Good morning! While most of the country is in the grips of Old Man Winter, it's supposed to be 79 degrees here at my house today, woo-hoo! That sounds a whole lot better than -25 wind chills. One of my brothers sent me a Weather Channel webpage snapshot the other day, -33 where he lives, actual temperature! DAMN! Now that's just plain cold! At least if I lose my job, I won't freeze to death. And the employment picture is actually looking a wee bit better. Business has picked up, and the next 45 days don't look so bleak as the last 45 days. I heard some pretty eye-opening stories from fellow employees who obviously are suffering a whole lot more than I am. One was telling me it was either milk or gasoline the other day. Another drove into work on empty, with no money for gas for the way home. So, I guess I shouldn't complain. Of course, there'll be pressure on Dispatch by these guys (and women) because they've fallen so far behind. Meaning, I need to keep reminding Dispatch that I have bills too. I'm pretty altruistic about not griping about getting "run around" on work... to a point.

Tough Times

The sad state of our economy has caught up to me... as well as all my fellow drivers at the bus company. Hours are WAY off. It's normally a slow time of year anyhow, but it's particularly dismal right now. As a result, and after numerous requests, I've started doing computer repairs for people in the mobile home complex I live in. I was apprehensive at first, it's a bit weird to enter someone's home and start working on a totally unfamiliar computer, but oh well, I need to make some $$$. Most of the work is the usual stuff.... software glitches, viruses, familiarization lessons. I haven't run into any hardware issues yet, but that's a certainty.
Ironically, the one embarrassing thing is my inability to type! Never learned! So, it's "hunt and peck". Somehow, "computer gurus" are expected to be able to type at blazing speed....