7 QUICK TAKES FRIDAY

1. My latest job search complaint: Companies who post jobs they already plan to fill from "within." I must have spent an hour and a half on the application, they wanted all kinds of information and details for a credit check and 4 personal references with name, address, phone number and e-mail. Then I waited and checked in, and finally got the notification that the job was filled from within. Geez. They should let you know if this is the circumstance of the job posting before they collect all sorts of private information and waste my time.

The ongoing complaint: All the "part time" jobs that are 32-35 hours a week. That way they avoid offering benefits - but it is tantamont to a full time job schedule offering little "time" for anything else.

2. I needed wide egg noddles to go with the Goulash I was making for dinner. I usually buy Golden Grain brand, but Safeway was out and I didn't have time to run across town to another store. So I bought the Safeway brand. When will I learn? The noodles were gummy when cooked through so I mixed a little butter through to keep them from sticking together. It didn't work. They ended up blobbing together and didn't hold the sauce of the goulash at all. Yes, blobbing is the best description...

People who say the store brand is the same as the name brands do not have my standards, I guess!

3. I have determined that I am going to enjoy being unemployed. Actually, I am officially unemployed but I do work for Tom's law practice. It is not consistent, so I find myself sitting at the computer "just in case" something comes up that he wants me to do. I end up surfing the net, reading all day. Getting stiff and headachy. It is making me anxious and depressed.

So now I am "scheduling" other activities, like housework and going to the gym. When work comes up, I do it. Otherwise I have a list of things to accomplish. I feel much better about my days this week. Now I just need to get Tom to be less irritated that I am not always at his beck and call...

4. Got my hair cut today - back to a basic bob. I grow it long because Tom likes it, but then I keep it pulled up all the time to get it out of the way. More asserting of me going on! Plus I had so much length cut off that the hair will be donated to a Locks of Love type organization which makes wigs for women. Hope they like the silver hair!

5. We survived the high school drama program devoted to AIDS and other world issues all done with music, dance and media projections. Very full of high school drama student ANGST. Actually, many of the 20 scenes were quite well done. Of course, we had stopped in for a few glasses of wine with fellow drama parents before we went over...

6. Ally's current boyfriend is not one for dances, so I got out of the dreaded shopping excursion for a suitable Homecoming Dance dress. I really must slip that boy a few bucks in appreciation.

7. Reading a murder mystery for book club meeting coming up. It is called Dissolution. Set in Tudor England at the time the monasteries were being dissolved and the new Church of England was being formed. I don't usually enjoy murder mysteries, but the setting makes it intriguing. I am enjoying it.