My Birthday. Such as it is.

I have no idea how to begin this post. I guess I just did, though.

I don't mean that to sound as foreboding as it must sound. It's just that, on your birthday, you're usually supposed to have some sort of pithy comment or advice for those younger than you. I don't have anything like that right now. All I know is this: remember the movie City Slickers, with Billy Crystal? Near the beginning of the movie, Billy Crystal's character, Mitch, is addressing his son's class on career day and just starts whining and moaning, saying, "Treasure these moments, kids, 'cause you'll never have it this good again. Your 20s will be a blur. You'll spend your 30s saying, "Hey, what happened to my 20s?" I hate to say it, but so far, he's right on the money. I did spend my 30s regretting the fact that I spent my 20s working in a motel on graveyard shifts for 13 years. I regret not getting out enough. I regret not losing the weight that I need to. I also regret that I have recently been treated like persona non grata with Zappos.com.

Get this, campers: ON MY 40th BIRTHDAY, three days before I was to be interviewed by Zappos (again) for employment, I got a phone call stating that their training class was full and that I was put on the list for the 2009 class. I'm sorry, but when exactly did they realize that the class was full? Today? Just like that, all of a sudden? I doubt it. This interview had been planned for the last 6 WEEKS! I had a ton of hopes pinned on it, and just like that, they've all been dashed. I feel like I've had this carrot dangled in front of me, only to have it snatched away from me at the last moment.

Last night, my wife asked me not to get maudlin today. Too late. She also said to focus on what I do have versus what I don't. She's right. I do have a great deal. I have a loving wife. I have two adorable twin daughters. Although I have a small circle of friends, they are close ones, for the most part. My family still talks to me;), even when I get maudlin. I have a roof over my head and food on the table.

So, I didn't get this job, and how I was notified kind of stinks. Things could be a lot worse. I could have ended up a living embodiment of Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons.

Take care,
~Rob