re: What's the biggest mistake you almost made ?

I almost took a job with a competitor and would have had a nice job in their Austin, TX HQ. After they made a formal offer we went there to look at homes, schools, etc. I ended up turning the job down and the company I worked for bought the other company a few months later and shut down the Austin HQ and let all their people go.

Worked as an in-house consultant for an O&G company for 3 years.

They finally made me a offer and it was tempting due to a pretty significant pay increase, but I was leary of the company's future in the area.

They ended up selling 9 months later and let 70% of their employees go.

Trying to get to family and friends during the early parts of the flood of '16 and had a sinking feeling we just weren't going to get out there. Got off the interstate at Millerville. Me and the wife and an 18-month-old.

To this day I still think about what a shite show that would have been, getting stuck on the interstate or somewhere out in LP with nothing but a pissed-off, hungry baby.

not going to rehab

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I almost took a job with a competitor and would have had a nice job in their Austin, TX HQ. After they made a formal offer we went there to look at homes, schools, etc. I ended up turning the job down and the company I worked for bought the other company a few months later and shut down the Austin HQ and let all their people go.

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Similar story:

I work for a small family-owned consulting firm. 8 years ago, I was a little pissed off at my job: hadn't had a raise in a few years, there was some friction and issues between me and the owners/bosses (at one point it was about the topsider shoes I wore), and I was just antsy maybe ready for a change. Found out about a job with the local office of a large international consulting firm we had teamed with in the past that I thought was a great group. Talked with a guy there, he told me he was going to retire in a couple of years and said I'd be a perfect replacement for him. I would have his office in a skyscraper overlooking the Superdome.

Formally applied for the job; they didn't interview anyone else and offered me the job at a great raise in pay. I actually accepted and was going to finish up at my workplace for the next three weeks.

I gave my notice, and the owners at my firm were not happy-- but they weren't mad, they were more sad. Within a day, they threw a whole package of stuff at me to get me to stay: big raise, vice-presidency, profit sharing, car allowance, bigger bonuses, etc. More importantly, they apologized for any thing they might have done wrong or the way they might have treated me, and I kinda realized that as a family business whose principals fussed and argued about stuff, they were just treating me the same, almost like a member of the family.

I backed out of the other offer and stayed on. The firm I almost went to bought out/merged with another firm just a year later, and brought over a lot of folks with the same skill set as me but with a few more years experience, which very likely might have pushed me out. The executive at the other firm that had signed me up was let go a few years later. And the guy whose office I was going to get, the guy who I was going to "replace in a couple of years" is STILL THERE.

8 years later, I'm pretty happy here, and still wearing my topsiders pretty often.

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Misnomer

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this and squirrels story about jazz dancing yesterday should be a sobering reminder, women kill on a whim

At least you know. You tried.