So, here is what has happened over the last 2 weeks…..

THE DAY Mercury came out of retrograde (roughly October 14), I got a call from one of my best friends and former work colleague, CR.

She had been offered a job as a Line Producer for another company and was offering me my choice of either A) working as her Production Manager or B) replacing her at her current job where she was the PM. I talked through all the pros & cons with her and opted for B. The problem was that BOTH jobs started the following day and I would have to quit my current job.

That was no problem for me since things were winding down anyway and I was looking for a new gig. Plus I HATED the place I was at, so quitting on them with zero notice didn’t bother me one bit and the few people I did like were all on my side anyway. Not to mention, I’d be making a hell of a lot more money! So I gave my notice. The only thing I asked CR was that I could make my first day at the new gig a half-day so I could hand things off to the appropriate people at my old job. In spite of the fact that I hated most people there, I didn’t want to screw over the people I DID like. I was told that wouldn’t be a problem and we made plans to meet at the new gig the next morning.

The following day everything went according to plan. I spent half the day at my new gig meeting people, getting a heap of info downloaded into my computer and my brain. Broke for lunch and then headed to the old job. I wrapped up the things I had been working on and briefed a few people on what projects were left undone and even endured one Supervising Producer’s “Oh, yeah. Before you leave can you….” requests, which were all his passive-aggressive way of telling me he was jealous I was leaving. Whatever.

Around 3:30 my cell phone rang, I noticed it was CR calling, so I picked it up.

“FUCK! My Line Producer job just fell through!”

“What?!”

“My new job, it just fell through! The network pushed the start-date back indefinitely!”

“What!?”

“The Line Producer here won’t let me leave now that I don’t have a new job, so it looks like I’m staying where I’m at.”

“Wait….are you telling me I don’t have a job tomorrow morning!?”

“I’m so sorry! Can you at least finish out the week where you’re at?”

“NO! I quit and since this show is done they’ve been wanting to get me off payroll for weeks. That’s why they had no problem with me not giving them any real notice I was leaving!”

“SHIT!”

“Yeeeeeeah. Ya think?”

So to make a long story short…..I woke up the next day unemployed and have spent the last 2 weeks hustling for a new gig and doing some fill-in work here and there. And yes, I gave a few people some serious guild trips for leaving me in the lurch. Which, I might add, all paid off! I did manage to secure a new gig starting tomorrow and with any luck a brand spanking new computer will be in my hands this Friday…..

And for the record, it is said the 2 weeks after Mercury is no longer in retrograde are still fraught with miscommunications and delayed negotiations until it hits the point in the sky where it began its retrograde motion. So this last retrograde period ended on October 15 and Mercury reached that point where it began its retrograde on Friday.

I landed my latest gig on Friday evening….

Mercury Retrogrades….they can be a bitch!