It’s Friday night, March 12, 2010. I’m sitting in our F.R.O.G room, or Finished Room Over Garage, or as we call it, the bonus room. Outside, to my left is a window; there’s a thunderstorm asserting itself out there with deep bass rumbles and an occasional light show causing shadows to drop around the room crazily. Even as a kid, I enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of a thunderstorm. I most certainly still do.
To my right, Hobbs is lying on the couch next to me, sleeping. I can barely resist rubbing that special place behind the ears. I give in to the impulse. He doesn’t mind at all for some reason. He simply moves a little closer to make it more convenient for “me”.
Next week will be my last week in Charleston. I’ve been thinking of how to say goodbye, after all, it has been home for 19 months or so. During that time I’ve established a number of friendships, found a great guitar teacher, and had a good time overall. I’d thought of going around to many different places and taking photos for the last time and then assembling a small PDF book, but honestly, I’m not in the mood for it. Should I decide to make a book, a slideshow, or some body of work, I have plenty of photos. Thousands. A few more won’t make a difference.
All of next week Vera will be in Dallas, Texas, Tony will be spending those nights at a friend’s house, Pedro is in Ohio, he’s moved there now, and I’ll be in Charleston, of course. So, what about Hobbs? I had two choices for my furry little friend:
1) Send him to the kennel for the week.
2) Take him with me for my final week.
Can you guess which option I chose? Yep, number 2. My furry little poop factory is coming to Charleston for my final week.
The only reason that I’ve not taken him often is because he has to wait so long between bathroom breaks that it wasn’t fair. I think that we might be able to make it to the beach again and chase some of those pesky seagulls now that I’m not so busy!
I need only to work, er, be present, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Those of us on “death row” have been working/attending very short days, so bathroom breaks won’t be an issue. We’ve been tasked with busy work: Looking up prices for computers, calling golf courses to see who could do a charity event, etc.
More than likely I’ll haul all of my clothes, my printer, laptop, guitar, etc on Friday or Saturday. I’ll leave the rest of the stuff, furniture, bed, dishes, etc, and come pick them up the next weekend. I plan to fly to Charleston, get a ride from one of my buds, get the rental truck, load it, then head on back up the road. That will be that, I think. Even though I’ll be coming back home, it still feels strange pulling up roots again.
I will be returning, for round 3, to Bank of America on Monday, March 22nd. On Thursday, yesterday, I received an e-mail telling me that I had internal interview on Friday at 10:00 AM. I had to turn it down. Too little, too late.
The dominoes continue to fall. Since the original 4 ended up on “death row” another 3 have joined. Of the 7, two have gotten jobs, myself and another, the others are still interviewing. I wish them the best of luck and am doing my best to help them find something in Charlotte. There’s precious little work in Charleston.
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11 Responses to “The final week”
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Finishing up one phase in our lives before beginning a new one is often sad, exciting, stressful and a relief all at the same time. In retrospect, my own life course corrections have offered me some clear and interesting perspectives of myself.
Paul, I hope this coming week goes goes well and that the transition is smooth. Do some things with Hobbs this week to create some good memories.
Thanks, Earl. There are so many lessons to learn and so many course corrections to make. Sometimes, though, I’d just like to be able to walk on a straight line for just a tad longer.
Hobbs and I will have a great time, to be sure. Seagulls beware. There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Hobbs!
Paul:
Since your bringing Hobbs with you and I know you’ll be walking with him at lot, why not let him decide where to go and what to photograph. Maybe take photos from his perceptive. It may seem a bit silly but who knows, it just might be fun and wind up with a few good images.
Good luck with it all.
Niels Henriksen
One things for sure, Niels. If Hobbs is leading the way, it will not be in a straight line!
I have to agree with the guys above, nothing takes worry and stress out of your life than spending time with your dog. Hope the next week goes well Paul.
This entry was a little painful for me to read, as it sounds a lot like emotions and situations I went through last year in June. I’m happy for you that you landed the job up ‘north.’ That’s not too far from Pittsburgh, you know. Please drive safe going and coming.
Also, waiting a while before doing the book might be a good thing. Some distance will help it, I think.
Yeah, on the one hand, it’s really good to be going back home to Charlotte. On the other hand, it’s hard to take up roots again. I have plans to visit some folks down there every couple of months since it is so close. BTW, now it’s time for us to meet somewhere, now that we are only 7 hours, or so, apart. We can meet in the middle, though I’m not sure where that would be.
DC?
Ah, so you landed the job, that’s great! And fast! Congrats!
I think it sounds like a wonderful idea doing a book over your experiences in Charlotte, and also that you’re waiting a bit to clear your sight.
Sweet and sour, sweet to have another job and sour to leave all the friends behind. Best of luck to you.
Goodness Paul, I can hear the sadness in your words. God bless you and keep you … and Hobbs. We acquired a pooch last year. His name is Rags and he is my best friend. I’ll put a picture of him up on the bloggie thingie. They are such a comfort. I call him “Rags the Wonder Dog” as he always seems to be wondering what our next adventure is going to be