Ebb and Flow

No, these are not our next-door neighbors; they are the inevitable motion of life: Ebb and Flow. If they were neighbors, I'd bet they'd live in a mobile home.

The date for the condo fumigation has been set as August 20, so there is no turning back on that one. Cats, fish and ourselves will go to a local motel for the duration while the plants will have to risk it on the outer edge of the complex's sidewalk. Even though they'll be behind a locked gate, I'm just hoping no one will walk off with any of them.

More of the ebb and flow on the job front: Mike at McGraw-Hill sent me an e-mail letting me know the art director's position was being put on hold until the publication calendar for next year was approved by the head office. I guess they want to make doubly sure they really need the person before they actually hire someone new. This means it could be a few weeks, it could be a few months.

This is not the first time I have had this experience with a corporate entity. The last time it was with Catholic Healthcare West in San Francisco back in 1998, and in that instance, the job simply evaporated over the course of about three months. If it hadn't, I would be living up in the Bay Area, probably unemployed due to staff cutbacks there. In any case, it means I'm still looking for work and there is simply nothing out there.

On the home remodeling front, we went down to National Flooring in Monrovia last weekend and signed the contracts for installing the bamboo and slate in the main floor of our house. Vahan, our customer representative, should be calling tomorrow to schedule the work. I think we should probably wait until after the fumigation. Slate goes in first (in the entry and on the patio), then comes the bamboo. All the work should be done in about a week, total, though I'm not sure whether they will do one right after the other, or whether there will be some time in between.

Also, I have been chosen by the Foothill Employment and Training Center (the local service office for the EDD) as one of the 25 most employable unemployed clients. I'm not quite sure if I should be flattered by that or not. In any case, they have a special orientation and service package for those of us who are fully talented and qualified in our field but who simply haven't gotten employment yet. Unfortunately, the orientation is on the 19th, which is the day we will be preparing to move out for the fumgation, so this should make things fun.

Work continues on the website for Pearce Plastics, and I'm pleased with the results so far, as are the clients. I got cousin Robin Riker's reel page up, but I'm just waiting for the hosting company to redirect her domain name to my directory so putting www.robinriker.com into your browser will direct you there. (Right now, you have to put in www.markmcddesign.com/robinriker to get there).

The weather has been lovely, in the mid-80s for the last few weeks, but it promises to crank up, heatwise, by this weekend into the mid-90s. That's okay, just as long as the humidity stays low.

Nothing much else to report. Life goes on. If I keep plugging away at it, something of note is bound to happen. Hope everyone reading this is doing well.