Another Kind of Green

So I've awarded myself a day off of the job search today, seeing as I've been pretty diligent reconnecting with old friends and colleagues, obtaining some phone interviews, and starting next week, some actual interviews. There's some great opportunities out there for a guy like me and I'm more confident than ever that not being with Ingram Micro is going to be good news in the end. I'll keep everyone posted on the next destination, whatever it may be.

Wednesday I had an opportunity to meet up with Sionne and some of his fellow web analyticticians (ooohh.. making up big words..) for Web Analytics Wednesday at Bar Wellington in the outer Western reaches of Toronto. It was a fairly small and intimate gathering of web professionals, but a great group that ranged from big telecom folks right down to some startups, and everyone had a story to tell. On a personal note it was great to catch up with one of my marketing mentors from way back and get some solid advice and feedback on my attempts to assemble a real career path to cover the next six years. I guess next up is MoMo, whenever Alex gets off his duff and books it.

Check out Sionne's link up there for an awesome Twitter video, and for the sake of all things holy sign up so I have more than a few people following me. What fun is Web 2.0 if I'm doing it alone?!

A Web 1.0 friend - Laura - has embarked on a dream of mine I didn't know I had until she did it. Check out this link for her tour of 'The Goonies' filming locations in Astoria, Oregon. Jealous!

Today's Random Links
BB10's Keesha got nude in a film. Watch it while you can!
David Duchovny is a sex addict.

Now Playing
John Mayer Trio - "Try!"

Clarity

A couple weeks ago my parents called us down to their house for a family gathering, apparently due to the fact that my brother-in-law is about to embark on a long period of time working alone at his restaurant after his chef recently resigned. Truth was, for reasons still not clear to me, they wanted to present my sister and I each with a Sharp AQUOS 42" LCD television. As of Friday I had managed to secure a nice new stand for it, and installed my Rogers HD-PVR, and have delved into the world of HD ever since. I think I get 18 HD channels and you'd think they were the only channels I get now as I seem to refuse to look at any others. I've now joined the realm of people who watch Discovery HD just because it's on.

Paul came by this weekend, originally to enjoy some guitar, but as it went there was very little guitar played. We both had our first chance to check out Blu-ray as he brought his PS3 and John Mayer: Where the Light Is Blu-ray. Count me as a doubter of the Blu-ray displays at Wal-Mart that show the benefits over DVD but it's actually true, the picture quality is significantly improved. Coupled up with lots of MLB 08: The Show and it was a fun, almost guitar-free weekend. And considering the PS3 is the same price as a Blu-ray player (~$400) it seems almost crazy to buy a Blu-ray and not a PS3, right?

Halloweenhead

One of the cooler things about the fantasy hockey league I toy around in is the opportunities to meet people I'd otherwise have no contact with. When business brought me to Calgary the GMs from "Florida" and "Calgary" were providing tips on what to do ahead of time, and Calgary met me for drinks and food one night and a good chat. "Ottawa" has provided me with nutritional supplement advice and assistance as I began my process of getting in shape, advice from the inside of the supplement industry that's been invaluable. And last night I was able to return the favour a bit by providing a place to stay to "Atlanta" as he and his girlfriend traveled cross-country from Calgary back to the East Coast.

Poor Justin and Emily had been behind the wheel for the better part of the three days by the time they arrived here, and took a few moments to relax. It was off to a local pub where "Nashville" (ha!) and "Los Angeles" were waiting to chat and spend some time, and then the three of us headed down to see the Jays and Yankees game. Justin had noted earlier he'd always wanted to see the Yankees and, by happy coincidence, they were in town.

So this portion is mostly for House, Cliff, and Agnostic who I joined for the opening game this season. It was a game of drunken rowdiness that I'd not seen since the old Exhibition Stadium days. Oddly, last night we found ourselves again in a section of people from one company, all of whom had apparently come in by a bus stacked with cases of booze (so they discussed, anyways), and most of whom were far too inebriated right off the start. It began with general muttering and the rare yelling at Yankee outfielders. One gent wearing a batting helmet bet anyone $100 that Rios would get on base; Rios promptly hit a single, although nobody had taken him up on the bet. The same gentleman then left for a while, returning with 42 batting helmets, one for everyone in his party. While people began sticking odd numbers all over theirs (from legitimate 10 and 17 straight through 69, 420, and 867-5309) the helmet dude disappeared again, returning with two more - one each for two young kids that were not with his party seated in front of me. A great gesture immediately followed by the screaming of Bobby Abreu's name over and over.. haha.

Oh, and KP.. Giambi struck out four times.

Finally, as the final batter was being eliminated by the Jays a Yankees fan apparently brushed by an usher, roughing her up a bit. The gent in the yellow shirt in the picture, drunk as he was (he'd just finished facing us all and rubbing his boobs and groin making an "oooh oooh" face), took offense and proceeded to start roughing up the Yanks fan. The two slapped at each other a bit while the usher got between them and called security over. Security attempted reasoning with the Yankees fan, while the presumed owner/manager of Team Drunken Helmets angrily ordered his staffer up the ramp. We took this opportunity to get out and I missed the end of the "fight".

Good times, and again, further evidence that things happen when I go to the Jays game. Odd.

Last Hour

So, as requested, time to post a new update.

Tuesday I was called into a meeting with my Ingram manager and promptly dismissed of my duties in a bit of a whirlwind. It was all very quick and unexpected to most, and has resulted in a couple days spent doing just about nothing but answering phone calls and e-mails from an assortment of former colleagues who seem unaware of why it happened. Suffice it to say that the reason was not to do with performance and more an attempt to make some form of statement, and it came with no warnings or my former Director having gone through any proper channels. Obviously, with that in mind, I don't want to state too much here as I'm now in discussions related to this with the HR department.

The response has been overwhelming for me, and the only difficult part so far is the knowledge that I don't get to spend time with the many friends I'd made there. I met a few for lunch yesterday and was told that people didn't take the news well, and it makes me feel personally good to know I'd made so many good friends in my time there. I've had completely incredulous calls from former Directors and Senior Managers and business associates who've picked up the news via Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Seeing as today is just my second full day of unemployment it's probably still a bit crazy, but I've wasted no time dusting off the resume and shortlisting all the jobs I'd love to pick up on.

So, that's my update for now. I'll keep y'all posted!