Finding something else is taking a bit longer than I'd like.  I know the owner of an e-cig shop nearby in the same part of the French Quarter and it seems they'd love to have me, but they just opened up and business needs to pick up before they can start hiring.  The owner there is awesome, laid back, and I know we would get along.  Furthermore, as someone who vapes, I know my way around the product and can relate to the customers.  Its not art, but I'm sure I would enjoy the work, and it would give me enough free time to work on my own projects.  (6 days a week is killing me)

Today I'm sitting here while Mr.S interviews replacements for T.  I'm not giving any of them permanent names until one gets hired; for now they are "cannon fodder/CF1" "CF2" "CF3" you get the idea.  Even then, I might just continue referring to them in here as "cannon fodder."  I'll hopefully find a new job and be out of here before I can form any opinions about their chances of staying on.

CF1 was very friendly with great people skills, both of which wouldn't be too bad to have for someone whose job is greeting people at the front door and answering phones.  However, I think Mr.S has already dismissed her as a candidate; he doesn't want anybody from Westbank as he thinks they won't get to work on time.  That's probably discrimination, but leave it to Mr.S to not even consider that.

CF2 is slightly older and less warm and bubbly, but Mr.S doesn't care for warm and bubbly, even if that's what is needed.  She listed having a degree from University of Phoenix, which doesn't impress me at all as that's an online diploma mill.  He doesn't understand online degrees though (doesn't pay attention to academics, if you remember). He probably doesn't even know that such a thing as earning a degree on the internet exists.  He wouldn't know the difference between the U. of Phoenix and Stanford.

Still waiting on CF3, but for now we have another old friend visiting Mr.S and talking about the good old days.  I'll let them do their thing and get back to this when another CF shows up.

Mr.S just fired T for a mistake that he made.  Its a long story, but basically he handed me something to mail out, I handed it to her, and she mailed it.  He forgot to include something and blamed her.  I believe this man is not fit to run this place any more and hasn't been for some time.  As soon as I find something else he is getting my 2 weeks notice.

I need to keep in mind what I have learned here.  While it is frustrating that Mr.S doesn't recognize or understand the newer aspect of things in the world, I have learned a lot from him about some of the older things.  You might not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but sometimes puppies are so rambunctious and preoccupied with everything that's new that they don't pay attention to learn the old tricks.

I need to keep in mind that its good not to be a rambunctious puppy.

Back to writing ads for newspapers... Because everyone still reads newspapers, yep, no way that could be a dying form of media.  These ads at least make a little sense until Mr.S decides he has to look at it, make changes, and ruin any semblance of correct grammar or usage of English language.  At which point I have to implement his changes and try to return a bit of linguistic cohesion, print up a new draft, run it by him, and the cycle starts over again.

I don't know if anyone in this family has power of attorney at this point, but it might be time to consider moving him to a retirement home.  I know its not my place to say, but lets face it, the man is 92; most people retire at about 60.  He could have been retired for 30 years, enjoying his life, but instead he spends his days in a decaying old gallery watching it slowly deflate.

Mr.S has said that he likes New Orleans because it reminds him of Vienna; Its a city where everyone has a good time, nobody is in a hurry, and there is good food and good music to be enjoyed.  I'd say that lots of things about this man reflects his homeland.  His gallery, for example, reflects the path of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; once great but nobody can really remember when, and since then has been constantly fading into obscurity as those ruling become handicapped by their own mental decline, eccentricity, and unwillingness to accept the changing world around them.

There has been some talk of clearing out the other building next door (which never seems to get shown anyway) and renting it out as a storefront to another business.  I wonder if that would be the equivalent of Hungary splitting away, though I suppose its not quite the same, as they'd still be paying to Mr.S and he'd still technically own the building. Anyway, aside from being incorrect that's also probably taking that comparison a bit too far. If that happens, though, it will be interesting to see how whoever rents out the area next door will react to their landlord.  Then again, dealing with that business might be taken care of by Kiddo, who has more experience with real-estate, and would probably be more agreeable for the tenants to deal with.

Whatever, better get back to writing this stupid ad so I don't get screamed at like yesterday.

Wow, busy day.  After the crises I mentioned earlier, the film folks who called last week stopped by.  Mr.S seems dead-set against the idea of them filming here, but I managed to get the guys aside for a short time to show them around some of the other parts of the gallery such as the 3rd/4th floors and even next door, and talk to them and see if we could work out some way of handling things that would be agreeable to Mr.S.  They really want to film here, and we discussed some ways in which it might be possible to film without taking down the paintings (something Mr.S is adamantly against).  We decided it would be best to tread carefully, keep them in contact with Kiddo, and possibly film up on the 3rd/4th floor to avoid equipment getting in the way for Mr.S.  If this is going to work Kiddo is going to need to do some convincing with Mr.S, but I think we might be able to work things out... if he will listen.

...Big "IF" on that last bit.  As I was finishing up he called me on my cell and was chewing me out for being away from my desk for so long.  I'm trying to help out this gallery, get it noticed, bring in Hollywood money that might be interested in what the gallery has to offer, not to mention publicity from a nationally syndicated tv show... and he is hollering at me for it!  Instead he wants me to write up letters to more newspapers advertising an exhibition that isn't going to happen; letters that I've already mentioned to Kiddo and she has told me not to send in.  AUGH!!!

Note to self-
If I get to his age, and if I can still remember making this note to myself; listen to others.  Even if you don't want total change be open to some compromise.

Just talked to Kiddo.  Minor freakout avoided and she has helped me to put things in perspective.  Kiddo is awesome.

Calming down now; will go to lunch soon, might have a smoke and coffee as well.  Usually I just puff on my e-cig and only smoke real cigarettes when I'm drinking with friends, but after last week and today I think I might need the real thing.

Part of the freakout was about a letter that Mr.S wanted sent to a local newspaper, asking for an advertisement for an exhibition next month of paintings of ballerinas.  The problem though is that we only have one such painting, and while it is a beautiful piece by a wonderful late 19th century German artist, its not enough to make an exhibition, and there is no way that we could magically have a ton more paintings like it magically appear in the next month.

Finally, after trying to explain this to the man, without success, I simply wrote up the letter for him to approve, then never sent it, told him I did, and took the whole issue over to Kiddo, as well as discussing other issues that came up over the weekend while she was gone.  I hate to write about things that point out the man's senility, but the fact of the matter is that at this age at least some senility is going to be a matter of fact.

Anyway, time for lunch.

It's another week, starting week 5.  Having had my day off to think about it I feel a bit bad about some of the things I wrote at the end of last week.  It's easy to get caught up in your own thoughts, and sometimes when you do those thoughts don't always get entirely thought through, instead boiling over with whatever you are feeling right then and there.

Despite what I said last week, this isn't a 1-person nursing home but a gallery, and a good one at that, with a collection the likes of which cannot be found elsewhere.  We just need to attract new customers, and it seems that at Mr.S's age he's a bit set in his ways and it makes changing with the times distinctly difficult.  However, I shouldn't get as worked up as I was.

As always, I'm not going to take the post down, as I feel that doing so would only be an act to save face and if I'm going to write about the shortcomings of another I shouldn't be hiding my own.  I get impatient at times, and I'll admit that I get offended, perhaps a bit too easily.  I'm very good at hiding this, but after a while it wears me down.  I found that venting here on the blog usually helps, and is preferable to snapping at the old man, especially as age has not taken away his ability to snap back.

Edit: 2 hours into the day and I take it back.  I cannot stand this man.  Would someone please strangle him for me.  (No, not really, but he is driving me nuts.)