Have you ever had something really crappy happen to you? I’m not talking run-of-the-mill crappy like a broken shoestring or a parking ticket, but really stop-you-in-your-tracks crappy. Last week, my wonderful daughter, Melody, had my second grandchild. This was definitely not crappy. She’s home from the hospital now (link) and doing fine. Sometimes it’s good to have some perspective on things.
I had some crappy news about my future employment, though. The Delaware City Refinery is closing – most folks are leaving this week. We’ve known this since about Nov.20th. Before Christmas, I was promised a similar position in another facility. Tuesday, I found out that I didn’t get it (don’t know why). Due to my age and my success (measured in annual salary), I am unlikely to find any other position with Valero. I am too old and too expensive. I have nothing but good wishes for the guy that did get that position – I hope that everyone there does well.
Oops, now I’m definitely unemployed – perhaps retired, I don’t know. More to come on that subject. I certainly wish that I had paid more attention when the HR folks were talking about unemployment insurance…..
I flew to Brasil on Thursday after work. I was darn tired of being cold – we hadn’t had the thermometer go past the freezing mark since before Christmas. The flight was uneventful, Budget had my Palio ready, and I drove to Volta Redonda from Rio in about 90 minutes, as usual. It’s nice to be here. I am only here for my seven-day work break. I’ll be back in Delaware on Friday the 22nd, so I can go to work (overseeing a dead and nearly unstaffed oil refinery) for another month.
I intend to have an awesome time while I’m here. Today, we went for a motorcycle ride to Penedo. It’s warm here – warm enough to ride in t-shirts. Cinesio, a who will be marrying Monica’s sister soon, just happens to own TWO motorcycles. How cool is that? We rode up BR-116 to Penedo (like Finland in Brasil), had some lunch, walked around a bit and rode home. We would have liked to have stayed longer, but the sky was getting dark (afternoon rain in the tropics) and we wanted to get home before we got wet. We caught a few drops – not enough to get wet. I really enjoyed the ride. I was riding Cinesio’s almost new Yamaha XT-660, made right here in Brasil. I was a little apprehensive about the bike (it’s a Supermoto, a category of motorcycle that I am unfamiliar with), but it turned out to be a sweet ride.
It’s only about 60 km, but it was a great ride. The highway sweeps around the hills nicely – just enough to keep things interesting. I’m in Brasil in the summer – everything’s so green compared to home.
Yes, it’s pretty warm here, too.
Greg
Leave a Reply