I woke up early this morning at sunrise, well-rested, with three things to do today: win the auction on tsmith.com, drive about 800 miles to Tulsa, and have a conversation with a Program Manager at a massive software company.
I didn’t hear anyone else stirring around me, so I drove out of the campground as quietly as I possibly could. As soon as I pulled onto the driveway, even at 3mph, the Xterra was pulling hard to one side. Sigh. … So I had four things to do today.
Between the cold, the pathetic little tire iron that came with my car’s jack it, and still not having good strength in my hand, it took an embarrassingly long time to change that flat. I’m going to put a breaker bar on my Christmas list.
Once I got the spare fitted, I booked it to Fort Stockton to video call with my Red Hat contact. Normally, I would do something like that at a quiet Starbucks, but Ft. Stockton doesn’t have one. I stumbled upon a Holiday Inn Express that graciously offered to let me use their wifi.
We had an enlightening conversation that helped me learn a lot about possibilities there and other places she had connections. She helped me understand the rise of “Program Manager” as a related job title I’d never heard of before but is suddenly everywhere, and how it might be a fit for me also. And she gave me some thoughts that I could turn into some talking points for that rescheduled interview. I’m so grateful for this introduction and it gave me a lot to chew on!
After the call, I discovered I had the winning bid on tsmith.com, too! Not before GoDaddy extended the auction by 5 minutes multiple times as ever-higher bids rolled in. That was infuriating, but I still beat out the middleman’s best offer. Weasel. Never again — with either outfit.
Then there was an “uh oh am I going to run out of gas in nowhereville?” worry near Monahans. And I the stench of the Penwell oil fields. And an intense dust storm blew through Odessa shrouding the interstate. Finally, the drive settled out and I chewed through more podcasts and Spotify playlists all the way up to Tulsa, which was so very far away.
This leg of the trip was for a good friend’s annual Friendsgiving. He takes several days off work just to prepare this feast. It’s always amazing.
And that doesn’t even cover the appetizer table or the bread table.
Each year, George, Evan, and I spend the Sunday after the feast wallowing in post-Friendsgiving fatness, watching television and playing video games, unable to move. So on Monday, Evan and I did a little car repair. Despite my tires reaching end-of-life, I had hoped to plug that flat so we could go have a little fun.
That puncture must have come from Old Ore Road. It’s a long sidewall gash so I can’t plug it like I had planned. Also on closer inspection, these tires were showing dry rot. It really is past time.
I also replaced the struts on the lift gate that I’ve become accustomed to “helping” open.
Evan and I had toyed with the idea of going down below Keystone Dam to the Whitewater OHV park, or even taking a day or two to catch some offroading in southeastern Oklahoma on my way home. But with my shot tires and no spare, and the Land Rover’s tires which weren’t in much better shape, and so much cold, we played video games instead. A lot of video games.
Tuesday morning, I had my rescheduled interview. It was essentially a skills interview with peer Product Managers and included further conversation about the work and the company. It felt good. It also felt familiar — they’re also a client service consultancy but they work in a very different kind of software development, and even take some hardware projects! But a lot of the structure is set up like my last job, so I can walk in with useful experience. The conversation went well and I quickly got word that I would be moving on to the final round of interviews. Worth mentioning that Evan was my referral for this opportunity.
Finally, Wednesday morning, I headed back toward Austin. I’ve been away from home since before Thanksgiving. I was asked to house-sit for friends to take care of their cat. Except a quick stop to pick up a few things, I didn’t spend any time at home between their house and the ranch.
What I didn’t realize, as someone who works from home, is how sincerely I would appreciate being “shown someone else’s door” at the end of my last shift that week — doing all those final calls and goodbyes in someone else’s kitchen rather than my own. So I hadn’t been home since before my last week of employment even started.
And by the time I got to Big Bend, I’d already completely lost track of days.
The Xterra and I might both feel like we’re running on spare tires right now, but I’ve made peace with not knowing what day it is, for a little while.