COF 273 - dfs-archiver/dfs-archive GitHub Wiki
it looks like I'm about to be employed by the United States Postal Service. I'd already done the fingerprints and background check, and they'd told me I'm "conditionally hired," despite never having interviewed for the job.
Then on Monday, USPS emailed me an employee logon, and yesterday they sent info on the orientation session for new hires, which is Monday. Guess I have a job, dammit.
In the past, I've always been nervous and excited about starting a new job. This time around, I'm neither. Just kind of annoyed.
Since getting laid off by the insurance company in Wisconsin, I've been unemployed for a year, and enjoyed it tremendously. It's been the 22nd best year of my life, behind only every year I was married to my marvelous but departed wife.
It's been a year on my ass, and there's no better place to be β watching old movies, reading a few books, and being a lump.
Those good old days are ending. Eight hours five days a week, plus an unpaid lunch hour, plus bus commute time is gonna subtract lots of my beloved Doug Time. There'll be fewer movies watched and books read, fewer posts on this website, and I'll no longer be able to nap or masturbate whenever the whim strikes.
Ah, well. People gotta work, and technically I'm people, so β here comes the annoyment of employment.
My notebook is full of stories I'm hoping to tell over the next few (the last few) days in this recliner. Bus stories, family stories, movie reviews to be written, before work sucks the creativity outta me.
Long ago I wondered whether I might've written something worth reading, if I hadn't always had to give so much time and energy to a job. At my age the motivation is gone so the matter is moot, but still I wonder.
Some great writers, far better than me, wrote their first works while working, so it's not impossible. But they all had more talent and more gumption than me. Zining is about all I've ever done.
I've been running errands, getting things done that would be difficult/impossible when I'm working all week.
Accomplished so far: got prescription glasses, got the car repaired, got my house keys duped and spares hidden so's I can't lock myself out some sleepy morning, bought new socks cuz I only had one pair, and a monthly bus pass to make the commute affordable, and a new jacket that's more waterproof than my old leaky one, plus it has reflective stripes cuz I'll be walking to the bus stop before sunrise.
Still need to buy a new laptop, today or maybe tomorrow. This one's started misbehaving, which always means it'll die soon.
And I might need a new work wardrobe from Salvation Army, but I ain't buying any clothes yet β I'm hoping USPS tells me to wear their blue uniform, and provides it.
Yesterday I did the pre-work commute, something I've done with every job I've ever had. To prevent getting lost on the way to my first day, I took a practice run on my predicted bus ride, and walked to where I'll be working, then turned around and walked and bused back.
It's a two-bus ride each way, and it took longer than I'd hoped, and the walk from the bus stop to USPS was farther than it looks on the map. It adds up to several blocks of walking, which is several blocks more than I like to walk, but at least the terrain is flat, and there's a bench at my bus stop waiting for the ride home.
The walk takes me over a bridge, with a nice view of the river below and the industrial neighborhood.
Crossing the bridge a second time on my way back to the bus, a bird the size of a backpack and a half was sitting on a stump by the shore. When I shouted, "Hey, big bird," it flew off beautifully, swooping low over the water.
No idea what kind of bird it was, besides big and beautiful. If i see it again, maybe I'll toss it some sardines and make a bird friend.
Hiring me without a job interview means I've somehow so far passed USPS's muster, but they haven't passed mine. I'm shaky on what the job entails, don't even know the hours or what it pays, and I've never yet met my boss and might hate him/her.
Last summer I quit the bus driving job because it annoyed me, but my life savings have been dangerously depleted during this year on my ass, so employment is no longer optional. Even if I hate this job I'll have to do this job, if only for as long as it takes to find something better.
Hoping I won't hate the job, though, and I do think highly of the US Postal Service. At least, before working there I do.
News you need,
whether you know it or not
β’ Hospitals and health apps share medical data with Google, Microsoft, and Facebook
β’ Scientists find nearby planet the same size of Earth, plan to search it for life
β’ Biden gives speech, some people applaud, others don't
No link, on purpose, because the state of the Union sucks, but a speech doesn't matter.
β’ That "news story" on climate change youβre reading might be a greenwashing ad instead
β’ Climate change is contributing to the rise of superbugs, new UN report says
β’ Cops ignore racist threats for more than a year
β’ New Jersey officer charged after allegedly shooting and wounding fleeing person who was unarmed
β’ Police Chief charged with federal drug crimes
β’ Child rapist cop gets suspended sentence, probation
β’ Connecticut parents arrested for letting kids, ages 7 and 9, walk to Dunkin' Donuts
β’ Cop won't be charged for shooting death of innocent bystander
β’ Alleged rapist jailer arrested, released on his own recognizance
β’ Montana bill would ban teaching of scientific theories in schools
β’ Mississippi Republicans pass bill to create separate, un-elected court in majority-Black city
β’ Heartland Institute sends climate change denial BS to thousands of teachers
β’ Study: US judges give harsher sentences when their football team loses
β’ Microsoft launches new Bing, with ChatGPT built in
Woo-hoo, another reason to avoid Bing.
β’ John Cleese to reboot Fawlty Towers, with added nepotism
Mystery links
There's no knowing where you're going
β’ Click
β’ Click
β’ Click
Clicks ahoy
β’ US media's "Chinese spy balloon" meltdown shows intellectual vacuity of "national security" coverage
β’ How Angela Davis got onto the FBI Most Wanted List
β’ The Washington Post is doomed without a major reset
β’ Current classified document scandals show the government is still classifying way too many documents
β’ North Korea still owes Sweden for 1,000 Volvos ordered in the 1970s
β«β¬ Mix tape of my mind β«
β’ Infatuation β Rod Stewart
β’ Something In the Air β Thunderclap Newman
Eventually, everyone
leaves the building
β’ Barrett Strong
β’ George P Wilbur
β’ Abraham L Snyder
β’ George Zimbel
2/9/2023
Tip 'o the hat to Linden Arden, ye olde AVA, BoingBoing, Breakfast at Ralf's, Captain Hampockets, CaptCreate's Log, John the Basket, LiarTownUSA, Meme City, National Zero, Ran Prieur, Voenix Rising, and anyone else whose work I've stolen without saying thanks.
Special thanks to Becky Jo, Name Withheld, Dave S, Wynn Bruce, and always extra special thanks to my lovely late Stephanie, who gave me 21 years and proved that the world isn't always shitty.