A Long Time

If you had told me any of this on June 11th, 2009, I would have scoffed heartily. I mean, I knew that we were in the throes of the worst economic meltdown ever, but I was sure that, with the help of members of the Albuquerque congregation, I would find a job somewhere doing something. The pay rate or the tasks expected of me were not an issue. Distance was an issue but not an insurmountable one. If I found a good enough job that required me to buy a car, I would have bought a car.

So a year went by. I was an extra on Breaking Bad for a day. I was an extra on Crash 2 for a day. I was paid a stipend for my work on White Christmas at Albuquerque Little Theatre. I worked two days on a museum exhibit for the Albuquerque Museum of History and Science.

Then I had my deep vein thrombosis - five days in the hospital, a month on oxygen - and then it was February. There were five months left in Albuquerque before we moved again. I was an extra on In Plain Sight. I was paid a stipend for my work on The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Then in June I was able to work two days, with the company I worked for in Ocoee, Florida for nine years, doing an installation at a TV station in Albuquerque. That's it for one year.

In mid-July we came to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where the house we bought required a LOT of work. But once that work was pretty near completion, I poured on the steam to find a job.

Today I begin my new job, starting work for the first time since June of 2009. I'm a little nervous about it. Is that normal? I forget.