mistermainevent

Wow. Almost 2 full months without an update. It's been a long time since I've allowed such a gap between entries. Guess there's a lot to talk about.

First things first, I've moved out of Asian Dave's place and into an apartment of my own. I love that dude like a brother, but anyone that knows me knows that I've always preferred to live on my own, and I tend to be more responsible and more motivated when I don't have other people around to act as distractions. I'm living in Tempe now, near Priest and Elliot, which puts me a lot closer to just about everything. This affords me the opportunity to save a lot of money on gas, and also makes the idea of going out a lot more appealing, since I don't have to contend with such a long drive home.

As part of my New Year's Resolution (much like last year), I've seriously cracked down on dieting and going to the gym. I've worked out every single day this past week, and I feel absolutely fantastic, albeit a little sore. I haven't had any soda or alcohol since the Super Bowl party I attended last weekend, and I've been eating a lot healthier. I don't know how much weight I've lost, as I'm making it a point to only step on the scale once a week, but I'm pretty optimistic about the results thus far.

There has been much ado on the work front, as well. At the end of December, they transferred me into the busiest store in the district, which was something of a mixed bag. I was pretty content with things as they were, but the new store represented a nice challenge and an opportunity to improve myself. The only problem was that the myriad of problems lying beneath the surface served only to increase my frustration with the retail environment as a whole.

Don't get me wrong - Game Crazy is still the best company I've ever worked for, and I love working in the game industry. But I've been doing retail for such a long time that I've been slowly and steadily burning myself out. I haven't really been happy with what I've been doing for a long time, but I kept telling myself that things would improve. Unfortunately, things don't just magically get better on your own. When you get to the point where you wake up every morning and hate the idea of going to work with every fiber of your being, then it's time to make a change.

So on Friday afternoon, I called my boss and let him know that I would be leaving my position at the beginning of March, and taking a job with GoDaddy.com. I've got mixed feelings about my decision. Shawn put me in my new position because he truly believed I was good enough to run his flagship store, and a large part of me feels like I'm betraying him and letting him down. But I also know that, as far as my mental and emotional well-being, continuing along the same path wasn't getting me anywhere except where I did NOT want to be.

Shawn and I are going to talk more about this on Monday, and look into getting the company to approve a personal leave of absence. This leaves a door open for me to return a couple of months down the road if it turns out that leaving the company wasn't the right decision. The fact that he's willing to work with me on that idea is a testament to the kind of character the dude has - there are plenty of other bosses that would take my decision personally and only be focused on how it affected them, but when we talked on the phone his only concern was for me and my future, and that means a lot.

So. I guess we'll see what happens. For now, I'm going to start a load of laundry and get caught up on some things around the apartment. I'll try to update more often. Promise.