Auf Wierdersehen, mein Onkel.

So, it’s really warm in my office today. This happens every year as soon as it starts to get cooler outside… which makes no sense at all. All I know is that some people here love the “warm, cozy” feeling that excessive heat provides. Yeh. My cube is about as “cozy” as your typical phone booth and about as stuffy.

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I was notified last weekend that my uncle died. This is my mother’s brother who lived in Germany. Frankly, I haven’t seen or spoken directly to the guy since I was 10 years old. That said, he had an outrageous sense of humor and was known for being a good guy. Tschuss, Erwin.

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Our addition project has notably slowed down, although I’m not sure why. My best guess is that the tile guy is MIA. All I do know is that, once again, a builder has done the “eyes bigger than the head” thing when it came to a completion date: it seems they ALL do this… you choose a relatively liberal date for them to be completed, and the builder nearly scoffs, telling you they’ll be done way before then. Then they finish weeks AFTER the scoff date. Go figure. I don’t mind as we’ll be away next week (Bill’s middle son is taking care of the house and cat). But I’m hoping they’ll be done or darned close to it when we get back. I want my bedroom back, dammit.

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Okay, back to news about work…

A few months back, I had a bit of a blow-out with my boss. I won’t go into detail, but the event came and went without too much in the way of post-event damage. But it did get me thinking about my future, and the fact that I have absolutely no chance of advancement whatsoever in my current position.

Despite the current, uhm, market trends (the Shrub called it an “adjustment”), I really love the company I work for and I’d rather not leave. So I went to HR – a group that I work with on a daily basis – and spoke to them about the possibility of transferring within the company. They, of course, didn’t have anything, but they promised they’d let me know if anything came along.

About a week later, someone resigned from their team. They offered me the job. I LEAPT on it… they are a terrific group, I love their manager, and the job duties are totally up my alley.

Here’s the rub: before I can leave my current position, they need to find a replacement for me. And, because things are mental here – what with the stock market crashing around us – things aren’t exactly moving forward in terms of finding said replacement.

My best guess is that I’ll be doing my “old” job until the end of the year. Not a problem, so long as the “new” position stays waiting for me. And trust me, I’m watching the whole thing like a hawk. It would be just my luck for things to shift and I end up with no job at all. Either way, I’m really excited for the change, as are my future co-workers who have been really complimentary and enthusiastic about me coming on-board.

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In about 56 hours, I’ll be on a plane to Vienna, then transferring there to fly to Croatia. That alone makes me sound like such a world traveler that I can barely stand it. J Expect LOTS of photos.