I was relieved as all hell to get the last two of the six jobs I’ve been working on approved as finals. I think Patti (the product manager) was just about as sick of seeing these file as I was. Well, sort of. Beyond the obvious statement these jobs make about my ability to work, these last files had become a personal challenge.
The comments I made about dialing in to the process seem to have been pretty accurate. I not only took on three new jobs in the morning, but had two of them approved by late afternoon, and dropped the last one in the print queue just as I left work, hoping that I’ll get a sign off first thing tomorrow. Considering that the first six files took me the first week, finishing three in one day doesn’t seem like such a bad day’s work.
Even better, at one point Jeff made it very clear that he was impressed with my quality of work. After realizing that I had only one of my assigned jobs unapproved by afternoon, he went out of his was to scrutinize my work. “I went in there and took a look at your files, and I was ready to tear you up, but they look really great. Great job, Ian.”
So, what happened with the unfolding drama that I alluded to in yesterday’s entry? Well, for starters, I ended up thinking about it way too much. I wasn’t up all night getting beaten to a mental pulp, exactly, but the end result was the same. I only got three hours of sleep last night.
All things duly considered, I just wanted to shut up and crank the work out today. It felt good to finally be working on something new, and I was enjoying the challenges presented by the new artwork and textures in the canvases. I have to clean up any areas in the scanned images that might be perceived as a flaw in the printing process, even though it may have been the direct result of an intentional technique used by the artist. On the other hand, I have to know when to stop so the images appear natural. I find this balance interesting.
I kept this pace up into the afternoon, choosing to skip lunch to focus on solving the present challenges. Skipping lunch isn’t a hardship, and I knew that I’d get too sleepy with a full stomach, so I just pressed on.
At about two o’clock, Jeff was called to the front desk over the building’s intercom system, and I intuitively knew why. Minutes later, and for the first time I’d ever seen, the door to Jeff’s office was shut. He was interviewing my potential replacement. No pressure, right? Righhht.
On that note, I de broke with tradition and excused myself for a fifteen minute break in the company lunchroom, which was empty. The exhaustion that had been kept at bay with my profession preoccupations was now free to catch up with me. There was nothing to do but to sit, alone and quite, watching the gentle rain falling outside the lunchroom windows. It was far too relaxing.
After my break, I made my way back to the office, and ran right into Jeff and the candidate, who was getting the full tour. She was your typical designer-type (as if there is such a thing): young, slim, well dressed in a professional yet trendy way. I smiled politely and took an unnecessary left, attempting to relieve any awkwardness. I then got back to work.
After the interview, just after three o’clock, Jeff materialized in the production office, flopping into a well-cushioned office chair near me. “Well, the pressure’s on!” he joked heartily. “You’re safe.”
It took me a minute to catch that last part, and he was already gone by then. I turned to Kay, who shares this room, and asked, “Did he just say I was safe?” Kay smiled, shrugged and nodded all at the same time. Huh.
What I didn’t realize until forty-five minutes later was that the candidate’s interview was not really over. Going into another room at 3:45, to get my coat and go home, I saw the woman sitting at the G5 computer, listening to Jeff’s instruction. She was sitting with her legs crossed in a familiar upright posture that I recognized too well. For some reason, I took special notice in that moment of her hand at he side, gently cupped into a fist. I saw a young woman that was looking for, and probably really wanted a job, I felt all those feelings welling up in me.
Science declares, “what blesses one, blesses all.” (S&H, p.206, l.15) This simple truth was with me all through my night and day. I am now especially grateful to realize that it is with this woman, too.
I don’t have any more insight to the circumstances surrounding my present work and the factors threatening to influence them, and for the moment I really don’t care. I’m going to bed.
