Take A Chance On Me

Quote du Jour:
“Lady, what’d you do? Wake up this morning and say, ‘Today, I’m going to ruin a man’s life!’”
–Jack, Romancing the Stone

There’s nothing like getting woke out of a dead sleep at 4:30 in the morning by your 4-yr-old. “Mom, I need to go potty.” Aahhhhhhh… So up the stairs we trudge once again, I flip on the light (the horror) so he can go. And then I hear this, “Ah, dangit.” Which means he’s probably peed all over himself. (sigh)

I clean him up and he climbs back in bed and immediately falls asleep. Back down the stairs I go and climb back under the nice warm covers. Falling back to sleep was easy but getting up this morning was not. I wanted to stay under the nice warm bedcovers.

A stop at the gas station and Starbucks got me here a little late this morning. The line at Starbucks was horrendous. Just what do these people order that it takes 20 minutes to get through the drive through? I don’t get it at all. And my vanilla latte didn’t taste all that vanilla-ie. What a let down.

Anyhoo… yesterday, I did something that I’ve never done before at work. I actually volunteered for something major. Let me see if I can explain.

I was hired by this architectural/engineering firm (the one I work for now) in 1999 as Database Administrator in the Marketing department. My job was to build this marketing database using this software now called Deltek. So, I learned the software all on my own and how to write custom Crystal Reports for the data. I trained the entire marketing staff in the company (at the time 7-8 offices). I was the Goddess of the Database. In my spare time, I updated the internet/intranet site, helped with proposals and presentations, the newsletter, and basically just helped whenever I was needed. It was a great job.

I left after three and a half years and went back to construction for a very fast-paced high-energy job building the new RadioShack headquarters in downtown Fort Worth. I had the perfect commute at last, but a really stressful job. The love of construction couldn’t hold me there. I knew it was time to move on. Soo… to make a long story LONGER, I ended up in the hunt for a job again. One Monday evening, while Husband was in Baltimore, I opened the Sunday paper and lo and behold there it was. The large ad in black and white from my former company looking for a marketing assistant in their Fort Worth office.

My heart began to race and I got that really excited feeling in the pit of my stomach. You know the one you got when you were a kid and you were going to Six Flags for the first time. Or getting to do something really cool that you’ve always wanted to do. The one where you see/feel/do/know something and you suddenly have that feeling that THIS is what it’s all about. Am I making sense?

Anyway, I immediately sent my resume via their online application and then called up my friend (I had wisely maintained friendships at the company after I left) and asked him to put in a good word for me. It seemed to work and my boss was overhead as saying that “she certainly has a fan club”. Talk about a shining moment. I knew I had the job in the bag.

I came back to the architectural/engineering firm I had worked at for nearly four years. I was back but as a marketing assistant. Not as the database administrator. The rumblings I’ve heard about the database were that it was in sad shape. That they had decided to ditch the “old” one (the one *I* built) for a new “pure” one. They wanted only complete information in the new one.

(Are you completely bored out of your skull yet?)

So yesterday, as I’m sitting at my desk, wondering what was going to become of someone who basically has a lot of downtime (it’s true – I mean, come on, I can write a whole novel on my down time), and worrying I could possibly end up getting laid off for lack of work, I decided to take matters into my own hands. (That was a really long run-on sentence, wasn’t it?) I went to the Sr. VP of Marketing, asked her if she had a few minutes. She was happy to talk to me.

I asked her how much history she knew (she’s only been with the company a few months) and when she said nothing, I proceeded to enlighten her. I told her I was the original database administrator. I told her everything I knew about it and that I felt it would be a benefit to the company to give it back to me. I have enough time to really work on it. Basically, I tooted my own horn, told her when it came to the database, I was her gal. Told her lots of things she didn’t know and needed to know. She seemed excited about the prospect, thanked me for stepping up. I figured it would either backfire on me or I’d look like a hero. It seems I achieved the hero goal.

Now it’s just a wait and see what happens. People are afraid of change (I am) whether good or bad. But sometimes, you just have to hold your breath and take a chance. I’m asking for that chance. Maybe they will be brave enough to give it me.