10 years later...

So now it's 2020, and I'm stuck at home. As are many people around the world as we all try to avoid spreading the corona virus. It's been a bit over two weeks for me. I went home early on Monday, March 23rd. We didn't have any work and our production manager was telling us to go home under those circumstances. Earlier I had volunteered for temporary lay-off. Business is way slow and it was one of the strategies that Yoyodine had for surviving this crisis. (Yes, I'm still at Yoyodine. My low level of ambition hasn't changed.) Noddles is making more than I am and, between that and the savings, we can survive a financial hit. Our production manager, John Cousteau, said nothing would be decided until the end of the week. I didn't stop to think that he was only speaking of decisions at Yoyodine.

Monday afternoon, the governor issued his stay at home order. All non-essential businesses will close and they have 48 hours to comply. Oh, well. I emailed John Cousteau and asked him if I should bother coming either Tuesday or Wednesday. I didn't know what work had to get out or what they wanted us to do to shut things down. (I did know that I wanted to come in and fetch the book I was reading over lunch, but I digress...) He replied that Yoyodine was an essential business and would remain open, but I didn't need to come in. I read that as meaning he would prefer me to stay home, so I did. Weird. I gave him a call on Wednesday afternoon to see what he wanted me to do next. This time he officially told me to stay home. I was now laid off--well, I think he said "furloughed", since they want me back--but that Yoyodine still needed to set things up with the state unemployment office. He said he'd contact me with more details before the 1st.

So now I'm home all day. In considering finding new employment (Details on that in another post on another day), I realized that I should be doing some self improvement. I've worked on my html/css skills, started an exercise routine, and now I'm practicing my writing skills. Whether any of these small efforts will bear much fruit is unlikely. But it has to be better than playing another hand of solitaire.

Labels: change, current events, life, work, writing

It's Sunday night and as I try to write, I find my mind lacking in profundity. Too tired, I guess. But then again, blogging at the end of the day used to be the norm, and I could come up with something to say. What's the difference? I'm I just older and too many of the old synapses have worn out? Has the stress of the weekend sapped my creativity? Am I just hoping to slap together a blog post and then go watch a movie on the tube? Ah, maybe that's a hint. No blasted time. There's just so much that I want to do that I end up with no time for reflection, hence when it comes time to put words on, er, some server God-knows-where, I'm at a loss. Of course, if that's the case, the solution is easy--wait until I'm 65 (or 67) (or 70) (or 75) (or...) and start a retirement blog. Of course, by then blogs will all be videos featuring one's 3-D animated avatar with the option of using artificial intelligence to generate snarky comebacks for any obnoxious comments. And I'll still be on dial-up (provided by the Museum of History and Industry's 20th Century Living History exhibit), unable to post.

Labels: blogging, writing

I don't know what to write. I was so desperate I grabbed my old journals from the '80s off the shelf to see if I could steal material. Do you realize that I only had one entry from November the 14th? Do you realize that it was about five lines of totally boring drivel? I shudder to think how much of those writings I would excise if I were to go through and edit my ramblings. I never was one for content. I did have a few creative page headers, though. Maybe that could be my next fad--grab a new set of markers and start writing in a spiral bound notebook again. Maybe I'll do that for December.

Labels: nostalgia, writing

Aw, why kid myself? I'm not writing any more. There's nothing exciting going on that compels me to write. Nor do I have the time to try and create something amusing about the mundanity that is happening. (Or, as Karen suggested at the last Weblogger's Meetup, to fabricate lies about daily life.) So I'm going to take a sabbatical. Go fishing, as it were. (Though actually it's more like go watch some Bollywood flicks. The few times I've been fishing in my life I've found the activity to be incredibly boring.) So if you stop by here and there's nothing new, you'll know that this is the new normal. And if you stop by and there is new content, you'll know that I can't keep any resolution whatsoever. (Well, it's not like I'm really resolving not to blog. I'm just going to start not blogging for a while. Well, I guess I have already started that. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that I'm not going to feel guilty about not blogging. Just a little smidgeon of guilt over having started to not blog. I mean, Wil Wheaton keeps writing stuff. Of course, he probably has broadband and can get ideas from YouTube, but still...)(Okay I'm going to shut up now. Not because I've run out of things to say, which happened a number of sentences ago, but because dinner won't be ready until 7:00 and I need a Pop-Tart to tide me over.)(Yunnan Diet, meet the American Anti-Diet...) Ta....

Labels: blogging, life, writing

Just got word last night that Coffee won a local writing contest. Of course, if I want to maintain anonymity, I can't link to any press releases or news articles that may be out there. sigh. What's a proud father to do? I know, I'll be jealous instead. Coffee submitted a short tale about a old immigrant woman and a young white girl passing on the street. A touching and culturally sensitive tale, to be sure. Now when I was her age, I was writing a bad Star Wars parody where the droids were stoners and Darth was my English teacher. Durn upstart kid, showing me up like that....

Labels: family, life, writing