Monday, May 20, 2002
BAD JUDGMENT MAN vs. THE SMART ALECK
Previously on Bad Judgment Man vs. the Smart Aleck...
Sherman Glenn, a somewhat mild-mannered technical writer in Lincoln, Nebraska, fell victim to sweeping layoffs within his company in 1997. This proved to be the first step in his transformation. He wanted to move, but if he found another job, he wouldn't. He didn't have much money, and thought he'd head to nearby Lawrence, Madison, or Fort Collins. But out of the blue, the day after his lay-off, he got this phone call from Florida: "Come write our software manual for us. Can you be here by Monday?" So he did that for a few weeks and got paid a few thousand bucks. With check in hand, he returned to Nebraska, then went to LA to visit a friend. They drove up to San Francisco on their way home. As soon as he saw the city, he said "I'm movin' here!"
This sealed his fate.
So he got home, gave notice to his landlords, sold as much shit as he could, packed the rest into a Ryder truck, and headed west with his cat (Matt). He pulled into town at sunset (gorgeous welcome to the City, he thought) and slept in the truck his first night (fearing someone would try to break in - which someone did).
The next day he discovered how truly expensive San Francisco is. He had no job, and no place to live, and enough money to last him a few weeks (but also needed to use that for deposit and rent on a place). So he took the first place he found, which was a flea-infested, rickety, moldy, extremely leaky, mouse-ridden hovel (with a large slug population) underneath a house. He had to evict the heroin addict who was living there to get it, and still paid $450 a month to live there. Then El Nino hit, so he had buckets everywhere to catch the water.
But he was happy. His transformation had begun.
He's kind of been clawing his way out of that hovel ever since. He moved into a crack-hotel in the Tenderloin where he traded the slugs for cockroaches the size of which he had only seen in zoos, could smell meth being cooked when he opened his window to get some "fresh air", and frequently had to step over bodies passed out in pools of urine to get out of his building.
Still, very happy!
During this time a friend got him a job in the shipping department at Good Vibrations (packing up dildos and lube and shipping them out to housewives across Middle America). It was fun, and he ended up becoming Inventory Manager there. Then Egreetings.com called him.
He didn't think he wanted to work for Egreetings, but they made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Suddenly, he was riding the dot-com wave and making more money than he'd ever made in his life. Almost just as suddenly, the whole dot-com thing went to crap and he got laid off.
During that time (this was his 30th year, in fact) he met his significant other, Jay, at a big rave on a self-sustaining hippie ranch up in the Sierra Nevadas. They've been together for almost three years now, and plan to tie the knot in an official ceremony next year.
They have a really awesome apartment together now (their first place together was a nightmare - turned into a crack-house with drug dealers, ho's, and their children - long story) in the the South of Market district. They have views of the hills and fog to the west, and downtown to the east. They both live about 3 blocks from work, and walk to work every day.
He's now managing a small audio publishing company. He's also a producer, and just released his first audio title. It turned out great - and he loves his job!
In these short five years, his transformation into Bad Judgment Man AND the Smart Aleck were almost unnoticable. By day, he's still the loveable writer with eyes agape... but by night, it's Bad Judgment Man!! (Or sometimes, the Smart Aleck!!!)
Stay tuned...
Sherman Glenn, a somewhat mild-mannered technical writer in Lincoln, Nebraska, fell victim to sweeping layoffs within his company in 1997. This proved to be the first step in his transformation. He wanted to move, but if he found another job, he wouldn't. He didn't have much money, and thought he'd head to nearby Lawrence, Madison, or Fort Collins. But out of the blue, the day after his lay-off, he got this phone call from Florida: "Come write our software manual for us. Can you be here by Monday?" So he did that for a few weeks and got paid a few thousand bucks. With check in hand, he returned to Nebraska, then went to LA to visit a friend. They drove up to San Francisco on their way home. As soon as he saw the city, he said "I'm movin' here!"
This sealed his fate.
So he got home, gave notice to his landlords, sold as much shit as he could, packed the rest into a Ryder truck, and headed west with his cat (Matt). He pulled into town at sunset (gorgeous welcome to the City, he thought) and slept in the truck his first night (fearing someone would try to break in - which someone did).
The next day he discovered how truly expensive San Francisco is. He had no job, and no place to live, and enough money to last him a few weeks (but also needed to use that for deposit and rent on a place). So he took the first place he found, which was a flea-infested, rickety, moldy, extremely leaky, mouse-ridden hovel (with a large slug population) underneath a house. He had to evict the heroin addict who was living there to get it, and still paid $450 a month to live there. Then El Nino hit, so he had buckets everywhere to catch the water.
But he was happy. His transformation had begun.
He's kind of been clawing his way out of that hovel ever since. He moved into a crack-hotel in the Tenderloin where he traded the slugs for cockroaches the size of which he had only seen in zoos, could smell meth being cooked when he opened his window to get some "fresh air", and frequently had to step over bodies passed out in pools of urine to get out of his building.
Still, very happy!
During this time a friend got him a job in the shipping department at Good Vibrations (packing up dildos and lube and shipping them out to housewives across Middle America). It was fun, and he ended up becoming Inventory Manager there. Then Egreetings.com called him.
He didn't think he wanted to work for Egreetings, but they made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Suddenly, he was riding the dot-com wave and making more money than he'd ever made in his life. Almost just as suddenly, the whole dot-com thing went to crap and he got laid off.
During that time (this was his 30th year, in fact) he met his significant other, Jay, at a big rave on a self-sustaining hippie ranch up in the Sierra Nevadas. They've been together for almost three years now, and plan to tie the knot in an official ceremony next year.
They have a really awesome apartment together now (their first place together was a nightmare - turned into a crack-house with drug dealers, ho's, and their children - long story) in the the South of Market district. They have views of the hills and fog to the west, and downtown to the east. They both live about 3 blocks from work, and walk to work every day.
He's now managing a small audio publishing company. He's also a producer, and just released his first audio title. It turned out great - and he loves his job!
In these short five years, his transformation into Bad Judgment Man AND the Smart Aleck were almost unnoticable. By day, he's still the loveable writer with eyes agape... but by night, it's Bad Judgment Man!! (Or sometimes, the Smart Aleck!!!)
Stay tuned...
