It's... the Final Countdown!

My long, storied career with Microwize Technology is coming to an end. You won't believe what happens next! Well, OK, maybe you will. I can't really say, because I don't yet know what happens next.

21 Years at Microwize

I've been with my current employer almost as long as some of my colleagues have been alive. Not an exaggeration. I started with Microwize in January 2004, several weeks after losing my job when my then-current employer (of over ten years) was acquired by another company and my role made redundant. The owner of that company knew the owner of this one—as did I, since he'd worked there previously, too—and asked about getting me hired there. Robert agreed to give me a shot, and so I went from MIS manager at AA World Class, an embroidery maker, to software/hardware specialist at Microwize Technology, a healthcare technology consulting firm.

Over the last two decades, my title has changed a few times: technical support supervisor, IT specialist, data services manager, and marketing manager (with a heaping side of data services manager). A lot of people have come and gone in that time, and I count myself lucky to have met most of them. I've absorbed a lot of knowledge, and my work in, and with, various teams led a colleague to claim that I've been "translating across departments since 2004." Personally, I like to think that one of my most important unofficial roles in the company (besides proofreader) has been facilitator, asking the right questions or providing the right answers or getting the right people in touch with each other to reduce the confusion and friction that so often crops up in business.

The Final Countdown

No one is irreplaceable. We've all heard that at some point or another, and most of us hopefully understand it to be true. In my case, while it seemed likely that I'd stay at Microwize until I retired, in point of fact, that's not how it's going down. Robert informed me recently that he was letting me go, not for performance or personal reasons but due to changes in the industry and the need to realign internal resources. As a result, this will be my last week with the company.

Did the news gast my flabber? Absolutely. I'd sensed change was afoot, but neither my colleagues nor I had anticipated this outcome. I understand that the decision was a business decision, however, and not an easy one to make; Robert and I have known each other for over 30 years. And no, artificial intelligence isn't taking my job. I may not agree with how he's handling it, but it's his business. I'm taking it all with a grain of salt, some lime, and copious amounts of tequila. After all, you know what they say: when one door closes, the air pressure builds until Windows crashes. Or something like that. But still, it's farewell...

@andersen_silva It's the final countdown! #keyboards #guitar #finalcountdown ♬ original sound - Andersen Silva

Open to Work

As a result, yes, I am open to work. I'm in the process of putting all my affairs in order (sure, it's the wrong choice of words, but...) during this last week, and then I need to get my résumé and my LinkedIn profile updated, and test the wind and determine in which direction my adventures will take me next. If you've got ideas or recommendations or offers, I'd love to hear them! And maybe I'll come back to Earth... who can tell?

Practice of the Future Magazine

After a long, long period of time, I'm going to be associated with a publication again; Practice of the Future will be launching soon! Well, the digital version is available already, but it's the printed copy I can't wait to get my hands on next week... I do some of the writing, and most of the proofreading/copyediting, for this quarterly healthcare-oriented magazine, and I've got to say I'm quite pleased with what my colleagues and I have achieved. Of course, this kind of thing isn't exactly new to me...

26 years ago today, August 18, 1995, I met up with some fellow 'zinesters at the second annual Underground Press Conference at DePaul University in Chicago during my all-too-brief stint as publisher and editor-in-chief of the Extreme. Disillusionment with the conference itself and the feuds I saw boiling over, coupled with a flood of submissions but a dearth of subscriptions, led me to unceremoniously pull the plug on the venture shortly thereafter, only eight issues in, and I still regret it...

Before that, I proofread and edited The Voyage of the SS Jeremiah O'Brien: San Francisco to Normandy 1994, a book by Coleman "Coke" Schneider about the Liberty Ship he was assigned to as a Merchant Marine deck cadet for its maiden voyage in 1944, and on which he traveled again 50 years later for the D-Day anniversary. Coke was a great man with a fascinating history, and I'm proud to have both known him and helped him with the book.

Before that? Well, in 1991 there was my semi-legendary stint as "underground journalist" and literary editor/propagandist of the Underground Giraffe. Met initially with amused tolerance by the management of the Toys "R" Us store where graphic editor Steve Augulis and I worked, the irreverent newsmagazine subtitled "Something to read while you're in the bathroom" found its way up a corporate level or two, and our comic and crass rants were eventually suppressed after five issues that year. I then released two final issues in 1992 as a gift to my co-workers when I resigned. I'm not saying that UG had anything to do with T"R"U filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 and closing all its US stores the following year... but I'm not not saying it, either.

And before that? I suppose my interest in journalism and writing and editing/proofreading began in high school. In my junior year, I was a member of the editorial committee of John F. Kennedy H.S.' school newspaper, The Torch; the next year, I was literary editor of our yearbook, The Knight. The proofreading bug has been with me ever since, and even when I'm reading for news or for pleasure, part of me is on the hunt for errors. Beware my red pen!

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

I do still enjoy writing, too, and though the work I do in my capacity as marketing manager for Microwize Technology and senior editor for Practice of the Future shows barely a trace of my trademark snark and outrage, I'm proud of it. Of course, the turns of phrase, the alliteration, the portmanteaus and double entendres I sprinkle throughout my song lyrics and short fiction and personal 'blog posts are nearer and dearer to my heart. I have fun with words when I can.

Kudos to my PotF teammates on a terrific first issue together! And, who knows... I just might be inspired to try my hand at the 'zine thing again...

Ride, Sally, Ride

I was feeling mostly happy, but also a little sad, when I got home from a wedding last Thursday night. Happy for the bride, a wonderful colleague of mine, and her husband, but sad for myself, as I couldn't help but be reminded that, in early June 2013, Laura and I were engaged and working out plans for a September wedding.

Then I browsed through Facebook, and even that sorrow was put out of my mind. I discovered that a friend and former colleague, Sally, had passed away on Wednesday, a week ago today, and it just stunned me. I went to bed without having fully processed it, and I'm not sure I've fully processed it yet. It hurts, though, this first irrevocable loss of someone I considered a friend.

To be sure, Sally wasn't one of my closest friends, emotionally or physically; she'd moved from New Jersey to Wichita, Kansas, two years ago, and then to California in 2014. The last time I saw her was in the spring of 2011, at a party she and Matt threw at the house in Oceanport, a party where she urged people to bring musical instruments. I obliged by bringing my acoustic/electric guitar, and while the jam session she might've hoped for didn't really happen, we all had a great time nonetheless. We'd mentioned me visiting Cali, and her staying with me when she finalized selling the house down the shore, but that party was the last time we got together, and at least it's a happy and a fun memory.

Sally didn't stay at Microwize Technology (or any job, really, in the time that I knew her) for too very long, but we got along well and spent time together even after she'd moved on. From wandering a few hours in the Village and getting drinks at Teak in Hoboken afterwards, to sushi and drinks while watching my friend Martin Rivas perform at Sawa in Long Branch, to dinner and drinks in NYC, to drinks at the City Lounge right here in Lyndhurst after work one evening, to doing a shot of rum together in my apartment... come to think of it, we consumed a lot of alcohol in each other's company. Heh-heh. I saw the Indigo Girls, Tori Amos, the Police (on Halloween!), and Bruce Springsteen with silly Sally, too. She goosed me once while we posed for a picture together. She and Matt attended my 40th birthday party and brought pizza. She cried on my shoulder while talking about difficulties she was going through, and I did my best to console her. She laughed and laughed when I answered the phone, "Hello, and welcome to Moviefone!" in my announcer voice. She congratulated me on getting engaged, and offered to return the huge plastic "diamond" I'd found somewhere and jokingly given her way back when (in 2007); she told me last year that she'd come across it again while packing for CA. She brought a smile to my face, though she never convinced me, every time she started a conversation with me with, "Hey, handsome..." She drove some of her other friends and me a bit nuts when she became fixated on Amy Winehouse's "Rehab," but she made us laugh, too.

I'm rambling a bit. My point is, I miss Sally terribly. We may not have been the closest of friends, nor kept in touch too regularly, but we were friends. I laughed with her, I worried about her, I enjoyed spending time and talking with her, and suddenly I never can again, and I'm struggling to accept the loss and the hurt. It feels like a bit of (what's left of) my heart has gone numb.

I love you, Sally. I hope you knew that.

Swingin' in the Park

A month and a half ago, I dusted off my righteous rage, put on the activist armband again, and joined the Nightwatchman and the Occupy Guitarmy in a march and some music in midtown Manhattan on May Day. The rest of the month involved quite a bit of marching, too, including a trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, two weddings, Mother's Day visits to both my mom and Laura's, and a rare Not An Exit jam/recording session with Jon Wardell.

Jon and Andy: this is Not An Exit!

At the beginning of this month, I stood by and watched Laura march instead.  Well, actually, I watched her run, in a 5K race, her first, and I was incredibly proud of her.  She's planning on doing the 2013 New York City Marathon, and I'll be there to watch her, too!  Last week, however, I slowed things down a bit, and the two of us headed to a Victorian bed and breakfast, the Hewitt Wellington, down the shore (yes, we say "down the shore" in Jersey) in Spring Lake for an overnight stay. There was a brief period of rain, much of which we escaped by ducking into a wine shop, but the weather was otherwise wonderful, as were both the lake and the beach, and we even got to commune with the squirrels (and ducks) and swing in the park, though it wasn't after dark. We had an amazing if puzzling dinner Thursday night at Café Artiste; we were never given menus or asked for our orders, and by the time we'd figured out that the chicken special mentioned outside was the only meal available, we'd already been served bread, lentil soup, and salad. After sausage and peppers and a side dish of peas, we finally got to the chicken dish, which certainly lived up to the hype by Cosimo, as did the incredible peach pie we barely managed to tuck away, too.  Dessert was plainly not optional, and I for one didn't mind.

I brought my acoustic/electric along, too, and Laura snapped some nice shots as I played a little on the beach early Friday morning. (Speaking of pictures, I know I haven't updated the Gallery... of Death! at all this year.  Since Apple is doing away with iWeb, I'm thinking of migrating my photos to Picasa and redoing the Gallery from there instead of iPhoto/iWeb; I just need to get around to doing it.)  She found a sand dollar among the tide's remains, which was a nice surprise, and we got quite a lot of walking done.  I know we did, because I finally have a Jawbone Up that seems to be lasting!  I got this one (I think it was the sixth replacement since Christmas, though honestly I've lost track) on May 2nd, and it's still going strong.  The longest that any of the others went before dying on me was three weeks, and that was the original one Laura bought me.  At least Jawbone's customer support has been very good about it, and each replacement was sent to me at no charge, not even shipping.  If this one goes the distance, I will be very happy indeed.

On the Beach at Spring Lake

A week from today, I'm lugging the Danelectro to Jackson Square at Greenwich and Eighth Avenues in Manhattan to play some tunes outdoors at 2 PM for this year's Make Music New York.  It's free, as are the hundreds of other performances taking place around New York all day, so you should come get an earful if you can!  I'm planning to add my newest song, "So Much Happy," to the set, and there's a new T-shirt design available ay my CafePress shop if you're interested; for the new free buttons and/or guitar picks, you'll have to come to the show.  ;-)  The shirts feature my two main axes on the front and Slime's Doug the Slug, plus his hedgehog and penguin buddies, on the back (thanks, Laura!).  You know you want one...

Some days, trying to find time for everything (including updating my personal social media accounts and 'blog - and now I'm adding RebelMouse, too?!? - in addition to the "music" and Slime social media accounts; writing the dialog, and scanning and prepping the artwork, for Slime; making the occasional YouTube video; playing guitar; and of course waiting hand and foot on the Chinchilla Princess, Meguilla) after spending a workday on Microwize Technology's user forum, 'blog, and to a lesser extent its social media and clients' data issues can feel overwhelming.  I need to record a medley of the Police's "Too Much Information" and Living Colour's "Information Overload" as my theme song... but where would I find the time?  Heh.  Then again, the minuscule interaction my "music fans" (102 on Facebook, 90 on ReverbNation, and 294 (!) on Jango, allegedly) provide can feel underwhelming; I still haven't gotten any responses to my query as to which artist(s) I sound like or remind listeners of, and I'm not holding out hope for many people I know showing up at Jackson Square next week, though of course my honey will be there supporting me.  Still, in spite of dwindling time resources and limited active interest on the part of the general public, I'm not ready to give it all up and live a "normal" life.  I want to revamp my Web sites, I want to come up with more creative outlets for the Slime characters, and certainly I want to write new music ("They Might Be Roses" is brewing in my head, and maybe I'll finally pen a song about the experience of playing live, for real people) as well as record some already-written songs that haven't been laid down yet ("I'll Live," "When Giant Giants Attack!" and "Occasionally Tormented Soul," I'm looking at you in particular).  I want to spend more time trying to interest people in that music, for while I'm neither trying nor expecting to become the "next big thing" in music, I do intend to keep at it, and input and criticism can only help.  I want to keep writing in general, and boy, did this 'blog post turn out to be longer than I'd planned.  I want to stop using so many parentheses and semicolons; no, wait, I don't (I really don't)...  Slouching back on the couch and watching the game and the latest reality show is too easy and not satisfying at all, and besides, there are way too many people doing that already.  Also, I can't really teach Laura to play tennis that way.

After all...  Better that your life be a blur than a blurb.  Happy Flag Day!  Got somethin' to say about any or all of this verbosity?  Leave a comment, then!