Please bear with me this week as I deal with the emotional aspect of surviving yet another downsizing and the resulting additional workload that comes with such a move.  It's hard to move forward, even when it probably makes the most sense for the company financially, when your office floor is about 1/4 full and feels like a mortuary.  Don’t misinterpret my sentiments above as somehow feeling worse than those unfortunate people who lost their jobs.  I feel lucky as hell to once again have survived but each one of these downsizings takes a little chunk out of the psyche.  That being said, I feel much worse for the recently departed.

It makes me even feel guilty about taking a much needed two mini-vacations in the next month.  This may be confusing to those who read this blog post as to why I would go on vacations but the answers are relatively simple.

The unforseen financial woes were not due to not living beyond our means or anything like that.

• It was a combination of sequential events happening all at once, such as one's home air conditioning unit dying the same month two flat tires come into the picture.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
• These vacations were actually fully paid for in advance.  Airfare and hotel have been covered months ahead so we might as well go on these vacations.
• With Megan's INSANE work and school schedule the beginning of this year to wrap up her Master's degree, we had zero days off (weekends included) until we took that vacation in Tybee Island, so our vacations are backloaded in the year.

With that being said, I am headed to Las Vegas on Thursday with an old college friend and his buddies.  They go each year and this will be my second time going.  Even though Las Vegas would seem to be the opposite of everything I stand for (I don’t gamble, I’m not a glitzy guy, and believe it or not I don’t even enjoy getting plowed anymore because my body has changed and I can’t sleep after a night of drinking) but when I was there I had a blast due to the enormity of it all.  That initial trip was pretty much an exercise in soaking it all in.  Now I can go to places I enjoyed and won’t be as open-mouthed and slack-jawed (which is quite an accomplishment to do to a city boy who is used to seeing things on a grand scale).

And in October, Megan and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary at a bed and breakfast in northern New Hampshire.  More on that as the time draws nigh.

I'm mentally wiped out and a weekend of utter decadence might help.  Or it might exacerbate the problem by overindulging.  Stay tuned.  I might try to post something from my iPhone.