Day 13 of unemployment – Today is Martin Luther King Day, so many others joined me on my quest to do very little. I actually kind of failed at that despite sleeping in until 10am. More practice is obviously needed.

I got a few things knocked off the ‘Honey-do’ list and we did go do a little target shooting. I know some folks are anti-gun, but I find target shooting very therapeutic. There is a focus and concentration that needs to be attained to be accurate while others are unloading the fury of their bangstick of choice 3 feet on either side of you. Couple this with dodging hot brass cases flying at you, and you have the makings of a good time indeed. Indoor ranges make this especially challenging. In the end, I managed to do pretty well even though it has been a while.

Upon returning home, I got to enjoy part one of the two pig-men episodes of Doctor Who. While I don’t really like Martha as a companion, I still go back and forth between David Tennant and Matt Smith as my favorite Doctors. Yeah, I admit it, I’m a nerd like that.

While watching the episode, Maci, our spastic fuzzball of a dog started losing her mind looking out the back door. When we let her out, she was like a shot straight to the BBQ grill. Yep, you guessed it, my little brown rodent friend is back. Given the paralyzingly cold Florida weather we had tonight (it was 57 degrees Fahrenheit out there people!) I was not shocked that it had returned to the grill. I opened the grill doors and saw nothing, but given the dog’s maniacal circling of the grill, I knew it must be around somewhere. When I slid out the grease drip tray a little, there it was staring at me with those hollow brown eyes and razor sharp teeth. This thing must have been 6… ok 5… maybe 3 feet… er, inches long. OK, size doesn’t matter OK, it was a murderous rodent and it was looking right at me.

Have you ever looked in to the eyes of a cold blooded killer? Me neither, but I’ll bet it is really close to what happened here. I could hear it chanting, “Redrum. Redrum!” as it prepared to spring at me, aiming no doubt for the jugular! I frantically looked around for something to smack it with, a shoe, a stick, a small car, whatever! While I was looking, it made its escape and shot out the back of the grill and headed toward its hold in the lanai screen. The dog was right there though, and using all of the hunting skills it has perfected by laying on her cushy dog bed all day, she did a masterful job of completely failing to catch the mouse. She did however fire herself through the lanai door (thankfully sparing the screen) and chased that little booger all around the yard, eventually in to the 8’ hedge we have in our yard.

I am hoping one of the snakes that inhabit that hedge will eat the mouse, but if not, we will meet again and I will have a mouse pelt for sale shortly after word!

Tomorrow I have an interview at 2pm with the owner of a business. This will be my 3^rdinterview with the company, and I am supposed to meet the HR Manager right afterword. I’m trying not to be too excited about this, but I am. Here’s to hoping for a win tomorrow!

Today, nothing really happened. Well, that’s not true because I did have my 4th interview (my wife corrected me when I said yesterday it was my 3rd). I guess what I’m saying is nothing FUNNY really happened. Well, that may not be true either. I got to take my youngest kid to the orthodontist and learn about this piece of medieval piece of hardware they recently installed in her mouth. This particular piece of torture gear is called an “expander”. As far as I can tell, it’s a device similar to the infamous “rack” of lore, only it pushes teeth apart instead of stretching things out.

Because we live in the world we do, the orthodontist has enlisted us, the parents, as the torture administrators. We have to take a “key” twice a day and “turn” the device. What this means is, we turn a screw in this thing which pushes the teeth apart. This doesn’t seem pleasant and my child reports it makes her nose hurt. I’m not sure I’m in board with making her head wider, but hey, we are playing for the privilege. I think I’ll transfer this chore to my wife and give the kiddo ice cream or something. Staying the “good” parent isn’t always easy.  :snicker:

The mouse has not returned, but I’m keeping an eye on things. This isn’t over yet.

Today, I’m going to keep applying for jobs and see if anything new comes along. I am still excited about the 2 opportunities in the hopper, but as of right now, no offers. I hope that changes today as well. I’ll let you know.