Stores just don't sell men's pants in my very short inseam length, except maybe in waist sizes half of mine. My recent interviews showed me that jeans probably won't cut it in the new place, and my dress pants are all too long, which is tolerable for a round of interviews and the occasional funeral or wedding, but real uncomfortable for normal wear. So I did some searches and found a couple of places online which had my waist/inseam available in dress pants and spent about 30% less than if JCP had what I was looking for. Shipping was about $11, tax would have been $13.

And the model of automatic litterbox which is being delivered any minute now is not available in any of the stores, which only carry the basic model - for $5 more. Free shipping from amazon.com prime (my membership paid for itself months ago).

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Picked up my insulin pens at Kaiser, my co-pay was $20, retail price $1200. That's for a 3-month supply. And it's only 1/3 of my insulin (I use two different types - the other type needs dosages out of the 60-unit range a pen delivers). Had to go to CVS for coated vitamin C, though. Kaiser only stocks the uncoated. Perhaps they have a deal with the Heimlich people.

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One of my job references emailed that he was called by the client - the QA manager in NorLina with whom I talked Monday afternoon. This afternoon the contract agent sent me email confirming the start date, and asking for name, address, phone, SS#. Things are moving along. But I still get to mail in my unemployment claim Saturday, and another in 2 weeks to pay for next week.

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Something's burning. Oh, it's the cookies. Sort of. The frozen homemade cookies I nuked in the microwave for a minute. Turns out walnuts burn, though the rest of the cookie is fine. Smells like a forest fire, just the smoking tips of a couple of walnuts.

My contract agent called to let me know I was selected for the job. So I sent references, which the client company will check, and the agency will send me release forms so they can do the usual background checks. I told her I hadn't killed anyone since breakfast, and she said that was a good start, but they need to know for the past 5 years. I don't remember killing anyone during that time, but I have forgotten a lot of things I did that long ago.

Taking the bureaucratic stuff into account, we're hoping for a start date a week from Monday, so October 12.

The last time I was laid off was August 16, 2001 and was out of work till December 10, so a week short of 4 months. This time it will be two weeks past 4 months. Considering 9/11 happened just in time to clobber the job market after that 2001 layoff, the current depression appears to be the hands-down winner.

Went back to interview with three more people (had an in-person with the Big Manager Friday and a phone interview with the Medium Sized Manager yesterday). Nice people, asked good questions, but nobody telegraphed anything, I have no idea if I'm going to be the choice or not. Recruiter says there is one other solid candidate.

Phone interview went well, they want me to come in tomorrow to meet the local team. Time TBA.

D300 arrived back from repair, they not only fixed what I reported, they fixed two things I'd forgotten all about. Now I can put it on eBay with a clear conscience.

Solmeta's cable for the D90 was in the same shipment, and it is way better than the one I lost at Yosemite. Shorter, connectors are more snug. The one which came with the GPS unit was actually for an older Nikon model. They also sent the strap clamp so I don't have to mount it on the hot shoe.

Not writer's block, just kinda in hermit mode. Dropped out of the NorCal Peace Corps alumni group, have stopped going to BASFA meetings, withdrew from the Silicon 2009 art show. Pulled out of all the photo meetup groups which do group model shoots.

Been watching America's Got Talent on Tivo. The first 10 minutes of each show is crap & commercials, so FF gets used a lot. I have come to cherish Piers' comments. He mostly thinks like me, though he's way too soft-hearted when it comes to the Everyman entrants. The show is not called "America's Got People Who Sing Flat" or "America's Got Derelicts Who Clean Up Okay". And I want to shoot the producers who have torpedoed some real talent by over-producing their numbers, putting them in horrid costumes, and making them do numbers which don't suit them. My Way as a trio? OMGWTFBBQ. Backup singers for a child trio? High School Musical production numbers for solo dancers? And worst of all, IMHO, making the reincarnation of Paul Robeson sing tacky contemporary with backup singers and sexy women violinists. The only person they have done justice to is one Barbara Padilla, who sings opera so beautifully I have cried during each and every one of her performances. They have costumed her perfectly, and let her sing in her own genre. Her voice still needs a wee bit of work, but she would have fit right into one of Pavarotti's master classes.( cut for length )
Been reading Mainspring a lot. I am finding it very slow reading. Part of the problem is the name of the main character. Hethor. That name makes my eye stop. It makes my brain freeze up too. You know that theory Mel Brooks has about "some words are funny, some aren't"? Hethor is just one of those words which does not look like a name for a character in a book set in British New England. And since he tells the story in the third person, it's on the page early and often. Did anyone else have this experience, or is it just me? Other than that, I'm torn, because it's certainly a very creative setting and story, but I keep running into phrases which stop my eye, or just make me wish he'd called it something else. Anyone know if Jay owns an astrolabe? That would explain a lot. I'm almost done, I may or may not write a full review. Yosemite's reading list will include Sherri S. Tepper.

Looking forward to Thursday's band rehearsal. It's what got me started on the implant thing - it can hurt a lot to play Baritone or trumpet without real teeth. One of the other older bari players suggested it to me.

Great final show for me and most of the cast. Best standing O yet. Poor J/H was in the early stages of a cold, and his voice was doing rude things to him all night. He's a trouper, and managed to salvage most of those, but it wasn't pretty for those of us who knew how much better than that he is.

The director came to the show, told me he thought I did an excellent job - I am sure he was surprised with the improvement. It really helps running the show over and over again without any changes. He also helped with strike, and I mean really help as in carrying heavy set pieces out to the shop. I got tasked with one of the easier jobs (in between hauling set pieces, that is) of collecting screws. They have two of these things which have a heavy bar magnet mounted between two lawnmower wheels, and a metal broom-like handle. You push it around on the floor and it picks up anything metallic. They have two of these, one about 3' wide and the other about a foot wide. Me and the resident redhead shared those - she had me pull the stuff off the magnets and put them in the bucket, since it was hard on her back. After a while I was able to go around the stage asking cast members "screw in a bucket?"

Strike began at about 5:30 and was done in 3 hours, which was pretty good for such a huge set. The Players threw a pizza party for us at Pizza My Heart downtown Paly, but I was delayed somewhat by a flat tire. So now the baby spare is on there, and it's in need of some more air too, I think. Gotta try to get up early and drop the tire off at a service station and get the spare pumped up.

The party was weird, because there was no private room, and we took up several tables at the front of the place. The pizza sucked. Thin, soggy, greasy, mostly taste-free. Some of the blame is on bizarre vegetarian choices by whomever ordered them, but even the pepperoni was lame.

One highlight of the party - everyone was given a $150 check, which we applied for as an "Arts Grant", but the check itself says "Contracted Services: Actor". Woot!

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Called the parental units this morning - got them on my 4th try. The first three they said rang their phone, but I didn't hear ringing or an answer. Turns out Vonage burped, they reset their connection and now it works fine. But meanwhile I got the folks on my cell phone. Wished Mom a happy Mother's Day, gave Dad my condolences on the loss of his one and only sister-in-law, and let him know I'd sent email and a snail mail card since time zones and work/play kept me from being able to phone.

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Big day tomorrow. New job starts, have my passport and SS Card out and ready to prove I'm legal. A chunk of the day will be orientation & paperwork.

Minerva Networks made me a good offer ($10/hr above my usual rate) so I will start a short-term QA contract with them tomorrow morning. Pretty much doing the job I should have been doing with Microsoft.

So...

Have a lunch date with one of my Kasenna friends, and an appointment late afternoon to get my nails silk wrapped as the dermatologist suggested. Since it's the 25th, which is a month from my target date for moving, I will do some apartment hunting. I am hoping all I have to do is go back to my #1 choice and they will have a ground floor 2 BR available in the right time frame. But no problems if not, there are lots of places in my price range on CraigsList.

Next step is looking for a moving company which will handle the piano. The last two moves they lied.

This morning's culinary project was mashing the crispy fried onions and scrambled eggbeaters into the chopped liver. It tastes yummy. Yes, I licked the bowl. But the way chopped liver looks, it reminded me of this sick joke:

Child: "Mommy, mommy, may I lick the bowl?"

( Mommy: )

My Gateway recovery disc still has not shown up. Boo, hiss. Maybe tonight. Vista cooperated with me yesterday at Starbucks, so it has gone from crisis to annoyance. I will definitely not be moving to Vista until long after it is out and there are a full set of drivers. SP1, maybe.

Another Monday, another flurry of recruiter calls & email. So I have a phone screen with BigBand Networks in the morning, there's a 1-month contract at Minerva Networks which is almost mine for the asking and could start as early as Wednesday. The Minerva on-site recruiter called about it, as did two contract companies, and  I'm still in the running at MS, but won't know till Friday.

The day actually started off at Kaiser dermatology, where I had an appointment with an RNP about my chronic nail splitting. The bottom line was "there's no cure". She suggested B vitamins, moisturizer (vaseline works great, she said) and to protect the nail, get a silk wrap. I've thought of the latter, may do that tomorrow. Another excuse to visit the mall. RNP is a 40-ish woman with startlingly bright grey eyes. Attractive in a weird way - they are very much like my niece's.

Used my Petco coupon on cat food, water fountain filters and a male betta. When I move, I'll keep the bettas, and sell or give away the rest of my 30-gal tank. That would be 5 gouramis, a plecostamus and a couple of female swordtails.

Did some shopping for hand lotions, lots of stuff out there - how do people choose? Finally picked up some vaseline, and some intensive care lotion. Also got salad stuff.

Home in time for dinner, but then I looked at the white board and saw there was a BASFA meeting, so I headed out to Campbell for that. It was fun as usual.

Home, got out the wok and fried up three big yellow onions. Will drain them and mix them into the chopped liver, along with some scrambled egg, tomorrow.

Not much on the agenda for tomorrow. Phone screen at 10, maybe another one for Minerva too. More job hunt roulette. Probably will drive to Palo Alto to see a house which is in a pretty convenient location, just barely in my price range. Really a steal for a whole house rental.