The "i's" Have It

Well, I loved a lot of the entries we received last time, but I have to confess that I was very misleading. In the text of my post I led everyone to believe that the topic was wind with a short "i." However, the mystery song related to wind with a long "i." I know. It was a dirty trick. The winner was "Long and Winding Road" by the Beattles.

Today I just don't have it in me to be as tricky because I have not felt very well since last Thursday. So, in honor of my illness, today's topic will be just that:

ILLNESS or SICKNESS or DISEASE or INJURY, ETC.

So, good luck with all that.



For those of you who do not know, I used to be a banker. I started as a teller in a bank (I still say that's the most fun you can have working in a bank) and within two years was a commercial loan officer and built a pretty good portfolio. However, long hours, the sale of our bank and a very oversexed environment made the decision to leave easy even if the implementation was hard.

I haven't missed it too badly.

The heavy regulatory pressures of banking are a source of constant stress when you're in it and the positive aspects (like the customer relationships) are hard-pressed to outweigh that. Still, in the last few weeks there has been a little chum in the water that almost seems designed to entice me back to banking; just little things that bring up the possibility. The most flagrant was yesterday. I was talking to my loan officer who is also an old colleague. I just keep a line of credit with him in case I see a property we have to have. We were discussing loan committees and I mentioned how his local president was a bit of a jerk. Okay, I may have been a little less gracious in that description yesterday. At any rate, my officer said," Really? Well when your package came before the local committee he could not have said more nice things about you."

Pause.

Long pause.

Still pausing.

Finally I said, "Well, perhaps we're both right." Actually, that's a "way homer." I realized on the way home that's what I should have said. Instead, I said something dismissive. My officer laughed and went on to say that I could even work with the guy if I wanted to. They had a few branch president positions open. Suddenly we had gone from chum in the water to a lure dangling precariously nearby. Funny thing about lures, though. Often when you take one you wind up hooked and in a good scenario posing upside-down for pictures; in a bad scenario smothered in tartar sauce. Long story short (if it's not too late), I did not like me as a banker. The long hours, the competitive drive, the immoral environment- none of that fit with my role as the go-kart riding, baseball throwing, Barbie repairing, car-pool driving goofball Daddy. I am thrilled not to carry a business card any more; even if it were to say VP or EVP or even CFO. So, until all of this job stuff gets really desperate, I am going to stick with what I've got and keep on hoping.

The next day, I started getting messages from a church looking for a worship minister. Members of their search committee had experienced a worship service I led and a well-known church consultant had also given them my name. To be honest, it was a total surprise given my general lack of talent and personality. I thought about the possibilities as I listened to the message and decided that it would be inappropriate for me to lead them on in the process since I do not have sufficient training or abilities to take on such a role in a large church. I dismissed the idea. However, one day when I happened to be home I answered the phone and it was a lady from the search committee. She was very gracious and complimentary, but I still thought that it would not be right to let the conversation continue and I told her so. She said she would let me think about it more and she would call me back. Strange but true.

Anyway, enough of that. I am sorry I have not blogged regularly lately. Work and baseball are consuming way too much time. The only "time out" we have taken was to go to the ranch last weekend with a group of friends who were also missing the Highland Family Retreat because of baseball. We went on hay rides, fished, sat around a campfire making S'mores, played games and generally relaxed. I wish I had been feeling better because we all needed the break but it was still fun.

I apologize for all of the mundane. For more specifics on the kids and stuff like that, check out durringtonfamily.blogspot.com.

Later