#313 In which our hero receives another message from the past.

You probably forgot that the site futureme.org even exists… I know I did, even though I’ve received a message from a past me before.

And I recently got another message from the past! Message plus commentary follows.

Dear FutureMe,
Hey man. Right now it's 2/8/06 and I'm sitting in my office at Impact Direct Copywriting.

Generally speaking, I try not to name names in my blog, especially when it comes to employers. However, to say this place was rinky-dink is an understatement. And, more to the point, I tried to bring up the website and it is 404, and the phone number is disconnected. I suspect that the owner, my previous boss, has moved on to other endeavors. Because for as much as I thought the guy was an advertising dumbass, I can’t take anything away from his hustle. He was always trying to make a buck with the next big thing.

I have a second interview at XXXXXX tomorrow, and I'm excited as shit. I really want that job. Driving down to Akron every day would be a total pain in the ass... but more money? Better working environment? Actually working with other people instead of sitting alone in a shit-hole rented office answering phones for a computer repair place? Yeah, it would be worth a little extra driving time.

I got that job and worked there for five years. It started out great, but many, many things had changed by the time I left. The company had been bought by another, larger agency; the focus of our work shifted, the agency name actually changed; and, more significantly, the culture of the place radically shifted. It’s not bad, per se, but it is very different from what it was when I started. For these reasons and others I knew it was time for a change.

(if the “answering phones for a computer repair place” comment seems like a non sequitur, understand that my hustlin’ boss was running at least three businesses out of the one rented office so, depending on who was in and what line was ringing, I had to answer the phone for the advertising agency, a computer repair business or a hospital supply company.)

And the drive to Akron every day? It really wasn’t that bad. The heavy traffic was always heading north to Cleveland when I was driving south, and vice versa, so that was never really an issue. In the winter I could always count on a couple 3-hour commute days because of the ice and snow. But to be honest, I enjoyed the time to think, and I went through a lot of books on tape. Lots of wear and tear on my car, though.

Anyway... I hope your career is doing better. At the very least, I hope you're making more money. I so want to get out of here. I hope Malone works out. I also have a resume into Point to Point Communications... but haven't heard anything from them yet.

Pretty sure Point to Point never called me back.

I'm a little surprised how much of my happiness comes from my work. I never thought I was one of those people. Guess I am. Since I'm not really enjoying my work right now -- or, at least, my co-worker or environment -- it puts stress on my. And, my extension, on [The Scientist] and the girls.

This still surprises me. With this new job, I’m painfully aware that I’m 43 years old and not at the point in my career that I wanted to be. I feel like I need to catch up. This is partly due to the fact that I’ve been laid off from several jobs (not my fault); but it’s also partly due to the fact that I’m a little lazy (all my fault). I’m hoping for some quick advancement at his new agency… we’ll see what happens. Could be very frustrating for me.

Holy shit... Doug (my current boss) just walked in and asked me, "What's a hyphen? Is it an underline?"
Good. Lord.

I don’t remember this exchange, but it sounds pretty typical. He considered himself a copywriter, but constantly had me proof his stuff, which was terrible without exception. It doesn’t surprise me that he would have a lack of understanding about simple grammar. Hustle, yes. Writing skills, no.

Anyway, I'm setting this to send five years from now. If you're still in the same office answer that guy's dumb-ass questions at that time... well, there are razorblades in your toolbox.

Thankfully, it never came to this. In fact, I was out of there shortly after writing this message.

Take care, future me.
craig.

Thank YOU, past me!

I’ll write another one, and set it for another five years in the future. Good Lord, what will that be like? I’ll be nearly 50, and the girls will be 13 and 10.

Yikes.

***