I just got back from taking a nice walk in the cool autumn afternoon twilight. It's really nice out there now. The air is so cool and fresh. The mere act of breathing it helps to lift my spirits a bit.

Thinking about This Month in practical terms, I realize that my so-called "Plan B" is about as well defined, and makes about as much sense as most of the business plans of the '99 dot bombs for achieving profitability. I am confused as hell, and don't know where any of it's going.

I expressed much of this on my site last night, and also discussed the situation with a highly sought mentor and motivational speaker who resides in Fort Collins. Although no firm conclusions were reached, it did get me thinking.

One of these days, I might just be living in a van down by the river. Actually..... If I could find a van down by the river that had a hi band net connection, a nice audio system, and clean drinking water, that might not be such a bad deal. A techno van down by the river.

Anyway... this month... what a mess. The Plan:

1. Find a job.
2. Find a place to stay which is within the geographic vicinity of whatever job I find, and is affordable under whatever income level this mythical job provides. Though I don't like the thought, this may require some sort of cohabitation arrangement. TBD.
3. Move all my crap into the new location. All by October 31.

In reading the list I have just written, I once again realize how crazy it is to try to fit it all into that timeframe. But that's what's necessary.

Right now, I find myself hung up on the first step. Here's my problem: We've all heard the rumor by now. There might be a lead for a job in San Antonio. If this lead turns out to be serious, and if I cram fast enough, I might even be able to convince them that I could be a capable Python programmer (which I could, given a little time to learn all the syntax). But as it stands right now, I haven't heard anything more than a few mentions of it in irc, during which I expressed interest in having my resume forwarded. That's all I know, and that'l really all I can do with regard to that.

What if I find out there's a position open at the local King Soopers right now, and I could start work there tomorrow for $7/hour? Do I take it, or do I hold off and wait a week or two to see what happens with the more desirable deal? I've already been burned by doing that with one lead that fell into my lap, and looked like an almost sure thing, until somebody, in all their brilliance, decided that they didn't want someone who was too good.

(Dammit, if I've said it before, I'll say it again: The corporate world does NOT like excellence. It prefers mediocrity and half-assed bullshit. Learn this lesson well, children. If you perform too well, and beat too many difficult deadlines, and, heaven forbid, you look like you're actually having fun while doing it, then the people higher up the ladder will assume there must be some spare resources ripe for cost cutting. Some folks I once knew in Atlanta learned this the hard way a long time ago. Others here in Colorado learned it last spring. "They" would have you think it's all happenstance, but I theorize that there's a pattern to be seen. Operant conditioning at its worst. The timing in both cases was just a little too nice.)

Bah. My cynicism shows through again. I'm planning for the FUTURE, not stewing about the PAST, right? Good.

So here's the deal. Given the time constraints I'm under, my goal is to have a job offer by October 15. If I don't have any job by then, then I'm screwed, and it's time to move on to what we will call "Plan C". You don't want to know what that involves, and neither do I.

October 15. Damn. That particular date is familiar in my long forgotten memory, especially given that I mentioned a little place called Atlanta a couple paragraphs above. lol. It's all in the distant past. And now the future.

This gives me less than 2 weeks. Damn. That's too tight. Too tight to sit around at wait for San Antonio to respond, which may or may not ever happen, for all I know. Maybe I should just trek straight down to Taco Bell, find a room mate in the slums of Aurora, and eek out some kind of existence there until I can figure out a better plan.

What's the best idea? I don't know. I am going in circles here. At least I've got an outline now. Oct 15: Job search finished. Realistic? Hah!

I wish I had a plan that was clearly feasible. But I don't. Oh well. Repeating myself here isn't going to do any good either.

I'll figure something out. I always do.