and these creepy little bastards are supposed to make me want to eat a quizno's sub? with their ingrown teeth and deformed little rodent bodies that belong in a jar of formaldehyde? yuck. is this the kind of animal they use for the processed meat? but i must admit, the song is catchy, and the TV ad is, well, addictive. creepy bastards, nonetheless.

my days at ELTADAY ONICSAY are dwindling, and good days they have been. we just got the 2003 upgrade sales totals--i'm 8th out of over 100 upgraders for the central NY region. not too shabby! i never really considered myself much of a salesman prior to that. and upon hearing that i'm leaving, everyone's had something kind to say, said goodbye, or inquired as to when i'm all done so they can see me one more time before i'm gone. and that rocks. "i'm going to miss him." "you're the manager who likes your job the most, and you do it the best." "you're really leaving? you're the manager who's easiest to work with." "it's been fun working with you." "so who's gonna fix everything when you're gone?" "are you gonna miss me?" (the hot 17 year old girl asked me that.) and my personal favorite, "it's gonna suck when you're gone." hugs, handshakes, high fives. i'm almost sad to go! then again, nah...lemmie get the hell out of here. i've gotten the cold shoulder from the location supervisor, and my supervisor and the other senior manager are in their own little manager world. i'm just the extra guy who does the basics. i've (thankfully) been relieved of any difficult and/or thought-related tasks. and i've been removed from the management loop. good. and it's great to see my replacement (the one who spilled the beans on my trooper plans which lead to my demise) flounder in his mediocrity and poor decisionmaking. and the best of all, the fervor surrouding my departure has influenced others--in all, five of our best guys are considering leaving or have been looking at other jobs. it's great. nothing like leaving a huge aftershock in my wake. i can't wait to stop in in the coming weeks to see what the place is like without me. it's good to know i'll be missed.

and then there's the new job. the more i learn about it, the more imposing and scary it is. i hope i can make it work. i've got a lot riding on it, especially since i've told everyone who's asked what it is i'm doing next. i look forward to it with trepidation and excitement. and as for my earlier comment on not being much of a salesman, well, i'm better than i thought, so i might be okay. more on the new job later...