We visited a sci-fi museum, saw some locks (like stairs-for-ships locks), attended a little-league game in the rain, visited several excellent restaurants, and visited with good friends we hadn't spent more than a few hours with since the last millennium.
We had a great time. Well, at least I had a great time and Shel tells me she enjoyed it as well, though by the time we were headed home, she had come down with a sudden onset virus and allergies at the same time on top of the stress of travel and the malnutrition endemic to eating
out frequently.On our way home (a 700+ mile drive), we stopped at Shari's restaurant. They serve deep-fried cheese ravioli and some tasty, tasty pie.
They also claim to sell Gardenburgers. Unfortunately, what they bring instead when you gullibly order a Gardenburger is instead a generic soy patty.
I contacted Kellogg foods, the owner of the Gardenburger name, and they have assured me that they will destroy all vestiges of the Shari's Restaurant enterprise burn their employees at the stake (I think that their actual phrasing was something more all along the lines of "We'll look into it," but I figure that one has to read between the lines).Now, I have returned to the home of the friends we visited. I don't want to give away their location because I don't want the rest of you to overrun the metropolitan area, but instead I will refer to the city as "The Emerald City."
I haven't wanted to whine too much here about the troubles I've had job-hunting, suffice it to say that I had been looking for work in the twin cities since February and haven't gotten so much as an interview. (Only one employer even acknowledged my application.)I've been here since Saturday night. I started job hunting on Monday (yesterday, for those keeping score.) and I got a placement with a temp agency today.
The job is filling in for an administrative assistant to an exec at a local television affiliate and the chief apprehension amongst my new supervisors is that I will be bored at this new job. I assured them that if it becomes necessary, I will bring a novel, and they agreed and offered me the job.
I have a lead on a house to rent - they're cheaper in this market then they are in the depressed little twin cities from whence I so recently hailed. I'm loving the weather here, since it's 20 degrees cooler than what I would otherwise be forced to endure.
Things are going swimmingly. I feel at home in a way that I never have before. This is the goal and the means.
I miss Shel.
I miss my dogs. I miss my family. I miss the comfort and familiarity of home.
I never want to leave.
I'll try to keep you posted, but I'm productively busy to an extent that I have too long missed. Things are lookin' up.
