Interactions with God #109

During 2006, the government still had that foolish housing program going on, the one that killed the economy in 2008. Fortunately for us, it was a benefit. We bought a house in Royse City, TX for $190,000. I didn’t have a job at the time, and neither did Martha. However, because of the federal push for home loans to be given out to pretty much anybody, none of that mattered. Of course, the fact that we dropped $60,000 as a down payment didn’t hurt much either. Our goal, was to get a house, out in the middle of no-where, in which we could afford to pay the mortgage if I the only job I could get was at Wal-Mart. We went a bit higher than we should have according to that goal, but Martha really liked the house…what else could a good husband do?

We were to move into the house in June of 2006. At the time of the closing, I finally got a job at a company called PFSWeb. It was a sales job, reselling printers, computers, ink…etc. It was a low paying job, considering my experience and background, but I was not in a position to be picky. By the middle of June, we realized, financially, that the job would not work. We would soon not be able to afford the mortgage…already! 

My friend and past co-worker, Rich Covel, put me in touch with his boss at a company called Mercury Interactive. Mercury, was a software company that sold software development testing and monitoring tools. Rich started working there a few years earlier selling training services. They had a position open up for the Western US territory, from the Mississippi over to the pacific coast. I interviewed several times for the job.

As usual, I got a job offer from Mercury Interactive the last week we could afford to make the full mortgage payment. I started at the company on July 10th of 2006. The pay was even higher than I had earned prior in that same role. Martha and I were both thrilled. Finally, it looked like God would open the flood gates and bless our family.

On my first day, I flew to Chicago where I would join Rich and about 20 others for a week long training class. On that first day, we were all taken to a facility to play a game of Whirlyball.  Whirlyball was simply a basketball game played with bumper cars. Yes, it was an absolute blast. This company was going to be great!

After playing three or four games, we took a break. As everyone sat there eating dinner and watching the TV, Hewlett Packard announced their intention to buy Mercury Interactive… 

Martha cried when I called to let her know. 

This may not seem like much to most, but when you have gotten the “Hey here is the blessing! Oh, Wait, Sorry, no, not today!” experiences so many times in the past, you know the signs. This job, great as it looked, was clearly not going to last. The time of testing was still not over…