I’ll start off with a couple of Downtown food recommendations that were shared with me yesterday.
The hiring manager who I interviewed with told me she’d been to Supper Club on 2nd recently and had a great experience there. She recommended it highly. I have not had a chance to check it out yet. Sounds like an elegant place.
This second recommendation I’m gonna need some help with: A friend of mine was eating tacos from a new restaurant in the Medical District just east of Downtown. He said it was located at Jefferson and Manassas, and it was a beautiful building, “like something you’d see in L.A.” The restaurant’s specialties, he said, were craft burgers and gourmet tacos, and the food was affordable and delicious.
Unfortunately, he did not have a complete name for the place. “I think it’s like… something bistro,” he told me. Anyone got a name and/or a website link for this place? Email me at paul.ryburn@gmail.com or hit me up on social media.
Women’s World Cup action tonight: USA (1-0-0) vs. Netherlands (1-0-0), FOX, 8 PM. Oddsmakers have Team USA at -150 (a 60% favorite).
Southbound headlines the Peabody rooftop party Thursday night. From the hotel’s promotional email: “Southbound is a dynamic band that expertly blends the catchy beats of pop, the heartfelt melodies of country, and the soulful rhythms of rock & soul. Their captivating vocals create a musical experience that transcends genres, uniting audiences from all walks of life.”
The rooftop parties usually run from 6 to 10 PM, but when there is a heat advisory they tend to get started an hour later, at 7. $15 to get in, $30 for access to the VIP Lounge. If you’re in VIP this week, you get a buffet of BBQ chicken drummies, spicy meatballs, and fried pickles.
To be given away at this week’s rooftop party:
- Four tickets to the Memphis Tigers football opener vs. Bethune-Cookman September 2 at the Liberty Bowl
- Dinner for two at Capriccio Grill
Enter the drawing at the Skyway kiosk. The drawing will happen at approximately 8 PM. You must be present to win.
Pre-game for the party in the Peabody’s Corner Bar. They’ll have drink specials from 4 to 7 PM. They have a new summer cocktail called the Blackberry Bourbon Smash.
From the Memphis Beer Blog: Memphis Made Brewing Co. adds second location. Skee-ball machines!!!
The MBJ reports that Caribbean restaurant Curry N Jerk is moving a block down Monroe to the space formerly occupied by Bon Ton Cafe.
Specials at the Blind Bear this week:
- Tuscan soup – Italian sausage, potatoes, kale, cream – cup 6 / bowl 8
- Shrimp scampi – tomatoes, garlic, white wine butter sauce – 18
- Tiramisu cake – espresso cake, mascarpone filling, cocoa powder – 9
There will be a debate featuring eight Memphis mayoral candidates on WKNO at 7 PM August 15. No, make that seven. King Willie was invited but declined to participate.
The CA’s Jennifer Chandler listed her 5 picks for the best wings in Memphis. Two of those picks are Downtown:
- The GFC wings with Sichuan honey butter from Good Fortune Co.
- The Smokin’ Peach Party Wings from New Wing Order inside the Ghost River taproom on Beale
You can use AI to create a resume… and it’s free. I haven’t tried it yet.
That’s it for the “news” portion of today’s post. The rest will be about me personally. TL;DR – I got offered the job I interviewed/auditioned for yesterday.
Let me give you a little background. From age 24 to 29 I had a job that was both a blessing and a curse. I was a full-time instructor of math and computer literacy at the University of Memphis.
It was a blessing in that I connected with my students. I inspired them. I helped them grasp a subject many of them didn’t ever think they would understand.
It was also a blessing in that it was a job that worked the way I did. There was no dress code and I wore T-shirts and shorts to work. I wasn’t a morning person back then. So I went to the associate department chair and asked, “Is there any way I can not be scheduled for 8:00 classes?” My request was granted.
However, the U of M teaching gig was a curse in that I knew from the get-go that it wouldn’t be a forever job. You see, in that department (and in many major university departments) a faculty member can’t be employed for more than 5 years without being awarded this thing called “tenure.”
In my department, you had to have a Ph.D. to be considered for tenure. I only had a Master’s degree. So I knew that before the end of my twenties, I’d be looking for work. And I’d probably never find anything as fulfilling, anything as good a personality fit, as college teaching.
From 2000 to 2018 I had several corporate IT jobs, the type of job I was “supposed” to have, given my degree.
And I hated them.
They were such a stark contrast to my college teaching job in terms of fun and freedom.
“How do people do this?” I wondered in the early years of my corporate IT life. “People come here in their boring polos and their boring khakis and sit in a cubicle with low walls so everyone is looking at them and they bang away on a keyboard writing code from 8 to 5 five days a week, fifty weeks a year. And that seems to be ENOUGH for most people. They’re SATISFIED with it. HOW?????”
It wasn’t enough for me. I felt like a little piece of my beautiful free spirit died every morning that I took a seat in a cubicle.
From 2020 until 2022 I tried to make a go of it as a professional writer. But my income never reached a sustainable full-time income. By April of this year, I was rapidly running out of money. It was time to hit the job market again.
Some of my friends, while meaning well and wanting only the best for me, offered suggestions I didn’t want to hear.
“You should go back to corporate IT. After all, that’s your bread and butter.”
“Why don’t you take a job you hate for a year or two, then try to move on to something better from there?”
I wished I would go ahead and have a heart attack or stroke and get my life over with. I seriously did.
I went on ZipRecruiter and Indeed and LinkedIn and applied for a bunch of remote corporate IT jobs. But those drew from a national pool. I’d apply and then get a message, “Thank you for applying. See how you compare to the other 237 applicants for this position.” With 5 years since my last IT job – an eon in that world – I didn’t stand a chance.
Then about 2 weeks ago, I was cruising Choose901’s Memphis job board and saw two part-time jobs for a local tour company.
One position was a tour guide who’d be giving walking tours of Beale Street and bus tours of Downtown and Midtown.
The other position would be handling sales and customer service responsibilities, freeing up the events manager to focus on other aspects of growing the business.
Are you kidding me? Getting paid to meet new people, walk around, and promote the city I love? Maybe a job DID exist that would be as fulfilling as college teaching! I applied for both positions.
I auditioned for the hiring manager yesterday, giving her part of a tour of Beale Street. She said it was one of the best auditions she’d ever had. I even taught her a piece of Memphis history she didn’t know about – the Hadden Horn.
When we got back to the “office” – the tour registration stand on the patio of Alfred’s – she tried to bring up details of the jobs, especially the customer service role, that might dissuade me.
Every time I responded with, “Yeah, but that’s still way better than sitting in a cubicle from 8 to 5.” Turned out the hiring manager holds cubicles in the same low esteem I do, so that response resonated.
So it looks like I’ll be giving two tours a day, logging 15 or so hours a week at the tour registration desk, and the rest I can do from a location of my choice. “And additional duties as assigned,” I’m sure, since that’s part of nearly every job description.
“What should I wear to work?” I asked the hiring manager.
“Clothes,” she replied. “Whatever you want.”
“T-shirts? Shorts?” I asked.
“Yes to both,” she said.
So I’m gonna have a FUN job in which I get to interact with people, dress as I choose, talk about topics I love, and which has no expectation of being in a corporate office at 8 in the morning.
I’m gonna be happy.
My work life has come full circle.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy yet – I am way behind on my bills and to tell the truth, I’m terrified. I don’t have enough money to buy toilet paper, pens, or laundry detergent, all of which I’m close to running out of. But I have to have faith it will all work out. The tour job is a huge step in the right direction.
Thanks for reading. Back tomorrow.
