In the unemployment world, this is called the “waiting week”.  It’s the week they won’t pay you for after you lose a job.  It’s the week I suppose they are hoping you will use to get a new job, and so won’t need to cash in your unemployment insurance.

No such luck.

Here’s what I did do:

I bought sheets.  I played with chickens & bunny.  I watched Twinkles grow and grow.  I played Big Fish games.  I refreshed craigslist.  About every half-hour.  I drank coffee.  I updated my resume.  I went to lunch with a Jen to catch up on old-job gossip.  I applied for a couple jobs (no response yet).  I’m sure I did more, but dammit, it’s been hot and mostly I just wanted to nap.

Now is the time when I wish I knew what I wanted to be.  Actually, I wish I knew what I would be really good at.  I still have no idea.  Lots of ideas float through, but nothing sticks very long.

Maybe I’ll start a chicken blog.  A daily annoyance for anyone who cares.  Won’t make any money, but at least I won’t be clogging this blog with chicken shit.

I don’t know.  Maybe I can distract myself by designing a blog layout that would be fun for that.  By “designing” I mean modifying an existing layout with my own graphics…I’m no coder.

So mostly I’ve had this one song stuck in my head, it goes like this:

(scroll down to “nothing on my mind”)

(sorry, couldn’t figure out how to get just the one song)

to know which way the wind blows.

I’m unemployed, as of this morning at 7am.  It’s funny, for a few reasons.

I had a feeling it was coming, almost 2 weeks ago I started feeling iffy.  Last night, someone called over the radio, “See you all tomorrow”, and I replied, “If I’m still here, I’ll see you.”  My boss says this morning that he didn’t know how I “smelled it”, but like the man says…you don’t need a weatherman.

I had the feeling because of  a co-worker.  She is a climber, no regard to who gets stepped on.  Fine.  It’s a farm store, for crying out loud, not like it’s a highly charged political atmosphere.  But she wanted to be the king shit…so she gets to be.

Along with my final paycheck, I got a $40 check from central – for a mystery shop where I was a good little employee.  Ironic much?

The funniest part is that once they realize what is involved and how little my interim replacement knows, they’re going to be hurting.  Not only this, but one of the things that I had that she doesn’t, and never will, is good rapport with my co-workers.  A lot of what they did for me…it was because they like me and knew I liked them.  What’s that word…oh yeah.  Respect.  She has none.  None for anyone else, and none coming back to her either.

So for now, I’m making my petty, bitter mind happy with visions of train wrecks in slow motion, with play-by-play from a few key employees.

I know that in the end, it’ll all work out.  I’m not devastated over losing my job.  Mostly, I’m just angry at the circumstances.  But it’s been like 7 hours now.  Time to move on.

It’s been a couple weeks, but I’ve been busy!  Chickens getting bigger, work, end of the school year for the kid.  Dogs, cats, bunnies.

I just sent a PM to my not-quite-ex via myspace, the only way I know to get ahold of him.  According to his page there, he is active duty with the National Guard, in Iraq no less.  It does show that he’s been on today though, so apparently he has access.

Some background:  About 13 years ago, I left Virginia, where I lived with him, to stay with my mom in AZ.  It was not a breakup, he was about to go to sea, and mom had just found out she had cancer and was trying to raise my cousin’s son, who is a year older than my daughter.  So I left, and he went to sea.

When he came back, got stationed on land again, he calls up and says he’s going to be coming to AZ to see his “friend’s” family.  I was like, yeah, why can’t you just say that you have a girlfriend?  His reply to that…priceless.  He says this: “You’d love her, she’s just like me!”  I’m thinking: What a stupid thing to say to your wife.

Anyway.  I wasn’t too broken up about it I guess, so no big deal.  He didn’t make it to see his kid while he was in Arizona.  Whatever.  Years pass, we don’t hear much from him.

At one point, when our daughter was in kindergarten, his C.O. calls me up and asks me if I can provide a copy of our divorce decree, so he can put his new wife on his insurance.  Haha, we had a good laugh over that.

I’ve since tried a couple times to get a divorce moving, but honestly it hasn’t been that important to me.  What spurred me to action now is that, as an active duty military guy, he should be providing insurance for his daughter.  It doesn’t even cost him anything – he just has to get her an ID card.

Anyway.  So I messaged him today.   Reminded him that since we are still married, if he is killed while overseas, I still get his benefits.  And if he waits too long, after a certain point I could claim benefits even after divorce, if he dies on duty.  It’s the 20/20/20 rule.

Let me state this clearly – I’m not interested in his benefits, I’m just hoping that this information will get him to take action.  I’ve gone this long with nothing from him – no child support, nothing.  Not since our daughter was about  3 or 4.  Obviously I can do it on my own.  Obviously, I’d love to have some extra income (teenagers are expensive!), but it’s not my primary goal.

So that’s my story today.

Some of you know, I’ve started raising chickens.  I work at a big ol’ farm store, so it was just a matter of time.  We get in chicks in the spring, and have a variety for a few months.  Last year, I was in an apartment, so I had no chance…but not this year.

So I thought, just 2.  I don’t need more than that.  So I thought an Ameraucana and let the kid pick one out.  She picked a Sicilian Buttercup.  But then I found out that Jen was ordering Turkens… so I thought I’d get a Turken intead of an Ameraucana.  But then I thought about colored eggs…so I got Ameraucanas anyway.  Then we got in a batch of Bantams, and Jen pulled out two that looked like Silkies, with the 5 toes and black skin.  So…yeah, I took them home.  That makes 6.  I was happy with that, then I found out that she was getting in Marans.  They lay chocolate brown eggs.  So Jen is going to trade me an Ameraucana for a Maran.  Unless I can’t get rid of an Ameraucana, they are all friends now.  Then yesterday we got in another batch of chicks, and inside the box with the California’s was this weird little thing.

So I’ve got him separated at work, it’s too small to put in with our current chicks, but it’ll be home with me soon I’m sure.

What the hell was I thinking.

And another “I can’t believe they spent time/money researching this“.

Georg Steinhauser of the Vienna University of Technology has spent the past four years studying navel fluff

I mean really.  REALLY.  Four years?