Signs of Life

It's Labor Day weekend. I am ready for a little burst down to NJ with the family. 

On the job hunt, I am finally seeing signs of life. I have an interview in Waldwick, NJ on Wed. Then I'll come back home and have an interview on Thursday in Farmington, CT. The one in Jersey is sales and marketing for a chain of nationwide martial arts studios. The one in CT is selling recruiting software. 

It's good to hear back from people and to be getting interviews. My plan is to have a new job before Oct. 1st. The wheels are in motion.

One Foot Out the Door

I know, I know. Everything is bigger in Texas. But croutons? They are Texas style croutons and they are so big I can't fit them in my mouth - seriously!

Well, it's almost time for my second vacation of the summer in the Motherland. I'll stop off on Saturday and see my friend Carolyn in Harlem. Then to Jersey to stay with Mum and see Mel & Janet. I will stay until Wed. morning because I have an interview in Waldwick at 2 PM. It's a marketing sales position with a nationwide martial arts studio. If I got the job, I would relocate back to the Motherland. 

It'll be good to get out of the house. Out of this state.

It's been a long summer - I had hernia surgery and then I lost my job the same week Mum moved to Jersey. Screw this, I'm ready for football season.

History of the World

I watched The History of the World in Two Hours, on History Channel 2. It's fantastic. I highly recommend it. From the Big Bang to modern day in two hours! History of the World in 2 Hours

But now it is Monday, and I am back to sending out CVs. Thus begins week four of my job search. It's such a drag.

But August is the worst month to get laid off, along with Dec. So I carry on - left foot, right foot, and keep attitude positive. 

Did that sound convincing? I may have to look for work on daytime soaps.

Night Game

Downtown Oakland




The Mets are on the coast, playing the A's. They don't make many trips to Oakland. This is the last of five West Coast trips (they played the AL West in Inter-League games this year.) I like having games on late at night. 

My days seem like a tidal wave of sending out CVs, cleaning the house, going through clothes in preparation for a move to some place way smaller, and changing utilities and the like into my name. It's all very strange.

upside down

Maybe I've finally gone insane. My whole world seems inside out - upside down. Looking for a job in August is like looking for a snowflake in August. 

And the riots in Missouri seems unreal. They seem like something that should be taking place in the 90s, like the Rodney King LA Riots. That 18 year old boy, unarmed, was shot 6 times. No wonder the community is outraged. 

Hospitality

TUESDAY

Thanks to Mel and Jan for the printer they gave me so that I could print my CV. It'a an HP. The software is loading now.

Today, I am focusing on hospitality jobs. I need a job yesterday, I'll work weekends. I just want to work in a friendly environment. It's been 2 years since I've had that. I'll serve food. I'll bartend. Hell, if I was ten years younger, I'd pimp myself out. But that's no longer an option. 

THURSDAY

I have an interview with a headhunter for a customer service job mañana, so that's good news. 

Miracle

Sunday - today is Sunday. 

Time to attack the laundry and clean the office. My desk is a wreck and everything needs to be scoured from the white dust of Mully's box being in there for fifteen years. 

And the barbecue is back in business!  I haven't barbecued in weeks because the first time I used it after the operation, I ran out of gas. They weigh 37 pounds, so I had to wait til the doctor cleared me. So yesterday, I got some sausage and a new tank.

The weather has been beautiful. Not too hot, not too humid. With the ceiling fans, the flat has been nice and cool, especially when the wind blows from the south or the west.

Wheeler is on the mound for the Mets.  A four game sweep of Philly would be enormous in them making a true play-off run.


- - - - - 

The Mets blew a 6 - 1 lead and lost the game. They got to win tomorrow. They play at 1pm. Washington plays tonight in Atlanta.
It's August and baseball is a beautiful thing.



---The office is clean! In the name of Saint Michael and Saint George, the office is clean. It's a miracle!

...and Jam

 Mauritius

Sometimes it's nice to just hang out..., and jam. Jim and I are working on our 6th album together as Wayward Platypus. It's called Dodo and it's a concept album. It's some pretty cool music Jim has written. I wrote the lyrics and came up with the concept. Today was our first go and it went pretty well. 

The dodo is one of the most famous examples of extinction and one of the first to be recorded. The dodo lived and thrived on the island of Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar. Located in the indian ocean, the island was undiscovered until the Portuguese found it in the 16th century. The Dutch starting settling it in the 17th century. 

The dodo had no predators on the island and actually evolved into not being able to fly because it didn't need to anymore. They were fat, happy, and plentiful. And then humans arrived. They Dutch sailors ate the dodo, and their pets killed them as well. By 1662, the dodos were all gone. They were gone before the Dutch settlers even realized it. It's a cautionary tale. 300 years later, we can see the damage we've done to the planet and the perils that await us in the 21st century. 

It's a cheerful album.

All in the Family

Well, I moved the big honking TV screen Mel got me into the living room. Then I sat in the green recliner Mum left me. She took Leo's recliner, so I was sitting in the light, teal, green recliner that she and Mully lived in. 

Anyway, it kind freaked me out. It was like Meathead sitting in Archie's chair.

Let the banner fly high

Walter Raleigh and Chris Columbus
Come marching out of the waves
And claim the beach and all concessions
In the name of the suntan slaves
I wrapped that flag around me
Like a Dorothy Lamour sarong
And I lay down thinking nationally
With dreamland coming on
Dreamland, dreamland
Dreamland, dreamland
-Joni Mitchell

Got my CV out to a few places and to two recruiters. Now I'm on the phone with AT&T for the fourth day in a row, trying to change the account to my name- that's all. Is it any wonder that the USA is no longer competitive when it takes 4 days (and counting) to change the name on the bill?

But you can get a personal pizza for $5. Where have our values gone? At least porn is readily accessible, free of charge, for any creature with opposable thumbs and a wi-fi connection. Ronald Reagan would be proud. And he loved the movie business!

All You Can Carry

Take what you can
All you can carry 
Take what you can and leave the thoughts behind
We gotta run
-Tom Petty


Tuesday. Today is Tuesday. 

I guess that means mañana must well be Wednesday. I had so much structure in my life two weeks ago. Now Mum's gone and I'm unemployed in an empty apartment. I guess it could be worse. It could always be worse. I have my family and friends, and that's a boat load.

How to Begin Again

I am overwhelmed. I'm not sure where to begin. But begin, I must.

Baby steps.

See the doctor for my last visit after surgery. Maybe now I can lift things again - like myself out of this whole. 

Tow the line. Keep it together. Think out of the box. 

Do I really want another sales job?

Every sales job I've ever had has been about me fighting my bosses not to screw me.  My numbers were great this month, and July is the worst month for out industry. But I wouldn't buy the bullshit they were trying to sell, saying that three of us misunderstood the commission. They changed and then lied about changing it. They'll be out of business by January. 

One Flew Over the Dodo's Nest

Obviously, the world is flat.

Well, I no longer work at the Dodo House. It's a blessing. My boss was a nut job with OCD. And he just didn't like me. I surpassed my numbers significantly this month. It was awesome. It was all I could do to not laugh. I've never worked for a company that was this badly managed or lied to me so much. It was all bull shit. From the very beginning.

Sometime in 2015, they will go out of business. 

So, now I file for unemployment and look for a new job, in many states. 

But I need a cat. It doesn't seem real to live in this house without a cat.

It's a new day. And I'm ready to be free of such assholes. Plus, It's not over, because I learned Obeah (voodoo) in Jamaica.