Crash!

My adrenaline rush wore off.

Friday I had to power up to get through that last afternoon in the office. Saturday I cleaned house. Sunday I went to church. Oddly, the latest topic at church is "Why do you come to church?"

"Well--why not?"

Turns out, that's not the expected answer. Singing, worship, meeting friends, that's all included. "Meeting God" is the expected answer, but it's an odd concept for me--how do you "meet" someone who is always with you? This Sunday, Richard Mouw, the president of Fuller Seminary was our guest speaker, and I always look forward to hearing him. He quoted G.K. Chesterton, so I was not disappointed.

Then some friends wanted to go out to lunch and see "National Treasure 2". What a hoot. Doesn't make a lick of sense. But we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately we were at the Paseo Pasadena, which I usually avoid--they make you pay for parking! There's nothing even _approaching_ the spirit of the 99-cent store! By which I mean: the shopping is expensive. Anyhow, on January 20, we got caught up in Doo-Dah Parade traffic, which only lengthened our stay in the Paseo by, oh, about 30 minutes.

But of course after the adrenaline rush is the crash.

Monday morning I woke up at 9:00 a.m. Which, in the p.m., was about the time I had fallen asleep the night before. And my head hurt. If I had not had to attend a condo board meeting, I probably would have just stayed in bed all day. But I would not want to miss the discussion on how my porch screen has been incorrectly installed--I've been so distracted, I didn't even notice. And then there was a lengthy digression about the big dogs in the neighborhood and the stuff they leave behind when they roam our lawn at night.

Coffee, that's how I get through a post-adrenaline crash day. Coffee, coffee, and a little chocolate.

Today I had to get cleaned up and dressed to go to the dentist for my teeth-whitening. hmmmm, could this paragraph and the previous paragraph be related? !!!

Tomorrow I will have to go to the grocery store to do my banking (a sentence which would have made no sense 20 years ago). Thankfully, there are a lot of things I _need_ to do, so I cannot fall into the temptation of crawling back into bed, or, in extreme cases, _under_ the bed.

Coffee, and the comforting thought that I only have to do one day at a time.

Quietus

I woke up this morning an unemployed person, for the first time since--well, since a long, long time. Fortunately it's Saturday, so I can ease into unemployment slowly.

First: coffee.

That was easy. Next, fire up the laptop. And there in my email is the word for today:

Word of the Day for Saturday, January 19, 2008
quietus \kwy-EE-tuhs\, noun:
1. Final discharge or acquittance, as from debt or obligation.
2. Removal from activity; rest; death.
3. Something that serves to suppress or quiet.

My situation, in a word.

I have discharged my obligation. Yesterday I cleaned off my desk, answered my final emails, and put a forwarding message on my office phone. The Powers That Be decided they could do without me; now they must do without me.

I am removed from activity. There will be a little rest, and mourning for the death of the job where I learned how to organize information and understand scientific research. I made a lot of friends. I was given food from all over the world: Arab hummus, Turkish coffee, Vietnamese chewy candy, Australian wine, Chinese fish, Hawaiian spam sushi. There were horrible days of conflict and wonderful days of accomplishment. I will miss it all.

I will be quiet for a bit, listening outwardly for job leads and inwardly for heart leads. Where will I go? What do I want?

People react to the unemployed differently. Some ask if I want to retire. Well--sure! But I can't live on air, which is all I will have in a couple of months. Some suggest a career change. Maybe novelist or stand-up comic. Those take a lot of energy. Let me think about that some more.

In the meantime, there is plenty of coffee in the fridge, mere steps from my laptop. There's a blog to keep up. Every day USC HR automatic email sends me job leads to peruse and apply for.

Today: quietus. Tomorrow: adventure.

Mine Is Here

My laptop is here. How blessed are you, reader, that now I can write a mini-essay every day in a public forum? woo-hoo

Against the odds, I actually got my computer set up _by myself_ while only creating a plastic mess, not an electronic one. Now I'm a champion for labeling for dummies. For ex, why didn't the modem come with a label: "THIS IS YOUR MODEM!" The CDs came with warning labels: "Don't throw this away!" I am nothing if not compliant, especially when an electronic device speaks to me. Or any ancillary devices. Or anything with a label, really.

Also, I think I may have signed up for 3 or 4 ISPs. If I understand that acronym correctly. This wouldn't be a problem, except I think I gave them some "personal information". oh dear

Now I can send and receive email, watch YouTube and Jib Jab, and play mahjongg. Oh, and write for my blog. I don't know how the world lives in such a perpetual state of excitement. I can only imagine how I will.

Tomorrow, I may learn how to use my personal CD player. Or figure out how to use the windshield wiper controls on my new car. If nothing exciting happens, I can always make an unasked-for moral pronouncement on some bizarrity afflicting the world. Among the thousands of possibilities, how could I ever decide which deserves my discerning attention _right now_?

Fortunately there are 365 days in a year to fill up with blogs . No wait--this year, 366!

woo hoo