Hi. Long time, no blog. And the weird thing is, the longer you go without doing something, the bigger the task becomes (that's one of the laws of thermodynamics, or perhaps procrasto-dynamics), and the bigger it becomes, the more difficult and daunting it becomes, until you just don't want to think about for weeks or months at a time.
Well, enough of that. Lots going on, so I will try to hit the high points and keep moving.
I am completely recovered from my leg issues. I was knocked flat for about two weeks, and then had two more weeks or so of slow recovery, but for the past six weeks or so I have been just fine. In retrospect, I should have just gone to the hospital the day I got sick, but not having health insurance, I decided not to. I still spent a fair chunk of change on the medical-industrial complex, and I guess it worked out in the end.
Things are going well at the IRS. I'm working my regular 5pm to 1:30am shift, plus some overtime here and there. We'll have plenty to keep us busy for at least another month, and then they'll start furloughing people. I'm trying to delay that moment for as long as possible, but we'll see. The really exciting news is that they announced 25 (!) full-time permanent job openings in my department back in March, and I eagerly applied, along with a bunch of other folks. None of us have heard anything back yet, but I didn't expect to right away. After three tax seasons, I'm starting to get a feel for how the government does things (and you can take that any way you want to). Anyway, I like my chances -- I have a ton of experience, and it's the right experience, plus I had a lot of help from our Team Manager with filling out all the paperwork and using the right buzzwords to get past the screening process. The only variable is how many other people applied: 50? 500? I don't know.
We're still committed to selling the house and moving into some place smaller and cheaper, but getting the current house ready to sell is taking longer than we hoped. We're not listed yet, but we're shooting for Real Soon Now -- like by the end of the month, or early May. More on this as developments warrant.
We're getting a visit from oldest stepson Ben and his lovely wife Stephanie this week. Ben is headed off to Navy basic training in less than two weeks, and is coming through the area to see some family before he leaves. He'll start at the Great Lakes naval station in Chicago, and I don't know much beyond that. There's a good chance Ben doesn't know much beyond that, either. (Like I said earlier, I'm starting to get a feel for how the government does things.)
I feel that Louise and I are starting to emotionally withdraw from our church commitment, and that makes me sad. The pastor who has been there as long as we've been going (over 10 years now) is retiring, and it's made it hard to get excited about the future there. The church is way more than just the pastor, of course, and I have to reconnect with that part of the relationship if I'm going to continue to be a member. The only thing I'm really excited about is our little worship band, Banned From The Church. It lets me channel my inner rock star and make some fun music with some nice, talented people. I guess I'll use that as an anchor point, and try to expand and re-engage from there. Or something like that.
Enough of an update? Hope so, 'cause it's all I've got right now. Comment if you want, or if you have any questions, or whatever. 'Til next time . . .
