Deborah Woehr

With the move, came a new school district, which has different hours of operations. Why they start so late, I don’t know. But it has cut my work hours from six to three. Now, that wouldn’t be bad if I didn’t have a forty-mile commute. Not only does this new schedule cut my day in half, but my paycheck as well. With gas prices raising (predicted long before Katrina hit), I’ll be losing nearly two paychecks per month instead of one to trek to a place that I really can’t stand.

This morning was particularly stressful because my car is having some problems. Hell, it’s thirteen years old, so I can’t expect it to last forever. All the way to work, I was thinking, “I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

My husband wants me to stick it out until we can figure out what our budget is. I’ve already started applying elsewhere, but doubt I’ll hear anything. The effects of the recession are still strong here in the Bay Area. For every one job, you’re competing with literally thousands of other people. It’s still very tough to find a job out here.

At any rate, I found one of the corporate big wigs sitting in front of my computer when I walked into the office. He smiled and said hello as I walked past him to my desk. I returned the smile, while listening to my boss talking on the phone. She is none too happy with my new schedule, and I expected to receive some harsh words.

When she pulled me aside and told me that they were going to start hiring again, I had to make a decision. I told her that I was stuck with no one to pick up or drop of my kids, and then gave her my two week’s notice. We stood there for a minute, not knowing what to say. She understood my position, and I understood hers.

In the end, I agreed to give one month’s notice so I can not only hire more field auditors but a new secretary to take my place. September will be very stressful, but it will end on a good note (I hope.). Now, I need to break the news to my husband.

Like everyone else, I’ve been watching Katrina’s progress through the Gulf of Mexico. Since half my family lives in Texas, I always pay attention whenever one of these monsters forms. My oldest son needed some help summarizing an article he had printed off the internet, which turned out to be an up-to-the-minute update on Katrina.

While he was amazed at the speed of the news coverage via the Internet, I was silently praying for the people effected by this storm and remembering the anomaly of last year’s hurricanes that tore through Florida. Let’s hope this region doesn’t suffer another nasty season.

Katrina at a Glance

After a decade of dial-up, we’ve finally decided that it’s time to upgrade to DSL. We’re also going to go wireless. This will be great because right now, I have a long telephone cord spanning from the family room and into my office. This is not a good thing when you have two boys that like to get rowdy in the hallway. Come next week, that won’t be a problem anymore.

We’re about two-thirds of the way unpacked. Now, the challenge is trying to put everything in its proper place. I may have to throw out more in order to keep things organized, which is just as well because I still have way too much stuff.

My husband bought me my first floor-to-ceiling bookshelf to put in my office, along with a cabinet to store my office supplies. Right now, the room is a cluttered mess, with stacks of books piled here and there. It’s a clutter I’m very well used to and strangely comfortable with. The old house is beginning to seem like a stranger, finally.

I’d made up my mind last week that this move was going to be good for me in more ways than one. The house is definitely a step up from the rental we had been living in for thirteen years. And, we’ve needed to declutter our household for the past five years or so.

By Sunday evening, I was beginning to suffer withdrawal symptoms every time I looked at my Mac. So, I decided to start another writing project to distract me until our phone line kicked in. This project based on a couple of guys who use Blogger for their sites. Both had no clue as to how to use WordPress.

One figured out how to post his articles in Bloggers Weekly, but the other was thoroughly intimidated. I asked them if they would be interested in a visual guide, and both were excited by the idea. So, that’s what I’m working on right now.

But I immediately ran into the problem of not being able to capture screenshots from my Mac, which has no Internet connection right now. The work I’ve done with the book so far has resulted from the bit of research I’d done a couple of months ago, as well as the screenshots I had taken back then.

By yesterday, I was really starting to climb the walls. This withdrawal attack resulted in thirteen pages over a two-day period, which is something I haven’t accomplished in a long time. We got our phoneline today, which still doesn’t allow me to connect with my Mac, but I can go online and do my research until my husband gets the DSL router. Now, it’s all about practicing patience.

My family and I moved into our new home last Saturday, although we still have various odds and ends to pick up at the old house. It was strange waving at my mother-in-law (the original owner of the house) as she drove away to her new home. For years, it was her standing on the front walkway, waving at us as we drove away. I still feel like a guest, even though our things are sitting in this house.

I took today and tomorrow off. Today was my oldest son’s junior high orientation. I told him at lunch that I couldn’t believe that he is in junior high already. He can’t believe it, either.

My youngest son isn’t going to be able to go to the school that we had hoped for. The school district informed us that he’s the only one on the waiting list, which I find totally assinine. In the meantime, he’s going to have to go to school three miles away in the seediest part of this area. I’m hoping he’ll be transferred soon.

My husband and I will be moving into our first home tomorrow. I should be ecstatic, but I’m so exhausted. I’ve got the major things packed and ready to move, but there are so many little things lying around that I don’t know what to do with.

As far as the house is concerned, most of it is done. Most of the baseboards are in, and the contractor is supposed to come out and lay the carpet in the master bedroom first thing tomorrow morning. I went over there tonight to have dinner with my family.

It’s so strange moving into the house that used to belong to my in-laws. Even though we’re fixing it up, I can almost see my father-in-law (now deceased) sitting in his recliner, watching the 49ner’s game.

I just can’t get over the strangeness of it all. This morning I called the phone company to move our service, which won’t take effect until Thursday. That means no Internet access until then, but that’s not a big deal since it’s not too busy at work. This will give me the motivation to fix up the house, clean out the rental so we can get our deposit back, etc.

I had no idea of this book’s existence until I saw Kevin Trudeau’s infomercial very late one night. His book sounded intriguing (using natural remedies to cure disease), and I agreed with him about how the pharmaceutical companies (as well as the FDA) are not giving us the whole truth about these new drugs.

My husband and I shake our heads when we see commercials for Wellbutrin, Nexium, etc. The side effects are often worse than the problem. But before I get on my soapbox, let me get back on track.

I listened to this guy talk while Tammy Faye Bakker bobbed her head and tried to interject her opinion here and there. He claims that there are natural cures for cancer, diabetes, smoking addiction, obesity, etc. All this sounded very intriguing, so I kept listening.

At the end, he pitched his book, along with a “secret CD” and a monthly newsletter, for $40.00. I wasn’t interested in the bonuses, so I didn’t place the order. The following weekend, I went to the bookstore with my mother-in-law and an “aunt.” I saw the book sitting near the front of the store and picked it up.

My aunt saw me looking at the book and told me that she had bought a copy. When I asked her how she liked it, she said that it wasn’t very good. So I put the book down and promptly forgot about it.

Today I saw two blog entries. I forget where the first one was, but I’ll give you the link to the other. The comments for this post sent me to Amazon. I’ll quote from a reviewer below.

Read the full review.

To tell you the truth, I was surprised to find Tammy Faye Bakker hosting this infomercial. For those who don’t know her history, she is the wife of a TV evangelist (Jim Bakker) who was tried and convicted for defrauding their followers out of millions of dollars during the 1980’s. At the time, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt because people make mistakes.

Then I saw the reviews on Amazon and was glad that I had waited before I bought this book. Sure, this guy hit the jackpot by self-publishing his book. But how much will he lose if he’s found to be a fraud?

The Writers’ Blog Alliance has received a good reception from the writers who have come here. There’s still plenty of work to be done, such as finishing the installation of the book store and making up my mind as to whether or not I want to implement a job board.

While the revenue from the job board will help gain funds for the ads in the major writer’s mags, I need to decide whether I’m up for the challenge of the customer service issues that will inevitably arise. I’ll have to give this some serious thought.

In the meantime, I have my marketing plan written down. I’m hopeful that the word-of-mouth will keep our momentum going. So far, this community is starting to take off. I can’t ask for any more at this point in the game.

My family and I were supposed to move into our new house this weekend. But as it turns out, the house needs more repairs. My in-laws were the original owners and hadn’t done much maintenance. This is due in large part to their being embroiled in running a business. So we’re having to replace the ducts before the contractor can put in the flooring.

Then we’re having issues with the contractor, who has other jobs to work on. My husband was fuming because the guy told us that he would have this job done this weekend. This wouldn’t be such a big deal except for the fact that we have to move out of our rental by the 31st. I asked my husband last night if we were going to be homeless.

He assured me that we weren’t, but we may have to move our household into storage. This gave me no comfort at all.