Lest life be too easy, I didn't get the job, which is, to say the least, discouraging. I really liked the company, too. They said I needed "depth and breadth" beyond my computer skills. Thanks, guys.
So today has not been the cheeriest of days. I'm attempting to keep the chin up, but the chin is feeling a mighty powerful pull downward. I sort of feel like I'm right back where I was before we left, although yesterday's interview is already one more interview than I got in four or five months of looking for a job last year. On the bright side, there seem to be a lot more jobs available than there were then. But the whole exercise kind of makes me want to go hide in graduate school for a couple of years, emerging with a degree that I imagine would make me more marketable (M.S. in Computer Science). However, doing that unprepared at the end of a stretch of unemployment, without having saved and planned for it, seems unwise. And I really would like to work again, someplace that doesn't suck, where I could stay for a few years and actually grow my skills and develop something I could call a career (I'm told there exist jobs where you can actually be promoted to bigger things, but I've not experienced this firsthand).
I complain a lot, I guess, which may be a bit misleading: aside from the persistent frustration of trying to find work, things are good. I'm seeing all of my friends a lot, my computer gin rummy game makes progress whenever I take time to work on it, I've managed to dose myself with low-cost Indian food a couple times, and, of course, most importantly, I have my Mona. A Mona is a wonderful, wonderful thing to have, very warm and good for hugging. But get your own. You can't have mine.
But the stories about halcyonic existence really don't scan quite as interesting to me. And I insist on dragging everyone else with me.
Right now there's a lovely little fire going in the fireplace here at the house. And it's almost time for bed. Tomorrow there is some stuff to do, including finding more jobs to apply for, and reaching out and poking some old contacts. Maybe I can find a short contract in Massachusetts or something. Dunno.
And hey, it's my birthday on the 29th. Buy me stuff. Or just send me money.