down the home stretch

I guess I'm coming to the end of this chapter. As far as I can tell, at least. I caught someone in HR with a rare moment of candor (as a result of a rare moment of candor of my own) indicating that yes, the days are numbered, but not sure how many numbers are there. It's good to know, in its way.

Anyway, in the lead up and aftermath of the holiday weekend, several people are out of town. I've been holding down the fort, and in that course of time I have two employees who decided to get into it. I'm now neck deep in an HR investigation of assault. What's worse is that it involves my two rock stars -- the two people I know I can count on to step up to the plate and help out every time. It's been tumultuous -- both are being accused of things that are so, so, so far out of character and everything seems so ridiculous. My thoughts on the matter have gone very much back and forth in each person's favor, but with the development that one has suddenly decided to stop cooperating with the investigation, I've suddenly realized I'm going to have to fire someone I held in great esteem by the end of the week. It's disappointing, but this kind of foolishness (especially so close to the end) is inexcusable.

This resulted in my having to work a thirteen hour day today. Several hours of that were spent conducting interviews and writing summaries while fielding phone calls. Now take that, and add someone breaking the ADA elevator beyond simple repair (we're talking several thousand dollars here)... AND a boil water advisory (no drinking water. no fountains. no ice. NOTHING) and... yeah, a truly maddening, stressful day. Perhaps as stressful as I have ever, ever had in my professional life. I'm finally home after all that, and I'm exhausted to say the least.

Yet, in the middle of it all, a glimmering beacon of light. I managed to walk away from the club for about an hour to get a bite to eat and just NOT BE THERE. I pulled out my phone and checked my email. Last night, I was surfing through some of the job ads on the internet, as I've been wont to do lately. I spotted a company I'd heard some good things about in NYC and thought ... Hey, what the hell? I'll drop a res. It was one of those generic email addresses -- a faceless receptor of piles of resumes to be weeded out by some person somewhere. But worth a shot, even if it's in the dark, right?

That shot in the dark now appears to have hit with perfect precision -- because during my break I received an email from JW. JW is my former superior's superior's superior. She worked for my company for TWELVE YEARS, and left two years ago for this new company. I have a great deal of respect for her, and though I've only met her once or twice, apparently I made a big impression on her, too. She knows me. She remembers every detail about what I was doing for the company when she worked there. And now, I have a phone interview with her at 1pm.

I don't think I've ever had the stars align so perfectly before in my life. I have been walking around in a completely stunned and giddy state for the past seven hours, despite being completely exhausted. Without a doubt, the best surprise I've had in months if not years.

I won't get my hopes up, but this is the best reason for optimism I've had in a really, really, really, really really long time. Send your positive vibes!