Day One-hundred-and-eleven: There's a reason I don't like phones

I traveled to San Carlos again today to make calls for Obama. I made 135 calls in about three hours. Ninety-seven were to no avail as the phone wasn't answered. I have to admire the number of people in New Mexico who are out doing things on a Sunday afternoon, at least I hope that is the reason. I would hate to think that they feel that they are forced to ignore all phone calls and let their answering machines screen them because everyone is calling New Mexico, a battleground state.

Of the rest of the thirty-eight calls: twenty-five were other (wrong numbers, a couple McCain supporters, moved); six were Obama supporters, of which two were multiple and had already voted; five refused to tell me or mostly just hung up; and one was truly undecided.

The undecided and one of the McCain supporters did not know of Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama and seemed to be greatly impressed by that fact. I recommended that they catch the repeat of Meet the Press on MSNBC if they could do so at all.

From the calling list, I couldn't tell whether or not they were cell phones, but there were a few. I even got a couple call backs. From one of the call backs I was able to correct my not at home marking to an Obama supporter marking.

There were a number of young people there, and I mean truly young. It seems that there was a local high school civics class assignment to get involved in a campaign in some way. Some of them decided to call for Obama as their involvement. (I'm not in any position to know whether or not any one in the class joined McCain's or a local campaign.) Two of the callers were even younger, the children of another caller. I was impressed on two fronts, that at least the youngest had a cell phone and that they both were so articulate.

I had one name that I didn't have the slightest idea how to pronounce. I asked several people and didn't receive any suggestions. I decided to call anyway and ask for Mr. [last name] in the hopes that the name I couldn't pronounce was a male name. No one answered. Later one of the people I had asked for help showed me one of the names on her list. She won for impossible to pronounce.

In this calling exercise I made a personal discovery that will serve me well in my Life after Layoff, it's okay not to be perfect. It turns out that neither the Obama supporters or people who supported others noticed, but probably for different reasons.

This three hours of calling did not take up my whole day, but it has taken up my whole entry. The rest of my day is normal, including what I am about to do, take out the trash.

Day One-hundred-and-four: Vegan cupcakes that take over the world

Since I had some Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting left over from a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make another double batch of vegan Basic Chocolate Cupcakes. This time I was smart and took the frosting out of the refrigerator to let it get to room temperature before I needed to frost. The frosting went a lot better.

So, I packed the car with 20 cupcakes, 14 of them "frosted," and drove to San Carlos. As I was turning on El Camino, I noticed the Street Fair and thought to myself, "I wonder what this is going to do to parking." Two or three large city blocks and several minutes later I found out. I had just given up finding a spot driving down the alley parallel to El Camino after the parking lot I had used previously was full. After all, I had already driven beyond the end of the street fair. So, I decided to go north of Holly to see if I could find some parking in that direction. I turned on to El Camino to do just that and there it was, a sign that read no parking 2 to 6, but there were a lot of spots and it was only 1:00. I parked and before I grabbed anything out of my car I walked back to take another look at the sign. When I read it more closely, it was 2 AM to 6 AM.

I grabbed the cupcakes, my journal, and my water, and crossed the busy El Camino without the benefit of a crosswalk. Once across I quickly recrossed to grab my cell phone. Then back across the street. After few steps down the sidewalk I was looking for the first flat place to sit something down, which occurred quickly when I knocked my Baja Fresh water cup over. It was full so a little water did seep out around the straw hole. I took this opportunity to put my heavy journal in my waistband and carried the cupcake containers in my left hand and my water glass in my right. Even the cupcakes got heavy by the time I got to the phone bank office. (I thought my "perfect pushup" exercises was giving me more upper body strength.)

The cupcakes were a hit and were gone by the time I left. I was greeted with "the vegan cupcake guy" when I walked in. A person asked for the recipe as I was walking out. I got halfway to my car and realized that I had left my journal. The walk was good. The weather was great.

The calling was so so. Out of 117 calls that I made, 92 were not home. Only one specifically said that they were voting for someone other than Obama, however, 12 refused to say. (The 12 also includes the people who hung up.) There were seven calls made to Obama supporting households. I learned later that a record number of 3,245 calls were made from that location today. There were a lot of people there. While most of them were younger than me, there were a surprising number that were truly young, but older than 18.

I talked with one Obama supporter who said that he has received over 20 phone calls. Even though I was one of them, and don't regret it, I'm glad that I don't live in a battleground state in my Life after Layoff.

On my way home I stopped in at Whole Foods. Among other things that are good for me, I bought some more Tortilla Chips, a flavored variety. This would ordinarily be bad news but I've already tried them. I guess they are edible but they aren't entirely to my taste. This means that I'm not in any rush to eat them, which is really good news.

I must like paper, blank paper. I just looked out over the table at which I am writing this and I count two leather bound journals, three pads of paper, a notebook calendar, and an address book.

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-seven: Calling strangers

Before I knew it, it was 11:30 and I had to get cleaned up and run out the door. It was my day to call people on behalf of Obama. My time for doing so was limited by the battery in my cell phone. Still, I called several numbers with the high percentage being "not at home." The next highest was "number disconnected," possibly due to foreclosures. There were several Spanish only, which I marked as "Spanish" for another call from someone who spoke Spanish. Most of the actual contacts were voting for Obama with a very few undecided and only one voting for the other guy.

I have to say that the Obama campaign is a class act. Besides, they loved my vegan chocolate cupcakes with the fluffy buttercream frosting.

I mixed the frosting up this morning as the bread was making its final raise. Then I made the mistake of putting it in the refrigerator. As I was rushing around to go, I tried icing with my now solid frosting. It still tasted good but didn't really spread all that well. The nicest thing was that my tupperware cupcake holders, i.e., deep enough for cupcakes with icing and still be covered, didn't hold them all. So, I ate the two that were excess.

This was my dessert after my lunch of my last heirloom tomato in the house on my just made whole wheat bread. On my way back from San Carlos, I stopped at Whole Foods and got some more. I had to. I have the perfect tomato sandwich bread and didn't have anymore perfect tasting tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are my fruit of choice in this Life after Layoff.

As I was driving up to my house, I saw my neighbor. I rolled down my window and asked if he wanted some of my excess beer. I have reduced my inventory by 16 bottles of Stella Artois. I still don't like to drink by my self.

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.