Trouble Talking

My office-mate and I got in trouble today at work. We've been talking too much or too loudly or too something, and people (plural) have complained. Nobody says we're not getting our work done, just that our talking is bothering them.

It's so frustrating. What we do is high-pressure, tedious, exacting, draining work, and talking to each other (and the laughter that comes with it) helps keep us sane. Neither one of us wants to give it up.

So we found a solution: We shut our door, with a sign hung on it that says, "Please Come In." If we have a conference call, we can hang a sign that says, "Meeting In Progress," and that should keep people out. We won't bother people out there, and they won't bother us.

But last year sometime, when I was reading a career-change-helping book, they asked a question: What qualities are you looking for in a new job/career? My first response was, "I want a job where I won't get in trouble for talking." (I may have blogged on this. It seems vaguely familiar.)

Today, on my way to work, which was later than usual (I forgot to set my alarm last night, and my dog's cough woke me up at almost time to leave for work), I kept seeing tour buses on the road. They looked beautiful. They looked like they need me in them, telling people about Southern California and the rogues and kooks who fill our history.

But I'm not quite ready for that yet. Even though I've had tour director training and done some local work, I think I'm going to need to go on an actual tour and study the tour director to see how much of the time he or she devotes to the narration and when (on the road or in town) it's done. That's the main open question I still have about it.

And then I can start actively looking.

When we got in trouble today, it made me feel like crying. But it also made me happy. My dad told me a year ago that when the Lord is ready for me to leave, He's going to make it clear. It hasn't been clear until now.

I'm so outta here. I just don't know when yet.