Things haven’t quite gone as planned

What an odd couple of weeks it’s been.

My interview went well. I felt confident and comfortable and feel as though I presented myself well. Having done my homework, truly paid off—thank you very much to two very special people that took their time to work with me.

So, my interview was on Monday. On Tuesday, I started feeling the effects of the cold that my son passed on to me. Wednesday, I really started feeling miserable and my cough intensified. I couldn’t even get out of bed to go to work on Thursday. By that evening, I was in a bad place. I was exhausted, but couldn’t sleep because every time I laid down, my breathing became labored. I decided that sleeping in a semi-upright position in the living room recliner would be the best option for sleeping. It literally took me 5 full minutes to walk from the bedroom to the living room; I assure you, my house is not that big. By the time I got to the living room, I was gasping for breath and coughing nearly to the point of passing out.

After a bit of debate, the decision was made to forego urgent care for the emergency room. Once we got there and explained the situation, they took me back immediately.

Long story short, after spending several hours in the emergency room, getting X-rays, and a CT scan, I fully expected to be sent home with a fistful of meds. That didn’t happen. They admitted me. I spent 6 days in the hospital with pneumonia and then another 2½ weeks recovering at home. I was off work for 18 days (including weekends). Needless to say, my return to work was met with over 300 email messages, an even dozen voicemail messages, a 2″ stack of invoices that needed to be paid, several documents that required edits, numerous P-card orders to be placed, and two months of variance reports that needed to be completed.

By the end of the week, I had cleared all but 70 email messages, followed up all of the voicemail messages, processed several of the invoices, completed almost all of the document edits, and placed all but three P-card orders. I didn’t even get a chance to get to the variance reports, but Tuesday is shaping up to be a very busy day as I continue catching up.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was called back for a second interview with our Chemistry Unit manager and our section manager. Essentially, I’m one of the top three candidates. They are hoping to have a decision by the end of this week.