A few weeks ago a friend and colleague of mine was promoted. As I have known him for quite a few years now, his promotion didn't exactly come as a surprise. He has been sprinting down the fast track since I met him. A certifiable boy genius and world-class salesman, blessed the remarkable ability to memorize even the most mundane technical details despite his total lack of a technical background, combined with his even more remarkable ability to make everyone around him feel like they are the most important person in the room, he had all the tools and the talent for climbing that corporate ladder. Perhaps not surprisingly, he also had the look as he was the only person in my division voted sexier than me by our (largely female) administrative staff.

Of course, as most of my division was staffed of middle-aged scientists and overweight, over-suburban engineers in rumpled golf shirts, the title isn't exactly destined to land either of us on the covers of men's magazines or under the covers of some supermodel's bed.

Regardless, he was just recently promoted. A promotion, I might add, I read about in an international press release.

What makes this particular promotion noteworthy, is that it wasn't into some glorified middle-management position or even into a well respected vice presidential role in corporate monkeydom - roles that would have been laudable for a man twice his age. You see, he already had that feather in his corporate cap at 30.

No, at the age of 35, this person was promoted to President. He isn't a corporate monkey. He is a corporate 600 pound gorilla. And I'm not talking about president of some random company nobody has ever heard of. I'm talking about president of a mid-size, billion dollar technology company that anyone and everyone with ties to tech has heard of.

At 35.

As I am sitting here in my bedroom at 33, typing away on my "work" computer, currently with no job, no carreer, let alone career path, I can't help but think to myself, "Goddam, I so don't want that life."

But I'm still jealous as hell.

He remains the most singularly talented and successful person I know. It really was an honor to work with him.

Lord knows, as he will never read this as nobody I worked with (at least nobody that wasn't related to me, educated with me, or who was at one time or another naked with me) knows about this site (see, Dooce , I've been paying attention!), I'll also say that I'm glad he left the company.

Sure, I may have taken a hit as a shareholder, but I am finally the sexiest man in the division.