Monday, Feb. 18 (Stat Holiday – Family Day): My "Family Day" was supposed to be Sunday, but the freezing rain cramped my style re.: driving 2.5 hours west to Glencoe and back. This has been post-poned to next Sunday. In any case, I was really looking forward to the Monday stat holiday as a planning, filing, organizing day. What actually happened was that I wrote the first draft of the bio that my business coach has been asking for.  I can see how a one-page summary of background and skills would be handier than the three page resume I've been circulating.

I also spent a chunk of the morning on the phone with Dry Ice who is always tr̬s amusante. The filing / organizing did not get done. E-mails to drum up someone fun to attend this with me on Wednesday were sent. The vacant seat was filled Рmuch rejoicing.

Some e-mail back and forth re.: the newsletter quote. Looks like this will go forward later in the spring.

Sporadic e-mails received from Former Boss/Current Client/Crazy Woman (FBCCCW), requesting various document. files from me. ("Send the one with the numbers … now send the one without the numbers …") All of these have been backed up on her systems in two places … all of these have, at some point in my work history been sent to her via e-mail. Archive? E-mail archive? Anyone? However, she finds it easier to e-mail me and ask me for them again. The clock's a-running this time, lady … later in the day, around 5:00 p.m. (on a stat holiday), FBCCCW phones me. How much opportunity there is, so much going on, blah blah blah … by the way, can we set up that retainer thing now? So, I have a month's worth of low-impact, paid work … yay! As long as I can keep my mouth shut and protect my eyes from getting sprained from all the eye-rolling that goes on when I'm on the phone with her, I can continue to submit hefty invoices that, miraculously, get paid immediately. Much rejoicing!

Knowing I have a month's worth of steady coin means I can focus on my own business foundations which, if properly set up, will serve me so well in the long-term. I can also get some ironing done rather than making annoying phone calls to drum up business. 🙂

Not bad for a stat holiday …

Tuesday, Feb. 19: All day, I kept thinking it was Wednesday. Weird.
 
I got up early and bustled around. Today is the day my cleaner comes and she gets more done if I have straightened up a bit, first. Thus, the ironing project previously well-documented. Also went to the bank later in the a.m. to see if I could add my sole proprietor business name to my personal account. Answer: No. I have to open a business account, dammit. Made appointment for this Wednesday. Must find registration papers. Ref.: Previous day's avoidance of filing and organizing. Damn.

I had a 1:00 p.m. appointment booked with Some Guy (SG) who wants me to come work for him. SG received my resume via a friend from MBA class and, normally, this is a good thing. However, I'm having huge red flags here. SG already postponed our meeting once, with strenuous apologies, claims that his website has been "taken down for updating and should be up by Friday. She is working really hard on it," and has sworn he is going to e-mail me some info on his company and claims to have already done this. (Nothing yet received.) The website thing really irks me. There is a placeholder there that says February 2005. Also, I know of NO ONE who "takes a web site down" to update it. Why would you do this? Anyway, SG calls at 12:15 and apologizes again for having to re-schedule. So many projects, so many commitments, he really needs new consultants, and his re-scheduling is a reflection of how much work there is right now … blah blah blah … Right. I told him that when his schedule stabilizes, he should give me a call. I think he got the message.

This gave me the afternoon to get started on the stuff that FBCCCW wants. Mid-afternoon, the phone rings and it is a potential new client! Someone referred to me by someone I play hockey with and who saw that my company sponsored the hockey tournament last weekend – yay! Sadly, it is a non-profit org with very little money but the project sounded interesting. We set up an appointment for next week to meet and discuss.

A few hours later, the phone rings again. Same woman, calling to apologize. Her colleague already hired someone to take on this work and didn't keep her in the loop. Something does smell a little odd about this, however I believe I was gracious and expressed an interest in being considered for future projects.

That is the fastest in/out client cycle I think I've had.

Long phone call with my friend who is attending the event with me on Wednesday. LA may be taking on some sub-contracting work for me later this year. Long story, and I don't feel comfortable going into too many details, but she has been out of the workforce for a while focusing on child-care and is a bit nervous and not feeling confident about the currency of her skills. She is very sharp, personable and could be a real asset. I hope she settles in and starts to recognize her own value.

Phone call from FBCCCW, tweaking the four week plan for my hours per week. Also wanting to engage me in gossip, idle chatter, and raves about how much value I bring to her company. Yada Yada.

Wednesday, Feb. 20: Spent some time on the two powerpoints that FBCCCW wants but realized that I'm really completely uninspired about them. Had a tiny breakfast (apple, coffee) and headed off to meet LA for the Canadian Club event. I timed it to arrive early so I could sit in the lobby of the Royal York and just absorb the ambiance while making some notes and doing some planning/sketching. I wound up making a list out of my Blackberry of the people I needed to contact with the shiny new bio … came up with 60+ names. Not bad. I contacted about 12 right at the outset of all this, about a month ago, and got quite a response from that, so 60 should be even better!

The event was lovely, but I'm glad I had a small breakfast. The meals at these things are nothing to write home about but this one was above par. Salad, decent chicken, steamed veg. The speaker, Arlene Dickinson, was terrific and I enjoyed her solid, grounded, no-nonsense style. If CPAC ever posts the televised version, I'll post a link here. Met a couple of possible business contacts, nothing solid or to set the world on fire. It is good practice for me to get out and meet with new contacts face to face.

Went to my weigh-in for the first time in a week, due to personal timing, weather, etc. I was not looking forward to this and was not happy that it was timed on this day for after lunch. To my shock and surprise, I have lost 2.4 lbs since the previous week. I had gone up slightly before, but as of this weigh-in, am the lowest weight I've been since university. Amazing.

Went to open a business account at the local branch of my new bank. Had braced myself and brought all the necessary paperwork, but was missing one piece. The very nice lady there opened the account anyway and said that I should just e-mail her the last bit of paper. All done – bing, bam boom – no requirement for first born children (not that this would do them any good anyway). One of the most pleasant experiences I've ever had at a bank.

FBCCCW called to say that the guy taking over my job would like a few hours phone "training" the following afternoon, thus sucking up the rest of her retainer time with me.

Spent the rest of the day, well into the evening, working on the damn powerpoints for FBCCCW. Managed to dig up some inspiration. Tipped back my chair several times to view the eclipse, bundling up at one point to stand outside on the fire escape to get a better look. Alternated eclipse-watching and powerpoint grumbling with playing Scrabulous with Dry Ice, a formidable player indeed. Managed to call it a night feeling reasonably assured that I'd have the materials delivered to FBCCCW by the end of business Thursday …

Thursday, February 21:  … but not so assured that I didn't feel compelled to move my 11:15 a.m. dentist's appointment to next Wednesday. I could have managed it, I think, if I didn't get my afternoon bunged up with training the new guy. It isn't a "real" dentist's appointment. I went in a week ago for them to make a mould from which they could construct another mouthguard for hockey. This appointment is the 15 minute fitting of the mouthguard.

I'm glad I changed the appointment as I got to spend another hour and a bit on the phone with my coach. She loved my bio and had sent me back a version with a few tweaks. I sent her back a version tweaking the tweaks … and I think we are both almost happy now. She really was knocked out about the bio. She wants me to have a new photo taken that is "more reflective of the new, slimmer, you". I find it interesting that I look at the photo on the bio and don't really see much of a change. I see it in my body, not in my face so much.

Balance of the morning spent on the powerpoints. I got enough done that I was able to sent penultimate versions to FBCCCW by noon. She then called to discuss, basically happy and asking, for a third version of the same thing. (Long story, but this involves changing just one slide.) Had to wait for screen shots to arrive later in the afternoon to complete.

Spent 2+ hours on the phone with New Guy. I should say, New Guy #1. They have now hired three people to replace me, not counting the one that quit before he actually started. Anyway … NG1 … poor bastard. I'm betting he lasts no longer than the end of April. I'll meet NG#2 and NG#3 on Tuesday when I actually Go Back Into The Office in Guelph, physically, as in get in my car and go. At least there will be curry for lunch.

Tomorrow, Friday, February 22: Non-work day. Housework in a.m. followed by lunch with Dry Ice, which promises to be fabulous. Apparently, we may play an even more complex verison of Scrabble called UpWords. I hope she doesn't try to get me to play in French. Later in the evening, one of the two violent/troubling movies that will be up for awards on Sunday. Either No Country For Old Men or There Will Be Blood. Going with my movie buddy, MW. There will be Vietnamese Pho afterwards.

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