The 411 for the last 75 days

Well, ok..heres whats happened to me in the last 8-9 weeks or so.

First off, I think I mentioned I hurt my knee. I believe I did this around July 5th or 10th...and I think I did it while chasing my dog, Maximus around the yard. I ended up tearing the medial meniscus in my left knee, which basically means I either need to suck it up for the rest of my life, or have surgery. However, a few family members have also torn theirs, and suggested to get these pills at Costco, Glucosamine with Chondroitin. So I bought those and it takes about 5 weeks for them to fully get into your system, but they work about 80% effectively for me. It still hurts, but not half as bad, and usually only on stairs. Still, I am a bit leery now to play tennis or do those activities. I havent tested it like that for a while.

I still particpated in the Lance Armstrong Bike Challenge but after about 30-35 miles, I had to quit, as my knee was killing me, and luckily my wife was driving right past me at the time, so she picked me up. I could tell she was disappointed I didnt finish..and I was too..but my knee actually statred hurting a bit after about 10 or 11 miles, but I pushed on, breaking my promise that I woiuld quit as soon as it started to hurt. It was a great experience, really well planned, and cool to see Lance too! He led off the ride and spoke to everyone. Here's a pic of me at the starting gate.



Also, the bike ride was the same day as the Portland Brew Fest, so we went to that later in the day to down a few beers with our neighbors :)
I actually also completed the Portland Bridge Pedal Ride (which is the 3rd largest bike ride in the WORLD!). That was about 25 miles and my knee did not hurt very much on that ride. In fact, climbing up this one hill, it felt better than a perfectly healthy knee; I just charged up the hill like Lance Armstrong on uh..roids. I do think he is 100% innocent by the way. Still, I will eventually need to get another bike (shhhh dont tell my wife), cuz I have a mountain bike..and I was just getting passed by everyone on the flats, and I was really struggling to keep a good pace..but obviously on the hills I rocked.

Other news..I did go to Emeryville, California (by Oakland) yet again for a weeklong class in Accounting for my job. They have far too many training classes at my job, but still, it was a good class, and I met a few cool people. Nothing major to report about that week though.

Also, about a month ago, I got some weird bump on my lower back. It looked like a small bug bite, but it got progressively larger..not outward, but it spread simply in size on my back. It then got dry skin on it, and itched. I also got some along my waistline (super sexy!). One of my co-workers thought it was shingles maybe (which are induced by stress and are on the waistline, as you will read in the next story, why shingles made sense at the time)..but it wasnt shingles. The doc didnt know exactly what it was..wasnt chicken pox either (I've never had em!)..but thinks its some sort of fungal infection. YUM! So I was given this itch creme and these pills. But I took one tiny lil green pill, and it knocked me out cold. Theres no way I could take more and still work, drive..etc. So she gave me these other pills but they are hard on my liver, so no alcohol. They srated to work, but didnt finish the job. So I am now on a 3rd type of anti-biotic. So I take an anti-biotic 4x a day. I take those 2 glucosamine pills. I have a daily vitamin. i take the second pills she prescribed 2x a week. I take a daily claritin pill. Thats alot of pills. The bumps are finally going away, but were all over my chest and stomach, some on my arms and on my hips.

What else has happened? Oh yeah..how long should I make a rant about my job..or, rather, former job? Well, here goes.
So, if you all didnt know, I was hired in March of this year to be an Account Exec, and they had me go through several different training courses, online quizes and all kinds of semi-helpful/semi-useless instructionary measures to get me properly prepared for the real world of sales! By the time I was released to the wild, it was May 30th. I did pretty well my first month, brought in some small business, nothing extraordinary, but I did land a client in my first or second week on the job. I met and slightly exceeded my goals for the month. July was a bit slower for me, and I was able to hold a lot of meetings, but not bring in tons of business. Still, I met most of my goals, but didnt exceed any. August, was a poor month for me, as I was not able to set hardly any meetings (everyone was on vacation!) and wasnt able to bring in any new business either. It was bad. So..the powers that be, sat me down and basically said I had 4 weeks in which to bring in these astronomical numbers or I'd be terminated. I was really taken aback, because the average sales cycle in my business is about 6 months, and it was only my first quarter on the job, plus August is the second slowest month for me. Oh, and did I mention I didnt have any support at my job from day 1? See, I am, or was, an Account Manager at a large staffing company. My niche was Accounting, Finance and HR. So, I'd meet wiht a prospective client to see if they needed our services of recruiting. Pretty boring job. But potential for a lot of money, a lot of freedom to set your own schedule..etc. Anyways, so I did not have a branch manager to help with advice, paperwork, provide leads, or go on appointments with. I also didnt have a recruiter to fill jobs that I brought in on the "permanent" side. I only had 1 recruiter who worked on temporary positions (and my head recruiter who had been there for 9 years and knew everyone, quit about a month after I was hired, along with 2 recruiters who did the permanent jobs, and the recruiting manager). In accounting and finance (accounts payable, controllers, staff accountants..etc), many, if not most, positions are permanent. Also, it doesnt matter how many clients I get to agree to use our services, *I* dont get any credit until the recruiter actually places someone there. So in essence, I could make calls, meet with a client, have them sign a contract, have them give me a job order, give it to the recruiter, have the recruiter submit a few candidates, and then the client can turn them down, the candidate could turn down an offer, or my competition could do it all before me or better; a few too many extra links in the chain, if you ask me. I could do all of that, and if the candidate is not placed at a company, I get no credit for doing any work basically. Needless to say, I brought in several signed contracts that my recruiter was not able to fill...whether by her skill level, the client being picky, or just better competition.
So back to the story..I was given 1 month. I actually then landed a HUGE client, in early Sept. My appointments went dramtically up. I knew some of this would happen because August is a slow month, and with all the calls that I made, things would start to happen in September and October. So I brought in a huge client, another medium sized client, and some good leads and orders for other teams. Alas, on October 5th, they let me go. They did it OVER THE PHONE, and with no severance. They also wanted my help with current leads and stuff. So I am out of a job. :( Really shitty deal, if you ask me. I know I couldve done better, worked harder..whatever, but geez, louise..give me a CHANCE to prove I am worthy of being terminated at least. The kicker, is that I have now heard through 3 sources, that they are actually closing the branch down! So might as well terminate the new guy, with the highest salary...me! UGH.

Hmm..anything else happen in the last couple months? My birthday was about 2 weeks ago (Sep 26), my folks were here, my dog has now started sleeping in our bed at night (otherwise he whines, rattles his cage, licks his cage and makes a racket)..which has done wonders for my sex life!!! I also may start my own side business (just a small side thing..I will explain more in a few weeks once I get all the material together and launch it..etc).
Anyways..so thats that.
Feel free to send money to me so I dont lose my house :(