Good news, bad news, hermits and riding the professional roller coaster!

I hope this post finds everyone in good health and spirits....sometimes I get so wrapped up in the stupid crap happening in my life that lose sight of what's important.  You guys...and girls...(more so girls, cause I really like girls...boobies and butts, boobies and butts...oops, I digress) are important to me.  I find that my interest and concern for the well being of you, my "virtual" friends is more substantial than for most of the people I interact with in "reality" every day.  So, I am sincere in hoping that you all are in good health and spirits.

Somehow over the last several years I've become a hermit and I'm not real sure how it happened.  This isn't a "woe is me" or a fishing for sympathy post, it's just an observation of how my life has evolved.  I think I've always been a bit of a loner by nature but I have reasonable social skills and generally like people.  I have "work friends" that I chit chat and bullshit with during the normal course of the week but I find that once the work day is over...so is the friendship.

I think part of it is that I'm in that strange...but growing...population of older, single males.  I'm way beyond the point of running the bars and wanting to party.  And I'm an awkward third wheel to my married friends because I don't have a "significant other" to drag along to social events...and some guys seem to think that there's nothing a single guy would rather do than bone their the wives.  I also don't think single men in my age group just "hang out" together...they must have all turned into hermits too :-)

Wow, I really went off track...this post was supposed to be about my crappy week at work.  Late last week, I got a call from a senior manager from a different division and he asked if I could stop by and chat.  Of course being the nosy little bugger that I am, I was intrigued and said of course.

When we met, he explained that a new "high profile" unit was being established and he thought that with my background and leadership experience, that I would be an ideal supervisor (1 of 5) for this new endeavor.  Of course, with this stroke to my ego...and the fact that it entails a promotion...when he asked if I would be interested I said...yep.

But very quickly, reality came crashing down and I remembered that we are in the midst of a hiring freeze...external and internal.  When I mentioned this little tidbit, he alluded to the possibility that a wink, wink, nod, nod  deal could be worked out with my current management.  As I am certainly old enough and experienced enough to realize that things seldom work as planned, I should have known better...I must admit that I allowed myself to get a bit excited about the whole thing.

I had a meeting scheduled yesterday to unofficially "interview" with the potential new boss.  Being the straight-forward person that I am, even though I am not required to inform my current management of any of this...I felt it was the right thing to do since they have generally treated me pretty good. 

How did that work out, you might ask....not so good!!!  I popped in and told my supervisor and informed him that I was going to let his supervisor know also.  My supervisor, who is a decent guy with severely limited people skills thanked me for letting him know and didn't have anything to say about it.

However, before I had a chance to get with his boss...he got with his boss and gave him a "heads up".  I was then "called in" by his boss who was pretty irate and ranted about how everyone else was trying to steal his good people and that he wasn't going to stand for it and implying that I was somehow disloyal for wanting to take advantage of an opportunity.

I reminded his boss that I did indeed appreciate the way I have be treated...which was why I was providing the professional courtesy of letting him know instead of letting him be blind-sided.  I also reminded him that I have made it clear all along of my career goals and that if not this opportunity, at some point an opportunity would arise and that I would move on.

I understand his position and if I were sitting in his chair, I too would be unwilling to lose an asset.  And since I knew from the beginning that the hiring freeze was a serious obstacle, I was not in the least surprised by his unwillingness to release me.  I was however, surprised and to be honest disappointed how it seemed to be viewed that my desire to advance was somehow disloyal.  Needless to say, when I informed the potential "new" boss that current boss was not happy...new boss' interest in me immediately waned...oh well, shit happens!

I was discussing the situation with a friend that has been with the organization a lot longer than I have.  His advice was that I needed to learn to be sneakier and that I should not have let them know what was being discussed.  While his advice is probably sound, I refuse to become that person.

Needless to say...I feel that I have now fallen from grace in my current work situation and will just have to suck it up until the hiring freeze is lifted and an opportunity to move presents itself.

So  that was my week...how was yours?