3 days

I feel like those end-of-season ads that try to get you to do something you'd rather not do - spend money. I don't want to leave. I'll miss my wife, my sister, my parents, my step-children, my in-laws, my grand children and my dogs. I'll miss the quiet of the small town I was born in, and lived the majority of my life in.

I won't miss the polluted air, horrible summer humidity and insanely high gas prices. But, for the most part, I will miss home. I've become accustomed to working from home on projects of my choosing - going to bed late (or not at all) and sometimes waking up late (or not at all). The rigours of a 9-5 existence and the prospect of numbing rush hour traffic are things I dread. But it's got to happen. Eventually, I have to have meaningful employment.

After I accepted the job, they sent me the "standard" employment contract. I don't know what zombies usually sign this document, but it seemed clear that virtually all the perks promised during the verbal negotiation were subject to withdrawal by the terms of the written agreement (which, of course, supercedes all prior verbal commitments). So, I politely wrote back that the employment agreement was unacceptable. I included suggested revisions. As of now, the revisions have not been incorporated into the agreement. I may be unemployed and dealing from a relative position of weakness. But, if I sign the agreement in its current form, I might soon be unemployed again and no longer the legal owner of those copyrighted materials I have previously created.

So, I'll stand firm. If the company in Toronto truly is not after my prior creations, they should have no problem compromising on the wording of the employment agreement. And if they don't want to compromise now, I really don't have any reason to believe they'll be any more cooperative later.

I've made arrangements to rent a car for the next month (instead of committing to buying or leasing a second car). That should give me enough time to decide whether I'm secure in my new job. And, my sister has agreed to put me up for the first month. So, I don't have to commit to a one-year apartment lease right away.