Excuses, Excuses

Hey. How ya doin'? I'm good, I'm good. Thanks for asking.

I know I skipped Musical Monday. I am sorry.

Things are just getting a little crazy around here. It's my last week at work and I've been putting in some long hours trying to tie up loose ends as neatly as I can.

It's storming something fierce here this week and trying to get my work done, job hunt, and get on here to blog at you between power outages is, well, trying. And our garden is getting pummeled by all this rain, but the lawn is loving it.

And I've been distracted by deer. Again.

But who could blame me for being distracted by Bambi? I mean come on, it doesn't get any cuter. Well, except when the Bambi triplets put in an appearance. Then it's just cute overload.

It's also week 3 since I started the job hunt. Not even a nibble. I'm staying positive and trying to keep in mind the hiring process takes time. I can see that recruiters are checking out my LinkedIn profile, so I'm staying hopeful.

In the meantime, I am lining up as much freelance work as I can and defining what services I can offer—it's a pretty wide range including proofing, editing, project coordination, search engine optimization, content strategy, and content creation—and at what rates. I will say, if my old job wants me to come back as a web editor and help out, I will not hesitate to charge market rates. I could understand being under paid when I didn't have much experience, but I now have 5 years' experience, and since I'm on the job hunt I have a better sense of what that's worth and what I'm bringing to the table.

Scoob's been trying to convince me to go into consulting, but I don't know. (I actually think we should go into consulting together. We do very similar work and with his graphic design background and my editorial and content background, I think we'd offer a strong service package. But we both think that may be just too much together time. But it's an idea.) Consulting or not, I need to set up a new email account to handle the freelance stuff so I can keep work and personal separate, but I've been over thinking it so I haven't done this yet.

I'll also need to open a new bank account to better account for freelance income at tax time. The last time I had significant freelance income, I hadn't kept it separate and I had a heckuva time figuring it out while doing my taxes. Also toying with the idea of getting a business license and trying to find out if North Carolina has an income threshold where one is required. And then I'm trying to figure out what the name of that business might be, if I do, which is further stalling the email address/bank account thing.

So yeah, that's how I've been. I haven't forgotten about you. Just getting a little slammed by life at the moment.

Musical Mondays—I'm Tired

Boy, it's a good thing I took today off from work because I just cannot seem to muster up enough energy to stay awake. I've got some paid time off that will not get paid out with my vacation pay when I'm laid-off, so I decided to use it up. After all, it is mine, and I earned it.

But then a different HR person said it would be paid out and so now I'm waiting for someone to figure out which is correct, because if it's paid out, I'd just as soon work the days and get the time converted to cash at lay off time.

Still no nibbles on the job front. I did get one rejection notice, though. Yea? I guess it's a good thing, this way I won't be wondering what became of that application. But still, I've applied for almost 20 positions and, other than the flat out rejection, nothing. Peep-less.

I did go see the doctor today. I haven't decided if I'll take the COBRA insurance when I leave, I kinda feel like I should what with the recent surgery and all, but it's expensive. Anyhow, I got the doctor to write a couple prescriptions for stuff I'm almost out of, take a look at my achy foot, examine my surgery scar (which has been really achy lately, too), and take a look at these ridiculously itchy bug bites that just seem to refuse to heal!

Long story short, the foot is tendonitis and I'll need to wear shoes almost constantly in the house from now on; the scar is perfectly fine and the pain is probably nerve endings and I may have that pain forever, and the bug bites? Well, we had the exterminator inspect for bed bugs and treated the cats for fleas, so we can safely rule those out. The doctor said probably scabies. What he hell?

So I've been reading up on the scabies mite. I had sort of ruled them out with my own research because the bites look nothing like what I see online, and other than each other, Scoob and I don't have close skin-to-skin contact with anyone else to catch them. Apparently, it can take months to show symptoms after catching them—so who knows when we actually encountered them. Near as I can tell, contact would have closely coincided with my surgery, or within the month after. But that's if it is scabies, if it turns out to be something else, well, then who knows.

And maybe that's why I'm so tired—the bites seem to occur mostly at night, and now I rarely sleep through a night due to the itching and general heebeejeebeeness. But thankfully the doctor prescribed some scabicide and we'll do the treatments and see if that solves the problem. We may also sleep in the spare room for a couple days so any mites on the mattress can die off since they can't survive more than about 36 hours without a host, which is good news since that's a brand new mattress!

Anyhow, when I get this tired, I always think of Madeline Khan…

I'm Tired
Madeline Kahn

Here I stand, the goddess of Desire
Set men on fire
I have this power
Morning noon and night it's drink and dancing
Some quick romancing
And then a shower
Stage door johnnies always surround me
They always hound me
With one request
Who can satisfy their lustful habits
I'm not a rabbit
I need some rest

I'm tired
Sick and tired of love
I've had my fill of love
From below and above
Tired, tired of being admired
Tired of love uninspired
Let's face it
I'm tired

I've been with 1000's of men
Again and again
They promise the moon
They always coming and going
Going and coming
And always too soon
Right girls?

I'm tired,
Tired of playing the game
Ain't it a crying shame
I'm so tired
God dammit I'm exhausted

Tired, tired of playing the game
Ain't it a crying shame
I'm so tired

[Soldiers:]
She's tired (She's tired)
Sick and tired of love (Give her a break)
She's had her fill of love (She's not a snake)
From bellow and above (Can't you see she's sick)
Tired (She's bushed)
Tired of being admired (Let her alone)
Tired of love uninspired (Get off the phone)
She's tired (Don't you know she's pooped)

I've been with 1000's of men
Again and again
They sing the same tune
They start with Byron and Shelly
And jump on your belly
And bust your ballon
Aye!

Tired, tired of playing the game
Ain't it a freakin' shame
I'm so...
Let's face it everything below the waist is kapput!

[Soldiers:]
Tired!