Why do they call it "waiting" if I'm always moving?

Life sometimes leads one along a path more circuitous and rangy than that planned during one's salad days: the road not taken having made all the difference.

But I'm a planner, I did everything right—got a B.S., worked hard at my career, continued my education, served in my professional organization, maintained my professional network—still I ended up on this alternative path. But it's been fun and even enlightening.

Life, of course, is a journey, not a destination.

I lost my regular job in a series of follies precipitated by a change in management and my inability to keep quiet in the face of unethical dealings, unfairness, and a toxic office situation that tore my self-esteem to shreds. I became self-employed, actually a lifelong dream, but needed first to supplement my income and also to break up the isolation of a one-person consultancy with out-of-town clients.

And, yes, I'm a former Mensa member. Which means not so much that I'm smart, but that I "outsmart" standardized tests.

A neighborhood cafe posted a help wanted sign, so I created a resume listing my experience 25 years ago waiting tables during my undergraduate years at a national park concession restaurant and then at a Holiday Inn, took a deep breath, and applied. They hired me on the spot.

Let the fun begin!