Tuesday, December 31, 2002
New Years Eve
Well, today’s my 38th birthday, and I’m here in Florida with my Grandmother, whom I love dearly. She’s 93 and going pretty strong. Part of her strength comes from her strong will, which includes things like resisting using her dishwasher, despite the fact that she can’t see well enough to really hand wash her dishes. So, once again we will go through our little “You’ve got to use the dishwasher” routine.
Also, we’ve been invited across the street to her neighbors for New Years Eve. These folks have been really good neighbors to her, looking in on her and making sure she has everything she needs, so, of course, we’re going. These folks are very fundamentalist, politically active Christians, so I’m not sure what to expect. But I’ll put on my best happy face, ignore anything that might offend, and enjoy the evening.
I do find myself reflecting on exactly where I am in life. I’m 38, I’ve got very good friends, but I’m still single, and I doubt that I’ll ever have kids. I feel sort of as if I’ve never realized my goals, largely because I’ve never had any – or at least not any that I could clearly articulate. This leaves me with two paths – I can either get on the stick and set some goals, or I can sit here and stew. Time to get on the stick.
I wonder if the retrospection I tend to feel on my birthday is partly because it’s New Years Eve. Then again, I’ve never been big on the whole New Year’s thing. Or parties. Maybe there’s a resolution in there somewhere – if I believed in resolutions.
Today has also reminded me of all the reasons I don’t like Florida. But, I won’t enumerate them because that wouldn’t be productive.
I’m also battling what I think is a bad cold. The doctor insisted that it was just allergies, but I’ve had coughing, clogged sinuses and a sore throat for months. Hopefully he’s right and it will pass.
I’ll follow up with my travelogue as I write it. The first bit is below…
Best wishes for a Happy New Year!
On The Road
It’s kind of funny to be taking a “vacation” while unemployed. For instance, is it really a vacation when you’re still hitting the job boards every day? Can you even take a vacation if you’re not working?
Well, I propose that you can. For instance, I’m not really pounding the phones, nor do I intend to until I get home. And, as long as one is not in a hotel, traveling is only slightly more expensive than not traveling.
My goal for this trip is simply to spend some quality time with people that I care about, and to break what was becoming a bad routine. For instance, my sleep cycle was getting really messed up. On the road, it’s OK to be sleeping randomly, and adjusting to ones hosts is primary. Thus, it was important not to sleep too late in Poughkeepsie or in my Grandmother’s house, but in Asheville, all bets were off.
The golf leg of the trip is liable to be early, depending on the tee times we get. But that’s getting up for a reason.
December 23-26 – Poughkeepsie, NY
I spent Christmas in Poughkeepsie with my friends Paul and Jennifer. During the course of the day, we got about 16 inches of snow – not bad for the first white Christmas in thirty or so years.
The kids really enjoyed the holiday and showed a remarkable degree of restraint – they were asked to wait until everyone was awake before opening their stockings. Furthermore, they had to wait until after their nap to open their presents. When I was their age, this would have been unthinkable.
Dinner was excellent, although I think I annoyed Jennifer, who had accidentally made too much whipped cream for the trifle – I goaded her into using it all which went against her “use only what you need” ethic. Sorry – but I think it improved an already great dessert by giving it some height to show off the fruit decoration on top. Of course I had to tease her that there was too much whipped cream.
The next day, Jennifer and her parents got up with the birds to dig out the driveway. By the time I had realized what they were doing and got myself dressed to help out, they were almost done. The neighbor came over and used his snowblower to move the area at the top of the drive that had been plowed into a hard, deep, heavy mass, so the most I could do was start to dig out J & P’s minivan, which was not yet in the clear. I also took a run over to the Home Despot to try to get a snow rake for Paul, with no luck, but I did manage to get some donuts to ruin the kids’ nutrition plan.
December 26 - Driving to Asheville
I managed to hit the road by 11AM, which gave the crews plenty of time to dig out the main roads. The interstate was pretty clear in NYS, but the instant I crossed into PA, the roads became extremely treacherous. It’s as if they forgot the recipe for road salt! I would be driving along, and all of a sudden, the left lane would be completely impassible. Basically, I would rate their snow removal efforts as ineffective at best, and negligent at worst. What is up with Pottsylvania??
By the time I hit Maryland, the roads were clear and the snow was just a dusting, which faded to nothing in West Virginia and Virginia. The drive was pretty remarkable for it’s lack of remarkableness. The only notable thing is that while driving on I-81 in VA, I had a state trooper stuck to my tail for about 20 minutes and then he took off like a bat out of hell. This happened twice. I suspect that they were running my plates. I think they need to forget the "Virginia is for Lovers" thing and get a new slogan – “Virginia is for Paranoids”.
7:14 PM
Friday, December 27, 2002
Christmas Vacation
I'll be on the road for the next couple of weeks and updating as I can. I have already been up to Poughkeepsie for Christmas, and I am now in Asheville, NC with my friends Marc and Sam and their mother Nell. Then I'm off to Florida to visit my Grandmother, and then my friends Guy and Andrew will be coming down and we will be doing our best imitation of golfing.
Productive? Not especially. A valuable break? Definitely.
12:32 PM
Sunday, December 22, 2002
Cooking with Gas
Today I tried my hand at making cioppino for my friends M&S and another couple M&A, who were visiting. I messed with the recipe a bit and added diced carrots and thinly sliced peppers. It turned out quite well.
I’ve got to say that the best little extra about staying with my friends is that I get to cook for an audience, and today was particularly fun. I also made my own version of baba gannouj (sp?) and a nice salad of radicchio, romaine and fennel. When I was living by myself, I seldom got the chance to cook because it’s hard to cook for one. Now I’ve got an audience and I intend to make the best of it.
In the Supermarket
Today, I was on line at King's waiting to pay for my pita bread (the only thing I couldn't find at ShopRite or the Chinese market) when I overheard the following dialogue from behind me:
Pre-teen Girl, pointing to display by the register: Mommy, is that mistletoe?
Mommy: How should I know? We're Jewish!
Trying very hard not to laugh, I turned around and assured them that yes, it was indeed mistletoe.
10:38 PM
Saturday, December 21, 2002
Suburban Reindeer Wars
Right now, I’m staying with friends in suburban Livingston, NJ. Livingston is one of those pleasant suburban towns that has become far more upscale than reason dictates. I certainly don’t get it. That said, I’m quite happy to be here.
I have noticed this odd phenomenon, though. Livingston is a predominantly Jewish town, so few homes have holiday decorations. But, look out for those that do! First, some lights appear, next, a plastic snowman. Then the herd of electric reindeer exoskeletons starts to appear. You know, the reindeer built out of light tubing.
The first one is tasteful and kind of novel, but before you know it, the single reindeer is joined by two across the street, and then three down the block, and then the first, lone reindeer is joined by a couple more, and maybe a Santa. Before long, clusters of homes are overrun by more than enough reindeer to pull several sleighs.
Just more keeping up with the Joneses. If only the displays were more imaginative.
A Quick Drive Through the Oranges
For as long as I’ve lived in the Metro NY Area, I’ve heard people say bad things about the Oranges. Recently, I’ve heard people say some good things, so I took a quick drive through the area. South Orange is probably one of the prettiest towns I’ve seen. The streets are lined with lots of classic Victorians, Colonials, Dutch Colonials and the odd Arts & Crafts thrown in for good measure. I was very impressed.
Perhaps one day, when I’m once again a productive member of society, I’ll be able to afford a house there.
Keeping Busy
This has been one of my major challenges over the past couple of weeks. I’m working on my business plan, and pounding the pavement looking for a job. But, this time of year, you can pound only so hard.
There are a number of things I’d like to do more, such as:
--> Hitting the Gym
--> Studying German
--> Visiting Museums
--> Reading Good Books
--> And About a Dozen More…
But, I’m finding it hard to get started on much of anything. My sleep patterns have really deteriorated, and I’m trying to blame it on the increasing gloom of the winter season. In fact, today was the Winter Solstice, so things only get brighter from here. I’d buy a full-spectrum lamp to try and reset my circadian, but they’re too expensive.
One thing I must do is start to refresh old contacts and use them for what they’re worth. Why do I always find it so hard to ask other people for help? Oh well, I’m not going to be able to answer that question here.
And a Very Merry Christmas To All
7:15 PM
Saturday, December 14, 2002
Focus Dammit!
Well, I’m cruising along with the job search thing, but not turning up too much. I know that this is largely a function of the season – the month of December is simply a bad time to be in the job market. This is, however, one of those times where the gulf between academic knowledge and belief is starting to raise its ugly head.
I know that I’m pretty darn employable – and at a senior level too boot. I just need to find the inner focus that will let me clearly articulate the kind of job I want and the kind of company I want to work for. The rest should take care of itself.
The other option is to go off and do something on my own. I’ve got an idea for a franchisable retail operation, although I’m not getting too much support from the folks I’ve told about it. I’m not sure if it is reflective of a really bad idea, or if my friends are just too conservative to appreciate what I’d like to do.
Of course, with the holidays rushing up, I’m starting to feel my own financial stability begin to decline. Not that I have no money – just that I feel like I don’t have enough. One of the legacies of living in California is somewhat messed up finances. Nothing like paying more than the national average wage for a crappy apartment to lower your net worth. Maybe it was a mistake not to wear the hairshirt and have roommates. It certainly would have been better for me financially, and who knows, it might have been better psychologically too. That said, I’m still not prepared to rush into any sort of roommate situation – I just don’t like people messing with my stuff.
So, here I sit in my friends’ basement, typing away and feeling just a little sorry for myself, when in reality, I should be glad to have such good friends. I suppose that I’ll feel better once I get over the “holiday hump” and get back from the road trip I’m planning. Poughkeepsie for Christmas, Asheville, NC for a couple of days, then down to Tampa to visit my Grandmother and to hang out with my friend Guy who will be down there on break from law school. Should be a good (and cheap) trip.
9:46 PM
Thursday, December 12, 2002
Life and How to Live It
Well, I've been back from Germany for a while, and I'm doing the job search thing. It's kind of hard not having the structure that I've been accustomed to having. The degrees of freedom available are almost frightening. Since it's really hard to work the network between Thanksgiving and New Year's, I've decided to put together a business plan. Can't really talk about it on the web, but I need to build the plan and the related financial model to see if it's viable.
12:08 AM
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