Tuesday 12/29

Tuesday 12/29 7.45 am

So the storm has arrived. I think it came later than expected but when I got up at 6.30 it had just started snowing. Fortunately, there's no wind. The cloud cover kept the water line from freezing so I had water this morning. We're supposed to get 1-2 inches. I expect sales will be slow today, but I'll be working 9.30-5.

I've applied for a gate keeper job in Texas but probably won't get it. It's on a construction site, checking trucks etc in and out 24/7, near Ft. Worth or at MacAllen (on the border). They provide fuel water septic and a generator. It's very isolated but the pay is $100 a day, so I could make a lot of money quickly. Most terms are 30 days but could go longer. As far as I can tell, I'd either have to really stock up on food etc or sneak out in the middle of the night for a quick run to a grocery store. And I could get by with catnapping for a month or so. They probably want two people (m/f or m/m) with a toad (that's RV jargon for a towed vehicle), so that they can alternate and one can go on supply runs while the other is working. Ah well.

That sort of full-time is way more do-able than retail, standing on your feet for 8-9 hours a day. The work of checking trucks in and out is sporadic and mostly outside, and things are always changing. It's also short-term so there's always an end-date in sight. I think that's my main psychological problem with this job -- it'll go on forever. Kenn says he and Carol will only be doing this for another 18 months when he reaches retirement age (62) and then they'll be gone. I'll certainly be gone by then, one way or another.

I'm doing a lot of reading about the indexing career. They've suggested taking a book you own and constructing an index for it, just to see how it's done and how good you are at it. There's also specific programs for making indexes -- need to check into that cost. But for now I'll just use Word's indexing application and see how it goes. The ASI (American Society of Indexers) has a Jobs listing, too, sort of like Workampers. Members can use it for free (nonmembers pay).

Signing off now, with about an inch of snow on the ground at 8.15 am.

5.30pm
Accumulation of about 1.5 inches now all melted off, though clouds still dark and low. Fairly busy day in the store. Drove the company car to do the bank deposit, but first had to go back in and get a piece of cardboard to shovel the light dry snow off.