Month: March 2012

Lots more meetings at work today, going over projects I have in hand, projects that are upcoming, and trying to make sense of which ones I’ll be working on going forward. Some of that is going to require more meetings and more discussion, spilling into next week. But I’m sure, several weeks from now, when I’m situated in my new work space, with the rest of my fellow development editors, with a clear sense of what books I will and won’t be working on (and how to work on them), I’ll look back on this slightly panicked time of restructuring and departures, and it won’t seem so bad at all.

In general, I’m really positive about this change. It’s just that it comes on the heels of a lot of other changes and is accompanied by no small amount of confusion. But, long term, I definitely think it’s for the good.

And hey, I may be able to work from home once a week, so that’s nice.

And is it weird that I’m a little disappointed not to be attending a conference this week, especially since I’ll almost certainly never attend it again? There’s this conference, this year in Chicago, that I’ve attended for the past four years running. Admittedly, it was that first year, when it was in New Orleans, when I probably first really hurt my back. But I’ve kind of grown attached to it. I like the organizers and many of the authors, and even though that first year I was just filling in at the last minute for someone else, it sort of became my conference. I mean, being on your feet all day selling books maybe isn’t the greatest, and there are probably nicer times to visit Chicago than March. (I was there three years ago, at the same hotel and everything.) And I’m kind of glad I’m not traveling and on my feet all day while still recovering (I hope completely) from pneumonia. But I’ll still kind of miss it. I had a prior commitment this weekend that precluded my going, even before I got sick, and now I’ll probably never be back.

Ah well.

I didn’t get enough sleep last night, in part because I had an early-morning meeting (because of course I did), but at least the meeting went well. No more big changes announced, so that’s a plus. Just meetings, emergency safety training — no zombie contingency plans, though, which is just asking for trouble — followed by more meetings. More tomorrow, too.

Though tonight I’m going to try and get some more sleep.

I honestly don’t know how many more big announcements and changes I can take at work. More (very) unexpected news today, although it did give me the opportunity to share my own news from yesterday with the rest of the group. I mean, I wasn’t told specifically not to, and people will find out soon enough. My new boss, with whom I spoke briefly this afternoon, seems eager to make my transition as quick as possible and move me to a new desk. (I think everyone else would notice if I was suddenly sitting on the opposite side of the office and realize something was up.)

This promises to be the last of the really big shake-ups, though it will probably make things even more complicated in the short term.

I find myself saying that a lot to people — that, in the short term, this will be mass confusion and uncertainty, but in the long term good for me. (And hopefully I’ll continue to work with, if not for, the group I’m with now. If only because I do have some background with these books.)