Hey Em,

First things first, I got the personality test...very interesting.  I took it 
twice.  The first time I was a Mastermind (like Katy) and the second I was a 
Mentor (like Matt)  I think I only changed two answers between the first and 
second test.  Anyway, definitely a fun little intro to a rather boring Monday 
morning.

I was trying to remember where we left on in the saga of Ted Noble.  I guess 
the last time I had emailed you Ted had to spend the night at Darren's 
apartment because he'd left his keys in his locker at the Met.  Well, if 
you'll remember at the end of the email he said he'd talk to me later, which 
is extremely relevant considering he was supposed to tell me whether we could 
go get a drink that night or not.  I knew he had his presentation that day so 
I figured he'd call later that afternoon to tell me yeah or neah...I received 
no call, no email, no nothing.  Of course, always wanting to give others the 
benefit of the doubt I figured the presentation must have taken longer than 
expected and afterward he'd decided to just go to Austin and pick up his 
friend from the airport.  If that were the case, knowing Ted, I thought he 
must have just forgotten that he'd told me he'd call.  WRONG!!!!  Friday at 
work I had to go down to his floor (for legitimate reasons I swear) and he 
was there, the jerk.  He didn't see me though nor did he try communicate with 
me at all that day.  

Flash forward to the next week.  I didn't get back to the office until 
Wednesday because I was in Austin Tuesday for a recruiting trip.  When I got 
in I of course immediately checked my email...nothing.  I also didn't have 
any messages at any of the 3 phones I can be reached through.  So it's now 
Thursday afternoon, still no interaction...I am pissed.  About 2:00 p.m. he 
calls.  He asks me about San Diego and I ask him about Austin...both trips 
were great.  We discuss UCLA and UT football for  a while...I of course get 
riled up.  He informs me that he is going to be trading corn (yes, you heard 
me corn) for Enron.  While he is very excited about trading I get the 
impression he feels a little overwhelmed and he is a very concerned about how 
much trading will limit his vacation time.  He said that he and Darren had 
been meeting with consultants all week to get up to speed and therefore the 
week had pretty much just been one long string of meetings.  It is around 
this point that he brings up the vacation thing and how, to his dismay, as a 
trader you work when the markets are open and you're only off when they're 
closed.  As a result, he's decided to get in his long visit home ASAP, i.e. 
"I'm leaving tomorrow (Friday) to go to California for a week."  I make sure 
I heard him correctly and yes he said leaving, tomorrow and  1 whole week (7 
days) AND at no point did he ask to get together before he left.  So, that 
was Thursday.  I'm down on his floor again on Friday to talk to my old group 
and, to my dismay, run in to him.  We exchange pleasantries, I ask him when 
he's leaving, he informs me he is going to sleep for the entire week in an 
attempt to catch-up, I tell him to have fun and that's that.

So here we are, or rather here I am in Houston...alone.  Any thoughts?

On a brighter note, tell Katy I think I'm going to try and come Oct 4 - Oct 9 
so that I can see both of you.  Also, I understand your dilemma regarding 
Claudia, but I definitely don't think you should look a gift horse in the 
mouth (if you know what I mean).  That first month after Katy leaves is going 
to be awkward so it's best to have someone there even if only to act as a 
crutch until you find your footing.  I'm sure Monique can testify to a little 
extra weight dealing with me since you and Matt both took off.  And speaking 
of Matt, no I haven't heard a thing from the turn-coat.  I need to shoot him 
an email and see how things are shaping up for him.  I'm willing to bet 
though that moving to Austin hasn't solved all of his problems...just 
transplanted to a prettier location.

Get back to me with anything...I'm desperate for positive energy.  Oh, and 
I'm going to try to meet with that Director friend of mine this week to talk 
about swinging a rotation in London (he has 75 employees over there that work 
for him right now), and I'm going to set up a meeting with the lady in charge 
of my rotations within the analyst program to make sure I'm doing everything 
I can to get over there and still get promoted.

Talk to you soon,
Susan

******** Humor is the best medicine.********

So I'm thinking of taking that t-shirt Ted gave me and writing this on the 
back of it...

I dated Ted Noble and all I have to show for it is this lousy t-shirt.

Dont'cha love it?