Thoughts on Having Free Time

Since the 5th of July I began living a life of reduced means - a very polite way of saying I have no job.  This was fairly new to me.  The last time I had no employment was slightly over 20 years ago.  It was a jolt.  I spent the first few weeks, sleeping, laying around looking at bad TV (we have no cable which means it's really awful during the day except for PBS and the weather channel) and feeling like I was totally worthless.  Anger issues also became the norm and I tended to play quite a lot of video games.  So after week one, I went and applied (online) for unemployment and began that round of total chaos.  Since Austin faced weather that was dry and over 100 degrees everyday, I was less inclined to go out for any reason. 

After the second week, which I spent trying to understand what the Workforce group expected of me (and that's a simple sounding prospect - not) I started applying online.  Surely, as everyone at work told me before I left, I was a valuable employee with much to offer - I could get a job easy.  The unemployment people told me I would get a job because Rick Perry had created so many wonderful jobs for us "dislocated" workers,  And while officially I was  to do a minimum  of 5 job related searches a week, in reality they expected me to do 5-10 a day.  Ummm, okay.   I spent hours rewriting my resume - making sure I didn't leave my customary grammar accidents, mispelled words and archaic sentence arrangement in places where people champing at the bit to hire me could see.  I realised that hiring practises had changed and to get consideration for an entry level job, I had to write resumes, applications and cover letters selling myself.  I hadn't realised how much you have to pimp yourself for a job these days.  After all, when I got hired the first time at the University the big question that was asked was "Do you know the alphabet..." Now I get asked deep probing behavorial for instances...... "how would you handle an irate student who thought you had cheated him out of a seat in a class..."  But I'm digressing (send me an e-mail for more horror stories on the modern job search....) Suffice it to say that out of the 70 odd applications I sent out (including a number at the University - I failed to get any interview)  I was totally unwanted.  How could anyone not want to hire a gimpy, overweight 59 year old woman. They had no clue what an amazing person they were missing....

So I have the daily chore of looking for jobs which gave me structure but wasn't particularly rewarding emotionally.  I did start reading the giant mound of books I had bought and never got around to reading. 

But then I realised that three things could occur to jar me out of couch potatoism.  One, I could start doing art and use up the vast quantities of supplies I had laid in waiting.  and Two I could open up the ETSY account I had been avoiding (fear of taxes) for over a year.  The third thing and possibly the hardest was to keep in contact with people not family(i.e.  not just Gene, Hal and Paul.)

So I pulled out the tubes of paint, pencils and canvas and began working.  I felt a sense of satisfaction.  I signed up for a class on an Intro to Illustrator, Photoshop et al.  (Which is truly wonderful for the Neo-Luddite (more later) that I am).  I opened the ETSY account and for the month of August had 4 sales.  and a great deal of OCD trying to make it look good. 

In short, I find myself truly enjoying not working.  There are days when not having money starts pulling at  the Anxiety problem I deal with generally... but overall I have found contentment in not working.  So below I have listed my rules for peaceful co-existence with no cash. These are my rules but hopefully you can see the idea for yourself. 

1. It's okay to be depressed and angry but don't let it be your main thing you do.  Jerry Springer and Maury Povich are only good for less than a week - actually one day did it for me.
2. Read - everyone has something they have been meaning to read and never had time.  After you read it sell it to 1/2 price books, donate it or give it to a friend.
3. See someone outside of your normal people.  Send notes to ex-co-workers you tearfully said you'd keep in touch.  Use facebook and other forms of "social media" to recontact old friends you wished you hadn't lost. 
4. Get rid of things you were saving for later..... a task I call de- crowing.... You find things you always meant to do.  That scarf you were going to crochet.  The mandolin you were going to fix. (me and musical instruments are another story.) You find alot that you realise you don't want to do and can move them along. (Go to a friend who has cable and watch "Hoarders"  - I do and it never fails to make me throw something out or give away).
5. Do art, listen to music, garden or watch birds.  Now is your chance to pretend to be rich.
6.  Never refuse to make a little money on the side.  You suddenly find yourself doing odd things to get bits of money which is good. 
7. Find humor in everything you do.  Humor is the glue that makes it all easier.
8. Exercise so you don't get gimpier.
9. Always start the day with good coffee.

My Cat is snoring.....

She sleeping in the clutter I'm trying to clean up and she's snoring so loud it's unreal.  At night she snores so loud we can hear her in the bedroom and she's in the living room!  So here is my cat snoring while I try to pick up my clutter and sweep.  I have to wait until she's awake to finish......

Up-cycling and Zero Landfill - Austin

So this morning we got up and remembered that this was the first weekend of ZeroLandFill - Austin free giveaway.  No knowing what to expect we wandered over to see.  (me forgetting my camera).  At first I promised myself that I would be good and only pick up a couple of things since it was for school people and artists.)  I still think of myself as a beginner when it comes to art....

So anyway, we got there and had just a blast.  Looking at stuff, seeing what was out there and talking to tthe other people as well as the volunteers.  They were so nice - they even got me a chair to sit in when I pooped out..  We would dig around in boxes and boxes of stuff for all kind of projects.  So I took some pictures along with my trusty assistant Niobe, who had to micro-manage.  It's on for two more weekends so we will go back and I will take photos of the place.  Gene decided to think about making chess boards with some of his pieces and I've thinking about all sorts of stuff.  Now to get moving.

We took a few more of the other pile of stuff for the chessboards.   That's Niobe helping again.  She finally wore out during the last round of

photos and is now taking a nap. 

Recycle or rather up-cycle!

In case anyone reads this, the next two weekends in August (the 20th and 27th) are also on schedule for the ZeroLandfill.  They say they have more stuff coming.  We're returning stuff back so we might see you there. 

Unknown flowers

First off - I love wildflowers.  One of the first books I ever bought myself was a book on California Wildflowers.  I used my allowance to pay the bookstore off and bought that book and a book about animals.  I was 10 maybe.  I was so proud of buying my own books.  I still have them.  So as I've moved and grown, this love of wild plants has pretty much stayed with me.  I have to know what they are and if they could be useful.  Included in my job list is working with a friend who would wild food forage and I would usually go along.  So I know bull cane is edible at certain times a year and where to pick mustang grapes, how to make agarita jelly and buffalo plums (which are actually legumes). 

So when i was helping Blinda - my landlady with her community garden I found a plant that I just can't identify.  It's slowly driving me nuts.  It's either wild or an excaped variety of sunflower.  I can't seem to get a good picture of it and I cannot identify it.  I know there has to be a picture somewhere but who knows. 
If anyone reads this and knows what it is please let me know.

It is a Cowpen Daisy.  I was happy I figured it out finally.  

Greener times

I found this photo I took in the spring and marveled at the greenness of it.  It's a Ten Petaled Anemone or a Texas Anemone (Anemone berlandieri ) which I happen to love but many people consider it a weed.  It comes in a blueish color as well as this white but I think they are so very special.  Right now the area where it lives in my back yard is brown and crispy.  Nothing alive there thanks to the over 100 degree weather and the drought.  I snuck a dribble of water in the area since my sage and my rosemary were looking peaked.  Hopefully we can get water and things will green up.  I always marvel at how quickly weeds bounce back.  As I look outside my window I see tiny wild petunias blooming with no additional moisture.  I'm always amazed at how no matter how stressed or horrible we think something is...nature seems to be able to produce beauty from it.  . 

Watermelon Summer

One of my favorite foods n the summer is watermelon.  How could anyone not enjoy the cool watery fruit especially now that the seeds are missing from it.  (Although we shouldn't dismiss the childish practise of spitting watermelon seeds at siblings).  My brother and I often had seed spitting contests and would manage to spit a great many at each other until my grandmother would catch us.  We were being vulgar -- one of her favorite words to denote lowness of character.  As children we ate the rattlesnake watermelons with the highly attractive green and white zig-zaggy stripes on them or the dar green it was almost black with a yellow spot on the bottom variety..  Now we eat the roundish seedless variety.  I've always wanted to grow them but they take a good deal of moisture to grow them and these days it's probably better to buy them from someone who grew them to keep the bills paid.  They never tell you the names of what you buy in the store - not like the apples or the pranges.  Everything is just watermelon-- seedless or seeded.  

Watermelon is also one of the fruits my SO will eat on a regular basis.  He even cuts up chunks for the fridge so they stay nice and icy. The rind that's left he takes and tosses it outside so the squirrels and the birds get some extra moisture.  The backyard squirrels hold and eat it like corn on the cob.  We find the dried up tough skins lying about the dead weeds in the back.    It's been so hot and rainless both of us worry about the outside wildlife.  We have bowls of water out, which unfortunately, the grackles view as a public toilet so they crap in it all the time.  We're constantly cleaning it out.  The other day I found a small headless bird floating in the water which makes me wonder if we have a serial killer of some sort.  I dumped the body out and when I went back to clean it up, it had mysteriously vanished.  (dun, dun, dun.) 

   It's been so hot the various small birds sit around with their mouths open panting (birds don't sweat so they pant.)  Well Gene couldn't stand it anymore and bought a cheap little circular sprinkler.  We hooked it up to the hose and hang it from the bushes around the house, dribbling enough to make a small waterfall for the birds.)  They love the shower - the cardinals especially.  I've been trying to catch one of them for a risque shower shot but they see me coming with the camera and run away.  I guess no one wants a picture of them in the shower.  I did manage to get a shot of the sprinkler in the bush.  I knew we have to be careful about water usage but we only water the bushes and that's only because our landlady is so proud of them.   If it helps the various birds - warblers, wrens, cardinals and the blue jay family - then I hope no one begrudges it.

Becoming a Sharecropper!

In my search to find new meaning in my life (ALO-after lay-off) I was paying rent to my landlady who happened to mention that she had a community garden plot that she was behind on and had received a warning that she needed to weed it.  I jokingly offered to make a deal with her and suddenly find myself with a farming job.

She wants tomatoes and peppers and I want some way of making sure I can continue living as long as possible at the house.  Plus I'm sure I could get peppers and tomatoes as well as other stuff.  So this afternoon I'm traveling with her to the spot to see what's up and will weed and water to my hearts content.  Maybe it will help me lose weight and get going on stuff.
Of course I could do it when it's in the cool of the evening.  We'll see.