It’s been a few days, or maybe even a few days more than that. Last week was a little strange, and I don’t know that I’ve quite adjusted to the regular schedule, whatever that means, just yet.
On Thursday afternoon, there was a memorial service for my uncle in Connecticut. My sister, who lives in Maryland, arrived here the night before, so on Thursday morning we all drove out to Mystic. Under different circumstances, it would have been a lovely day, gorgeous weather along the river and good food at both lunch and dinner. But it was good that the family could be there, even just for the few hours of the service. His death was not a shock, but I don’t know that that makes it any easier, particularly for my aunt and their two (grown) sons. So, while sad, it was sort of a lovely day after all.
On Friday, I shook hands with my company’s new CEO-designate.
This is not something I expected, although I had expected to go see him speak, as he was addressing all of our New York offices. This is our global parent company, not just the publishing part of it that I work for day to day, and the event wasn’t even in our building. (Though we were all required to be there.) I somehow managed to be near the front of the line, having caught a lucky break with one of the elevators down to the street, and before I could even get my ID out — you needed photo ID to get in — who should sneak past and try to cut the line but the future CEO himself. (Perhaps I should add that this is obviously a joke, to any investors trolling for even the most ridiculously un-scandalous of scandalous news. He didn’t cut; I was glad to let him go ahead of me. There, good?) But I was still right behind him when it was time to take the elevators upstairs, and while we rode up he introduced himself and shook my hand.
I’m sorry if I made it sound like this was some kind of story, of how I was plucked from obscurity thanks to a chance meeting with the head of the company and hand-picked for greatness. I mean, I did point him in the direction of the men’s room when he visited our offices later in the day, but that’s about the extent of our interaction. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I’m cautiously optimistic about what he shared of his business philosophy and future plans, but that’s about it.
That was…right, Friday. That night we went out to dinner. It was okay, although I think my scallops were a little gritty. That’s neither here nor there, but if you came here for there or here, you likely came to the wrong place.
Last night I watched Rear Window, which I’d never seen before. It’s good, although maybe a little strange and gimmicky even by Hitchcock standards. It’s surprisingly entertaining, given how slow the real suspense is to arrive, but it’s quite entertaining nevertheless.
And today, I had no writing group, just the crossword puzzle. I grumbled a little on Twitter about how surprisingly difficult that turned out to be, and I can’t say it was a particularly thrilling puzzle all on its own.
But, anyway, that’s been the past few days.