Starting week three of my “sabbatical.” I left my job of 11 years on June, 13, 2008. I’ll go into details of why later. In the process of deciding whether to leave it, or the company, I realized I’ve worked, really worked, since 1992 without any kind of a break.

Now, I had jobs prior to 1992. But they were just jobs. They weren’t jobs I really worked at. My first job at 12 for the Secretary of the Volusia County Medical Society (favour of a family friend); first waitressing job at 16 at Friendly Restaurant for the sole purpose of earning enough to replace the AC in my aging 1976 Buick Regal (I lived in Ormond Beach, Florida; AC is critical!); a job at a bookstore in college. But it wasn’t until I got my first adult restaurant job that I started what I call working which entails planning, advancing, being goal-driven, etc.

1. March, 1992: Hostess at Crackers restaurant in Church St. Station, Orlando, Florida. Realized quickly I wasn’t going to make any money until I started waiting tables.

2. Late spring/early summer, 1992: started waiting tables in Crackers. Realized just as quickly I wasn’t going to make any money until I started bartending.

3. Same time period, 1992: Church Street’s bartending school.
Now, before you scoff that this isn’t in any way challenging or has nothing to do with career goals and work ethics, you must understand something about Church Street. They were quite chauvinistic. Female bartenders were rare, and the waitresses wore the skimpiest outfits you can imagine and worked 4-6 hour shifts in high heels. One cocktail waitress outfit was fishnets, briefs, and coattails. So getting behind a decent bar in the complex was tough enough for a female, you had to be first in class. Also note I was in my Senior year of college trying to finish by the end of the year. I was determined to be perfect. And I was.

4. 1992 - 1994: Bartending at Church St. Station, sometimes at two or more clubs, plus throw in the odd waitressing shifts. Graduated college at the end of 1992. Proceeded to make up for all the partying I didn’t do in college.

5. 1994 – 1995: More bartending, this time at Church St and Sloppy Joes. Throw in an arrest for serving a minor (at Sloppy’s; bogus!), being fired, winning unemployment insurance arbitration, trial, acquittal, and finding a new job.

6. 1995 – 1996: Back at Church Street and throwing in Kelly Temps to find that “real” job as we used to call it (a real job was anything that wasn’t part of the bar/restaurant world). Then a Career Marketing Specialist (blech; resume writing for a firm designed to rip people off).
7. 1996 – 1997: Moved to Seattle and tripped into Microsoft on a permatemp contract. For Trip Planner.

8. 1997 – 1999: Permatemp to full time Microsoft via Trip Planner to Expedia.
1999 – 2008: FTE Microsoft/Expedia to Expedia. Much more on my Expedia progression later.

9. 2008 - … : Sabbatical. Much more on this to come.