Yes, it's another installment of the Unemployment Follies, starring the leftystrat household; the wives, the pets and me. Judging by the title, you know I'm still without serious employment (or even non-serious employment).
SINKING?
How are things, you ask?
Things are, by and large, still things, only shrunk down by fifty percent. It getting time to call some creditors. Do you think I can explain to them that since my income dropped by fifty percent, my payments will drop accordingly?
Perception is everything, though.
To anybody looking in, I must look like I'm on some pretty heavy drugs. I spend every day looking for jobs for a few hours, then do some housework (while my wife holds me at gunpoint). But I'm surprisingly calm.
Of course, I'm probably the only one who's calm. The wife is absolutely Not Impressed with my state of Not Working. She (et.al.) is in a state of PTSD-induced unrest. She keeps me on the straight and narrow, memorizing my phone and in-person interviews and asking me if they're still happening. While the dog is still loving having me home, the wife is definitely not. Since I have been home, she has taken up a new hobby: laundry. Nobody knows why but a girl has to have her recreation time. I tired telling her that it's not necessary to wash clothes every day but there's no dissuading her. I was kinda hoping she would take up nymphomania but things don't always work out the way one would like.
The neighbor who asked if the house will be going up for sheriff's sale has been really nice, bringing over stuff from the garden. The other neighbor has been leaving care packages. For some reason, they include a lot of bread. Fortunately the dog loves bread, as if we could keep him out of it. My mom just made us dinner. We're not destitute by any means but I feel rich in friends and family (ok, and slightly embarrassed). I even took down the NOT STARVING sign on the house.
AUTO-MOBILE
I'm not exactly certain which neighbors know what but the reactions are priceless. The lady across the street came over to congratulate my wife on the new car. My wife had to tell her it was a rental. The good neighbor took one look at the rental car and said, "Oh dear... not again!" Several other neighbors no doubt think we own a car lot (or are drug dealers).
I have come up with a solution for our next car. The first part is to NOT LET HER DRIVE. The other part is to purchase the car and three entire sets of bodies (to be stored at the body shop). This way, when people hit us (and they WILL hit us), all we have to do is drop the car at the shop and have them replace the body part(s) from our existing inventory. We won't even have to call the insurance company (at least until we're through the three entire sets of bodies).
Speaking of accidents, my dear wife finally realized that she has a sprained knee and opposite ankle. This is somewhat compounded by both of her feet swelling like clown feet. The neighborhood children want to use them for pool floats. In fact, she's sitting next to me as I type this, blissfully unaware of the content. Swelling feet are going to look minor in comparison with what she's going to do to me.
Speaking of doing things to me, I have to do my part to help by wrapping ace bandages around her ankles. Here we are, with this perfect deviant sexual aid, and we're using it for health reasons. Again, I am embarrassed.
WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY?
So when I'm not job-hunting, doing housework at gunpoint or wrapping my wife's ankles for health reasons, there is always TV. I prefer internet tv, as there's almost always something I want to watch. My wife, on the other hand, lives on broadcast tv. You know, old style, plug in the rabbit ears, horrible reception television. What makes this really horrible is that she likes to watch ancient black and white movies (from just after they added sound) and really old, horrible sitcoms from before we were born. Leave it to Beaver, anyone?
The absolute worst time of the day is during the day, when all the court shows are on. Judge Lynn, Judge Stanislaus, and the most repugnant (and famous) show of all, Judge Judy. I am convinced that we can eliminate the national debt by selling tickets to have a whack at Judge Judy with a two-by-four (with a railroad spike in it). There's Divorce Count, People's Court and Banana Nut Bread Court. After being an involuntary spectator in all of these courtrooms, I figure there's really only one court we need: Grammar Court. Have you heard how these people speak?
With any tv, you get the absolute best part - commercials. There is a current commercial for a digital tv antenna that boasts tremendous reception and no cable costs. For those of us with a functional brain, this is a rabbit-ears equivalent that's being sold as a small miracle.
I also discovered that with a certain cable service, one can DVR up to fifteen programs at once. This is stunning news, that must be reported at once to either Guiness World Records or your local exterminator. The first thing that occurs to me is why you need to record up to fifteen programs at once when you can barely find one program that's even halfway decent at any time.
Then there's the sue Sue SUE attorney ads. No matter what the ailment, they can get you MONEY. And they can do it NOW! Their close cousins are the drug ads. If you have suffered from a sore groin, hypertension or death, please call 1-800-SUE-YOU2.
Huh? If you have suffered from death, please call? Dunno about you, but I'd love to be there to watch that phone call.
Today we got an extremely rare treat.. we got to watch CHIPS on the Antedeluvian Channel. I never saw the show when it came out but I was aware of it and the fact that it was a joke. Today I found out precisely why it was a joke. Absolutely the worst acting, writing and shooting job I have ever seen. You know things are bad when you find yourself longing for the clarity, wit, and fashion sense of The Fresh Prince of BelAir.
We watched stuff like that?
CHIPS was bloody huge in its day (tell them, Eric).
Also amusing were the wacky antics of the police in ADAM-12. This museum-view of the police took place when people used dial phones and before police started randomly beating people, shooting dogs, and breaking into apartments, shooting babies, then discovering they had the wrong house. They used antiquated phrases like 'Yes Sir', 'Yes Ma'am' and 'You get it, Pete.' There was something odd about police in California arresting lowlifes with southern accents.
THE JOB
So how goes the job hunt?
Apparently pretty poorly, judging from the title of this post. I hope I'm still going to be amusing when I get a new job.
Since I last wrote, I've been approached for jobs in Arkansas, New York, New Jersey and possibly Saudi Arabia (relocation costs covered!). When travel time is over an hour, the job stops being local.
I'm told this is the time for information security people. You'd think that the recent breaches at Target, Home Depot and (horrors!) Dairy Queen would indicate the need for security professionals. One recruiter told me all the security people are employed (except for this one, obviously).
But I'm online, on phone and on the toilet a lot. Things are opening up (so to speak). I'm even in a pilot program from the state to help the unemployed find jobs. The last time I went to the pilot program, the doors were all locked. I suspect the pilot crashed. It does make me wonder why I was specially chosen. Is it because I'm the first ex-Jew they have ever seen? Maybe it's because my dog is black.
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