Doldrums Dispatch

It’s been about four months since my last blog entry.  A few things of note have happened between then and now.  To save my sanity and and my stomach lining, I switched from drinking whiskey to beer.  I spend a week’s vacation in New Orleans.  And oh yeah, I lost my job.

I was laid off on the second to last Thursday in May, though technically I stayed on the payroll until June 1.  I wouldn’t say I expected this to happen but considering the two-flusher of an economy we have these days, it didn’t come as a complete surprise either.

I walked away with six weeks’ severance, eligibility for unemployment insurance, and the promise to provide me with a decent reference for my job hunt.  It wasn’t a bad deal overall as far as getting kicked to the curb goes.

I’m still looking for work.  My morning ritual starts with checking the job boards for people looking for perl programmers within a 20 mile radius of San Francisco (I’m not going to consider jobs in the South Bay until the situation gets desperate).  If something catches my eye, I send out my resume with a slightly customized boilerplate cover letter.

After that, the day pretty much goes to hell.  I do have an abundance of time and seldom get around to doing anything with it.  That got me thinking about Poison Spur.  I’m sure there are people out there who want to read my stuff, at least a dozen or so.  So here I am, back again.