Employment Again!

On the day that it was announced that over two million jobs were lost in 2008, my former employer called and asked me to come back to work. Apparently, the low interest rates are working and people are swarming to refinance their home mortgages. Business is about triple what it would be in normal times. I don't know how long it will last, but it will be great to get a paycheck again instead of unemployment. After a ten week break though, getting mentally geared up for 40 t0 50 hour weeks is just a little daunting. The good thing is that I know I am up to it. I am glad I did not waste much time during this long break in employment. I just completed the first week of an Excel class offered free through the Oregon Employment Division, and while I won't be able to finish the three week course, at least I know what Excel does and have a little experience with it. I even started this blog!
I hope anyone else who reads this and is out of work takes heart in knowing that as bad as things look, hope is on the road ahead, so keep moving, keep learning, keep applying for the jobs that will start showing up. Keep the glass half-full.

Not too late for a" Happy New Year" is it?

Since it is only the second day of 2009, I will still wish anyone who stumbles upon this message a successful and happy year. It occurs to me that blogging is a little like those long ago ancestors of ours who drew pictures on cave walls in an effort to communicate with others of their kind or , who knows, maybe they had some dim vision of beings who would come along after they were gone, and exclaim over their efforts. Is there any way of knowing how many bloggers there are out here in the 'sphere? Probably so, I could just Google it and get an answer. Let's hope that we are not all "Nowhere Men" ( and women) making "nowhere plans for nobody."
My SO is a New Thought woman, and she is strongly, though not adamantly, suggesting that I write down some goals for this new start on the calendar we all have in front of us. I will certainly make an effort to do so, though it seems I tried it once and little happened. My convictions were not strong enough I suppose, but when the old magic is not working, what is wrong with looking for a new way to make our way along this road?
On New Year's Eve, I was thinking that, all over the world, people were standing on tiptoe, trying to see over the fence of time, into the darkeness ahead. Out there, about January 20th, I do see a little light grwoing brighter, hope for a better way, a new direction, real efforts to fix our broken economy, end the wars we have blundered into, and restore a sense of pride that we have been missing for these last eight years. So, keep your eye on that light, and let's hope that it shines brighter on all of us.

Another Fine Mess...

While I have used computers for over ten years now in my (former) work, I really know little about those essential (I'm told) programs WORD and EXCEL. So, courtesy of Oregon Employment Division, and we taxpayers who support it, I am now registered in a class for EXCEL that will last two weeks and amount to about six hours of instruction on the program and even math they have to throw in to get the state to pay the freight. I would have preferred learning WORD, but maybe later.

Happy Holidays!

Here we all are at Christmas Eve, safely back from a long hard drive from Orange County Ca. to Oregon. As anticipated, the coast highway had snow alongside, but none on the road. Still, all those "icy" signs along the road gave me pause and and I drove more cautiously than my twenty year old daughter approved of. But, tell me, is there a father anywhere who can totally relax with his daughter of any age at the wheel? She is a very good driver, just sort of aggressive where I tend to be defensive, so I did most of the driving. My shoulders are still tense. She is staying with us for a few days until the little house on the alley near campus she rented has the broken pipe that occurred during our cold snap repaired. It is fitting that she is independent at her age, but boy, is she ever! What a strong young woman she has become. Anyway, I want to wish anyone who reads this a very happy holiday season and let's hope we all have a more prosperous New Year

Hazy Shade of Winter

(You can hear that Paul Simon song on Youtube, also by the Bangles )
Thursday, and I am preoccupied with an impending trip that will be more work than fun. I am flying to John Wayne International Airport at 5:30 AM Saturday to meet my twenty year old daughter who will be driving up from San Diego. We will then leave immediately for Oregon with the hope of avoiding snow, ice and other hazards to arrive sometime Sunday. I am presently thinking that Highway 101 is the best route, but will keep checking the weather predictions and hope for the best. We will buy some chains of course.
The snow here on the West side of the Cascades has melted with new rain, but a new cold front is supposed to arrive by Sunday, so who knows?
The job front is as bleak as the sky right now, but I attribute that to the season and look forward to the departure of The Current Occupant of the White House with enthusiasm. I think attitudes will improve markedly with that event.
Anne has put some beautiful one of a kind handmade purses on Etsy.com and if they are viewed, someone will want them I'm sure.

What?! Tuesday Already?

Snow! Not a lot really, but enough to close schools, create icy, slick roads and cause accidents. I stayed in all day yesterday, except for scraping the sidewalk approach to the house and the driveway a little. Snow is nice on cards and in the mountains, but makes things difficult in cities. My daughter (age 20), is leaving San Diego sometime in the next few days to drive back to Oregon, and I am probably going to find a way to meet her in northern CA and drive back here with her. Greyhound? $110 for a one-way to Sacramento. A friend leaves tomorrow for the bay area and I could get a ride, but then have to wait two days for her to find me. I put a rideshare ad on Craigslist, we'll see what comes of that. Like the economy, I am unsettled and a little up and down about all this holiday stuff, but we have a roof over us, food in the fridge, the wine rack is not empty, and a new administration is coming that will bring a climate of hope to the whole country. I still expect to get a job any day now, early in January probably.

So, Why do I keep starting posts with "So?"

I won't do that again. Saturday... shopping for groceries, preparing for bad very cold snowy weather by covering vents and faucets, dragged some leaves out of the roof gutter, and had some well-deserved coffee. Anne is still busy with her website and her TBA plan to have passive income, so I began a pot of Italian vegetable bean soup. Now, this soup began to grow in the crockpot as I added a littlel Italian sausage, carrots, potatoes, 32 oz.of broth, and ooops, too much water. The thing is, the first line of the recipe said something about four quarts of water, which was to cook the pasta in separately, (who knew?) so I put in a quart and a quart of vegetable broth before I noticed that the liquid level in the pot was rising to a level that predicted flooding. When we get ready to eat it I am supposed to add some cooked pasta and green beans, in which case I will have to get a vat, and call in the neighbors to eat. The surprising thing is that the broth tastes pretty good so far, so time will tell. My other cuisine adventure today is in the oven, ground turkey meatloaf in a muffin tin, six muffin spots filled with (I hope) delicious stuff. That is my Saturday, with a Netflix movie to follow dinner. Life is an adventure.