I've Had Better Afternoons

At noon today, I met my parents at the Sylvan Learning Center office down the street from my office. My parents had paid to have The Child receive some diagnostic tests and we went in today (minus the Child) to receive the results.

According to their tests, my 9-1/2 year old daughter, who is going to start 4th grade in the fall, has the verbal skills of a 14-1/2 year old. 98th percentile.

Her math skills, on the other hand, are 1st grade level.

Math tutoring starts Monday, and will include coaching tips for me, so I can do better helping her at home.

We were getting toward the end of the discussion when my mother suddenly got up and went to the corner of the office and started fiddling with her bra. I thought it was pinching, or that there was an issue with the pad on the bra she wears to disguise her mastectomy. But a few minutes later she told us that she was having chest pains. We called 911, the paramedics arrived within minutes, and although they couldn't find anything wrong, they took her to the hospital in the ambulance.

My dad called me two hours later to tell me that her tests all came out normal so they're sending her home. I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago. The docs eventually said that it was a "panic attack," even though I hadn't been under any particular stress at the time. (General, overall stress, but nothing that morning that was pressing.)

For the first time this week, I was leaving work close to on time, when I stopped to chat with the receptionists. On a whim, I went to see the recruiter about the Transportation job. It turns out that he had just called my desk.

They offered the job to someone else.

I was staggered. The recruiter -- who I've known for a couple of years -- was very sweet and supportive, and said that the decision had taken him by surprise, that he too had thought it was a slam-dunk for me. He also said, "I hear nothing but good things about you". All very nice. But it's not the better job, with more money, and better career advancement prospects.

(no subject)

via ad_lumen

Your Hidden Talent

You have the power to persuade and influence others. You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around. The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it. Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think!

What's Your Hidden Talent?

The hiring manger who didn't hire me called about 20 minutes ago to chat about the big project that's been delayed and to tell me that she had decided to hire someone else. She was very sweet, and told me that it had been a very hard decision, but that the other candidate had actual operations experience. She then assured me that this isn't the end for me, and that they are going to continue to look for things for me to do.

I appreciated the sentiment -- but I'm not going to be holding my breath.

Oh, well. . . At least Miss V and I are still getting along much better, and I really would have missed working closely with Jeannie.

Silver linings. . . silver lining. . .