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09/18/2006: "a TRUE once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"
The term "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" is pretty over-used. In general it seems to be used for simply rare opportunities. Well, I have an opportunity in front of me that is TRULY once-in-a-lifetime. I've been asked if I'd do some plumbing work on Dr. David Suzuki's home. Yes, THE Dr. David Suzuki.
My contract ended last week, and I've spend the time in between looking for more work and working at Gerald's pretty much full-time. Their cashflow is such that they can't pay me anytime soon, but I figure future income is better than nothing, right?
In any case, Dr. Suzuki was at Gerald's this summer to do a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and decided that he wanted one of Gerald's products in his home. I did some of the preliminary work on that, but simply assumed (like everyone else) that someone out in Vancouver would do the actual installation. Well, it still hasn't been done, and Gerald asked me today if I would do it.
The only problem is, again, Gerald's cashflow. He can get me out there and back on Airmiles, and will (evventually) pay me for my time doing the installation, but otherwise I need to house, feed, and move myself around. At best case it will be a break-even proposition, but likely I'll lose something instead. I have proposed something that will make it much more equitable (doing a practice installation on my own home, with all materials and products supplied by Gerald), but it's still not exactly profitable.
At the same time, how can I NOT say "yes!"? First, I get to work on David Suzuki's house. I get to install an energy-saving product for him. Likely, I'll get to personally meet him and his family. I will also get to meet Gerald's Vancouver rep, and at the same time I'll be right in the neighbourhood of Windsong and will be able to visit. Heck, I can probably even drop in on Jannette's grandmother and say hi. Long and the short of it is, when else will I get to meet David Suzuki AND get a free pass to go see Windsong?
The only problem is that to book a flight on Airmiles, you need to wait 2 weeks. At that point I may be back on another contract. Do I stay and work? Do I take time off and embrace this opportunity? I'm seriously thinking the latter. Just imagine, being able to chat with Dr. Suzuki, nonchalantly saying, "Yes, I'm trying to refocus my career on conservational and other green technologies, but I'm not having much luck," and being able to hand him a business card? Can you even put a price on that? Talk about networking!
Yes, a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - this will NEVER happen again. Can I really say no?
