Tex Ass

I get to go to Texas next week.  Austin.  I've never been to Texas.  Although I've heard that as far as Texas goes, Austin is not a good representative sample.  I've heard that Austin is very fun and 'hip'...like the shoes CIenna made me buy last year.  The ones that my puppy has made into chews. I still wear them.  They look dangerous. Like my feet are crazed; angry toenail-wielding digits of doom.

I'll be there for a meeting, of course.  A Working Team meeting.  Our team is comprised of 13 people, luckily.  Half of whom I really enjoy, half of whom I either don't really know or that I like to mock so much that it's almost a condition.  There is one person about whom I am completely neutral.  He will be our notetaker.  Occassionally I will ask that he hold a marker up to my twitching nostril. Just to see if he can step over that line.

I've manuevered it so that the RIght People are Dependant upon ME.  I'm renting a car and I will drive my group around to where *I* want to go.  I've made the motel arrangements so that the people I like are staying where I am staying and the others are staying far away at a La Quinta.  Under an overpass. Or so I imagine.  Me and My Group will bond and form alliances while the other group eats at Denny's and has a daily continental breakfast together.  The only thing more blan than their steamed eggs will be their conversation.

I've only been a member of this group for a few months, really.  I've sat in on it unofficially for years.  I have never volunteered for anything.  For meetings, I usually stay way off in the hinterlands by myself.

This is Texas and I will be big.

Comments

[JimMA]

First, You Are So My Hero.

Second, beware. I too managed my way into a situation where People Who Matter were dependent upon me.

Last week I quit my job, unceremoniously. It's the best thing I've ever done. I sit around the house drinking martinis (yes, gin, vodka Does Not Count) in my underwear and not getting dressed. It's incredibly fun. If only I'd done it in time to enjoy ski season more.

However, in a fit of responsibility I left my cell number with the People Who Matter, in case there was An Emergency after I left.

To date (T plus 10 days), I've received 18 calls from them.

Of course, I haven't answered them nor listened to the copious voicemails. But do you really want that on your conscience?

[katy]

WOAH! Jim, YOU ARE MY HERO!
Unceremoniously, no less. It might have been fun to have a little ceremony. Burned some things. Chanted. Cursed the place eerily.

Most people still don't have my cell number. I only give my cell number out to people I will drink with. Happily drink with, not be with and drink because I have to in order to stand them.

I hope you are experiencing this worklessness to its fullest. I completely envy you.

[Heydave]

Aw, you both are way cool in my book.
Cell number, though? It is to laugh!
I make a point of telling my coworkers that they may NOT have my cell phone. That and not killing anyone (in the open) makes me quite the pirate.
As for meetings, I suspect that leading the group into a complete debacle might preclude you from any other such chores.
Or elevate you to a position of Real Importance.

[Tata]

I paw my phone and make wookie noises. I don't know my phone number so there's no chance I'll accidentally give it out. Plus, the sound effects discourage conversation.