Sunday Cardinal Couple - On Endings

If you listen to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour, you know, but if you only read the articles here (and applause from us for doing either or both!), it may have slipped past you.

I have recently left my employment and am currently enjoying what I call, "funemployment".  I define "funemployment" as the time when one is technically unemployed, as they are in the time period between their last day on one job, and the first day of the next.  It is a portmanteau, rather obviously, of "fun" and "unemployment".  The "fun" is supposed to denote that there isn't the level of stress that would typically accompany a period of unemployment because it has a known ending period, and no stress of needing to find employment.  The new employment is already set up, but because the dates didn't line up, there is a gap of time in between.  My last day at my job of basically 15+ years was Wednesday, and the first day on my next job isn't until the 19th, so I get approximately two weeks to enjoy life through funemployment a little bit.

Leaving a job of 15+ years has put me in a frame of mind to look at endings a little differently than normal.  And so it is that I mark the official end of the 2017-2018 University of Louisville athletic year.

The end of my actual employment was quiet and anticlimactic.  I walked out of the building, carrying my last box of possessions, walked to the car and drove away.  The last few days were rather dull, actually, having wrapped up everything of consequence that I had been asked to do before I left on the Friday before the weekend.  I did have a fun gathering of family, friends, co-workers - both immediately past and further past - and other colleagues in the industry, at a local adult beverage establishment, but that was technically after I had begun my funemployment.

And so it is with the Cardinals Athletic calendar for 2017-2018.  A single Louisville student-athlete,
Bailey Davis, competed in the 5000 meter run at the NCAA championships in Eugene, OR.  An honor just to qualify, Davis finished the run in 24th place.  Without wanting to minimize Davis' accomplishment in any way, compared to so much of what we experienced this year in athletics, it does feel a little bit anticlimactic.

I no longer have access to my past company work calendar, and don't yet have access to any calendaring information for my new employment.

The UofL gocards.com calendar is now empty, and because of the vagaries of webpage rendering, takes up less than the height of my computer screen for the first time since last July.  The next event on that calendar page is August 15th, Soccer, as it is almost every year.  The men will have an exhibition event at Indiana at 7 in the evening.  The first women's event is a Field Hockey vs Alumnae exhibition match on Saturday the 18th at 1pm.  (The Women's Soccer schedule shows some earlier events, but for some reason they aren't showing up on the composite schedule page...which scuffs up a bit of the elegant analogy I was building, here...ah well, the notion still fits).

I have plenty to do during my funemployment...indeed, I have enough potential activity that there is no way I will get it all done.  I've already done a little work around the house.  I've revitalized my activity in a minor hobby (mapping information in OpenStreetMap).  And I'm about to embark, almost certainly today, on a very unplanned road trip (about all I've decided on for sure at this point is "South").

The halls of Cardinal Arena, Little Yum, and other facilities will still see activity through the summer as well.  Many of the sports hold camps...indeed some have already been occurring.  Coaches will be out recruiting.  Fall practices will begin far sooner than you can imagine, and some individual work is already underway for some sports.

Cardinal Couple will continue to have an article posted every day, we'll be on the air nearly every Saturday, and we'll definitely keep enjoying the return of the Cardinal Couple quiz to the airwaves.

Everything comes to an end, and without the ending of one thing, there could be no excitement for the next.  You can ask just about anyone who has been aware of my job search and hiring process and they will verify just how excited I am to start the next chapter of my career.  A week in NYC for onboarding helps amp up the excitement level a little bit as well.  I have about a week and a half to wait for that.

I also am excited for the fall sports season to come.  Field Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball...the Big 3 of Women's Fall Sports at UofL...I can't wait to get back into Cardinal Arena, Trager, and Lynn.  I suspect the same holds for many Cardinal Couple readers and listeners.  We have about a month and a half to wait.

We have an interlude, call it what you will...funemployment, summer, vacation, whatever...enjoy it.  Relax, breath in the fresh air, and let some of the stress of always being constantly on the go fade away for a bit.  We'll be back into the thick of it all soon enough.

You can see/hear yesterday's THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR
at the link below:

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 6/9/18 REBROADCAST

(EDITOR NOTE: WE'D ALSO LIKE TO WISH JEFF'S PARENTS CHARLIE AND VIVIAN A HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY.  EAT. DRINK. BE MERRY. ENJOY! -- PAULIE)

JMcA