so, i wrote last week about being pretty productive at work despite the pending departure. that was the case agian today, in my return to the office. time-wasting to a relative minimum, which is good, and a fair amount of idea-generating and team-improving.

the boss was gone at this point, with meetings out of town or something.

so he returns at 3:30 and, BOOM, personal phone call. ten minutes wasted. then, after the ten minutes are up, BOOM, personal phone call. half-hour wasted. a valuable half-hour for me, but wasted in the boss' eyes, i'd imagine.

i've never been one comfortable talking on the phone when people are around me. no real reason, just something i prefer not to do. so it becomes pretty apparent when i'm doing something un-worky, as i retire to an unused conference room and pace around like an idiot. but it'll happen, i guess. i've got nobody left to impress here, but it's nice to put in a good-faith effort.

- - - - -

second personal phone call was a complete rarity: an actual critique of my work. i sent out some work to a triple-a broadcaster that i met during the season, more seeking to pick his brain than find employment. so i sent it out shortly before thanksgiving, and hadn't heard anything.

fired across an email this afternoon, just making sure it arrived there, and BOOM, second personal call.

the critique was far more in-depth than expected (not really, but it was more than "pretty good...say the score more," which nemo and i agree is the most frequent critique), and included a simple thing to pay attention to.

essentially, too much "story-story-story-story-story-CRACK" and not enough "story-story-story-"here's the pitch"-CRACK." Not a big deal, he said, but something worth taking note of. good criticism (good criticism, not "you suck") is tough to find, so it was rewarding.

he didn't, however, offer me a job.