Chapter 6: Now I Do, Too.

My Thursday started as most of my workdays did and I was well into my routine until just before noon when it was thrown off; my airline client called me. Their network had developed a problem; they had tried to fix it themselves but needed my expertise. It was why they kept me on retainer and they were a client I wanted to keep happy. Since the problem was between their office complex and their airport terminals, I had to go to their corporate offices where their servers were, to trouble shoot the problem.

I was in their control room having a devil of a time because the problem was coming and going, driving me nuts. Intermittent problems are the worst to have to trouble shoot. I had gone through all the software without finding a cause and was starting on hardware, though it is normally very reliable. While I was mechanically checking the connections between the servers and the stand alone components, my mind wandered, that multi-tasking thing. I found myself thinking about Kay's housing problem. It seemed to me she had looked at her situation rationally and realistically. She really was facing a problem and from her perspective it was huge. Off the top of my head I didn't have an answer to the situation but I was thinking about it. I didn't know if I would be able to help her or not but I could just let the issue percolate in my mind while I worked on all the other things I needed to do.

I had been at the airline offices for a few frustrating hours when I literally stumbled upon their interconnection problem. It was a simple and stupid problem I suspect was caused by their night time cleaning crew. One of the connectors going to the servers was damaged pretty badly but the damage wasn't visible until you got down on the floor and looked at the connector up close. I think the floor buffer must have struck the connector when the floor was cleaned last night. I called the corporate technology manager to look at the problem. I wanted him to see it was worth the expense of keeping me on retainer. Once he could see the broken connector he agreed it was most probably the problem. I kept common spare components in my SUV and had a connector with me so I was able to fix the actual problem in less than half an hour. I tested the system by doing routine maintenance checks from the control room. These are the checks I normally ran from my home office. The checks were good, the problem was resolved, and my client's computer servers were communicating with the airport terminals again. The technology manager was happy and I was able to wrap things up. By the time I got home, it was later than I normally would be ending my day but my client was happy with the service I provided and I knew I could count on them for an enthusiastic recommendation if the need ever came up.

Friday I normally only worked until about one before I knocked off for the day. My housekeeper, Sue, came in Tuesdays and Fridays doing her big weekly cleanup on Friday so I always tried to stay out of her way. She knew my routine just as well as I knew hers, as far as my house went anyway. I was getting ready to leave so she could clean the office when she called me to the kitchen. We frequently sat and talked for a few minutes so I wasn't expecting anything other than the usual conversation but she dropped a bomb on me. She was giving me her notice so she could move out of state and get closer to her grandchildren. She assured me that she liked the job and liked working for me and it wasn't anything I had done but she was leaving the area in three weeks. She said she would give me two more weeks but needed the last one to close out her life here and make final preparations to move. I couldn't argue with her wanting to be near her grandchildren as I knew she had no one in this area after her husband had died a couple of years ago, she was lonely for family. I thanked her for her work and promised her a letter of recommendation if she would like one but she declined. She reasoned her daughter was going back to work and wanted grandma to take care of the grandkids. She was moving in with her daughter to live and had a job waiting for her taking care of the little ones. I asked her if she knew of someone who could replace her but all the housekeepers she knew were fully engaged and didn't want to take on any other households.

I spent the rest of Friday thinking about my situation. I had to have a housekeeper. I was paid well for the work I did and I paid the housekeeper well because, while I could keep my house neat, I wasn't very good at cleaning and that was where she came in. Saturday and Sunday I took care of my yard work. I alternated my sailing weekends with weekends of working in the yard and around the house. It was a good arrangement and it kept my place looking nice. The whole time I worked around the yard I was thinking of what I would have to do Monday to get a new housekeeper. Sunday evening I went on the internet to a local job site and started looking there for the new housekeeper. There were a lot fewer listings than I thought there would be but I printed out all the candidates I didn't rule out. I had my list of potentials to call Monday morning.