Jonathan

I've had a little trouble during this past week. Last weekend while I was cleaning out our basement, I came across a burned cd "slideshow" of one of Elliot's pre-school classes. Seeing the cd reminded me of Elliot at pre-school, his pre-school graduation, etc. For some reason that stopped me in my tracks and made me extremely sentimental about my two little boys...like I want to take a 15-year break from work and spend every minute that I possibly can with these two kids.

I had the unique experience this week of two different strangers telling me what I look like. First, as I walked down the aisle in the grocery store, a lady who obviously needed some information asked me if I worked there. I said, "Nope." She said, "Well, you look like you do." Then, at the post office I asked to buy a book of stamps. The clerk said, "You look like a flag kind of guy. Is that the kind you want?" I said, "Sure, that's fine." Yep, that's me, your flag-stamp-loving Kroger-employee wannabe.

Yesterday I received my first real promotion since joining Dow Chemical in Corporate R&D in 1999. There were several mini-promotions in the first few years on the "development curve", but those are automatic as long as you're still breathing and still with the company. This was the first real promotion. It was a pleasant surprise though not completely unanticipated (since it was about time considering how long I've been with the company). The relatively flat organizational structure means that realistically I can only expect at most one more promotion during my career (since I'm not a high-flyer, rapidly climbing the corporate ladder...to mix metaphors). And maybe not even that. Obviously, promotions are not what I'll be working for/towards.

Here are side-by-side photos of my dad from 23 years ago and me from last week. I added a little blur and noise to my photo. He was 9 years older than I am now. He sees a strong resemblance.