Day 231: Kids make more money than me

Tried to sleep in, because what do I need to get up early for? Still took a surprising amount of effort. Moved to the sofa around 7 am. Fell asleep, woke up at 7:25. Then at 7:45. Then 8:15. Finally managed to fall into a deep sleep and next woke up at 10:30. Geez. How could sleeping in be so much damn work??

Before lunchtime I'd already applied for or contacted 4-5 jobs/recruiters. Felt pretty discouraged after that. Having to do this all over again, starting over, nothing in sight. Bring on the bad mood.

One recruiter did manage to set up an interview for me tomorrow. It's far lower pay than I want, but it'd only be a 6-week contract, so I can live with a short-term low-paying job. I just don't want to get stuck in a long-term contract with sucky pay. I may not have a choice on that anymore, however. Also, the president of the agency who tried to get me the now-dead contract called with another update; the manager at the client still hopes to get me hired on, and so the agency is hoping to hear something on that by tomorrow. Here we go again.

I'm putting a stranglehold on my spending now, and other than bills, I'd managed not to spend any money for the past 4 days. That ended this afternoon when I went to check my mail. My neighbor's kids had set up a lemonade stand, and they roped me in as their first customer. So I spent ... a whole quarter. Still, spending 25 cents over 5 days is pretty good. If only utilities and mortgages didn't require money.

Ate Spaghettios for lunch. Spent the afternoon editing Six Man, Texas footage. Took a short break to run my tiller over a spot in my front yard where the St. Augustine isn't growing. Afterwards I was hoping to buy a few pieces of sod to place on the tilled area, but I went to two Home Depots and a Lowe's, and none had any in stock. So it was back home to continue editing video, watch a little TV, eat a sandwich for dinner, and then meet Tom at The Paramount Theater to watch Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry. (This didn't add to my 25 cents over 5 days total because I had a leftover ticket from last year, and I skipped the popcorn, so it didn't cost me a thing).

Day 230: Unmemorial Day

I didn't expect I'd be getting any pay on today's holiday ... but I thought I would be the rest of the coming work week. But what I thought a month ago is very different from what I think now. This is probably the first time I didn't look forward to a 3-day weekend. All it meant to me this time was one less day I can look for a job, one more day in which nothing can move forward, one more day of sitting in my house trying not to go crazy.

Tried to sleep in today, but I got up around 6 am because I heard Meeka hocking up a hairball. After that I moved to the sofa and slept till 10:30. I tidied up the house a little because Alan and Tom were coming over for a Six Man, Texas meeting. We ended up spending a few hours watching new footage and discussing how to move things forward toward our rough cut deadline in less than 2 weeks.

No one seemed motivated to do anything for Memorial Day, and I didn't feel like hosting if only 2-3 people were up for something, so I spent the rest of the day watering the yard, reviewing more Six Man footage, and balancing my credit card statements and bank statements with my Quicken data. I no longer have the luxury of slacking off on that; I need to track my balances very carefully now.

What a lame holiday it was.

Day 229: Wasted on sudoku

Pretty much a waste of a day. Sure, I did some more job hunting and sent out some more applications, but with a long weekend coming up, clearly nothing's gonna happen for at least 4 days. And no word from the marcom company I might freelance for either. Just what I need. A long weekend trying not to spend money, stuck at home, unable to move the job hunt forward. Great. Just. Great. Went to the post office to mail some bills, then offset that by depositing my tax refund. Course, a month ago, I was under the impression I'd also be depositing a salary check by now. But, no.

I was hoping Trish and Brian would need some Spiceburst help this weekend, just to have an excuse to leave my house without having to spend any money. But I hadn't said anything, preferring to leave it up to fate. Sure enough, midafternoon, Brian called asking if I could help out tomorrow. So, I'll be able to escape my house for at least a short while tomorrow ... and get a free meal to boot. Plus a little socializing. Every little bit helps now.

Did a little organizing around the house, but wasn't motivated to do much else but surf and watch TV. And I wasted a couple hours trying to solve the one USA Today online sudoku puzzle I failed to finish this week. In times like this, you gotta take any small, insignificant victories where you can get them, right? But I kept trying and trying, but somehow I couldn't get it, even though I'd solved an allegedly more difficult one before that. So, I couldn't even eke out a victory on something like a stupid puzzle.

Watered the yard in the evening; I seem to be about to lose some of the plants I put down just a couple months ago. They were fine when I watered earlier this week; now they may be past the point of no return. I hate it when plants wither and die so quickly you can't even save them. They'd been doing well, too. Or so I thought. Dammit.

Somehow, I just wasn't hungry come dinnertime (lunch was yesterday's leftover frozen pizza). Finally fixed myself a peanut butter sandwich shortly before bedtime just so I'd have eaten something.

Day 228: Hopelessly stuck at home

Not much to report today. Spent a chunk of the day viewing Six Man, Texas raw footage and clipping out scenes. Did the usual chatting etc. stuff on the computer. Had Cheetos for lunch. Yes, just Cheetos. (I at least baked a pizza and drank various V-8 juices for dinner, okay?). Watched the HBO miniseries Elizabeth I in the evening (the show was disappointingly tedious). Skipped both GNO and J.M.'s band's performance at Shoal Creek Saloon because I didn't want to spend any money, plus I figured I'd be bad company anyway. It seems to have been a good day for Phoebe and Meeka, though, as what was most noteworthy about their water consumption is how little I noticed it. Both seemed to drink perfectly normal amounts.

No word back from the marcom agency on the freelance job (I sent them my paperwork yesterday ... unless my fax didn't go through). On the other hand, the president of the agency that tried to get me the contract that died called me. She said the department manager and HR person at the client really wanted to try to bring me on board still, but they have to convince this new VP who just took over after a reorg and has been making decisions without getting input from the troops first. She's hoping to hear by the end of the week if anything can happen. I told her I have to keep my options open and can't wait for that. So, I suppose I still just might get this contract. But I'm neither holding my breath nor waiting around. I can't. I need an office job NOW to get me out of this house before I drive everyone I care about away from me. Assuming I haven't already.

Day 227: It's Over. Starting Over.

The light at the end of the tunnel was actually a train. Early this afternoon, my recruiter called (after I'd called her a couple hours earlier) with the final news. No, not that the last signature had been signed. But rather, the client had decided to go another way. Instead of hiring two contract writers, they'll only hire one, and as a permanent employee instead. And it isn't me. My recruiter knows they have more than one person's worth of work, and she's sure they'll find this out the hard way in a month and want to hire more help. But I've heard this story before. This puppy is dead in the road.

I'd spent the morning reviewing Six Man, Texas footage and chatting on IM as usual. Ate lunch at home. Phoebe seemed to be drinking more water than usual, at least during the early afternoon. That didn't help my state of mind. She's not even supposed to be diabetic.

The one potential bright spot is that things appear to be moving forward with the marcom company I'd interviewed with about a month ago. This is freelance work, though, which means it doesn't get me out of the house for 9-10 hours a day. Getting a salary is the most crucial thing right now, and it should help in that arena, but a close second is getting an office job. Something so I'm not sitting at home all day. And unfortunately, this freelance job won't cover the latter requirement. That of course assumes it even comes through. And I know now that even if I've signed paperwork, that don't mean jack shit.

In the evening I went grocery shopping, since I obviously need to re-slash my budget and won't be eating out much again. And I broke the Cheetos ban I instituted more than a year ago because I JUST DON'T FUCKING CARE ANYMORE. Even got a double Wendy's burger on my way home for that very same reason.

Tried to focus on more Six Man work in the evening but couldn't. On the other hand, Phoebe's water consumption for the entire day no longer seemed abnormally high at all. It was just for a couple of hours. Which is the kind of thing I'd be blissfully unaware of if I HAD A GODDAMNED OFFICE JOB.

While watching TV, I thought I heard a faint tap from the direction of my computer speakers. Then later, there was a louder noise and, I thought, a flash of light on the wall behind me. When I turned around, I saw a big ol' tree roach on the wall. I smashed the roach easily, but that wasn't the problem. What was that noise and flash? My first instinct was something with the electrical outlet that the computer is plugged into. But I didn't smell anything amiss. Hell, the computer hadn't even woken up out of sleep mode, which you'd think some sort of power surge woulda done. Thing is, the flash coulda been from the TV. And with no electrical or burning smell, what else could it have been? Plus my surge protector claims the circuit is fine. So my best guess is that the roach was inside the shade of the floor lamp, the tapping sound was him moving around or flying and landing in there, and the flash and louder sound was him hitting the shade hard as he flew out and landed on the wall. (The lamp shade was a bit crooked, but I have no clue if it was like that before). I mean, what are the odds that a roach just happened to be on the wall when I looked over to find the source of a mysterious sound? Isn't the roach being the cause of it all much more likely than the roach just happening to be there when some electrical thing on that wall went amiss? And that said electrical thing left no trace of anything wrong?

It all still unnerved me further. I felt sick to my stomach. I decided maybe I should just bite the bullet and puke. I leaned over the tub and tried to will myself to vomit, but after a couple of dry heaves, that was all. Still felt a little better afterwards, though.

I scooped the litter box; the amount hasn't gone up, at least, but it's still a bit more than it was a couple weeks ago. The litter box output reached a new low then, but has since climbed back up a bit. Still well below March's average, though. So, it's not bad news. But it's not as good as I'd like it to be either.

I'm unplugging everything from that outlet before I go to bed, just in case.

I don't think I've said this in 11 years or more, but I have to say it now: Life sucks.

Day 226: Back to Square One

No word from my recruiter. Not a peep. The client's HR people were supposed to call her in the morning. But nothing's trickled down to me yet.

It figures.

I've lost more than 3 weeks of potential salary, not to mention job searching time, because in a fit of optimism I stopped looking; I made the crazy assumption that "you should start tomorrow" didn't mean "you might start in a month ... or never."

Spent the day on the computer and moving furniture in my spare bedrooms back into place, plus reorganizing both of those spare rooms. Lunch consisted of Spaghettios and cereal. Separately, not mixed together. Applied for several jobs; would've applied for more, but some were already closed. I lost my shot. Grrr. Plus, one of the jobs I applied for is at IBM, so you know that'll go nowhere anyway. Also, Trish finally stopped by to pick up the rocket sauce I made last week. Some potential good news is that the freelance opportunity I have may be moving forward. So that would at least mean a salary ... but it wouldn't get me out of the house, which is something I need almost as badly right now.

I thought the end was in sight. Freelancing will help on the financial front -- that is, if the freelancing gig happens -- but I'll still be stuck here at home. This fucking blog just won't fucking end. Fuck.

Day 225: The Unemployeds, Round 2

Got up knowing that nothing was gonna happen regarding my alleged job today. I guess in some way, it was freeing. Although I was still in a pretty weary, cynical mood most of the day. Spent part of the day chatting etc. on the computer, plus updating the name index on the main Home Dipu site and finalizing the latest major update. Also finally started to move all the boxes and other stuff that have been scattered around my house back into place. I'd moved them off the damp areas of carpet a couple weeks ago, so it's looked like I'm packing to move for the past few weeks. But I finally vacuumed and shampooed all that carpet over the weekend, so now I could move things back. Didn't quite finish, but at least the house looks a lot less disorganized.

Took a break in the afternoon to get a haircut. Was back home only a few minutes before I left to meet The Self/Unemployeds, Barbara and Lisa, for happy hour at A La Carrera. I wasn't hungry enough for dinner at the time, but I had two surprisingly good and cheap margaritas, plus part of Lisa's. Only as I was leaving did it start hitting me, so I swung by Jason's Deli on the way home to pick up a quick dinner. Would've preferred to save the money on dinner at home, but I needed food ASAP, and the options of a Lean Pocket or Spaghettios at home didn't really tempt me.

Back home, called Trish to remind her that she'd forgotten to pick up the latest batch of rocket sauce; ended up chatting awhile getting her view on the perils of contracting (something I've never done before ... and still haven't, thanks to this never-starting "job"). Then, it was back to putting my house back in order, playing with two surprisingly energized cats, and watching the last part of the San Antonio Spurs' loss on TV.

Day 224: The blog that never ends

Got up around 9. Finally got around to vacuuming the carpet that had gotten damp a couple weeks ago. Still wanna run my carpet shampooer over those areas too, but I didn't feel like it after vacuuming. I need to finish that soon, though, so I can put everything back in place; my house has looked like I'm packing to move these past couple of weeks.

Got back to work on editing Six Man, Texas video. Took a mid-afternoon break to make a deposit at my credit union, something I've been doing all too rarely lately. Then, back to editing video. For pretty much the rest of the day and evening.

Phoebe's lost a little weight over the past few weeks. Can't tell for sure if she's drinking more or if I'm being paranoid. Well, the latter is a given. Doesn't mean she isn't drinking more too, though. Meeka, conversely, seems to be doing fine, so it doesn't make sense why Phoebe would be worse, since Meeka is the full-blown diabetic. Hopefully Phoebe's just slimming down because of the diebetic food. Can't imagine why her blood sugar would be higher than it was before the diet change, when it was only slightly high. Still, I can't help but find her weight loss slightly disconcerting.

My recruiter called to tell me that the person at the client that needs to make the final signature had been called out of town on an emergency. Their HR person will call my recruiter back. ON TUESDAY. So yes, another weekend still on the verge of a job without even having one. When I complained about life being on hold a couple weeks ago, I didn't realize it could go even more on hold, where even my job hunt would go into a deep freeze. It's hard to be tensed on the starting line for weeks on end without hearing the starter's pistol. I don't feel dizzy much anymore, but I am losing my temper more often. I'm a joy to be around right now.

Day 223: Stringing me along

My alarm clock got me up at 7 am. I decided, screw this, and went back to sleep till about 9 am. Once I was up, I finally set about making rocket sauce again after yesterday's aborted attempt. I made a quick grocery run for one last ingredient, then stopped at Chick-Fil-A for hash browns and a free breakfast sandwich. Back home I realized I'd been wearing my shirt inside out. Oh well. Not like there was anyone to impress at HEB in the middle of the morning.

Was halfway through the rocket sauce when Andrew asked if I could meet him at Costco; he was getting new tires and needed a ride back to work. Complications at Costco ensued that negated his need for a ride, but since I was already there, we went to Fresh Choice for lunch. Despite not being overly hungry, I still managed to wolf down a week's worth of vegetables as usual.

Back home, I finished making and bottling the rocket sauce. Talked to my recruiter; the client hadn't contacted her yet. All they need is for the client's HR people to get one damn signature. This final signature has taken more than a day already. Which means yes, another weekend without being able to say for sure I have a salary, so my spending limits continue for another damn weekend. As a result, I skipped this evening's Guys' Night Out once again. I did allow myself to pick up a sandwich at the Bear Rock Cafe at the edge of my neighborhood, but that was still far cheaper than GNO would've been. I spent the evening editing video for Six Man, Texas.

So, my job situation still hasn't improved, but I'm less stressed about it and everything else. Consequently, today I had the fewest dizzy spells -- practically none, actually -- since this whole lightheaded/headache thing started last week. And no headaches or pressure at all. And I haven't even taken any medicine for it yet. That should prove it's all been stress-related.

Day 222: Onion puree all over

Got up at 7 am to make rocket sauce. Got all the ingredients ready and chopped the first batch of onions in the blender. The top was leaking, so I removed it to fix the seal. And in the process of moving the blender to clean up beneath it, I accidentally hit a button ... and I ended up wearing the pureed onion mix. As did my kitchen. I don't know how far the stream of obscenities carried out my open windows. So I spent the next half an hour cleaning up all the mess, then took a fully clothed shower to wash the onion mix off my clothes. Then started a load of laundry as a result. By now, given the possibility that I was starting work in under 4 hours, there was no point trying to rush through, so I postponed the rocket sauce yet again.

Needless to say, I was thrilled to start my day like this.

I got on the computer for awhile. My recruiter called to tell me one of the signatures needed was done, now it was just up to the client to get two more. She'd let me know around noon if I was starting at 1 pm. Less than an hour's notice?? Niiice.

So, I met Tom, Barbara, Kristi, and Trish at Alborz for lunch. I dressed in nice clothes just in case I had to go to work from there. Around 12:15 pm, my recruiter called with not unexpected news -- the client hadn't gotten the remaining signatures done in time, so I wouldn't start before tomorrow afternoon ... or the day after that. The lightheadedness and pressure in my head had been abating a lot this week, but I felt a little dizzy for a couple minutes after that phone call. At least I didn't have to rush through lunch with my friends.

On my way home from lunch, I stopped by HEB to replace the onions I'd worn in the morning. Spent the afternoon watching TV and editing Six Man, Texas video. Also stopped by my recruiter's office to re-sign some paperwork (one of the results of the past 3 weeks is that the pay rate has dipped slightly, so I had to sign a new contract. Still a good salary, though ... if I ever get a chance to earn it, that is). Spent the rest of the day on Six Man, Texas, watching TV, and catching up on the phone with my ol' college buddy Chuck.

Hopefully tomorrow morning I can make rocket sauce without further blender mishaps. Stupid user error.

Day 221: Maybe THIS time...

Woke up around 7 am to a surprisingly cool morning. Thought about getting up early and getting a lot done, but instead, on the off chance I'm working soon, I figured what the hell, sleep in. I moved to the sofa and went back to sleep with both cats curled up on me. Got up around 9:30. The good thing is, since yesterday evening, the pressure I felt on my temples has disappeared. Still have occasional lightheadedness, but with the headache pressure gone, I'm not worried about it because I found out yesterday that my blood pressure is still normal. Shows how much sickness can be, ahem, in your head.

Spent the morning on the computer, playing sudoku, doing the crossword, surfing, and chatting. Accomplishing nothing, basically. But with another beautiful day on tap and every window in my house open, it didn't really matter. The cool breeze was soothing. My recruiter called in the early afternoon and said okay, the paperwork is done. Well, almost. The last papers still need to be signed in the morning. But assuming that happens, I should be able to start tomorrow afternoon and attend orientation. So, if that happens -- IF -- this will actually be my last full day of unemployment. Tomorrow's entry would be a half-day. So potentially, tomorrow is the 2nd-to-last entry in this blog (I'll have a final concluding entry after my last day, whenever that is).

I decided to spend this afternoon on a fairly non-taxing task, adding new photos to Home Dipu (the April albums here). Also poured more Arm & Hammer underneath some of the carpet that had been damp; thanks to Virginia for that suggestion, which really seems to be taking the slight but lingering stale carpet smell away (I'd first tried that over the weekend). Bob also paid a surprise visit late in the afternoon on his way to a pest-control job in my neighborhood.

As far as the cats go, their water consumption has seemed perfectly normal for more than a week now. But their urine output has gone up some over the same period (though nowhere near where it was in March). Makes perfect sense. Not. I guess they feel they have to keep me on my toes; can't take too much good news without something to offset it slightly. In a couple of weeks, I'll take Meeka back to get her blood sugar tested again; presumably at that point I'll know whether daily insulin shots are in her near future.

I was gonna make rocket sauce today but just didn't feel like it; it was too nice a day to work. Spent the rest of the day on the computer and watching TV instead. Will I have to put on long pants and a decent shirt tomorrow? We'll see. The way this job has gone, I'm not assuming anything until the last of the paperwork is signed. Which is still isn't. But maybe, just maybe, the next entry will be written after I've earned a few hours' worth of a salary. Maybe. Who knows.

Day 220: Windy City

Decided to let myself sleep in today, yet I still got up before 9:30. I guess that's good. Still feeling lightheaded on occasion, plus some slight tension or pressure on my temples, but nothing as bad or as often as last week. Still, I figured I should probably go to the doctor just in case.

Spent the morning chatting on IM, then met Barbara, Trish, and Tom at Taco Deli. We ran into Brian and a coworker finishing up an early lunch. It was a beautiful, cool day, but the wind was too much (we sat outside). When I went inside to get more water, I found the last part of my third taco on the sidewalk. The wind had blown my basket off the table and just missed splashing Trish and her white blouse with a red greasy sauce. And yes, while I did pick up and eat the rest of the taco despite its having fallen on the sidewalk, at least I didn't bother with the pieces that had also fallen out of the taco. I'm unemployed, but my desperation still has some limits. Trish had a couple more wind-blown scares with the bowl of queso that Tom was finishing (having picked the downwind seat, she was most at risk from flying food). We all went to Ben & Jerry's afterwards.

After lunch I half-napped on the sofa while watching, yes, the 2-hour L&O block on TNT. It was nice with all the windows open; it really was a beautiful afternoon. Then it was off to the post office and a doctor's appointment. I was relieved to find that my blood pressure was, in fact, still perfectly normal. My doctor wrote a prescription for some anti-vertigo medication and said all my symptoms were likely stress-related (though the lightheadedness might also be an inner ear thing, just not an infection). Granted, the whole appointment was less than 5 minutes, but I felt reassured that it was nothing serious.

In the evening, went to HEB to get produce for another round of rocket sauce.

And no, there was no word from my recruiter. Clearly, I'm not starting tomorrow. I'm giving this whole thing one more day.

Day 219: Dizzy from the stress

Woke up early and opened all the windows again, hoping to drive the last of the stale carpet odor out of the house. At least, NOW I should have dried all the carpet and padding. Spent pretty much the entire day editing Six Man, Texas footage. Except for taking a 2-hour break to watch Law & Order reruns, of course. I keep hoping each day is the last one I'll be able to catch the afternoon L&O block on a regular basis, but no. My recruiter told me that the client is going through a reorg today, so they have to redo some of the signatures. Likely won't start before Tuesday. So, here comes another weekend of limited spending. Great. I turned down lunch with Andrew because I figured I'd be bad company. The recruiter assured me this job will happen. We'll see.

I've been having boughts of dizziness/light-headedness for the past few days. Since my stress level ramped up, basically. Today seems a bit worse. Course, by the time I started wondering if I should call the doctor, it was afternoon, and I couldn't imagine I'd have gotten an appointment before next week anyway, so I didn't bother. I'll see how the weekend goes.

Phoebe was acting a little odd, and then she made a gawdawful meow. Took me a second to recognize it for what it was -- a vomit warning siren. Sure enough, seconds later, out came the biggest hairball I've seen her vomit in years. Which was actually a relief, since this is perfectly normal. Last thing I need is to add Phoebe to my overtaxed worry list. I gave her some hairball medication. She puked again a couple hours later, but her stomach was clearly still settling from the hairball. And she perked up after that.

Trish stopped by in the late afternoon to drop off some rocket sauce supplies. She didn't smell anything amiss in the house, so that's good. I guess I dried the carpet in time. Trish also recruited me to demo Spiceburst products at a Central Market tomorrow. Her usual, more extroverted demoers (like Tom) won't be available, so she has to settle for an extroverted introvert. Will be interesting to see how that goes. Course, that's a weekend, so whatever happens won't show up on this blog. But It'll probably go okay.

J.M.'s band was playing at Jovita's in the evening; I was gonna skip because of my mood, but chatting with Trish even for a short while seemed to alleviate my stress levels, so I realized being anti-social wasn't helping me one bit. I decided to get out of the house for my own sanity. So after editing a little more video, I headed down south for dinner and a show. Hung out with J.M., Tamara, Tom, Virginia, and some people I hadn't seen in years like Mike and Mary. It definitely helped lessen my dizzy spells, though they didn't go away entirely. But still an improvement. Came home in the late evening feeling less stressed. Not great, mind you. But better.

Oh, and the tab for the table got paid at some point in the evening, so I owe someone somewhere a dinner and a couple of drinks...

Day 218: Still on hold

A beautiful day, cool morning, wonderful weather. Ran some errands early and picked up a free sausage biscuit from Chick-Fil-A for breakfast (part of their monthlong free breakfast item on Thursdays promotional). I did buy some hash browns to go with the free food, but still, not a bad breakfast for under a buck. Back home I sat down to some Six Man, Texas editing. Also threw open all the windows for a great cross-breeze. All the carpet seems to be dry, but I kept the fans going just in case.

In the afternoon, I realized that today marks two weeks since I was told I should be starting this contract job any day now. Each day it gets pushed out once again. And since I hadn't heard anything yet, it was clear to me that I wouldn't be starting tomorrow either. And I realized that meant that I'd be going another weekend without the knowledge that I'm getting a salary real soon. Which means no loosening of the pursestrings until next week. Which means I should start clamping back down again until I know for sure. Sigh. At least I was able to put the rest of the carpet and padding back in place. And very little of that carpet smell seemed to linger.

I alternated between editing and watching TV for the rest of the day. I skipped GNO at Trudy's to save money. Probably was for the best, as in the evening, I discovered I actually hadn't gotten all the damp carpet yet. There was still one corner of the back bedroom I'd forgotten about. Of course, furniture and boxes were in the way, which was why I hadn't checked completely. So I had to move all that and prop up the carpet and padding from that corner and set the fans going again. The bad thing is, this area was wet for several days longer than the rest. Hope it'll be okay. Guess I'll know by morning.

I guess tomorrow I'll need to decide how much longer I can wait on this job I allegedly have.

Day 217: Postponed again

Got up before 8:30 am in a better mood than yesterday. Not sure why. I guess I feel a bit more reassured about the water seepage issue. I moved the floor fan around to the last remaining small damp area of carpet and used cans of corn to prop up the carpet. Also opened up all the windows for circulation, even though it was a hot, muggy morning.

Spent the rest of the morning chatting on IM, then met Trish and Tom for a long lunch at Culver's. Back at home, between the meal and yesterday's stress, I just felt tired, so I settled onto the sofa for the 2-hour block of Law & Order reruns on TNT. Didn't even bother doing anything on the computer, just watched and half-napped. My recruiter called with the expected news, that they were still dealing with paperwork with the client. Won't be finished till tomorrow at least. This blog is becoming neverending. Sigh.

A cold front finally moved through and gave us a pleasant, non-humid evening. Great for opening all the windows again. Spent a quiet evening watching TV and putting the carpet back in place.

Day 216: Waiting turns to frustration

Up at 9 am. Running two fans overnight seems to have dried the carpet and padding in one spare bedroom nicely. Kept it going anyway. Emailed Brian to ask him about the tile problem ... or if there even was a problem. Spent the morning blogging, surfing, and IMing. Opened up the windows to get more circulation going, even thought it's a muggy morning. Hopefully it at least sweeps that faint "underside of the carpet" smell out.

The afternoon dragged on with no word my recruiter. I guess I'm not starting tomorrow either. Frustration started getting the better of me again. Lost my temper a couple of times. I feel like I shouldn't talk to any of my friends right now. Everyone's probably sick to death of my bad moods by now. I hate that Blogacharya has become Whineacharya. I just feel like I keep getting bonked in the head. Not too hard, just enough to keep me off balance.

On the one hand, it's good that I'm not starting my job right now because I've been able to take care of the carpet more easily. On the other hand, afternoons like this, sitting and waiting and wondering when the hell I can finally move out of this seemingly endless holding pattern ... it's driving me nuts. I feel stuck. Trapped. I don't even have to start that job this week. Just knowing WHEN I'll start is enough. To know that I actually WILL start.

Late in the afternoon I called my dad to get his advice on the tile. He wasn't worried about that, just making sure I dried the carpet, which I was already well on my way to finishing. So for once, talking to him made me worry less. Still, while earlier I had considered getting people together for a movie or dinner, by the time evening rolled around I decided I was in too bad a mood to go out. I suppose a bad mood was an even stronger reason to go out, but oh well.

Thank God the cats were drinking water like normal. Probably couldn't have handled worrying about them on top of everything else. Spent pretty much the whole evening watching TV while the fans did their things in the other rooms. Storms threatened from the west but petered out before they got to Austin. Whew. I like rain (but not storms), but not this much, this fast.

Day 215: Damp & waiting

Got up early to vacuum the house in preparation for a Six Man meeting at my house this evening. Also shampooed the main traffic areas. I knew I wouldn't hear from my recruiter about the contracting job so early in the morning, but I was still anxious to hear something. At least the cats' water consumption has returned to normal.

Had lunch at Tan Tan with Tom, Kristi, Trish, and Brian. Yes, Brian made it to lunch with us! (Okay, we forget to invite him half the time because he's so rarely able to join us). All five of us ordered the exact same dish, the #40 with pork (that's a vermicelli noodle bowl with eggrolls in the mix). As usual, Tom took Kristi's and Trish's leftover noodles, something even a Leftovers King like me would never do (someone else's noodles?? Bleah!). He even took what little I had left, since I'd made mine spicy. Trish didn't have to buy my and Kristi's lunches for once ... but she and Brian did have to buy Tom's. Ah, the fun of recruiting your friends and family to help with your side business.

Afterwards I went to Target for the first time in what felt like forever, as I've been in a cost-cutting mode for awhile now. It felt good to be walking into a store again with the promise of a salary around the corner. But I still ended up with a boring haul: toothpaste, mouthwash, mosquito repellent, and dishwashing detergent. Oooh. Didn't even buy any action figures.

Back home I did some more Six Man, Texas editing. Then in the course of cleaning up the house further for the evening's meeting, I discovered that the carpet along one wall of the house was slightly damp. Which may explain why the carpet at the entrance of the bathroom on that side of the house is damp. Which could explain where the liquid I found on the bathroom tile yesterday came from (it didn't look or smell like cat pee). Oh, fuck. You mean water may have seeped into the house during the deluges last week?! Okay, fine, I can lift up the carpet to dry it, but what about the tile?!?

By 5 pm I still hadn't heard from my recruiter, so I called her. Got voice mail. So I made a quick trip to HEB to get some snacks for the movie meeting (others were bringing the main courses). Then my recruiter called back and said the client still had to sign some paperwork, but she was hoping that would all be finished tomorrow. Sigh. Clearly, I have at least one more entry coming in this blog.

Alan and Alex arrived just before 7, followed by Laura and finally Tom. We ate the jambalaya Alan made for the team, then watched Through the Fire, a sports documentary that we're hoping will help us focus Six Man, Texas. At the end of the night (which had seen Alan, Alex, and Tom glued to The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and even the first half of Mind of Mencia before they headed out), I started dragging stuff away from the wall in one spare bedroom so I could pull up and prop up the carpet and padding. I set that room's ceiling fan going, along with a floor fan, and tried barracading the door as best I could, so hopefully the cats won't wander in and step on the carpet nails at the edges. I would've tried simply closing the door, but that room needs circulation right now. So instead I piled boxes up high enough that hopefully the cats can't jump over them, while still leaving ample room for airflow.

I went to bed still not knowing what to do about the bathroom ... how do you lift up and dry a tile floor??

Day 214: THIS time the end is near..?

The cats' overnight water consumption was more than usual but not too bad, so I tried to convince myself that it was okay despite Meeka's weight loss. I got up at 9 am and killed time chatting on IM, playing sudoku online, and surfing while waiting for noon. Why noon? That's when I was supposed to call one of my former managers about the position in his group. Still, overall I'm feeling a bit better than yesterday.

Finally noon arrived, and I made the call. Confirmed that many things were still very much up in the air. The position still isn't approved for outside hires yet, officially. Plus, there'll be the obstacles of rehiring a laid-off employee. He said he'd still keep me in mind for this and future openings in his group, and that it would strengthen my position to actually have another job first anyway. So, given how iffy that possibility would be, that makes my decision easy. So, I'm accepting the contract job.

Meeka seemed to be drinking a bit more in the afternoon. I started to worry too much again. I need to get out of the house, badly. But as the afternoon progressed and I watched TV on the sofa with the cats, neither drank too much water, so I started to feel better.

In the evening, I met up with Anita, Deb, and Kristin at the Brentwood Tavern for dinner. Wasn't a late night, but it got me out of the house for a couple hours, so that was good.

Day 213: Anxiety ... attack!!

Got up at 7 am to go to my car dealer yet again. The replacement stereo they installed a couple weeks ago stopped playing CDs. They determined pretty quickly that it was faulty and needed to be replaced, so they again put in an order for a new stereo and sent me on my way. I stopped at Chick-Fil-A for breakfast on my way home (and got a free breakfast sandwich because of some Thursday promotional they're doing this month), and was back home and blogging by 9:30 am.

As morning turned to afternoon, I became slightly anxious. While both cats' water consumption had returned to normal yesterday, now Meeka's seems to be ticking upward slightly. On the other hand, their urine output has remained consistently low. Am I reading too much into the water stuff? At least her weight has stabilized. Except, it hasn't. After not weighing her for a few weeks because it had seemed to stabilize, I got on the scale with her and found she's slimmed down even more. Despite the fact that overall, everything else seemed to be improving. ARRRGH. This was VERY disappointing to discover. I thought she was getting better. Now I don't know.

Plus, there's still no word on the contract I supposedly had. And then Andrew told me that the position I was hoping to interview for at my old job is already moving foward with interviews. I hadn't expected them to move that fast. Plus Andrew had thought my contract job was a done deal (as had I at one point), so I was no longer being considered for this. So do I not only not have my contract job, but have I also lost my slim chance to return to my old job??

Meanwhile, I served as one sounding board for Trish to test her Spiceburst website redesign on. And then Andrew talked to his manager, given that as far as I could tell, I was still available, so his manager asked me to call him tomorrow for a chat. Doesn't feel like an interview, though.

So of course, after I set up this phone call, I finally hear from my recruiter. The client has accepted the contract, but at a slightly lower rate than we'd originally agreed. Still a good salary, though, so no complaints there. But they want an answer ASAP. I wanna talk to my old manager first. I managed to put off giving my answer until tomorrow. Suddenly, the pressure is on again. Which way do I go??

Storms started brewing out west yet again. By evening I was miserable. I watched The Final Cut (a small independent film starring Robin Williams) and The Rock (standard Michael Bay flick) in HD from my DVR to try to escape my worries. I'd been off the computer for a few hours, so I didn't get the email that guys' night was indeed happening at Trudy's till it was about time to go. But with the impending storm, I decided to hunker down and stay in. Got a lot of heavy rain and some tiny hail, but nothing like central Austin ... where GNO was ... got. Power outages, downed trees and limbs in the streets, hurricane-force gusts ... glad I stayed in!

Day 212: Another interview on a 1-meal day

Woke up early to get ready for my interview for a part-time freelance copywriter position. Gave myself plenty of time for once. The interview went pretty well, not surprisingly. The biggest problem is going to be whether my schedule will allow me to freelance with them as well as work a full-time contract job. But since the client for the latter still hasn't signed the paperwork, I can't count that as a given yet. Still, they want to work with me, and it seems I'd be able to do full-time freelance work if I had no other options. It'd be kinda exciting because it would be so different for me; but at this point, I think I need an office job to get me out of the house on weekdays. Working from home holds no appeal for me right now, especially after the last couple of months. Barbara had passed this contact on to me a couple months ago; they're still looking for more freelancers, so once I was home, I passed the contact back to her (as well as to Lisa).

Wasn't home for long before I met Barbara, Tom, and Trish at Alborz for lunch. Because of my interview, I was the best-dressed person at our table for once. Afterwards, I of course headed to Lowe's, but there was nothing to buy.

Back home, with the impending food coma from the Alborz buffet, I tried to do some work on the computer but ended up relaxing on the couch and watching Trainspotting from my DVR.

Was contacted by yet another of the recruiters I've been working with about a potential position. I told her I was waiting to hear about this position I'd accepted.

In the evening, did some easy yardwork and watched an unusual amount of TV for a Wednesday, thanks to a "bonus" episode of House that Fox put on. Still full from lunch, I didn't even bother eating dinner; just had some iced tea and some V-8.

Day 211: Wings & waiting

Spent the morning on the computer, hoping to hear my cell phone ring. Still no word on the job, though.

Met Trish and Kristi for lunch at Plucker's. Kristi had some coupons, but it was also 40-cent wing day, and they had so many restrictions on how you could order that it got very confusing. Trish introduced me to their fried macaroni and cheese appetizer. Reeeeally good. And, I'm sure, terrible for you. It was so loud in the restaurant that I could barely hear our waitress. But that didn't stop us from overdosing on fried stuff. And I took my leftover wings and Trish's leftover chips home.

Back home, I confirmed my interview with the marcom company for tomorrow.

Phoebe seemed to be drinking a little more water than usual, which didn't make sense. Naturally I started paying too much attention to that. I need a job to get me out of the house!

Back home, more TV/IM/computer stuff, waiting, waiting, waiting. No word. Spent the evening on the couch watching my usual Tuesday TV fare: House, Boston Legal, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report.

Day 210: Waiting game

What a nice weekend it was. Amazing how having a job around the corner picks things up.

Spent the morning doing the usual IM/computer/TV stuff. Really, I was trying to distract myself while waiting for word on my contract position. But by late afternoon, I had to call my recruiter, and I found out that there was no word on that yet; in fact, the client hadn't even signed the paperwork yet. I'd thought it was a done deal. That was a little disappointing to hear.

In the late afternoon, tried writing my film bio for the Six Man, Texas press material. Was difficult given my lack of experience. May have to get Tom's help on this. Then I headed downtown for a Six Man, Texas meeting. That went pretty late, so on the way home I picked up dinner to go from Chili's. I know, I should still be limiting my budget, but hell, I should be starting a job in a couple days, right?

Day 209: The end (of this blog) is near...?

Got up early to plant what I'd bought yesterday and finish mulching my front yard in a light drizzle. Shortly after that, my TV was delivered, and I got to write out a $300-plus check (already paid for part of it when he took the TV). I took the opportunity of moving the TV back into place and rehooking everything up to fix and redo some of the wiring in my home theater system.

Found out that the prospects at my old job were still very much up in the air, so I headed to Recruiter A's office to sign some paperwork for the long-term contract job I interviewed for two days ago. Recruiter A said the client wanted to move fast and that I could potentially start next week. This could be my last full week of unemployment! So then, despite my better judgment, I started thinking about what on-hold plans I could soon moving forward on with a salary. Even started making a list. Counting my chickens before they hatch, I know. It's just so damn tempting!

Informed the marcom agency that I was accepting a full-time contract. They still want to meet with me about part-time freelance work, though. So instead of canceling my interview with them next week, I kept it. What the hell, right?

To stop the flood of emails and phone calls from recruiters, I decided to remove or disable my resume on all the online sites like Monster that I was on. I know some of my friends keep their resume up even when they have jobs, but I don't feel like dealing with it if I don't have to. Hopefully I'm not being premature in doing this. Trying to be optimistic, I guess.

Stayed home in the evening and watched TV on my nice big screen. Aaahhh. I had a backlog of HD movies on my DVR, so I watched Robots. It was eh. But it sure looked nice!

Day 208: Bad news, good news?

Got up early to go to Home Depot for a couple more plants and some mulch; picked up a McDonald's breakfast on the way.

The insurance adjuster came by before lunch to see if my roof had any hail damage from last week's storms. He spent more than an hour up there, then informed me that only the front half of the roof had damage, and that with my nearly $1200 wind/hail deductible, they'd cut me a check for less than $400 to fix it. Great. Nice. Just what I wanted to hear, I need to spend $1200 and can't even replace my whole roof for that. I was hoping that if there was damage, I could at least get a new roof out of it. Also didn't realize the wind/hail deductible was different from -- i.e. more than -- the regular one.

Needless to say, my mood tanked after that. I didn't even feel like eating lunch.

Then Recruiter A (see Day 207) called to say the company I interviewed with yesterday wanted to hire me. You'd think I'd be more excited, but I'd just gotten the roof news, so I was still in a pissy mood. Plus, I still didn't know whether I had a decent chance of returning to my old job. I didn't want to pass up a chance to return to IBM, but I couldn't pass up a job offer for an iffy prospect either, could I? I didn't want to have to make a decision like this under pressure.

On top of that, the marcom agency that got ahold of me yesterday still wants to interview me, even though I told them I now have another offer on the table. This opportunity sounds kinda exciting, in part because it would be different for me. But Recruiter A is making it sound like her job will start ASAP and is pressuring for an answer now. Yet I want a chance to see if the marcom agency would be better for me. Or if my old job will take me back. Why does it always happen like this for people, whether it's job hunting or dating or what have you?? A dry spell for months, and now I'm juggling three potential opportunities, and one is pressuring me to accept before I have a chance to evaluate the other two!

So, I set up an interview with the marcom agency for next week. And I applied for an IBM contract position with yet another recruiter -- Recruiter C. Sent off my resume to yet another prospect. However, I started turning down other recruiters with job prospects. Also heard back from Recruiter B, who called yesterday; turned out their client is looking for really low pay, so they're trying to work that number up. It was disappointing to find that that wasn't going to be a real prospect for me, but oh well.

I wasn't sure whether to celebrate the job prospects or wallow in the roof news, so I decided another round of fried chicken was in order, so I picked up a 2-piece meal from KFC for a very late lunch.

Spent a couple hours finishing up some edits for Six Man, Texas, and sent off the new timelines to the main editor.

Topped off the day with a traditional Trudy's GNO in the evening and had a couple of drinks with Omid, Marc, and Tom.

Day 207: Flood of jobs!

Spent the morning on the computer chatting on IM. Then, out came my iron for the first time all year. First time in so long I can't remember the last time I used it. And slacks?? When was the last time I wore those ... December? So over the lunch hour, I got all dressed up. Well, a nice long-sleeved shirt and slacks, anyway. Last time I wore an actual suit to an interview was in 2000, and it seemed overdressed even then.

The interview itself wasn't one of my best. I usually interview well; as hard as it may be to believe, I feel I tend to be confident, engaging, well-spoken, and smooth during an interview. But I was a little distracted by the prospect of returning to my old job, so I wasn't as mentally prepared for this interview. Still, it went okay.

Picked up a late Chick-Fil-A lunch on my way home. The recruiter -- let's call her Recruiter A -- called to tell me that the client was impressed with me. Guess I'm still good even when I'm not at my best. Then, it was down to some overdue Six Man, Texas editing. The job parade wasn't over for the day, though. Another recruiter -- Recruiter B -- that I'd been working with called about yet another potential position, and her agency wanted my resume as one of the ones they ran by this potential client. I said sure; the more options I have the better, right?

But wait, that's not all! After that phone call, I got an email from a marcom company I'd given up on. It's more copywriting than tech writing, but that's okay by me. I thought my plain-text portfolio list had turned them off after I hadn't heard back from them for a month. But now, they wanna meet with me too!

Flush with the sudden turnaround in the job hunt, plus the news that my TV was fixed and would be delivered back to my house in 2 days, I treated myself to some Boston Market takeout for dinner (may be the last time I ever go there; see Home Dipu Reviews for a brief post about that soon).

Day 206: Another job prospect...!

One of the many recruiters I've been in contact with called ... not just about a potential job, but an actual interview. Out of nowhere, I suddenly have an interview scheduled for tomorrow. Which reminds me, I never heard anything about the last interview I had a couple weeks ago. Guess that went nowhere. The pay rate was lower than I'd wanted anyway, so I didn't try very hard to follow up on that. I don't really know anything about this newest position, other than the office is located on the same street NI was on back when I started my tech writing career.

Besides the usual TV/computer stuff, I spent some time making a bunch of updates to this blog. Exciting. For dinner, given the interview prospect and IBM opening, I decided it was time for my bimonthly (that's every other month, not twice a month) Popeye's treat. And it's been nearly 3 months since my last trip there to celebrate the Steelers' Super Bowl victory. I've been doing pretty good on this Popeye's moratorium!

Day 205: A chance to return?

Still waiting for word on the status of my TV repair. Spent most of the day on the computer surfing and chatting, or watching my old smaller TV. Learned about an opening under one of my former managers in one of my old groups ... but also learned that it's hard to rehire laid-off employees even if you're labeled as rehireable, as I was. Could help explain why HR never passed my resume on the last time the Tivoli group had an opening. I applied for this new job anyway. But unlike last time, I don't feel like I have a good shot at this. In fact, I'll be surprised if I hear anything. Being passed over last time helped start a downward trend in my mood and attitude.

Other than that, a pretty unproductive day.

Day 204: The Unemployeds

Woke up early and hit both Lowe's and Home Depot for a couple more plants and some mulch. Spent a couple hours planting and putting down fresh mulch. Front yard actually looks pretty decent now.

A lazy afternoon led to the unemployed/self-employed deciding to start drinking early. So Barbara stopped by to borrow my carpet shampooer (not a euphamism), and we carpooled down south to Lisa's house. After a couple of hours just lounging around (and only a small amount of alcohol consumption ... sadly, I guess we're all getting older), Anita joined us, and we all headed to the Texican Cafe for one more round of drinks and dinner.

Day 203: Hail, hail, the gang's all here

Okay, the TV repair is the last straw. I've been reducing my budget in small ways, like ordering fewer drinks when I go out and not initiating any social plans like dinners or movies, and with a few exceptions, cutting way back on how often I pick up drive-thru. But now, it's time to cut farther. So, I spent some time in Excel planning where and how much to cut. I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this. Sigh.

A storm blew threw midafternoon and dropped a bunch of hail on the house and yard, some as big as golf-ball sized. Maybe at least I'll get a new roof out of this. Got some good rain, too; I think it was about 3 inches just this afternoon. Bad thing is, getting all that rain at once doesn't help the drought situation; it doesn't get to soak into the ground. At least this storm wasn't electrical, so the thunder didn't make me too nervous.

I waited for the skies to clear, then headed downtown to Gingerman for Ward's birthday happy hour. We had a brief crossover with some of the GNO crowd, then caught up with them again later afterwards.

Day 202: Sick TV, sick cat flashback

Up again by 7:30 am. That makes 7 days in a row I've gotten up before 8:30, most of which were without the help of an alarm. I updated this blog while Time Warner employees came by to ground my cable line (an important oversight that the Time Warner contractor who installed my digital phone last week noticed).

Tom's neighbor, the TV repair guy, came by with what I presume were day laborers to take my TV to his shop. After a quick look at its guts, he estimated the repair at around $400. Pretty much what I was expecting. Big TVs cost more to fix, which is why I'd gotten the extended warranty. Just my luck that ran out at the beginning of the year. So, they loaded my TV into his truck and took it away.

From the middle of the night to mid-morning, Meeka was drinking like she did when her diabetes was presumably at her worst. This after more than a week of normal drinking and steadily dropping urine output. What the fuck happened all of a sudden?! Didn't make it easy for me to relax today, as I kept having flashbacks to those first couple of weeks after the diabetes diagnosis.

Made another new job contact and tried touching base with some others, but still, no real progress on the job front. With the unexpected TV expense, Meeka drinking a lot of water again, plus still no word about my job interview almost 2 weeks ago, I feel like I'm stuck in a zone where I'm just waiting for things to happen. And I hate this feeling.

Day 201: Hot, oppressive weather

Woke up early completely on my own, no alarm or anything. I'm just not sleeping late anymore. Despite being unplugged all night, by TV still wasn't working. I guess I have to bite the bullet on that. Sigh.

Met Trish and Kristi at Pars Deli for lunch. Trish paid for all three of us because of our Spiceburst help. We were also expecting Tom, but he got stuck in a meeting. Kristi had a delivery of packaged Spiceburst products to hand off, but Trish had a meeting right after lunch and couldn't risk leaving it all in her car in triple-digit heat (yes, it's another 100-degree APRIL day!!). However, I still had one of her spare keys on my keychain, so Unemployed Guy took the delivery instead and dropped them off inside the cool safety of Trish and Brian's house while Trish went back to work.

Since I was in the area, I of course went to Dragon's Lair after that. Then I was off on yet another plant run, hitting a Lowe's, a Home Depot, Red Barn Nursery, then back to Home Depot once I figured out what to buy. I was parched because of the heat, even though I spent most of my time in the car, so I stopped at Sonic and got a giant cherry limeade. Aaaaaaah. Finally finished up my afternoon run at Best Buy, where I tried in vain to get my extended warranty on my TV extended. I figured it was pointless, but I had to try.

Back home, I cooled off and watched TV until 5:30, when I went back out to plant everything I'd bought earlier. Fortunately, by now it was actually overcast, so the heat was slightly less oppressive. Slightly. There was thunder in the distance too.

Finally, I made an appointment with a TV repair guy (one of Tom's neighbors, actually) because he was cheaper than Best Buy. Finished with my yardwork, I showered and hit the sofa to watch, on my small TV (sniff!), the News 8 Austin coverage of the approaching storms. Thunder kept rumbling; Phoebe curled up beside me, while Meeka hid somewhere.

Fortunately, the storm never got bad in my area ... and my new plants had gotten water! After the rain passed, Meeka was still very nervous for awhile and crept around the house keeping low to the ground; after that, she stuck close to me for the rest of the evening.

Day 200: Death and taxes

Yes, I could've done this days or even weeks ago. But, of course, I waited till the last minute to do my taxes, even though I was fairly sure I'd get at least a small refund. Though I wasn't entirely sure because I thought my unemployment benefits might throw it off. So, I woke up, gathered all my documents (which I had at least kept in one easy-to-find place), and set to work. Didn't really take all that long.

I also discovered sudoku. Bob and Trish have talked up this numbers puzzle game up for months, but I never tried it until today. I occasionally do the USA Today crossword puzzle online (I ain't smart enough to finish the New York Times crossword), and they also have their sudoku game online. So I blew a couple hours learning the rules and trying out several of their puzzles. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.

In the late afternoon, I felt that my tax return was ready, and I decided to use snail mail because I didn't feel like paying the e-file fee (and TurboTax had no refund on that this year for some reason). So, I turned off the TV (on which I had been watching Law & Order reruns, of course) and headed to the post office. It was an incredibly miserable hot and humid afternoon. My car's thermometer hit 103. In APRIL!?!??!

When I returned, maybe 20 minutes later, I turned the TV back on. Its power light blinked, and that was that. My big-screen TV was dead. So that led to a couple hours of troubleshooting, trying everything I could find on the internet. Even unplugging it for 4 hours failed to reset the TV. So I moved my old small TV into the big-screen's place. The extended warranty was, of course, expired, so I was on the hook for the repair cost. Just what an unemployed person wants to hear. There goes a chunk of that tax refund I'd just mailed off. Figures.

Day 199: Digital phone ... plus, The Johns, live!

Digital phone, take two. Another Time Warner contractor came by to switch me over to their digital phone service. I'd already arranged to switch security system companies after the phone install, so there was nothing to stop the phone switch this time. The install went smoothly, although he noticed that my cable line wasn't grounded. He said if it were his job and he had failed to ground a cable line, Time Warner would rake him over the coals. And yet, the direct Time Warner employees who installed my cable way back when got away with that oversight. Made even less sense given that they had to fix part of the line following last year's lightning strike. You'd think something like that would make them think twice about grounding stuff, ya know? So, this contractor made a note that Time Warner would have to return to add the grounding equipment.

After the successful install (which means I now have free long distance on my home phone!), I hit the yard for more yardwork, then made more attempts to follow up with recruiters. Made good progress in the yard, at least.

In the early evening, I headed just south of downtown to meet Anita for dinner at Maudie's. Traffic was a breeze; I guess a lot of people had taken this Good Friday off. After that, she and I met Tamara, Eric, and Laura to watch J.M.'s new band, The Johns, perform at the Saxon Pub. (Photos here).