Many of us, as children, learned that if we had nothing nice to say, we should say nothing at all. While the intention behind that aphorism was probably to discourage us from gossip and slander, an unintended consequence for many is the realization that most people really only want to hear nice things, and if you haven’t anything nice to share, you’re really best keeping to yourself. And so most of us learn to suffer silently during our painful times, which is not a terrible thing to do, but like all things can go to far.

Such is the logic behind my unusually long absence from updating this blog, and yet as I sit down to write I can think of so many positive things to share. Probably still best to start with the bad.

Just about a month ago, shortly after my return from Jakarta, I was driven to a special “meeting” with my boss that was in actuality him telling me I was fired, and left there. Although the relationship between that particular manager and myself had been deteriorating rapidly since I arrived, never in my wildest imagination would I have predicted the end to take such a form. Lessons learned:

1. A person’s perceived station in life is no accurate predictor of how petty, selfish or vindictive they may be.

2. As anyone who has dealt with addicts knows, despite your desires, intentions or qualifications; you simply cannot save a person, or a company, that does not want to be saved

There is probably something in there about teamwork and humility as well.

Whatever the case, after over a year of preparation, I was unceremoniously ejected from the company I had hoped to bring into profitability. What to do?

I was given a ticket to NYC for three days from that date, and given that my apartment was rented by my company, knew my lease would be terminated on the same date. Writing this is more painful than I can describe. I am going to stop here for now, but I promise that there are good things soon to come and even better things yet to come.