Well, here we are at Friday. What a week, right? A lot of shit has gone down. A LOT. The week didn’t really turn out rainbow kittens like I’d predicted, did it?
Huh. Guess I’m not a psychic. Oh, well. I’ll cross “Miss Cleo” off my “potential jobs I might be good for” list.
NO, I don’t really have one of those lists. You really think I’m that organized? Oh, please. About 85% of the things that I do, I do on the fly. I’m not great at the whole big-picture thing. Well, I try. But it doesn’t work out so well. Who can tell what’s going to happen in the future? I mean, you can plan and scheme, but you can’t force it to happen. No no no. That doesn’t work. Also, I tend to get VERY CRANKY when something I’ve planned and schemed didn’t work out. Every time I make a plan that falls apart I have to deal with a stompy period where I’m all WHY ME WHYYYYY so I kind of stopped making plans. I know. That’s probably not the best way to go about it, is it? Very defeatist. BAD AMY.
So things are going to get pretty busy for me. I know, you’re thinking I should be all lady-of-leisure and kicking back and such. I think Ken is very disappointed I’m not reporting back on all the crap daytime TV I’m watching (or not watching.)
I can’t afford to kick back. In a week, my health care disappears; I have to start paying for it myself. I don’t know how many of you have had to deal with this nonsense, but COBRA coverage is like as much as rent each month. I need to have some money coming in while I look for a new job if I want to pay my big bills every month – COBRA, car insurance, rent, cable. My student loan is still being sorted out since it was switched to a new company, so I don’t owe money on that until September (and if worse comes to worse, I can get those payments put off a little longer; the student loan people are pretty understanding about unemployment.) Anyway, in order to get a little money coming in, I called my part-time job today; the head of HR over there is going to call me tomorrow and let me know what they have available for me on a weekly basis. Nothing permanent, just fill-in stuff, but it’s money. I appreciate it more than I can say. Almost more than anything, something like this is part of why I kept the part-time job as long as I did. Well, yes, of course I needed the money. But it was also nice to know if things got catastrophic, they’d be there for me to fall back on, if I needed them. About seven years ago, my office closed – was bought by another company, and we were all let go – and my part-time job stepped up then, too, and made it so I could pay my bills. (Well, as long as I worked 8-10 hours a day, 7 days a week, my bills were covered. I have a lot of bills.) I won’t (hopefully) have to work that much this time around, but it’s nice to know that’s available to me and they’re there for me. Thank you, part-time job! So appreciated! Anyway, that job’s the one where there’s no internet, no phones, etc., so you won’t hear from me much when I’m working (and I won’t know what hours I’m working – they’re going to be as-needed.)
Do not fret! I will still be blogging. My life will pretty much be work, job hunt, blog, sleep, repeat repeat repeat. (I can’t help but be a little crotchety they couldn’t have waited until AFTER my vacation and AFTER my book release to do this, so I could enjoy those things, but oh, well, since when has life gone according to plan?)
So far, I have applied to eleventy-billion jobs, and a few of them are actually jobs I really and truly both want and think I would excel at. I’m not going to go more into detail than that. As we know, THAT can get you in trouble. Shush, me. Just keep your fingers crossed for me. TIGHTLY crossed. All the time. Day and night and day and night. NEVER UNCROSS THOSE. Thanks.
Oh, and if nothing happens, I have something offered that starts in November. Again, I won’t go more into it than that, but it’s something huge, and a big change on a lot of levels, but it would also be pretty awesome. So if nothing shows up before November, I have that there, waiting, and that’s nice to know.
Oh, my parents’ reaction to this whole thing have been…less than overwhelming. Underwhelming. I am whelmed. My mom’s all “you got what was coming” and my dad’s in a deep depression about the whole thing because I’m NEVER going to find a job, not EVER, there are NO jobs, this is THE WORST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED, life has ENDED, OH DOOM, OH GLOOM! I informed him I was pretty cool about the whole thing until I talked to him and he was stressing me right OUT and he said, “yeah, well, imagine what it’s like in MY head!” I…can’t, actually, I’m really busy dealing with what’s going on here. Calm, Dad. CALMMMMM. I told him not to stress until I started calling him from my car because it was also my bedroom and I was taking showers in the rain, but he said he was getting a jump-start on it. SIGH DAD. SIGH. All will be well. There are jobs. I will find one of them. I will. You can’t tell me I’m never going to find a job for the rest of my LIFE.
OK, enough job crap, right? You’re totally the most sick of this. Me, too. On to other things that are less stabby.
It’s almost book release time! And since I am sad underemployed girl, you’re all going to buy MULTIPLE COPIES, right? Right. Awesome. Shit, job stuff snuck in. No, but seriously, even though I have a million things on my mind, I’m still so excited. Less than a week! This coming Wednesday! I will give you the link where you can buy it and everything! Review copies are on their way (well, if they’re not, they will be soon!) and I’m super-excited, if not a little distracted. I can’t wait for you all to read it. Oh, you can all add it as to-be-read on Goodreads, if you’re so inclined. I got to make an AUTHOR page! How exciting is THAT? The most, is how much.
Oh, do you remember a while ago, I mentioned the guy who hangs out in our garbage area right next to the dumpster on the couches for no reason I can ascertain and it’s worrisome? He was there the other night when I got home, so I pretended to be texting but took his photo. But I think he saw me, because when I looked up from the photo I’d taken, he had walked to the FAR END of the garbage area and was giving me the old stink eye. Then I went in to get my mail, and when I got back out, he was GONE, and so was the couch or chair or whatever he was sitting on, which is even MORE confusing. Where’d he go? Where’d he take the furniture? At least I think it was a couch or a chair. As you can see in the photo – or NOT see – it’s virtually impossible to see what he’s sitting on.

Click to embiggen. Sorry. It is a SUCK photo. And I tried to be cute about captioning and THAT’S too small. But when I went to take another…he LEFT. He was NOT into photo-taking.
Anyway, there’s the Garbage Man. He hasn’t been back since. I think I scared him away, like a villager who thinks I’m trying to steal his SOUL. Garbage Man, I don’t want your soul. I’m perfectly happy with my own.
Enough randomness for today. Off to do a million more things. I really think I need idling lessons. I’m quite bad at this.
July 27th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Life is sure funny – on one hand, you get fired. On the other, nearly simultaneously, you become a PUBLISHED AUTHOR! Talk about emotional roller coaster!! I think it’s great how you are handling all this. And I agree with your dad, you WILL find a job (and that November thing sounds really intriguing…).
And the fact that you are a REAL Goodreads.com author!! SO AWESOME! I’ve added it to my queue, and I will see about ordering it from my LBS. I am really looking forward to reading it.
Hope you get some good hours at your part-time job!
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July 27th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
That should have read “DISagree with your dad…” ;-)
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July 27th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
I was hoping. :)
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July 27th, 2012 at 8:21 pm
I know, it’s really been quite a couple of weeks. Whoo!
Thank you! I hope you love the book!
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July 27th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
It sounds as though you have your crap seriously together considering the events of the last week–I don’t know if I have it in me to be that proactive (though the insurance thing would be a huge motivator). I am looking forward to your book (which I will actually buy from whatever link you give and then promise to read even though I would not describe myself as a poetry person). I enjoy reading your blog here and at IB and figure it’s a way I can be supportive in a practical and noncreepy way. From personal experience I have found parents to be a little gloomy in the face of adversity but it comes from loving their kids yet not being able to fix the situation, we being adults and all.
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July 27th, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Thank you! I’m trying to keep it all together. I would reaaaaally like to just sit on the couch and mope and/or write, but unfortunately, money’s not going to make itself.
And yay, thank you! I hope you love the book! I’m so excited!
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July 27th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
*chants* BOOK, BOOK, BOOK, BOOK!
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July 27th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
*bounce bounce bounce*
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July 27th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Looooooooooove! Look, once again, I’m sorry things are teh suck right now BUT you have YOUR BOOK COMING OUT IN JUST FIVE DAYS!!!!
That’s the most exciting.
<3 <3 <3
Fingers crossed, thumbs held, you're in my pocket, etcetcetc. <3
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July 27th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
It will be ok. I blame it all on Tom Cruise. DAMN YOU TOM CRUISE.
Thank you, my amazing friend. I know! 5 days! Aaahh!
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July 28th, 2012 at 12:21 am
Yes, totes apropos. Blame Tom Cruise for EVERYTHING.
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July 28th, 2012 at 8:48 am
Oh, I do. I DO.
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July 28th, 2012 at 9:05 am
Tom Cruise is evil. Always has been.
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July 28th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
SO EVIL!
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July 28th, 2012 at 9:06 am
Oh! It’s his mouth! I though.. Well.. I though it was his nose..! #mrhappy
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July 28th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
I’ve been trying to look at it as if that’s his nose and that makes him look depressed and quizzical. I like it better as his mouth. I think it had better be his mouth.
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July 28th, 2012 at 9:13 am
Some (not very) advanced photo editing reveals that the piece of furniture the anosmic man is sitting on is indeed a chair: http://aheinakroon.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/chair.jpg
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July 28th, 2012 at 9:53 pm
It’s a pretty big chair, though! How’d he make it disappear in the 3 minutes I was sending someone an email in my car? He might also be a tricky magician.
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