Conan O’Brien said this on his final show last Friday night:

“Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism.  For the record, it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.  But, if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, it’s just true.”

Conan hits the nail square on the head here.  Furthermore, instead of attacking NBC (after being royally screwed by them), he took the high road and thanked them.  Very classy move, IMO.

My big announcement was that I had accepted a job in Santa Monica.  I was set to start on Monday, February 15th.  I accepted a position to work for my cousin’s IT company.  My cousin’s company is contracted by another company to handle some of their IT staffing.  The plan was for me to replace another guy who had just given his notice and was moving out of the area.

Unfortunately, yesterday I got a very apologetic call from my cousin saying that the funding for my position is probably going to be put on hold for a few months.  This is also a blow for him as the client in question is his best customer.  There is a meeting later today to further discuss the situation.  I don’t blame my cousin for any of this.  In this economy, there are many uncertainties in every workplace.  Everyone is trying to save a buck wherever and whenever they can.

In actuality, I have no announcement other than that I almost was moving to California.  I still may move there, but not as quickly as originally anticipated.

This has been an emotional roller coaster for me.  I went from having to prepare myself to leave Boston within three weeks, right back to where I was about a week ago.  The realization of leaving my home of 30+ years was definitely an exhausting proposition.  Today will be the fifth consecutive day that I have plans to meet up with someone (or people) to say my goodbyes.  I started this process Thursday night.  Saturday night, I met up with a group of friends and leaving them was very tough.  I began to tear up just as I walked away from the bar.  At that moment, the reality of leaving Massachusetts finally hit me.

A good thing about this scenario is that it has given me a glimpse of what it actually feels like to be leaving Boston.  I’ve also been able to tell some of the people that mean a lot to me how much I will miss them.  Another positive is that this experience has sparked ideas for some new blog entries.  With a hat tip to Erin McCarley, I had my story to tell.

I am grateful for all the offers to help and all of the sage advice I have received.  It has also been very humbling to hear all of the kind words and encouragement from many of you over the past week.  Sometimes, news of a cross-country move will elicit feelings that are often left unsaid.

Oh yeah, as for my hint:

It was triply good and here’s why:

1) Schwarzenegger is the Governor of the State of California.

2) Before he was Governor, Ahhhnold was a big Hollywood actor.

3) In his most famous line he says, “I’ll be back.”

I have been thinking about moving to California for the past seven months.  Moving back to Massachusetts at some point has always been part of that equation.

Where does all this leave me now?

I am going to take Conan’s advice and not be cynical.  I am going to remain hopeful that things will eventually work out.

Stay tuned….