EngelFish.Net

Well, Taryn is back in South Africa for a month and I’m on my own again.  I am not a fan of this, but I can’t help but be happy for her to be with her Dad and Gran.  I know how much it means to her, and that makes me happy.  Then again, she’s not here to share things with, or joke with, or just sleep next to her.  Missing her makes me sad, but I’ll live.  Lucky for me, there is a ton of work on deck, so I’m going to keep super busy.  Lots of consulting, photography, and house work will get done during this month.  At least that’s the plan.

IMAGE:  This is the parking deck courtyard at the RDU airport.  I had just dropped Taryn off for her flight, and the image of a big empty space seemed appropriate.

Lots has been going on in the past few weeks, including my departure from a full-time position with my last employer. I’m now doing some pharma consulting on the side as I continue to build my photography client base. We’re also preparing for Taryn’s trip back to South Africa for a few weeks, which leaves me home alone for a while. I don’t like it, but I’m treating it as a working vacation. Lots of projects to work on, so I’m hoping to impress her with my productivity when she returns. And it’s birthday season too: Dad turned 69 yesterday, Taryn’s Gran turns 80 next month, and I’ll be 40 in May. That wheel keeps on turnin’.
IMAGE: Hide Terada, at our most recent Raleigh Flickr Group Meetup. We hadn’t seen him in quite a while, so it was great to catch up.

I was never one to spend much time in coffee shops when I was in college.  I was too busy running a bar to hang out at someone else’s place.  That being the case, I’m learning now that I kinda like it.  When I have work to do, and the house is too quiet, it’s a great place to go.  I’m just as distracted by the comings and goings of my spacial-peers, but that can be corrected with headphones and a seat that faces the wall.

Coffee shops can also lead to jobs, as today proved.  I planned to meet my wife, but there were some other photographers already there when I arrived, so I joined them.  Later on another shooter arrived, with a double-scheduling issue for tomorrow.  Into the breach I stepped, and will thus be shooting for two hours tomorrow night at the AAC Indoor Track & Field Championships.  I’m not a sports shooter by nature, but I’m looking forward to it.  Who knows?  It might lead to a new line of work.  Regardless, the only sports which I am even vaguely interested in is running. I’ve done 5Ks through ultra-marathons, so I can fully appreciate the accomplishments of folks who do it at that level.  I’m actually looking forward to it quite a bit.

There have been all kinds of things happening here in the past few weeks, but two are significant.  One, as of the end of January, I have joined the ranks of the unemployed.  I’m beating the streets for consulting work in the pharma industry, since that’s where I have the most experience.  After consulting with my lovely wife, I’m also setting up my photography business and looking for work both shooting and assisting commercial shooters in the area.  I’m confident that it’ll all come together, but it’s still just a wee bit stressful to be unemployed for the first time since college and having my 40th birthday looming up ahead.  The second item, and far more celebratory, is that Taryn has her Permanent Resident Status for the US (aka Greencard)!  After all the stress and effort surrounding the paperwork and application process, the interview itself was underwhelming.  We were in and out of the office in about 20 minutes, and left with the marshal that interviewed us laughing.  There is one last form outstanding, but we have to file it in two years, and then we’ll be done with that process.  The next step, if Taryn chooses to, is citizenship.  That wouldn’t be for five years at least, so she has plenty of time.

IMAGE: Crystal organized a photowalk in downtown Raleigh a few weeks ago, and this was the wrapup picture before we all went back to our regular lives.  We normally do a group shot, but the table was too close to the wall for us to bunch up, so everyone fell into these poses.  When I pointed out the last-supperesque result, they all struck poses.