March 18th, 2009
Q4 2008
October
There were some lay-offs at work in August and rumors of more coming up. My company is very pro-active when it comes to laying off…they don’t wait until they are losing money but starts cutting costs and laying off people before that can happen. So even though we have been profitable, knowing the economy is slowing down and that fact that a large project we were working on for a utility company was put on hold prompted the lay-offs in August. We were awarded a project for a university last month and while that may help for a while it may not keep others from losing their jobs.
I’ve been unpacking and trying to get the house organized. I still have boxes in the dining room to unpack and need my bed to get upstairs and put together. And I can’t seem to find and keep a yard guy…they show up once or twice then don’t come back. I did buy a bike in order to get out and be more active. The weather here is beautiful and it’s great to be able to take advantage of it 10+ months out of the year. I did meet with an ENT and he is going to take out my tonsils and fix my deviated septum. Surgery is scheduled for the Friday before Thanksgiving and I’ll recover the following week. My sister was coming out to help take care of me the first few days but that fell through. I’m confident I can do it on my own with the help of a friend or two. I’ve also been to the dentist and for some reason my teeth have decided to rot out of my head in the past 18 months since I last went to one…the dentist says it is probably due to all the stress I’ve been under. I have a handful of cavities that need filling and 2 crowns. Take a look at my hillbilly teeth:
Hillbilly Teeth
November
Same old stuff. Surgery went fine. Sucked but not as bad as it would have a few years ago…now they remove tonsils using radio frequency waves instead of a heated scalpel. Less trauma to the surrounding tissue and reduces the risk of bleeding. I still couldn’t eat for 3 weeks and lost 20 lbs.
Roommate is driving me nuts. I’m realizing he’s a slob and I keep asking him to clean up after himself. For some reason he doesn’t notice the crumbs and spills he leaves on the counter-top. He says he’ll try to be more observant but it has yet to happen. He doesn’t understand how disgusting it is to go into the kitchen and see his mess which I have to clean up before I can start making my own food. Fucking pig.
December
We had our company holiday party which was totally lame. It was supposed to be at an architectural landmark with a decent budget but at the last minute our office director decided to cut the budget in half and host it in our office. Very tacky. A few of us went out afterwards which was nice though. The project we won for the university went on hold so lay-offs next month are pretty much guaranteed despite the company trying to reassure everyone. I know I’ll be one of the ones let go. I don’t hang out with the right clique and kiss ass like some others. At my office your qualifications and experience doesn’t matter as much as who you know and suck up to.
I decided not to go home for Christmas and just stayed home vegging. I had nearly 2 weeks off work and have been getting some things done around the house. It’s coming together rather nicely and I’ve bought a couple furniture pieces to go with the place. I did start dating again. Met 2 guys through Yahoo Personals and have gone out with one of them a couple times but don’t think we’re very compatible in the long run. I do like the other one a lot though. He is very active physically but has a calming energy. I plan on seeing more of him.
I’ll write more later and catch you up on the first couple months of the new year.