Inhale...

Things that are currently making me pull out my hair (Volume 1):

• It has been a while since Austin has been in the direct path of a tropical storm or hurricane. When Hermine blew through last week, we saw a lot of flooding. Unfortunately, by "we," I mean Achilles and me. Our condo was leaking water upstairs, downstairs, and on one side. We still aren't exactly sure whether we're responsible for the repairs or whether the COA is responsible (we think the roof was leaking).
• ACL Fest is in about three weeks. Three of Achilles friends are coming to stay with us. (In our condo. That needs a lot of work. Gah. I can't take time off from either job to prepare.)
• I have two stand up performances in the next two weeks. I really don't feel ready. I've been so busy with my new job, I haven't written a lot of new material. I know a lot of comics re-use the same jokes over and over, but I get sort of bored with my jokes. (P.S. If you will be in the area and would like to come to a performance, I'd still love to see you. Just let me know if you're interested.)
• My new job pretty much involves me constantly asking my supervisor questions. He encourages the questions, is a very nice guy, and told me from the first day to expect that I'd be in his office asking questions at least 80% of the time at first. Still, every time I have to go in there, I find myself thinking, "If they have to fire someone, this is why they'll pick me." The more nervouse I get, the more mistakes I make. It's all very vicious cycle/circle-y.
• I still don't have my teaching application completed. (It's not due for two months, but I hate having it hanging over my head.)
• Achilles injured himself somehow training for the half marathon. He has to recover in time for the police academy (which is a whole other ball of anxiety I can't even begin to talk about) so I'm stuck training for the half marathon by myself.

I'll survive all this, of course. All I have to do is remember to breathe and maybe keep a few extra towels on hand. Wish me luck.

Biting the bullets

Yes, it is that time again. I have let myself get so discombobulated (love that word) through lack of blog posting that my only hope for ever moving forward is to attempt to re-combobulate myself through the use of bullet points and bad pun blog titles.

This is the current status of various aspects of my life:

• Job situation - If you are annoying even yourself with your self-absorption, chances are, you're probably beginning to alienate some of your readers. At any rate, I don't want to turn this into an unemployment blog, so after this update, I'm going to put a lid on this subject for a while. Since my last post, I took a test to see if I qualify for a teaching program, interviewed for a job, and signed up for a mandatory "transitions workshop" for the group of people who were laid off by my employer. The test went pretty well (I think). I thought the interview went badly. It reminded me of getting dressed up for a date with a guy that you're not that interested in, and then getting rejected because the guy is still hung up on his ex-girlfriend. (Oddly, that made me more interested in the job than I initially thought I was. Old habits?) I am sure the transitions workshop will be magical.
• Achilles - He is still nice. I don't know why he puts up with me. Perhaps it is because I don't complain when he heads to the video store to pick up a movie we both agreed on and instead returns with something he thinks we might like better. (I sent him this article and went upstairs to reread my Anastasia books.)
  
• Stand up - I'm performing again on July 11th. Email me if you'll be in the Austin area and would like tickets.
  
• Hurricane Alex - I am normally not a fan of hurricanes, but I am enjoying the rain and cooler weather Alex has brought to Austin. I hope this doesn't cause too much trouble in the Gulf, though. (Side note - how is it possible that we've never had a hurricane Alex before? Isn't Alex a really common name?)
• Birthdays - My niece and my sister's birthday was yesterday. In some ways, I can't believe little Ellie is already a year old. In others, I can't believe how much has happened in the past year. My nephew's fourth birthday is in two weeks. I definitely can't believe how much has happened in the past four years.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend Internets!

Hurricanes are only fun in Scorpion songs

Dear Ike,

Please be nice. You are gathering strength and heading straight for the Texas coastline, where one of my good friends (who lives in Corpus Christi, right by the bay) is currently in the process of not evacuating. Her line of reasoning (which I guess isn't totally illogical) is that the projected storm path follows the highway on which she, her boyfriend, and their dog and two cats would be traveling anyway.

It's not just Corpus I'm worried about. Sure, sometimes I like to gripe about Houston, but it's really not a terrible place. I mean, the pollution is partly due to the fact that the refineries there provide fuel for a large part of the rest of the country. Plus, Houston has pretty decent museums, and really, it's kind of interesting that someone could build a porn shop right next to a church.

The smaller towns on the coast are pretty cool too. Galveston is a great little island. The last time I visited was right after Hurricane Rita in 2005 - a lot of people there who evacuated for that storm (which didn't end up hitting Galveston) swore they would never do it again, no matter what the officials told them.*

*One woman told me that she and her boyfriend fought, broke up, and got back together seven times as they attempted to navigate the evacuation traffic. She said she kicked him out of the car near San Antonio, but made him get back in after she realized he was moving faster walking than she was driving. "And when we got back, all that had happened was that my potted plant had blown over. My dumbass boyfriend probably just knocked it over running to the car on our way out."

The thing about Galveston (and a lot of the Texas coastline) is that a lot of the people there live from paycheck-to-paycheck. If they spend money on gas to evacuate (and lose potential hours of work at their jobs), that's just money they don't have for groceries and rent.

If it seems like I'm hoping that you'll come ashore further east, I'm not. Those parts of Texas and Louisiana are barely recovering from the effects of Rita and (to a lesser extent) Katrina. I just want you to take a breather, and surprise us all by weakening a little. Dump a little rain on us, then head on up to Arkansas. I hear it's becoming a popular place to retire; you should check it out.

Sincerely,
Jane