Panic's Over

Day after St Patty's Day. We managed to observe the holiday the way we almost always have: guzzling beer, gorging on corned beef and cabbage, and sipping a wee dram or two of Jameson's.

The threatened storm came and went. Nowhere near the ferocity or depth that was predicted by fear-mongering weather/news people. A annoyed populace was able to dig-out so they could get to work. Many were no doubt hung over from extended pre-celebratory get togethers. And a hair of the dog might have seemed just the thing for lunch.

Have you noticed that when you see a vehicle spun out in a snowstorm, invariably it is an SUV? Does driving a big gas guzzler affect the drivers' judgment, or were they boobs to start with? Meteorological questions, I guess.

Note to self: Vinny T's is practically deserted at lunchtime on St Patty's Day, and they are proud not to serve corned beef. Their tip o' the hat to the green on the daily specials was the pesto chicken, or the chicken stuffed with asparagus. The pubs were no doubt mobbed to suffocation. I didn't check.

After 4 beers, the others went on to another bar where they could get black and tans. I wimped out, knowing that we were going out for a dinner of gourmet corned beef.

When I got home there was a message from a potential employer. They wanted to talk to me about a job I had applied for. Data Services Manager. Hey, that seemed pretty exciting. But, I decided to wait until the 4 beers I had for lunch wore-off before calling back. Good judgment. (I make it a firm rule to be sober when participating in telephone job interviews.)

This morning, refreshed and bushy tailed, I called back. It was a pleasant conversation with a recruiter who sounded interested, until we identified that the job required operational data warehouse management experience in a financial service company. Now, I have had significant experience mucking around in data, specifying ETL processes and designing reports for executives - cripes I even understand multidimensional OLAP cubes. But, as we talked, the stifling truth began to emerge. I am not the right person to administer a beancounter data warehouse. Especially when they want an experienced DW pro.

Well, the day was not a total loss. I went to the New England flower show. It was a nice blast of spring on a cold winter day. I notice they had an equal amount of space set aside for commercial booths as they had for horticultural exhibits. The Parking fee $12 was a rip-off on top of the $17 admissions fee. It's cheaper to go to a Red Sox game, almost.