Tom Petty sang it much better than I ever could begin to.

Waiting.  It’s hard.  It’s terribly hard.  For many, many people these days, myself included, waiting is the new national pasttime.  Send the resume, wait.  Resend the resume. Wait.  Get an interview!  Hurray.  Go to interview.  Go to second, and third interviews.  Wait.  Wait some more.  Send “hey, Hi there…um…remember me?” letter.  Only worded much better than that.  Wait.  Go mow the yard, paint the walls, scrub the floors.  Wait.

Phone rings.  Try not to pee pants, realize it’s your mother.  Gibber and jabber with her for a while, promise all is well, everything is fine.  Hang up.  Wait.

Check phone to make sure it’s charged and on.  It is.

Wait.

Send resumes, call people who might be able to help.  ”Sure, send my your resume and I’ll pass it on.  Swear to god”.  Send resume.

Wait.

It really has become the national pastime with so many people out of work.  In March, according to government statistics 9.7% of the population was out of work.  6.5 MILLION people were unemployed for more than 27 weeksw.  That’s a Houston sized city of people sitting around watching Spongebob.  While I”m sure that we all enjoy Spongebob, I think that I can speak for many of us when I say we’d rather watch it on TIVO after we get home from work.

What’s funny/irritating?/bothersome/etc.  is the amount of people who offer advice that they all swear is the best.  Go network, go to job fairs, always be working to get that new job, always be on your best behaviour, dress like your going to an interview, wear clean underwear, brush your teeth, cut your hair, network, network and network.  While this is all pretty good advice, I think that people are getting a little tired of being networked.  Also when I’m mowing the yard I don’t generally wear coat and tie.  I mean…sure sometimes it’s nice for a change to dress all fancy to cut the grass, but when it’s hot, it’s pretty uncomfortable.

I wish us all luck.  Everyone of us who is looking for work.  If you’re not looking for work because you’re one of the cool kids who actually have jobs, then more power to you.

In the mean time think I’ll wait around and do some networking.  With the cats.

Parents and some teachers at Smith-Cotton High School were upset.  One parent, who is also a teacher at the school said…”I was disappointed with the image on the shirt. I don’t think evolution should be associated with our school.”

And people wonder why our students don’t do as well as those from other countries.

KHOU

KHOU chat

KTRK

Houston Chronicle

Channel 2

And seriously, if the power or lack thereof becomes an issue, you all know you can come visit.

A hurricane is the car wreck that you can’t turn your head from, writ large.  Normally, one watches the hurricanes on tv, digs the crazy rain, wind, waves crashing on the shore, and people running about yelling “Aunty Em, Aunty Em” like the guy from Airplane.  (yeah, you hardly ever see that but still it would be funny if you did…) Not so this time.  I have or had a personal connection to Houston so I know the places that are getting destroyed or flooded or twistered.  It’s scary and I’m sitting 750 miles away in a house with a damn drippy roof.

So last week, I said be well Houston friends when the other hurricane was nearing.  This time I mean it.  You guys all be well, take care, take cover and let me know that you’re okay as soon as you can.

Don’t make me come down there.

A local pet adoption agency had this picture on their front page today.  What a nice looking fluffy puppy dog.  Ready to rip your hand off.

I’ll take  two!

• Jon Stewart interviews Douglas Feith  – Feith was a key member of the Bush administration and is a first class toady.  Watch Jon shred him like a bunch of cheese for a taco.  Link
• Want some popcorn w/your movie?  Prepare to sell your child into slavery.  Link
• Giant telescope links London and New York – Hoax?  Not sure but it seems cool.
• Never mind the war, the tanking economy, skyrocketing gas prices and the penis enlargement emails, here’s a picture of the woman who got Mutt to leave Shania.  I’m thinking he was drunk…

My world will never recover.