Here I am, sitting outside in the courtyard at my hotel in Orlando, day 3 of vacation. We spent the first two days in Jacksonville visiting the parents, Saturday, after driving the 5 hours and staying at a very nice hotel on the Mayo Clinic property…hey, if we got sick or injured, we had a very short trip to the ER…and had dinner with my dad, then Sunday, had a Father’s Day cookout at his house, which was very nice and relaxing. Then we had a great idea to shoot over to Georgia south to visit my mom and sister and get that out of the way so we weren’t tacking an extra hour onto our next leg of vacation in Orlando monday. That worked out very well and we were able to then head down after leaving the hotel and arriving at just across the street from Universal Studios.

We spent the afternoon at Universal just before the rain started…which is a daily occurrence this time of year in O-town. We had just got up to getting on Dueling Dragons when they closed the ride due to bad weather….SUX!…so we headed back to the hotel to find the weather clearing…SUX AGAIN!…ah well, we have park tickets through Friday and beyond…not that we are staying for the 7 consecutive days in which the tickets are good for….but we’ll get our money’s worth after the third day anyway.

The thing that irks me about this hotel, and it is really the only thing that actually irks me, is the internet access. If you were to stay in your room and hook up to the wireless, it is $9.95 for 24 hours of connection time, but if you go to the lobby or sit outside in the courtyard, it is free…go figure….so here I am in the courtyard, enjoying the rather pleasant weather…not too hot or humid…updating this blog, which really, this entry has nothing to do with Willow’s Grove, but it has everything to do with my sanity, which is coming along nicely now that I am free. Hey, if you can’t ramble on about nothing on your own blog, where can you?….

Batteries are recharging nicely and starting next week, I should be able to sit down and actually start working on projects. I brought a sketchbook just in case, but if this vacation is anything like the ones in the past, that sketchbook will stay in my messenger bag the entire time and not see the light of day…lol….better have it than to have toilet paper or napkins to have my sketches for ideas on, huh?

Alrighty then…time to head back to the room and get another good night’s sleep…which has been coming to me better and better with each passing day away from my day job that ended last friday….it was friday the 13th…what better day to end your career and start a new one?

Ciao4now folks.

Well, it’s over….6888 days after getting my “temporary” job until I got my side business rolling, it’s finally over. Just goes to show, if you are patient enough, opportunities will come up to let you realize your dreams.

I tried to sneak out quietly, but it wasn’t to be, the coworkers gathered around and bid me goodbye and I made a brief speech, and then it was over. Now comes the real work of gathering up clients and making a mark on the graphics world. At least I have the paid until the end of the year buffer to get going….you know what? I think I’ll ask my boss for a vacation.

Me: Boss…I could really use a vacation.

Boss (which is also now me, DUH!): Well, I don’t know…we could really use you to get this whole business going.

Me: In order for me to do that, I need to be well rested and batteries fully charged.

Boss: Hrmmm….you have a point there. About how long were you thinking?

Me: Uh, I dunno’ a month maybe?

Boss: Well, okay…a month, but nothing more!

Me: Thanks Boss.

Boss(to himself walking away): I really have to stop being so lenient with my employees…they’re going to start walking all over me.

So there you have it. Vacation at last!

After 6888 days at one job, the day is finally arriving tomorrow when I will not need to wake up at 6am and fight the traffic to head to the office.  It took its sweet time getting here, but as I sit and type this, it really hasn’t sunk in that I will be out of the rat race at least until December 31st of this year, when the severance payments stop and I am on my own, as far as income is concerned.  It is both exciting and scary at the same time looking into the unknown and wondering just how I will feel when I walk out of the door for the very last time and not see the people, some whom I have seen and have driven me absolutely insane with their inability to operate a computer for all of those days.  Will it be relief?  Will I rush down the stairs, into the parking lot, start my car and leave skid marks on the asphalt?  Or will I sneak out of there, avoiding as many people as I can?  We shall soon find out.

Wish me luck as I dive deep into self employment.