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January 13, 2006
Ex-Haus-Ted
Today has been a contrast of highs and low. Thank goodness I'm not suffering from hormonal influences, because the "normal" mood swings that today's activities have engendered is quite enough, thank you.
It all started when I left the house this morning for a 9:30 meeting with a Big Idea person. We were meeting at the local Starbucks, which made the bracingly early (at least for me) hour not so terrible. Of course when I got there I realized I didn't have my wallet.
This was disastrous for two reasons. First, it meant that I couldn't buy coffee for the guy, let alone myself. Mucho embarassing. Secondly, and most importantly, it meant that I didn't have the proper identification to get back to the house (guarded entrance and all) to get my wallet, which I needed even MORE for my lunch meeting with another Big Idea person.
Oh the woe.
I managed to finagle my way through the coffee meeting ("oh no, just water for me"), but while I was figuring out how to rescue my afternoon, I managed to get a parking ticket. Now, I had only left my car alone for 5 minutes, 7 minutes at the most. Damn you, parking gestapo! How DARE you write me a THIRTY-FIVE dollar ticket when I'm standing across the street having a nervous breakdown?
(To give them credit, there was no way to tell that the girl having a nervous breakdown was associated with that particular car, but still.)
Again, I was able to sweet talk my way past the security and dash into the house to retrieve my wallet. After a brief calculation, I realized I had plenty of time to make it back downtown for my lunch meeting and began to recover my sanity. BIG MISTAKE. Because as I took a minute to relax, I thoughtlessly opened some mail I had picked up from the Big Idea Mailbox. And I found (drumroll, please):
A CEASE AND DESIST NOTICE.
That's right. There's another organization with a vaguely similar name to one of the service names associated with the Big Idea. And because there might be the slightest, tiniest, most remote chance that an incredibly stupid person might get confused, they "respectfully request that you change the name of your company and services to eliminate the potential for confusion."
With best wishes,
Your New Nemesis
Harumph. I'm undecided about whether or not they have a case (my parents, upon my complaining, think they do NOT), but the main point is that I don't have the time or resources to engage in a legal battle (and by that I mean that even consulting a lawyer about this issue is beyond my financial capabilities). So I'm doing the "honorable" thing and giving it up without a fight. I'd like to believe that it's not costing me anything, since at this point I didn't have dedicated clients associated with that branch of the company. BUT STILL. It's the principle of the thing.
Anyway, I made a frantic call to my web-developer-extrodinaire Ms. Post No Bills, who graciously agreed to make major renovations to the website over the weekend to eliminate all references to THE DREADED AND POSSIBLY-IF-YOU'RE-STUPID INFRINGING service. (And note to Ms. PNB, if I see you posting entries that reveal you are watching HOURS of Law & Order instead of saving my infringing ass, you are in trouble!) I'll be keeping the service, just making the catchy title disappear. So if you want a last look at the catchy-yet-possibly-infringing website, check it out today for it will all be gone on Monday.
Bah humbug. It's never too early in the year to start being a grinch.
Anyway, after my call with Ms. PNB, I was late again and had to scramble downtown. Where, of course, I had a hellacious time with parking. I swear, crossing into Dupont Cirle there should be a sign that reads "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Park Here". I eventually abandoned hope for finding street parking and paid (ha, ha, with the $$ from my newly reclaimed wallet!) $11 for an hour and a half worth of valet parking. Oh, I'll be deducting that on my taxes, don't you worry, dear reader.
From there, things looked up. I had a marvelous lunch with another Big Idea person, who gave me all sorts of good advice and even solicited my help on a Big Project. Not for $$, of course, but in a role that could potentially bring in clients and will definitely get my name out there. So yay for that.
After all that, I came home and instead of collapsing into bed as planned, managed to send a bunch of emails from people I met at the Big Idea Happy Hour last night, set up a lunch meeting for next week, set up a Big Idea proposal pitch (this one might actually net us some $$) for next week, join a professional Big Idea association, buy a plane ticket from Berlin to Budapest for the trip (that starts on Thursday, ensue panicking), have dinner with the family, brush Janie's teeth, avoid having Janie brush my teeth (which is part of the standard agreement), and get started on some new work for the Big Idea.
Now I'm really ready to collapse. But I'm torn between doing just a leetle more work for the Big Idea (there's so much left to do that I'm really starting to panic over leaving in just 6 days) and calling it a night and finishing "Foucoult's Pendulum", which I've been reading for several days. It's a page turner let me tell you. In fact, I would venture to say that The DaVinci Code is a poor (and ignorant) man's Foucoult's Pendulum. Just like Heath Ledger is a poor man's Ryan Phillipe. Umm, Ryan Phillipe.
See, I ended on a happy note.
Comments
It sounds like a really terrible day! infact Ithink I had a better day than you , and *I* has a titanium screw implanted in my lower jaw. I guess it wasn't Friday the 13th for nothing!
LLAMA llama for good days to come.
La
Posted by: La at January 13, 2006 11:45 PM
