Here's The Windup... And The Pitch!

and he sends one into deep right field... back, back, back goes the fielder - on the warning track... it's gone! A home run... no doubt about that one, folks!

I'm feeling like I have to hit a home run ball in this upcoming interview. I have to impress, win over everyone, so that there is no doubt about me being the right guy for the job. I'm afraid, though, that if I press... swing for the fences... and don't connect - that I might swing so hard I screw myself right into the ground, and have to walk back to the dugout and wait for the next opportunity.

So, better to just make contact and put the ball in play, right? Let them try to get me out. But see, the thing is, it's not like that. They're not trying to put me out. As an interviewer, you really want the candidate to work out. You're favorably disposed to them in the first place, because you have a job you want to fill. You are really looking for reasons to like them, to see them in the job and performing well. That's what I have to remember, and not press too hard. Simply show up, try to handle cleanly everything that comes my way, and when I get the opportunity, tell them what I think I can do.

As of yesterday I know the lineup I'm facing. The night before, dinner with the hiring manager, the VP, my prospective boss. Nice guy - I'm hoping we will get along well informally over dinner and he will fill in the details on how things work and the people I'll meet with Wednesday. His boss, the COO, the next day - the big cheese! This is the guy who sets the tone for the whole place, which will give me a clue as to where their business is going and how fast.

Also, two people who would be prospective staff of mine. They currently report to the VP, and I would be stepping in between. That's a dicey situation, especially since I would be in a different office than the VP, and for some of the staff he will still be available to go to if he is on site and I am not. I'll bring that up at dinner the night before. Finally, two operations people who these staff members work with and support, so I'll get to see what they want from us and how we can be useful.

It's a good, thorough lineup of people, and should be an excellent read for them and for me on how I would fit in, and where the potential problems are to watch out for. I'm starting to feel ready for it! Doing my warmup swings now, having imaginary conversations with these people while driving around, etc... :)

Family business... Jonny was planning on coming home this weekend, but had no wheels, couldn't find a ride (may not have looked real hard, either), didn't "feel like" taking a bus... so, he didn't really want to come home that badly I think. I think what he wanted was for someone to come get him. But we had too much going on (see below). So, it's kind of like when the toddler drops the passifier in the middle of the night and cries for you to come get it. You'll be doing that until they're in middle school if you don't sometime close your ears to it and let them cry themselves back to sleep.

Jenny had an interview Thursday for a fulltime job with benefits at an art shipping company in the Loop. She'd be building crates??? Hm. But they also wanted someone with real knowledge of some of the artwork they will be handling, to be able to discuss it intelligently with customers, etc. Apparently it's a high-end firm with high-end clients, one she sent an inquiry to back in July, and they contacted her when they had an opening! She should hear by 10/3.

Cleaned out Dad's apartment Friday - he's in the nursing home for good now, not doing well. It was creepy - the whole business was. I had to bring home his blue suit... the one he'll be buried in. :( Why can't it be sudden and quick instead of long, slow stages of decline? But his heart is strong, even though his mind and body are not, so he hangs on. I hate to think that this will be my future, too - since I'm built like him and have the same strong heart.

Signed new wills on Thursday. The kids don't need guardians anymore. Created some trusts instead to ration out insurance proceeds via a trustee (their uncle). All this stuff makes one a little somber. Changes, partings, old responsibilities ending, new ones starting, preparations for farewells... I could use some fun, something both thrilling & fulfilling - something to make me forget about this difficult time of life I'm in, to be just a bit more carefree for a while.