Day One-hundred-and-twenty-four: Visiting while visiting

If a little wine is good for the stomach's sake, what is a lot of wine good for? Hopefully not a headache. Yes, we went to The Nose again tonight. This time for a blind wine tasting lesson. (The bottles were in bags not my eyes covered.) I got an appreciation for the dimensions of both appreciating and tasting wine and may have improved my ability to discriminate between good wine and bad wine, young wine and ready to drink wine, Old World vs. New World, ... I even bought another bottle of wine that will be ready to drink in five to seven years. The delay is good, because I don't have anyone to drink it with and will not be drinking it alone. I don't drink that much. It will be good to have some wine in my wine fridge that belongs to me. Who would have thought that this late in my life I could even begin to turn into a wine snob? This is possible only in my Life after Layoff.

Earlier in the day we went for lunch at a former co-worker of my daughter's. She and her husband have a 13 pound young one, like a month old. He was born at ten pounds. We ate and visited around the dining table, with the food still on it. This led to a lot of overeating, at least by me. I certainly wasn't hungry at the wine tasting. My daughter held the baby like a pro, which led me to ask if doing so turned on her maternal instinct. She didn't say yes but did remind me of her group babysitting experience at a local church in Fremont, a graphic verbal reminder, which she admitted to being the best birth control.

Earlier in the day we went to the Farmer's market. There were lots of good food to buy and also, as my daughter pointed out, a McCain booth. I couldn't tell it from any of the signs, or the traffic. All the people I saw were at the Obama booth, where there were a lot of Obama signs. There were signs at the McCain booth, just not McCain signs. Instead, most, if not all of the signs, were "Yes on Eight" signs. After we got back to their house, my daughter went to work fixing lunch that was picnic basket shlepped over to her friends. I did whatever I was asked to do, including grating some fresh ginger for the ginger snaps she made even though I didn't eat any. Mostly I stayed out of the way.

Earlier in the day I got up and had steel cut oats cooked overnight in the crockpot.

All in all, it was a very filling and fulfilling day.

Day Ninety-seven: Two dirty vehicles

A week ago a couple middle school students came to my door and sold me a car wash for this weekend. Since I hadn't yet washed the after wedding markings off my truck from my son's use of it after his wedding, I thought this is a great deal and an excuse to procrastinate washing it yet another week. Well, yesterday I was busy getting sun burned in a meadow in Golden Gate Park. Today I was calling voters in New Mexico and asking the ones I actually reached who they were supporting in this election. Tonight, I still have two dirty vehicles, well, three if you count my motorcycle.

The calling was great. The Obama supporters were always pleasant, even when my call was the fifth or so they had received. (There are a lot of other organizations calling: Unions, MoveOn.org, ..., even some Republican organizations.) I am quite glad that I don't live in a battleground state, but I would like my vote for Obama to count more. The fewer McCain supporters I reached were somewhat less pleasant. While I was calling I just chocked it up to my stating up front that "I was a volunteer for the Senator Obama campaign," but while I was driving home and thought back on it, I decided that even though there wasn't a conversation, after they said McCain I thanked them and hung up, they sounded more argumentative and guilty. Either way, they were not pleasant.

A couple phone calls had an IVR in front of reaching the actual person. This warned off solicitors. After checking, I finished the call. Political callers are not solicitors and our calls are protected as freedom of speech under the First Amendment. The one such phone response that actually had a live answerer ended up being a McCain supporter. I'm learning something each and every day in my Life after Layoff.

Of course I tried to learn something every day I worked also. Something I've learned over these ninety-seven days of layoff, is that I really enjoy not working. Now, if I can find something that pays money for activities that don't feel like work, I'll have it made.

I have a couple chores and one meditation session yet to do before I can head to bed. I did the session too late last night, after the opening skit on SNL, and was too tired to truly meditate, not that I know what truly meditating is just yet. Not only is meditation another thing that I'm learning, but it may be the one thing that allows me to take even a work path and keep the freedom I'm now enjoying.

I will write about my upcoming Toastmasters experience in my 101st blog entry.

Day Eighty-five: A day of many happenings

But not much activity. I did vacuum, water and make my bed. I got cleaned up and made phone calls. The phone calls are the cause of some of the many happenings. I also baked another batch of my vegan chocolate cupcakes, this time in true cupcake form. I also went out and mailed a package and bought some heirloom tomatoes. (They cost more but are worth it. I actually eat the heirloom ones. I won't even buy the cardboard tasting ones for cooking. I'll use canned tomatoes first.)

One of my phone calls was to the Daly City Honda Dealership so I could take my motorcycle in for servicing. When they said I could bring the bike in today and pick it up by evening I quickly asked if there was a better time tomorrow. So, I have an appointment right at 9:00 AM for about an hour and a half. I'll just hang around or go walking in Daly City for the duration.

Another phone call set up an out placement appointment, a service offered to me because of my Life after Layoff status. I'm hoping they offer a business startup path rather than just resume writing and interviewing practice. If that is all they have, I will see if I can't use those offerings in making my own business path. A good curriculum vitae is undoubtedly required for venture capital investment.

I also made my first entry in my Memories of Marilyn blog. I don't plan on making an entry every day but will regularly. I wasn't trying for any special significance to this first "memory" but not only was it nine months exactly since her passing but the actual entry approximated her time of death. Even though the memories are positive and a joy, it has still been an emotional day.

One last thing. I have kept my politics out of this blog and in the past have often voted libertarian or green because I didn't see much difference between the two major party candidates. This hasn't made much difference in decidedly liberal California but this year there is one candidate I can vote for rather than against. Again though, my vote will not make much difference in California. As a result, I am going to use the freedom that this particular time in my Life after Layoff affords me to become involved in the campaign to elect Obama.

When I had a job I donated to both McCain (and Obama) because I thought both of them were the best their parties had to offer. The more I learned of Obama, the more I favored him. The more I learned about the 2008 McCain, vs. the 2000 McCain who I thought I was donating to, the more I regretted the donation. Now that I can no longer donate money, I have signed up for a stint on the phones for the Obama campaign, hence the cupcakes. I have applied for a greater role but will not be upset if I am not selected for it. (I have many other things to do.) I am still registered as an independent and will remain so. I do not expect my small assistance to result in a political appointment regardless of my Life after Layoff status but I do expect Obama to win. Besides, I have other goals and if a political appointment is anything like the one political science class I took in college, it would be sooooo boring.