Everybody Hurts....

sometime. Michael Stipe had it pegged. My pain was in rare form today. I had eaten my normal granola and lactose free milk for breakfast, drove Little One to school and went to the office. I had my back brace on, and had taken my first handful of Advil for the day. By nine, though, I popped one of my prescription pain pills.

About 2 hours later a co-worker came up and was talking with me about an issue we are having with an office out west, and I apparently passed out. It caused quite a commotion. It happens every few months. Pain is trigger for my vasovagal response. I have become accustomed to these spells, but they do tend to freak out those around me when they occur.

It's the end of the world as we know it....and I feel fine!

So the process of severing the legal bond that still exists between myself and the NQEW has taken a step forward. My attorney called this morning and informed me that she is filing today. So, I would imagine that once the NQEW is served there will be a flurry of activity where she will call Little One every night and make efforts to see her in an attempt to make up for years of apathy with a few months of parenting.

It's not the end of the world, and something that I should have done realistically many years ago. But it has been a little over two years since we separated and it is time for closure.

I found out a long time ago,

It's a long way down the holiday road.

Or so sang Lindsay Buckingham. I need a vacation. I need to take my Little One on a vacation. But it is not to be until Christmas break, probably. School resumes on the 15th of August. I am hoping we can take a weekend trip to some coastal area before it gets too cool. Perhaps September, after Labor Day.

I am nice and busy with work, but I am also trying to explore some training opportunities to more fully develop my resume in case things change. I am also considering the option of leaving the white collar, corporate world for the world of a free-lance contractor, a white collar for hire.

The current project I am on here is rife with such folks. And they are paid outrageously. In their defense, they are working without a net: no insurance, no 401k, no retirement plan. All of this they must provide for themselves. No career track, either.

Some of them eagerly jump at full-time jobs within the company if offered. Some say they want to quit the grind of business travel. Others want the benefits. Others want the certainty of a career, and not a 12-month contract and then another job hunt.

I think the lure is stronger than the reality for me. My Little One needs me at home. I need to be here for her now. Perhaps when she has left the nest I will try the traveling life and see where it takes me. For now I am content to be a company man.