Gentle Reader,
This will be my last lj post, unless I find some compelling reason to post here again.

You can find future ramblings (and a smattering of coherent stuff, too) here.  Until I see a reason to get rid of this archive, you'll continue to find my archives here.  My archives are at the new site, as well, but they do not include any comments.

shanamadele

I have migrated all of my posts to my new site.  Tedius, a, um.  Plus, there seems to be no way to move the comments over.

I will continue to play with the layout. I like the header, but I'm not sure the four-column thing is actually working for me.

I might go through and add tags to all my stuff, although I did that inconsistently before. But, that would be part of taking this blog more seriously.

Tech tips, other thoughts, appreciated.

Got a call from the too-many hours, too-much travel job.  Mercifully, they chose someone else.  Thus, I escape with my unemployment insurance intact.

Also heard from the state agency from which I'd given up on hearing.  (That is, I gave up on hearing from this state agency. But, much to my surprise, they called.)  I have a 2nd interview next week.

I can hardly believe it.   They had been planning to do second interviews a week ago, so I figured I didn't make the cut.  Yay, me!

And, just because there's a glass that's got to be smashed under that handkerchief at any Jewish wedding, I'm already starting to worry about what to do when the state agency offers me a job before I have an interview with the highly competitive and highly desirable non-profit.

The other day I met Dawn Friedman and a bunch o' other cool adoptive bloggers.  The conversation triggered many thoughts about posts I want to write, and inspired me to kick my stuff up a notch.   Like, maybe I could do less kvetching and journaling, and more thoughtful writing.

Dawn suggested that I check out wordpress, since livejournal seems to be having more issues daily.  I have.  I like it.

I am migrating.  I will keep you, loyal reader, posted.

I like to say that job searches are a lot of people saying no to you until someone says yes.

But there are also a number of yeses along the way.  I would do well to celebrate them.

Celebrate with me, won't you?  I just got a call from an organization I would be really psyched to represent to the state legislature and other governments.  I would love to work with them because, in addition to doing Good Stuff, they seem to have their stuff together and to value their employees.  They want me to come in for a second interview.

Interview's on April 17.  That should give me enough time to send my suit to the drycleaner.

Hoody-hoo!

I had a pretty intense three-day weekend in which not a lot got done, and yet I did a lot.

Pumpkin and I re-arranged the furniture in our office and purged some things.  Okay, mostly we purged obsolete software and a printer, and they are actually still in the house, which means that I haven't actually let them go yet.  But I'm getting closer.

We also took our Sydney kitty to the vet.  She was diagnosed with both chronic renal failure and hyperthyroidism about two weeks before Butternut was born.  At that time, the vet said she might be alive for another six months.  So, we're as surprised as anyone that she's still here two years plus later.  Our good fortune (in this regard, anyway) is approaching an end.  She's down to 5 lbs, 10 ozs in weight, and the vet says to think in terms of weeks, not months.

We've added a daily acid reducer and antibiotics to her medical regimen.  We're monitoring her quality of life, and we hope that we will discern correctly when it is her time to go.

We've begun talking with Butternut about how we will soon need to say goodbye to "Syn," as he calls her.  Her body doesn't work well anymore, and soon it will stop working.  We won't see her anymore.  We will miss her, and we will be sad.

Gotta run -- and that's just day one.

I happen to be doing some contract work for my prior employer.  You know, the one that laid me off in November.

I picked up the phone to answer a call. It was an activist whom I've run into in many arenas over the years.

"Oh," she said, "Lots of campaigns must be hiring right now."

If I had a dime for every time I hear this phrase from someone....

Listen up, world.  I am not available to work on campaigns.  I am not interested in working campaign hours and then being unceremoniously dumped after the election.  Find someone else.

In related news, yesterday I had two job interviews.  One was with a mid-sized (for Oregon) non-profit organization that is looking for a legislative director.   It would be a great job.  I am totally intimidated -- it's a real stretch for me and they have a high-quality staff.  The search is bound to be highly competitive.

The other interview was with a group that is fine.  The job is interesting, but would require working campaign hours and commuting an hour a way each day and then regularly traveling to sites an hour or two from that.

I want a challenging job.  I do not want to live for my work and never see my family.

Does this exist?

Can I get this job without jeopardizing my unemployment insurance?

It rained all day, and Pumpkin was at work, leaving Mama and Butternut to fend for ourselves.  We did pretty well, thank you very much.

Groceries needed to be bought. By us.  We went to the co-op to pick up bulk foods, since they are typically less expensive than at our chi-chi natural foods grocer.  Butternut discovered the small area with fun toys, and Mama re-discovered the joys of shopping without any distractions.  (Not that there aren't joys associated with Butternut distractions, but it was a nice change of pace.)

We had a relatively pain-free trip to the chi-chi natural foods grocer. Butternut quickly decided on a sticker at the check-out line.  I am always surprised how quickly he decides and how satisfied he is to have just one.

We returned home, put the groceries away, had lunch and some of us had a nap.  The other one did chores and was about to start making play dough when the napping one awoke.

Thus, we both made play dough.

It was a little messier, and I didn't get to make a palette of beautiful colors, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it came out.  Now, we have the equivalent of about four cups of blue, green and red play dough.  It probably cost us all of about $0.35 to make, and it's hard to calculate time spent doing it, since it was also time spent interacting with my son.  It will probably cost me or Pumpkin 15 minutes of clean up.  It is a little hard to find a price comparison, because I can only find sets online.  But let's guess it's about $5 worth of playdo.  Heck, let's say it cost as much as $0.50 to make.  So, I saved $4.50 for 15 minutes of actual work.  Which works out to $18/hour.  (Had I not spent the time interacting with my son, it probably would have added another 15 minutes of work to the project, although the clean up would have been easier.  But worse case, I'm looking at a net of $9/hour.)

Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing with play dough. Which is, as they say, priceless.

The one-day content strike is on for this Friday, March 21, from midnight GMT to midnight GMT.

For 24 hours, we will not post or comment to LJ. Not in our own journals, not in communities. Not publicly, privately, or under friends-lock.

This is a protest that will have long-lasting effects, showing up forever in the daily posting statistics.

This is a protest that will not harm LJ in the long run, as leaving LJ might do.

This is a protest that will demonstrate the power of community, as all users unite to support Basic users and the concept of adfree space.

This is a protest that will educate the new owners that LJ is driven by user-created content.


How Can I Help?

DO post about this in your own LJ.
DO post and comment about it in appropriate communities.
DO remember that it's based on Greenwich Mean Time, which may not be your local time.
DO turn off LoudTwitter and your RSS feeds for 24 hours.
DO feel free to friend me for updates, and defriend when the strike is over.

DON'T forget to get permission from community mods before making an off-topic post or comment about the strike.
DON'T be spammy with your posts or comments about the strike.
DON'T forget to turn your LoudTwitter and RSS feeds back on when the strike is over.

Last week, I found a bottle cap sporting the Grolsch beer logo in Butternut's coat pocket.

This weekend, I found a dollar bill in his pants pocket.

Is it the change? I wonder.