As some of you may know, about a month ago, I lost my job at NIH due to a number of reasons, the main points being:
1.) Financial. The Medical Arts and Photography Branch ended the fiscal year something like $0.5 million in the hole.
2.) Political. I ended up doing a lot of work from home to please clients, as NIH had not provided me with the equipment I needed to meet their needs. Of course, this led to the "producers" (and I use the term loosely) to feel that I was not reliable, since I wasn't there 100% of the time. So, I got screwed by the senior staff because I went out of my way to try and please the clients. Silly me.
Anyway, so for the last month, I've been doing a few odd freelance jobs here and there, and generally moping around, feeling sorry for myself. I finally pulled myself out of the funk last week, and Friday went to see the local independent Macintosh reseller, since I had a decent relationship with the owner, and thought maybe they could use at least some part-time help.
Wonder of wonders, I talked to him, and he was immediately enthusiastic about the idea, saying that he always thought that I might be a good addition to their team (though he never said anything, for fear of losing sales from NIH). He asked me to send him an email saying what I'd like to do there, and give him some financial numbers. I came straight home, typed out some great ideas (and some really boneheaded ones that I should have deleted), and sent 'em off with a copy of my resume.
I finally called him back today, and we chatted for a while. Doing both his shop and video freelance is out [bonehead], and he can't match my former earnings [also bonehead], but he still seems interested, and said he'd get back to me today or tomorrow about hammering out the final details that we might be able to agree on.
Huzzah!
The only thing I'm not sure about is it seems his shop does indeed operate on commission, although he told me he doesn't like his salespeople to use any pressure. I'm all about the no pressure (probably couldn't apply it if I tried), but I'm not quite clear on how those two concepts co-exist in the same shop. I'll be sure to ask about that when we have the sit-down.
In any case, looks like I might actually have a job again soon, and one that will exercise my non-film muscles. I think at this point, that's exactly what I need, so when I come home to work on my short film ideas, it'll be more like relaxing, instead of a continuation of my workday.
We'll see… but I'm optimistic. 🙂