light at the end

Well...I'm not there yet, but I've recently landed a mind-blowing freelance gig. Biggest I've ever had. And it all came about while going to the washroom. Bit of a weird "by chance" story behind this. I had just finished my duties of best man at my friend, Dave Noel's wedding in Toronto. It was supposed to be a 4 day thing.....we'd be driving back to the Island on Sunday. Just so happens that my Mom was in town taking care of my grandfather for a week. She suggested if I wanted to stay an extra week to work, she's fly me back when she flew back. Any opportunity where I'm actually in the city i'm looking for work in, is more than welcome. So i did. That week I phoned every firm in the graphic design section of the yellow pages. I may have had 3 "maybe...but not really" responses. I'll tell ya...it ain't only hard to get stuff here. Also there's a bit more elitism at the bigger firms in Toronto. So while I was there, i was using my friend's office as a base to get email and such. Tall Poppy, owned by Laura Weatherbie is located in an amazing location on Spadina. The building that they're in houses a large number of up and coming marketing firms. I've seen similar buildings in Vancouver and Halifax....where it's a prime location for small firms starting up, and rent isn't a zillion dollars a month. So after a session at Tall Poppy I was on my way out and had to use the facilities. Just so happens that construction was going on so I had to use the one of the 4th floor. I was told this by a person who was also going to the facilities. This sounds like a weird scenario...but it just so happens that this persons marketing company has just hired me for what is (to date) my highest paying freelance gig. It also strengthens my perception that I must get off this Island. In the 10 years I've been here in Charlottetown, I haven't even come a fraction close to this gratitude for my skills. The simple thought that anyone here would pay my hourly rate is insanity at best. I've wanted for sometime to make the leap from here. Most of my friends have and in the past 5 years, I've seen how dismal and backward this place has become. On a larger scale you can see this in the Atlantic Technology Centre. It has recently been reported that this white elephant has been bleeding money. Why? Because the people that run that monstrosity haven't a clue about anything tech oriented. It boggles my mind how many of my friends who are scraping by aren't called upon to help improve things here. This Island will continue moving into the "It's a lovely Victorian life here" attitude. Patronage and cluelessness run rampant on the Island. Sorry for the bit of the rant. But It infuriates me that I've dedicated this much time of my life hoping and working towards things improving financially and socially for me here, and my biggest financial freelance gig comes from meeting someone going to use the can. Long story short I'll be relocating as soon as possible. Even if things turned out ugly from this job, i'll be relocating. There is no future here.