Blah week

As mentioned previously, I'm out of work. It's depressing, but not as bad as the job I had. I really didn't like being there, and being home feels much better.

I've taken some time this week to just veg out a bit. Did some errands, got a few odds and ends done, but haven't worked hard at anything. There is stuff to do, of course--laundry that needs to be done, a job search to organize and begin, computer issues I now have time to address--but little emotional energy to do them.

In short, the job had sucked a lot of my energy away, in ways I hadn't fully recognized. It may take a while to regroup, but I need to do it. I need to feel productive--something I haven't felt for a long time in the work environment. I had a few moments of "oh, this works" when a property manager, but they were too few, and too often offset by the drudgery of trying to convince someone whose income fits in that narrow range required by the set up of the apartment building that this is THE place to live, and oh, by the way, you also have to pay the rent on time each month. The sob story about your car dying, causing you to lose your job four miles away, doesn't go very far with someone who rides a bike thirteen miles to get to work. Your insistence that you keep your word to make up late payments doesn't say much when the signature on your lease is, to put it bluntly, your word that you will pay on time. Going to court to evict you for not paying your rent does NOT make me happy.

Oh, well. That's behind me. I've been saying that, aside from the loss of income, I'm already in a better place than I was two weeks ago. I still have friends and family on whom I can rely for moral and immoral support. I have Jenn. I have my bicycles, so I can get around. I qualify for unemployment compensation, so while the money will be tight for a while, I can still breathe and eat a bit and keep a roof over my head, for a few months, anyway.

I put the car away the other day, and aside from driving to Okolona for a Chiropractic appointment, have not driven it since Monday. I probably could have ridden to Okolona, but it was raining, and I really wasn't in the mood to deal with being soggy all day. For my errands on Tuesday and yesterday, though, I rode. So that I could do my errands wearing a kilt instead of p@nt$, I rode the Raleigh.

One of my errands was a visit to the St Matthews Police Department. During a ride I was captaining a few years ago, I enjoyed striking up a casual friendship with the Assistant Chief of that department, Major Kathy Eigelbach. I've chatted with her from time to time over the last couple years, especially now that I live in St Matthews. There was a blurb in the paper recently informing us that she is retiring soon from that department. I went by to congratulate her on her retirement. While I was there, she made sure I got to say hello to one of their long-standing officers, Debbie Marasa, who I had known in high school. It was good to see them both, and good to have positive interaction with police officers. I doubt I'll need any special favors from them in the future, but their knowing me can't hurt anything.