the deal was off and that they were going to try and get this job done with internal resources. Unfortunately he didn't get the message until this morning.

So now I'm there, in his office, and wondering WTF? My first thought was "dammit why did I go spend $350 last night on non-fat guy shirts and dress clothes which I hate wearing anyway?" Ok, I'll need them anyway for the next client site, but I altered my plans last night to be able to go shopping. Then I had the Matrix scene in my head and half expected the voice on the phone to call me Neo and tell me to do exactly as he said if I wanted to get out of there, instruct me to stay low and run down to the next cubicle.

Oddly this wasn't my shortest job ever. When I was 15 my friend Rich and I got jobs at Foot Locker in Harvard Sq before it opened. I wasn't scheduled to start until after I got back from vacation in Arizona visiting the grandparents. So I get home and I have a message on the answering machine from Rich that simply says "Don't bother going to work tomorrow we both got fired". Bwa!?!?!?. So I called and asked him "What the fuck did you do to get us both fired in under a week?" He wasn't sure what happened he was just asked to not come back in. I called the manager and pretended not to get the message. He essentially said that they found someone else that could work full time instead of us 2 as part time after we were already hired. Man was I pissed.

However I wasn't pissed this morning. It was funny if nothing else. And it gave me the opportunity to open up my car on the way to work which I haven't been able to do simply commuting down Rt 117 in the morning at 30 MPH if I'm lucky. So there was at least a bright side.

5 comments:

Sparkle Plenty said...

Now, don't get me wrong. I dig the sizzling sensation known as The Best of Bacon. But, now I'm all confused. You did NOT start a new consulting engagement this morning. Right? This whole thing is a time machine, so I should just sit back and enjoy the ride--as I am--and not respond with follow-up queries? Time is twisting, spiraling, salt water taffying before my eyes...

bacon ace said...

Yes, the consulting thing was about 5 weeks ago. The Foot Locker debacle was in 1990.

And by all means comment and query until your dinosaur loving heart is content. I was getting a little lonely over here today.

Sparkle Plenty said...

Okey-dokey! I'm having a spastic day today (more than usual...real-time...right now...this very minute) so all I have to say is SABOTAGE! Go watch the Beastie Boys video of that song--you know you wanna! Maybe I can re-enact it with the dinosaurs.

Cake said...

Oh good, I'm glad Sparkle asked before I had to...I can't quite keep up with this back-in-time blogging.

You beat my shortest job ever...that was six months. But they lured me back on contract later so, umm, never mind.

Ever have a day when your brain feels half...asleep...*zzzzz*

Cake said...

Spastic! That's a good word...I'm spastic today.

Also, it's fun to say...spastic, spastic, spastic.