Let's talk business.

Things have been moving and shaking around here (at least for me) the past month or so. Although, unlike my comments a few days ago, they're just tremors, not a full-blown earthquake.

First was my annual evaluation. Last year, Boss was still my boss of record, and he scored me very well (and much better than I scored myself) because of my performance during our miserable end of contract. I don't know how Skippy thinks, but I scored myself "meets expectations" for all categories, figuring that I've made a good start but have a lot to learn, to do, and to catch up on. On average, Skippy scored me better than I did, too. Some comments he added will help me focus more this year on what he's looking for, but I think I did so well mostly because I'm not my predecessor. (Oh, well. I'll take what I can get.)

Then, just a week ago, I got an e-mail (and Boss did, but not Skippy, so I'm assuming it was sent just to grounds managers in the company) announcing two new positions (one in Nashville, just a two hour drive from here, and one in Philadelphia). They were for, in effect, landscape consultants to help sales staff evaluate and bid for new accounts and to help existing accounts with grounds/landscape concerns. Given all the wording in the job posting (which I won't bother duplicating here), I have done every single task they're looking for, so I am suitably qualified. (Indeed, I am qualified to be President of the United States, according to our Constitution, but let's not tarnish my reputation.)

I had some questions, though, so I e-mailed the recruiter handling the posting. Would I be based out of an account? Could I be based out of The Noog rather than Nashville? To whom would I report? The recruiter replied that I would not be based out of an account, that the location had been switched to Denver but as long as I lived near an airport that could get me around the country it probably wouldn't matter, and that, rather than "up to 70% travel" in the posting, the position requires 80%+ travel. (He also gave the name of the supervisor, but that's not relevant here.)

Some red flags were raised about then. The change in amount of travel bothered me. Not only do I prefer a stable home base, rather than living out of a suitcase, but I know that there couldn't possibly be that many sales or consulting trips. I guessed that they'd also want me to sit in any vacant positions until they could be filled permanently (two weeks? two months?).

The change in home base also concerned me. Denver would put me closer to my mom (even though it's colder and snowier than here). Possibly moving back to New Mexico would be even closer. In one scenario, I could take over my dad's office in the loft of my mom's house and be there to take her grocery shopping or to doctor's appointments and to help her downsize some of her and my dad's possessions. However, the change just one day after the job was posted makes me suspect that there was a candidate in mind already and that it was opened to everyone just for the perception of fair hiring practices.

On top of that, the posting was no longer there yesterday, barely a week after it was announced. That's another clue that someone might have been preferred. Heck, I didn't even have time to dither about the job and update my resume!

One silver lining is that I have updated my resume because of this. Another is that I will have stability. In the back of my mind, I pondered what would happen if, in a year's time, I decided that the traveling was too much for me or if the position wasn't necessary enough to remain funded. There probably wouldn't be a conveniently vacant grounds position for me to fall into -- let alone one that I would want to take. In that sense, I'm better off staying here.

I suppose I can tell Skippy that he's stuck with me, and I can go ahead and order those replacement windows and my bed.

Apropos of nothing, this song is stuck in my head this morning. But, hey, everyone needs a little Lynda Carter in his/her life -- especially combined with The Muppets.