What a freakin' waste of a day. I sat around and either watched the tournament or played SimCity 4 all day pretty much. Wow...I did apply to another two jobs today...so it wasn't ALL fun 'n' games.

I didn't even really pay that close attention to the evening tourney games. Oh well. I'm gonna go read now...my hobbies are so cyclical, it's not even funny. Maybe my brain, the portion that I used to edit every damn day for the past five years, is crying out to be used...but I've read actual books the past couple of nights, something I couldn't do because that's what I did for a living and my brain often was tired of it.

Time to flex the brain power, and then go to sleep. I have that b a l l p a r k interview tomorrow at 1pm, and then who knows from there. So we shall see. It'll be nice to make some progress in this whole job search thing, even if it is to get a part-time gig first.

Yay NCAA Tournament. Not that I care all THAT much...I mean, I played SimCity 4 with the games on in the background, paying attention when things got interesting.

I will say I'm tired of hearing about Cialis and how a four-hour erection, rare but not impossible, should warrant medical attention...(their words in the commercial, not mine) yet, there are some good, hilarious voice-over opportunities for the sick mind in the commercial, no doubt about it.

I did get a kick out of the NCAA's PSA-type commericials about XX percent of student-athletes about to go pro in something other than sports. Bioguy, are you one of the top five protein chemists in the world? ;) Because apparently that swimmer dude in the commercial is right on your heels. Or something...make sure you haze him, rookie style.

I'm also tired of hearing about Allstate insurance from President Cerrano from "24." But hey, whatever...I guess it's done for now...time for local news. Yippee.

Check that last thing. Just entered a friend's dirt-cheap pool. Knowing even less about college basketball than I did the one year I won it. It was bad that, on a whim, I found myself with four ACC teams in the Final Four--Duke, Ga.Tech, Wake and Maryland. SO I had to change it. :) Didn't feel at all comfy with that.

Anyway, now, really, off to bed.

Swing class kicked much ass tonight...simply because I did very well and Gina and I garnered praise after the class was over by the woman who runs the show and teaches the class. I don't think she thought I heard her, but she was telling one of our previous teachers that "these two" (looking at us) have gotten good. And she praised me twice during class when we were learning today's new moves...I was nice and smooth on one of the turns and she said so, and then on the tougher turn, my partner and I pulled it off nearly flawlessly. I was like, "I think we did that one perfect," and before she could answer, the teacher comes over, and I'm like, "or not." The teacher laughed and said, "Actually, I wanted to let you two know that that was perfectly done." I was pleased. It was a good night. :)

I've got the interview for Friday, assuming the guy doesn't call and change it. It shouldn't be a tough interview...I'm sure he just wants to see that I'm a good, upstanding individual who will represent the b a l l p a r k well. Whatever works. :)

But now I'm gonna go to bed...got a long, long day of NCAA basketball to watch tomorrow. :) Hooray for March Madness. And this would be the first time in YEARS that I'm not in a tourney pool. Oh well...

Unemployment check comes at the end of the month, barring any other problems. They didn't call until 10:15 or so...good thing I didn't have important things to do. But it got worked out, I think (and hope). Speaking of which, I need to find out if I can NET $150 or GROSS $150. Kinda important. Hmmm...

In other news, I got my first two rejections via email today! (haven't checked the snail mailbox yet, so maybe more!) :) Those from the "throwing shit at the wall and seeing if anything sticks" category. The first one said that a way to keep myself on file at their magazine (one of the bigger and better ones I sent to, that I kind of would have liked to work) was to freelance for them. Dude said I should pitch some story ideas to write about. I will try, but that's been my biggest problem: story ideas. :) If I come up with some good ones though, I'll definitely pitch them. Or something.

The other was a book publisher that said "it sounds like you have great experience that would fit very well at XXXX" and that he was keeping my resume on file for the future, since there are no openings right now. That sounds hopeful, but maybe that's the point. I don't know. :) I'm not gonna get psyched about it, of course.

On the other hand, got a call from the b a l l p a r k to set up an interview for Friday or Monday. So at least I'm potentially nailing down a part-time gig...that's important too. :) I have to call the guy and schedule it. And it'll be fun, in theory...better than standing behind a cash register, at least. Or so I hope.

All right...gotta take the dog out and then head to Gina's for dinner and swing class.

Didn't I do this while working?

I'm sitting here waiting for unemployment to call and interview me because I earned wages between Feb. 25 and March 10, and I had put down on my application that I wanted to start unemployment on the 26th of February. I misunderstood what the wages I got during that period were, and I told the employee at the unemployment office that I was gonna get paid during that time, but I wasn't going to be working. (Of course, things could have been explained better to me by my former employer, but the whole process has been a confusing psuedo-disorganized mess that I'm not happy about.) He said to put the 26th down then. Apparently those were "wages in lieu of notice," which count as normal wages. So they're supposed to call and officially interview me to review my case. They're supposed to call between 9:30-9:40 am today. So here I am, waiting, waiting, waiting. I hope they call very soon, and I hope they understand that it was a miscommunication. Then I can start my unemployment benefits on March 11 if they want. Why do I get the feeling though, that it won't be that simple?

Hmmm...what about bartending school? Anyone know how much it costs to go to bartending school? Of course, then you'd all be required to come to my bar and tip me well. And if you were lucky (and the bar allowed it), I might buy back a round or two. :)

Heard back today about a part-time b a l l p a r k supervisor (using PolishBasia's methodology here) position I applied for yesterday. It would be about 16 hours/week (two days) minimum at about $11/hour. It's a private baseball stadium--like a park, but privately owned and rented out. I would basically be "in charge" on the days I worked. The only "problem" is that I'd have to be there at 3:30pm during the week and would have to work a Saturday or a Sunday as well. The 3:30 throws a monkeywrench in doing that if I find a full-time gig. The weekend day throws a monkeywrench in that I have split-season Sox tickets on weekends. So we'll see. I have to think about this now.

I picked up an application at the local Petco. They're hiring too. Whatever. I also scanned through the Reader, which is where I got the bartending idea. There were a couple (literally, like two) somewhat intriguing things. One of them I looked up online and changed my mind. So there was maybe ONE really intriguing job that I was qualified even partially for.

So we shall see.

Today (actually, Sunday) felt like a bit of a wasted day, but that's what happens when you get up at noon. Gina and I met my brother, his girlfriend (Gina's cousin) and several of their friends at Hala Kahiki, this tiki bar out in Schiller Park. We got there at 10 and sat down at 11. So we were out quite late and up quite late as such.

Whatever...I just watched the first few episodes of "Chappelle's Show" from yesterday. Quite good...quite hilarious. :)

I need to head to PetsMart tomorrow to get Kazak a bag of his old food...I think he's disagreeing with the new, weight management food I switched him too. This has never happened in the past--he's got a stomach of iron. But I don't know if it's the food, or if it's anxiety when I go out because I'm home more often now that I'm jobless or what. But he's thrown up three times in the past three weeks or so. So I guess I'm gonna try switching him back to the lite food. It's not as good for his coat, but if he likes it, then I guess that's all that matters.

Hmmm...what else? Not much, really...unemployment is still here. He won't go away. :) I'm hoping to hear something from SOMEone SOMEtime soon...but that's just hope, ya know? I'll be looking for real part-time work by the end of the month if I don't get anything else by then.

Tomorrow is, as they say, another day.