woof

Prepping for an interview that ended up going over 5 1/2 hours, that's how I spent my 31st birthday thank you very much. Ouch.

The disheartening thing about such a long interview is that you have plenty of time to talk yourself into thinking you're the top candidate, but that only guarantees you'll hear something to shatter that belief in one of the last sessions of the day. So even though I was sick and barely able to talk, I was feeling pretty great until the last two session. After giving a 30 minute presentation in the middle of the day that was really well received and a session with some of the students I'd be working with, I had myself well convinced that the job was mine. Only to walk out convinced of the complete opposite.

Oh well. I'm happy the sun is out and I can go to the beach without ice in the water. It's the little things right now.

Current beer-scale: fucking high.

Like pudding, even.

Unemployment has made me soft. I wouldn't say lazy, b/c I've kept busy. But soft for sure.

My license expires next week, and instead of taking the train downtown or riding a bike, I drove to an express station on the 4200 block of Diversy. It was the decision to drive that really drove it home for me. The sun was out, I had nothing but time, but I hopped in the car anyway. Soft.

Of course, the primary pain in the ass whether by car or bike remains the same: other cars. It started quick on this trip.

Seriously, that guy is literally in the middle of the street. Once I wasn't behind him, the closest car to his was on the other side of the street. No one in front, no one behind, just some idiot who decided "I don't have to park, I'll just turn the car off once I come to a stop." Douche.

Even with people like that on the road, I still have my fingers crossed that I have a job to commute to in the near future. If only to have somewhere to be that's as far away from that guy as possible.

Current beer-scale: 6.1

Oh yeah, it's practically spring...

The increase in bikes out this morning should have been my first clue. Actually, the sun yesterday should have been first, but nothing really drove spring home until I had to cut my run with the dog short this morning. It seems it's nice enough for people to golf now, and it's hard to keep a crazed dog out of the way so it was time to turn around sooner than usual. Good thing we keep all our found tennis balls in the car.

It's hard to be upset about cutting short a run though. If it really does snow this weekend things will be empty again by Monday. It was pretty great to see the line of golf carts out and see how nice the grass looked in the morning light. I could easily get sucked into pulling the driver out. If I had a job to pay for a bucket of driving range balls.

Oh well. The sun is out, and I should be to.

Current beer-scale: 4.1

enjoy it while it's here

What a crappy yet history-filled weekend.

I actually forgot how fantastic it feels to have the sun on your back with the temperatures in the 50's. Especially after getting drenched for a weekend in Philadelphia for a wedding. Seriously, my shoes are just getting dry three days later.

Job searching continues, but unemployment is much easier to handle in the spring vs the winter. I have one interesting interview lined up for the end of the month but until then, I have to keep plugging along. It's almost the six-month mark now, and even though I was just talking to someone who was looking for over a year, there's no room for negativity. If the weather holds I'll really need somewhere to bike to in the near future.

Current beer-scale: 8.2