It's been an interesting few days.

For one thing, my dad got the phone number of an HR person of the bank where I used to work. She's based down at the bank building that's near the airport. I called her and left a voice mail message on Tuesday, but I haven't heard back yet.

My dad has called me every day since then at least once, and on Tuesday, twice, to find out if I've heard back from her. I think I finally got through today when I explained that I don't get my hopes up at all anymore until something actually happens. Because if I let myself get all disappointed and devastated every time something didn't come through in the time since the downsizing, I'd have jumped off a bridge long ago. (No exaggeration.)

I think he finally understood where I'm coming from, and I think he's going to wait until I actually call him and mom with news. Which is kind of good, because if there's one thing that will start me on the path to feeling low, it's going back into the CONSTANT cycle of "Have you heard anything? Have you got a job? Is there anything new on the job front?" that I get from some well-meaning people EVERY TIME I SEE THEM OR TALK TO THEM ON THE PHONE. I know they mean well, so I keep my mouth shut instead of getting grouchy and saying, "*NO*, there's nothing new; don't you think I'd have said something to everyone I know if I got a new job?"

They mean well. I *know* they mean well. So I don't take out my frustration on them. But it doesn't mean there's no frustration. There is.

I think I've finally gotten through to the Parental Units on one other score, too. Dad tries to brainstorm with me about job-search methods, which unfortunately are things that I've already tried. (Again, I understand that the advice is well-intended.) But one thing he used to do a lot was talk about his friends' kids. JE's son has a business doing this. JB's daughter works doing that. FP's son-in-law is a salesman making good money.

Finally, every time he brings one of these people up, I ask, "Is he hiring?" "Is she hiring? Does his company have any openings?"

After the third or fourth, "I don't know if they are", and the third or fourth calmly-stated, "Well if they aren't, it doesn't help me find a new job", I've stopped hearing about everyone else's grown-kids-with-jobs that our family knows.

Then there's this item that I've been hearing a lot lately...

"You should really network. You can hear about a lot of jobs if you network with other people".

Well, I think to myself, I've been talking to everyone I know. Anyone who knows thing one about my personal life is aware that my long-term temp job ended a month ago and I'm looking for work again. But I don't say all that out loud. Instead, I've substituted this: "I've already spoken to everyone I know. They haven't got anything. Do YOU know anyone I can contact?"
"Ah, well, no, I don't know anyone. Why do you think I would know anyone?"
"Well, you're telling me to network, so I am. With you. I already networked with the people I know. Now I'm trying to find out if anyone ELSE knows anyone I can network with. Do you know anyone who's hiring?"
"Uh, no. Not really. But I'll let you know if I hear anything."

Then I stop hearing from that individual about networking. They never mention it again. So much for talking to everyone I know. :o(

Anyway, enough griping. I've just got this on my mind because my Parental Units have been ringing my phone off the hook to ask about a conversation that I haven't had yet with this person from HR. Sigh.

So anyway, other stuff's been going on, and it's a lot more interesting. For example, the Starbucks closest to here is having a Sign Language workshop every two weeks, on Tuesday nights. The first one was on May 1, and the place was Standing Room Only. I was pleased to see how many people attended. There was a really diverse crowd there, in terms of hearing and deaf; older, middle-aged, young adults, teens, and kids; and a pretty wide assortment of ethnic backgrounds. For every person that attends, Starbucks will be donating $10 to the deaf school where one of the people coordinating the workshop works. So if you're interested in learning some basic ASL, let me know. I can be emailed at Gabey8 at aol dot com .

I finished the latest five-day course of antibiotics last Sunday. I'm still taking the prescription decongestant. Result: I feel better than I did, but DARN IT, I still have plenty of congestion to spare. The one good thing that I've noticed is that my ears are finally starting to pop, I can hear a bit better than I did before, and I have less earache pain than before. I think the ear congestion is beginning to clear up, though unfortunately neither the congestion, the hearing loss, nor the ear pain are entirely gone yet. Hey, improvement is better than staying the same or getting worse, so I'll take it.

Unfortunately, I did have to cancel out on singing a Mass on Sunday. I still get coughing fits when I try to sing more than a little bit, and I'm not at all convinced that the symptom will be gone by May 6.

Hmm. I think I've covered most of what's going on these days. Later!