The Day After

As planned, I did not rush to wake up in the morning, despite the mournful cries from the feline, who just wanted treats (she has plenty of real food & water). At about 10:30 I unplugged the car, drove to the office with 4 small U-haul boxes, a roll of paper tape and a collapsible dolly.

Spent about an hour on the work PC cleaning up my test machine's database so whomever inherits it has a clean slate to work with. And another 20 minutes deleting any email I'd sent to my personal address. We have no competent PC support person, he is still on disability from a major car accident, so the PC probably won't get wiped any time soon. I deleted all my personal apps yesterday.

All the coffee cups, my desktop fan, the photos and electronic picture frame, and all the personal odds and ends (cough drops, caladryl, migraine pills, nail files, USB drives, etc) in my desk drawers fit into two U-haul book boxes. I put those on the dolly and wheeled them out to the car. Left the other 2 boxes and the tape in case anyone coming in Thursday for the final meeting want to use them.

Home, made space in the shed for the boxes - it was easier than I thought it would be, and also reminded me that my bicycle needs to be pulled out, and brought somewhere for new tires and a tune-up.

All morning, starting at 8 am, I was getting calls from recruiters. Most of them with thick East Indian accents and (US) east coast area codes. All desperate for me to apply for contract jobs through their companies. One out of 10 fit my skills, and it was in San Francisco which is not the best commute, and the pay rate was $10/hr below my expectations, but I said okay just for practice. But then the bozo misspells my name in the contract form, and keeps telephoning me without leaving voicemail, so I told him via email to shove it.

About that time my phone rings again, and it was a local recruiter with whom I had worked in the past. I don't think I landed a job through him, but he had a contract close to my price range, in exactly the skill set I want, a short commute away in Mountain View. So he's going to see if they can meet my price, or have any other positions which would. I would take that job at the asking price, but it doesn't hurt to negotiate within reason.

Someone else, also local, left me voicemail, similar but different job in MV, but I erased it because she said she had sent email. Never got the email, which means she probably spelled the address wrong, which is a show stopper for me. Maybe she'll figure it out or call back.

Bottom line, not bad for day 1 of job hunt.

Been texting boss and Automation Guy. They initiated it, but I'm happy to keep in touch. Both are friends outside of work.

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After shedding the boxes I grabbed the empty SodaStream cartridge and headed for Target. Exchanged that (got the last one apparently) and then followed a tall slender woman in distressed jeans and calf-high cowboy boots to the shampoo aisle, which was actually where I was heading anyway. Needed body wash and shampoo. Have enough conditioner to last years, now that I'm keeping my hair and beard trimmed.

There was some other eye candy, including the cashier.

Home again, put stuff away, caught up on recruiter email, Facebook, LJ, and watched some TV and started to doze off so I took a nap for an hour.

Heated up some stuffed cabbage and toasted three pieces of sourdough bread for dinner, and watched X-Files. Very happy they have retained the pretty redheaded FBI doctor with the unfortunate name of Einstein. She is obviously a fan IRL, and is having a hard time Acting as if she doesn't Believe. Lauren Ambrose.

Also watched Supergirl. Forgot to stop recording it. Still too much fisticuffs, and oddly imdb does not list a fight choreographer though there obviously is one, but it does list about 40 stunt actors.

And they have introduced yet another annoying character.

Received a songbook of 100 R&B numbers, allegedly. Maybe half are not R&B. And the one I keep earworming, I Will Survive, isn't in there.  I love this version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBOLPlNkPLY

Also received was a letter from Toyota confirming my trade-in's loan was paid off and suggesting I ask for a refund of the extended warranty (need to call the dealer).

And a reminder that Bingo night is Wednesday. I'll probably go. Haven't been able to make it on time lately. And email from the Thai conversation group meetup that Thai movie night is postponed, not enough people signed up. :-(

Plans for tomorrow:

Maybe drive to the beach, HMB, with a stop at the carnivorous plant store.

Bingo

A Day at the Beach

But first, even though she has not been on here in ages and it's already tomorrow both where she is from and where she is now, a sincere happy birthday to Dr. mistymarshall who has dealt with much foo in her young lifetime and still achieves her goals. And she takes really excellent photographs.

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Last night when I went into the bathroom to prepare for bed, Spook was hunkered down on the mat in front of the sink, and when she got out of my way it was only to slink over to the carpet just outside the door. So I picked her up - she did not resist, which is rare - and set her on the camp quilt on the bed. She slept there all night, and did not leave till about 6 am. When she saw I was up, she joined me again until I was dressed and in my office room. I saw her trying to barf earlier in the evening, but nothing came. Found a small hairball by the litter box later.

So, my first day of not wanting/needing to go to the office. After some second thoughts, I headed for the beach. Took 101 to 92, not the fastest route but who cares, and from Skyline to the beach it was bumper to bumper 1-20 mph. Fine with me, there are curves which too many mammoth pickups and BMWs try to take too fast. And a miracle - no motorcycles or bicycles.

Took a left onto Hwy 1, and the first right to the state park. Beach parking was $9 for seniors, $10 for humans, and of course there was no one at the booth to make change so they got $10 from me.

It was relatively clear, sunny, tide was out and looked to be coming in maybe. The waves were not high enough to surf, and they broke as soon as the tube formed, with a big loud crash and quite a big display of foam. A dozen or so people walking around, no one in the water until an hour later, when a couple of die hard short board riders gave it a try. Not worth it for a 10-second ride, IMHO.

Wipeout in 3...2...1...


Admiring the power of the waves


Sandpipers piping sand

Click here to see the whole set.

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Stayed for a couple of hours, at about 3 was back on the road, and made a planned stop at the carnivorous plants place, where the nice lady found a lovely pitcher plant in the back room for me for only $18. And I also paid $45 for a huge butterwart which was dotted with gnat corpses.

Home by way of 92-280-85-237.

Slurped up the photos onto the PC, then uploaded to Flickr. Only a couple needed any processing.

Had not eaten since morning, so cooked up a couple of corn dogs. While I was on the beach three recruiters called, two were still sporting Hindi accents, and had jobs I was not interested in. One I didn't answer, but it matched email I got at home, and it was for a position completely out of my area of expertise.

Went on to monster.com and it still says my email address is invalid. So I tried the one I use for match.com, and that worked, which told me their error message was wrong, it should have said the email address was already in use. So I clicked on "forgot password" and after half an hour email showed up telling me how to reset it. So, I reset it for my jobs email and deleted the match account.

Found a couple of jobs to apply for. I'm not qualified, but close enough that a hiring manager ought to have something I can do. NVidia was one of them, they are across the expressway from Arris, and have been building a new HQ across the street from Arris. A royal PITA.

walked to the community hall, got there at 6 for 6:30 bingo. By the time the first game was underway the place was packed. Which meant big pots for the winners. I didn't even come close, but it was something to do not by myself.

Still need to round up some dinner. Probably something light because there were chips and cookies and mini candy bars at bingo.

Tried to roll over my 401k, but it says I have not been terminated yet. Need to wait till next week, I guess. :-(

Received a gift box from a friend in rural WA. A small sprig of Bay laurel, which needs partial shade, so there's no place outdoors I can plant it. Sigh.

Plans for tomorrow:
To Arris by 10, sign the papers, hand over my badge, say some goodbyes
Give Automation Guy my old A/V unit as a surprise gift
Manicure. Maybe also a partial pedicure, if I can make them understand they are NOT to touch the bottoms of my feet. Because I will kick them, hard.
Eat some more black forest cake
Do some more job outreach