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good weekend
Apr. 26th, 2009 05:56 pmI managed to stay busy enough to not worry about my interview tomorrow, but not so busy that I was stressed. It was a good balance. Sam had baseball practice today. The coach had her pitch for part of an inning, which she wasn't terribly excited about doing but was fine about having done it. We talked about mechanics and staying loose and what she needed to work on after the practice. When I pointed out that she was pitching like her back foot was nailed to the ground, she told me "that's from basketball, I'm used to having to keep one foot down", which was just an awesome observation for her to have made. We planned to work on her pitching together Tuesday after school.
Saturday Sam wanted to come over after it was dark and try her telescope that I got her for Christmas. That didn't go so well, there was just too much glare from the city lights. We'll probably be able to look at moon and maybe Venus when it's higher in the sky, but that's about it. I suggested to her that on Fridays we can go to the planetarium and take the telescope. They have a program where they help amateurs use their telescopes, find various stars and planets and basic help like that. She thought that might be fun.
Earlier in the day, I had walked down to the library. I'd been wanting to do that for awhile, but between the cold, wet weather and my car needing fixed, I'd not made the time to do it. So when I had an afternoon with no demands for my chauffuermanship, off I went.
The library often has books for sale on a shelf just inside the door. Paperbacks are 50 cents, hardbacks are $1 and $2. Most of the time it's trade paperback romances or NY Times bestsellers from years gone by, or bookclub edition hardbacks. My timing on Saturday was just right, as I scored a copy of "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide". It's a rather large, coffeetable-sized book with a pictures on almost every page, and a great process that takes the reader from beginner to advanced astronomer in 330 pages. Sam was very surprised when I had it in the van when I picked her up and enjoyed looking through it, even though looking through her telescope was less than a success.
Friday was fun. I met some friends at a Thai restaurant in Manchester, and we had a nice, leisurely meal together. One of the people there was my former co-worker at the hospital, Jodi. About 5 years ago I discovered that she had never seen the movie "Buckaroo Banzai", so I got her a DVD of the movie for Christmas. Friday, she returned the favor by gifting me with a copy of the book for my birthday; it was one of those fun, "gotcha" moments that only an in-joke among friends can produce. I've not had a lot of those in my life, which made this one that much better.
I also spent time running errands, cleaning my house, and getting ready for tomorrow. I made a small leap of faith and paid for my vehicle registration and got my van safety inspected. All of that only set me back about $550, so I'm really hoping that much harder that I'll do well enough in the interview tomorrow to get the job.
One of my friends and former co-workers at the hospital told me about a group that gets together at one of the local restaurants on Monday mornings. It's some sort of unemployment support/advice/free info thing. We decided we'll go check it out and see if it's anything of substance or just people commiserating together. If we don't like it, we can always leave, and if it's anything helpful, then so much the better. It's not supposed to rain tomorrow, so we are planning on walking over. At the least, it gets me out of the house and spending time with a friend for an hour or so.
Saturday Sam wanted to come over after it was dark and try her telescope that I got her for Christmas. That didn't go so well, there was just too much glare from the city lights. We'll probably be able to look at moon and maybe Venus when it's higher in the sky, but that's about it. I suggested to her that on Fridays we can go to the planetarium and take the telescope. They have a program where they help amateurs use their telescopes, find various stars and planets and basic help like that. She thought that might be fun.
Earlier in the day, I had walked down to the library. I'd been wanting to do that for awhile, but between the cold, wet weather and my car needing fixed, I'd not made the time to do it. So when I had an afternoon with no demands for my chauffuermanship, off I went.
The library often has books for sale on a shelf just inside the door. Paperbacks are 50 cents, hardbacks are $1 and $2. Most of the time it's trade paperback romances or NY Times bestsellers from years gone by, or bookclub edition hardbacks. My timing on Saturday was just right, as I scored a copy of "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide". It's a rather large, coffeetable-sized book with a pictures on almost every page, and a great process that takes the reader from beginner to advanced astronomer in 330 pages. Sam was very surprised when I had it in the van when I picked her up and enjoyed looking through it, even though looking through her telescope was less than a success.
Friday was fun. I met some friends at a Thai restaurant in Manchester, and we had a nice, leisurely meal together. One of the people there was my former co-worker at the hospital, Jodi. About 5 years ago I discovered that she had never seen the movie "Buckaroo Banzai", so I got her a DVD of the movie for Christmas. Friday, she returned the favor by gifting me with a copy of the book for my birthday; it was one of those fun, "gotcha" moments that only an in-joke among friends can produce. I've not had a lot of those in my life, which made this one that much better.
I also spent time running errands, cleaning my house, and getting ready for tomorrow. I made a small leap of faith and paid for my vehicle registration and got my van safety inspected. All of that only set me back about $550, so I'm really hoping that much harder that I'll do well enough in the interview tomorrow to get the job.
One of my friends and former co-workers at the hospital told me about a group that gets together at one of the local restaurants on Monday mornings. It's some sort of unemployment support/advice/free info thing. We decided we'll go check it out and see if it's anything of substance or just people commiserating together. If we don't like it, we can always leave, and if it's anything helpful, then so much the better. It's not supposed to rain tomorrow, so we are planning on walking over. At the least, it gets me out of the house and spending time with a friend for an hour or so.
