The website that I've been working on for my brother's company went live a few days ago. That's also one reason I've been behind on posts here— there has been a flurry of last minute work for it. Going live was very good news and personally very exciting. However, once the site went live, it immediately got the smack from the people paying me. Someday maybe I'll go into the structure of Greenwich Bay. I'm sure I could fill an entire post with the way things work there, but for now I'll just say that my brother owns a minority share in the business, and the rest is owned by my cousin Ted and his sister (also my cousin!), Annie. Ted and Annie's father, my Uncle Dick, founded the company and still calls a lot of shots there. Anyway, as to the website, I was working all the while with Annie's husband, Ernie, who is 'in charge' of the historic soaps division and the website. Ernie and I built a website to sell soaps and candles (for now), and the first thing that happened after we went live is that Ted and/or my Uncle Dick decided we weren't going to sell candles on the site for now. Naturally, this information was never conveyed to myself or Ernie. Taking out the candles required modifying pages and removing most of our inventory. In fact, we now only have four products for sale. The second thing that happened was that my Uncle Dick, after reviewing the site, decided that all the pictures we are using have to go. He didn't provide anything by way of telling us what pictures would be better— only that all the existing pictures were no good. This decision came after he was allowed to preview the site a week ago. He passed up that opportunity, uninterested in seeing the site before it was live.
I spent half of a day being frustrated and pissed off with the whole situation. I'm calmer now, almost two days later, but the lack of communication and decidedly unprofessional behavior all around really irritates me. At no point was a clear idea of what was wanted ever conveyed to me, but the powers that be couldn't wait to say how much they disliked what they got. If you want to take a look at it, it's here: Historic Soaps.
This all ties into my second update. There is an open graphic artist position at Greenwich Bay, and I am seriously considering trying to land that job. It appalls me to think of working daily in that kind of environment, but my brother assures me it isn't that bad daily. Otherwise, it is a good job for which I feel I am well qualified... and there certainly doesn't seem to be anything happening for me in California. On the other hand, the more I think about it, the less I want to move to Raleigh. Raleigh is very beautiful and I love visiting there, but I don't think I'm ready to abandon all my friends and the things I like to do in SoCal. My brother and I have had long conversations on the subject as he is concerned about me getting to Raleigh and being miserable. I reassured him that I would be alright, but now I wonder if I would be. It's not that I would miss any little thing in particular so much but that I would miss everything that would add up to unhappiness. There are so many things. No more card show. No more autograph show. No more movie nights with friends. No more yearly trips to P. F. Changs with Laura. No more Friday night dinners with Ken. No more matinees with my closest friends. No more occasional trips to Blizzard to hang with Gary. No more comedy scene to try to get back into. The list goes on and on. I just don't know if I could give up everything. I know how desperate I am to work again, but I'm not sure this is the right opportunity. My current hope is that I can talk to Ted and convince him to let me take the job remotely, maybe getting paid for each completed project. I'm willing to work for less money that way and maintain my home here.
On the other hand, I am resolved to move. I very much need to do that someway, somehow. I need to get out of the rut I am in, and moving to Raleigh would be a good excuse to effect that change. It's not even a rut really. The fact is I have too much stuff, and I need to be spurred to get rid of it all. I would love to get my life to the point where I could move inside of three days if I needed to.
The last update for tonight is part of why I need to move: my neighborhood. I can't tell if my neighborhood is really going down that rapidly or if I have just been paying more attention of late. Two nights ago I was outside about 1 AM— not that unusual, I assure you. I had finished reading for awhile and was playing on my DS for a bit. I looked up at one point and saw five young men— boys, really— in the intersection next to my house. They all appeared to be about 14-16. (I could tell because that was the night before the full moon, and it was very bright out.) They didn't see me, and one of them tagged the white wall of the yard diagonally opposite me on the intersection. I moved to go inside, and when I opened the door, they saw me and took off running. Last night, about the same time, three young men came down the street. I couldn't be certain if they were three of the ones from the night before, but they seemed to be tagging here and there as well. I got inside before any of them saw me this time.
After last night's event, I started drafting a letter to the county sheriff in my head. I really don't want my neighborhood to get any worse while I'm still living in it. I haven't actually written the letter yet, but I may do so if things continue to happen like this. *sigh*
Well, that's about it for tonight. I will be back again without such a delay. This blog is too valuable to me to abandon. Talk to you soon!
"Usually speaking, the worst bred person in company is a young traveler just returned from abroad."— Jonathan Swift
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