“It’s just another rainy night in Georgia – feels like it’s raining all over the world.”

It rained all day today. Normally, I like rain, especially a warm Georgia rain, but today it was cold and depressing. I got up and called the local branch office of the Major National Security Firm I had been working for in KC, only to hear (once again) that no new positions had opened up.

Dann always uses his cell phone, but keeps the land line for his security system. He told me the land line could be “my” phone; all I had to do was delete all the messages on the answering machine and tell anyone who asks for him that he’s not available. Sounded reasonable. I went through the messages, deleting about 30 telemarketing messages, a couple of urgent-sounding messages from his fiance that began, “Daniel, your cell phone’s not working again!” and several from some company that had picked him to receive a free vacation somewhere. I deleted them all, and prepared to venture out into the rain.

Wachovia turned out to have exactly the sort of checking account I was looking for; namely, free with no restrictions. I signed up on the spot. Well, that’s one thing marked off my “to do” list.

I do things by lists. I shop by lists, I plan by lists, I even write by lists. (I just now marked “Wachovia” off my list of things to blog about. FYI, blogging about lists is something completely spontaneous I’ve decided to do on the spur of the moment. So there.) I once read somewhere that the true sign of being a list-making maniac is to add something to a “to-do” list that you’ve already done, just so you can mark it off. Ever since then I feel compelled to resist this impulse. I always give in anyway, it’s just that now I feel bad about it.

I went grocery shopping with Sunny (a friend of mine from KC) a couple of times. I was aghast that she didn’t shop with a list. “How do you know what to buy?” I asked. “Oh, well, I just wander down the aisles and pick up anything that looks good,” she replied. I just shook my head.

Anyway, after Wachovia, I went and sat in my car in the parking lot. I felt it was a shame to go straight home, now that I was already up and out and everything, but for the life of me, I just couldn’t think of anywhere I wanted to go or anything I wanted to do – other than stay home and stare out the window watching it rain. Then I realized I probably looked a little suspicious just sitting there in a bank parking lot (my security experience kicking in!) so I drove home.

Once home, I searched the internet for jobs in the Atlanta area. Monster.com, hotjobs.com, careerbuilder.com – pretty much the only things available were for business managers (need 10+ years experience to apply) or salesmen (paid entirely by commission). I sent the standard “I’m-moving-here’s-my-new-address” email to everyone in my address book, and included a link to this blog, so if you got one of the emails, congratulations on being one of the Important People Entitled To Be In My Address Book. Feel free to comment on my entries by pressing the “comment” link after each one. If you use my last name, I’ll have to delete your post, because I don’t want weirdo internet stalkers tracking me down and selling me pickled halibut or whatever.

Dann’s in here fixing Pan’s computer. He pretty much had to replace all of the innards. She came in and brought him some Thai cookies, and offered some to me.
“Are these chocolate chips or raisins?”
“Raisins. We don’t have chocolate chips in Thailand.”
“You don’t have chocolate chips in Thailand?!!”
“Well, we do, but they’re not popular.”
“They put fish on their cookies in Thailand,” Dann said.