in case you wondered

if you have a dairy queen a mere block from your house, you are required to visit it for a tasty morsel at least once a week.

that is all.

good thing i'm not addictive

since i'm still not posting much. you can chalk that up to being more than a little stressed and busy trying to manage my current financial, automotive and employment status. surprise surprise.

well, while i am still without a job, and feeling inordinately frustrated about how long that's taking (and the dwindling opportunities), i am happy to report unexpected progress in the other two categories. out of the blue, a week ago my mom's disability (ssi/ssdi) application got approved, hallelujah! this was out of the blue because, for example, they'd previously said she had to fill out additional paperwork (a few months ago) and my mom hadn't done it yet.

thank god for goverment redundancies, because they approved it anyway, and she got her backpay just a few days ago. this led my parents to loan us some major scrilla -- enough to last us a couple months AND get a replacement car... to replace our saturn, yes, but also the car they'd already lent us...yes, THEIR only car, and no i didn't ask for any of that! we were having dinner with my mom and she said, 'i knew there was only one reason for this money to come now. it came for you.'

i really don't like entertaining what we'd have had to do if this money had NOT come. so i won't. i will just say thank you, thank you so much, and try to keep being worth this kind of reward.

i wanted to get a replacement car quickly for two reasons:

1. my parents deserve their car back, especially since it takes us 45 minutes to get there if an errand needs a'runnin.
2. i hate driving their car. it's old, and it complains every way it can, routinely offending some combination of visual, auditory and olfactory senses.

being the penny pincher that i am, i had initially planned to spend only a thousand bucks on a new car. yes i know that means i'd get a crappy car. i don't care, i just need one to last a few months til i can get another one. well, long story short, we spent closer to 2, and this is what we got instead:



it's a 95 0ldsmobile aurora and yes it comes with the sunny backsplash. after all, it does rain here. it's not in perfect condition -- it is old, and has more miles than i'd like -- but for the most part, and especially for its age, it does seem in rather shiny condition. it's being prepped for final departure from the dealer, who's giving it a tune-up and finessing other fiddly bits before turning it over to us next week. i have never heard of a dealer doing this on a used car, but it's made me very glad we went there instead of Joe's Used Car Lot, where the surprises would come a la carte, post-purchase.

so. i'm tired, and barring the lack of job or (yay) medical issues in our household (which i am too annoyed to elaborate on), i'm happy. i'm happy and i feel incredibly grateful to be here, and to know that LBJ is surely keepin' an eye out for me and mine. and with that i'm going to bed to read. :)

enjoying the silence?

i know, after a bout of touretting i've been silent for 10 days. you can chalk that up to:

- a plethora of job interviews. a very good reason to be silent, no?
- listing, selling, packaging and shipping a variety of books, cds and dvds, to earn some scrilla
- a car accident

no one is hurt except for the car, which is in the shop as we speak. this happened friday night whilst min was making her way to whole f00ds. she was at a 3-way stop and apparently one of these people felt it was taking too long to go, so the person behind them (90 degrees to m's right) zipped around and plowed into the right side of our car.

thank god i stayed home, since that's right where i'd have been sitting.

the best part is that due to some credit card snafus (which some of you may recall), it turned out our car insurance had lapsed. not that we knew that at the time, though that's just for the best since she'd have been ticketed for it. it's being remedied now but suffice to say, we'll have to pay to get the car fixed, instead of insurance paying. this is doing wonders for my budding ulcer, in case you were curious.

i wasn't going to write about all this yet - maybe wait until tomorrow, which is currently unbooked - but the morning interview i had scheduled was cancelled on account of ice. which makes it the perfect time to blab to the internet.

and how are you doing?

for those who are about to withdraw, i salute you

i landed on the couch, with my dinner, around 715pm tonight, and went in search of something to hold my attention while munching.

normally political debate does not hold my attention. while i enjoy political discussion now and then (and political lampooning, always), it's usually boring as shit.

but tonight's new hampshire debate was not. it was insightful, smart, ridiculous, fascinating, and all around entertaining, in more ways than one.

and now, a 30-second summation of each candidate's performance.

THE LONG-SNOUTED TRUMPETERS
(Giganticus Elephantia Republicannis)

McCain - Way to call Romney a liar, to his face. I call Celebrity Death Match!
Thompson - Go back to acting, where you can only ramble due to a bad script. Please.
Paul - Maybe you should try acting. Have Thompson get you a gig on L&O, and you can ramble together. I like you for a passionate prosecutor who throws the case due to sudden-onset Alzheimer's.
Romney - Congratulations on your ability to deflect/not answer questions until you've been asked them 10 times! That takes skill, man.
Huckabee - Good thing your name stands out. Not much else does.
Giuliani - I know about terror and healthcare and zzzZZZZ

THE HEE-NAWS
(Melodromaticus Donkeyito Democratinum)

Edwards - Congratulations on announcing the Edwards-Obama ticket!
Obama - Congratulations on announcing the Obama-Edwards ticket!
Richardson - Are you through yet? I can't tell when you've finished a thought.
Clinton - Thanks for letting us see your feelings -- the good ones, and the not-so-flattering ones, too.

thank god for the political process. four hours of entertainment, for free! well, after sponsorship by facebook, abc and someone else, but hey, if the corporations and celebrities don't bring me my candidates, then i don't know how i'm supposed to make an informed decision.

yay for the free market!

reason #4007 i love futurama

4007. morbo and kittens

the daily grind

this morning i did something i rarely do -- i called a company i interviewed with a few weeks back, to see what the status was. i had been told, while there, that i'd be contacted before the end of the year. i really wanted this job, so in case they passed on me (and being january now, i assumed they had), i wanted to see if they thought there was some area i could improve in, for future openings in this area. i have had a positive response to this before, so i figured what the hell.

turns out the hiring for that position was frozen. and they were going to hire four people! while that sucks a lot for me of course, in a way i almost feel just as bad for them. you thought four people were coming, and now you get zero. nyah nyah.

they did tell me that the hiring might thaw next month, so that's good. meantime i continue, as ever, the elusive search for employment, and as i look through the mediocre postings today, i find that nothing moves me. oh, don't get me wrong, after i finish this post i'll be applying to four positions. but i can't get excited about them (one i could, if only it were FT), and maybe it's that coupled with knowing this next week i have two interviews for web hackish positions (which i'm also having difficulty feigning interest in) that's just making this morning a bit bummerish.

i'm glad my parents are coming over today for a belated new year's of grubbing, gaming, and giggling. i can tell i need it.