“No Man is Poor Who Has Friends”

Week 1 of funemployment?

Tough.  A lot of near misses. A lot of helpful emails. Tons of support from the best cast of friends I could ever hope for. A few meetings with a lot of coffee and a fair amount of beer.

Before I left for Canada and Washington, I had two interviews with local companies. Neither led to anything. The first had the funding pulled for the position. The second asked me for a writing sample, which I delivered late after a misunderstanding (“You want it when? I’m camping on an island. There’s no wifi here. Crap…”)

I also received a tentative lead for a small print project from another friend, which after talking to the client via email I started to understand why he passed on it. Still, I’m not really in a position to be picky. We’ll see what I do with it.

Thursday, I had a meeting with a great friend who works in a similar industry. We’re considering pitching some businesses together. Not quite a partnership, but a close confederation. It’s a good fit, and we’d do well when we go after a few local businesses.

Another friend has been working channels for me to join his own company. It might be a good fit, though it looks like the timeline might be a little further out. Still, nothing feels better than having friends look out for you.

Finally, by the end of the week, yet another friend set up a lunch and afternoon of interviews with a local company who I’ve written about in the past. Bonus: there are other friends from a past job there. I brought my resume and my portfolio, but never brought either out because everyone had talked me up so much!

So, we’ll see what next week brings us. The outpouring of support — texts, IMs, tweets, e-mails, and wall posts — really touched me. It reminds me what my folks always told me: “The nice guys may not finish first, but they always finish happy.”

Thanks, everyone.