I now have accurate contact info for the organ instructor. I'll call the music school where he works tomorrow. That's the good news.

However, my hopes that I might be able to schedule the class in the afternoon might have to be put on hold. I got a note from Unemployment today. I've been selected to be invited to attend an orientation for their job seeking service. And of course, they mention about two paragraphs after telling me that I'm "invited" that if I fail to attend the orientation I could be disqualified from receiving benefits. So it's mandatory even if they don't want to come out and SAY it's mandatory.

Actually, that's fine with me. My tax dollars pay for this orientation and whatever this job seeking service is, so why NOT take advantage of it? Maybe there are some employers out there who are interested in working with the state to bring staff on board. In that case, maybe for once my background will be a positive thing instead of getting me told, "You're overqualified". Who the heck knows?

Anyway, we'll have to see whether I can embark on my non-standard course of action straight away, or whether this orientation will open some employment doors that will mean sticking with the boring old standard world a little while longer. At this point, as long as I don't end up banging my head against the same old freaking wall again, I'm fine with either result.

Oh, and while I'm at this orientation thing, I fully intend to find out what, if any, impact on unemployment benefits there will be if I return to school full-time, in order to seek a job in an entirely new field. I still have my heart set on getting that orientation and mobility training (which I know I blogged about some months ago). Ditto for seeking whatever training I will need in order to teach disabled persons how to use adaptive technology. Trust me when I say that barring my landing an office-based dream job, I have EVERY intention of bagging the standard 9-to-5 world at some point. Whether it's right now or a few years from now doesn't really matter to me.

If I'm going to be busting my rump working, it's going to be doing something that I can really connect with, and I don't care how much training I have to get before that comes to pass. I'll get it if it's the last thing I do. Because when that happens, even when I'm busting my rump, it won't FEEL like work.Case in point: AADB. We work our collective nether ends off for a solid week at those conventions, but somehow it never feels like work. Not until we get HOME from the convention and promptly fall asleep for about 14.5 hours straight. There's a lot to be said for running on adrenaline. Ask any AADB volunteer. ;o) (And I'm not exaggerating about the 14.5-hour sleep-o-thon.)