The Discard Pile

Perhaps I'm becoming something of a wastrel in my old age, but I think I'm pretty much done saving things just in case they might one day come in handy.

If I use three inches of black electrical tape per year, I think I'd rather go out and buy a new roll of tape, use the required amount, and throw away the rest of the roll. Then the next time I need black electrical tape, I know my first step is to go out and buy some black electrical tape.

In terms of the amount of time spent looking for the tape each year and the ratio of "stuff we have that goes years without being used" to "amount of space we have in our house", I think I'll still come out far ahead.

Salvaged from LiveJournal: May 1st, 2002

mood:  pensive

music: Jewel

A glimmer of hope on the job front

This morning I got a call from the HR department of one of the places where I applied for a job. Even though I felt there were a few places where I stumbled conversationally (I had just woken up about 10 minutes earlier) I think it went well. She said she's going to pass my file over to the web development area, and if they're interested they'll call later in the week or next week.

The job is in Des Moines Iowa, which moves me 4 hours away from my closest family, but people survive not being in the same city as their families, right? And my parents will be in Utah for at least a few more years, so they wouldn't see that much of us anyway.

Looking into Des Moines, it could be a nice place to live. Big enough to have places to go but not Chicago-sized. Reasonably priced housing and cost of living.

I just dread the process of putting my house on the market, finding a house in Iowa, and acquiring financing. This being a real buyer's market (I count at least 6 houses right in my neighborhood for sale), I'm not optimistic about a quick and profitable sale of this house. And then there's the fun of packing up everything I own and schlepping it halfway across Iowa.

Can we please just fast-forward to six months from now when we're all settled in our new home and completely done with this one? But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. Gotta get the job first.

Salvaged from LiveJournal: January 11th, 2002

mood:  lethargic

music: The Celtic channel on Spinner.com

Needed: one weekend.

So it's Friday morning. Boss probably wants me to come into work tomorrow, but that won't be happening. There's a strong rumor that more layoffs are coming on Monday, so I'll be damned if'n I'm working the weekend before getting the boot!

Office Space is becoming less of a comedy and more of a documentary.

Late last night I finally finished painting the nursery. I think it turned out pretty good, with a few reservations. I'll post photos later for those who are interested. Then I vacuumed and steam-cleaned the carpet so we (I) can move all the new furniture (that I've been tripping over in the hallway for the past month) back in. Steam-cleaning carpets at 1:30 AM? It's amazing how liberating it is to not give a damn how awake/productive one is for work the next day.

I'm looking forward to drawing a lot this weekend- I really miss it. I also want to update some on-line photo pages. I've spent my lunch hours this week catching up on strips I haven't seen since November. I missed reading comics, too.

My new snow thrower still sits unused in my garage-- it's even got some tags still on it! There can be no more effective snow repellent than spending $800 on a machine to save one's back from last year's excruciating pain. I guess in that respect, it has worked-- just not in the way I thought it would.