100 Business Days Out: Preamble

Come Monday April 7th, 2008 I become, in a self-imposed way , unemployed. After the last 2.5 years as the CEO of SNOCAP, the acquisition of SNOCAP is complete and it is time for me to take some time away to figure out what I "should" do next. I have decided that I need to have some real quiet and focused time to listen and see if I can hear what should be next. Since this is self-imposed time off most people say, "how lucky and how easy this will be". I agree wholeheartedly that this is an extremely fortunate position to be in and I can only thank the Good Lord for giving me the resources to be able to be in this enviable position. I especially feel this way when I see the number of unemployed skyrocketing and thinking what it must be like to be out of work and concerned about the care of family and self. So, I enter this phase of life in the most humble of manners. All of this said, this will be a big change for me. I know I am not the first to go through it and won't be the last, but seldom do I read or hear from others what it feels like day to day to go from 100mph in the work world to a cold-turkey dead stop. For me, who has worked nearly continuously (always having a job or knowing where the next one was coming from and starting) since I was 15 years old (that would be 30 years ago) I am imagining that I can explore and search through the division of my work and self-worth and to test the adage that you are who you are when no one is looking. So, for the next 100 business days, I am going to try and capture my feelings and emotions as I go into what will surely feel like some sort of withdrawal and detox. I only hope that I can be honest with myself so that at the end of the period I will have learned more about myself and what it was that has driven me for so long and more importantly what it is that should be the drivers going forward. If you have comments along the way, please do let me know. Thanks for taking the journey with me. Rusty