Quickies

A few brief updates to report on.

I recently kicked up the job search a little more aggressively. Am putting a lot more energy and focus out there and expanding my search to include related fields and a little bit further commutes. I also recently realized that the Red Line is an easy 30 minute commute from North Hollywood straight into downtown so that has opened me up to a lot of opportunities out there in the financial district which also usually involve better pay as well. I have been getting some good responses to my applications. So far I have one interview scheduled for next Tuesday and am hoping to hear back on some others.

I have been recently introduced to the game of poker and I really enjoy it. I don't even know what the version is called that we play -- I think it might be Texas Hold Em. We played tonight for the first time using actual money instead of just pretend chips and I walked away with $33 of the $45 pot! Pretty good beginners' luck!

I had a nice visit with the pastor of our church this week. Told her I was bored out of my mind from being unemployed and needed some volunteer work to do. So she hooked me up with a member of the church who is going through some medical procedures and needs help getting too and from appointments and errands and such. So I met with her today and we had a very nice visit and got a few things done together. I'm going to try to help her out a couple of days a week until I get a job. It's a nice opportunity for me to get out of the house and do something productive and hopefully the good karma will come back my way. She also seems to be a really nice person and I'm looking forward to getting to know her more.

I've started downloading audiobooks onto my Ipod to listen to when I'm out exercising or doing chores around the house and I love it! (Which is another reason I love the idea of commuting by subway - more chances to listen to my Ipod.) Currently I have been going through the book "Into the Wild," true story that was recently made into a major motion picture about a boy who goes into the Alaskan wild to try to live out his dream of living off the land and communing with nature and ends up dying alone. It is an amazing read and I definitely recommend it - part tragic and part inspiring; part wise and part foolish; the kind of essentially human story that everyone has an opinion about. I'm on the final chapter right now. If you've read it or are familiar with the story I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Diet and exercise are going well. Let the blood sugar get a little too low tonight and ended up splurging on Pizza. Still haven't caved to the soda cravings. I've realized that my will power is strong enough to get me through the Lenten discipline but as soon as it's over I'm going back to drinking pop. It just brings me too much pleasure to live without.