The last post or two of the current year
According to the LiveJournal welcome page I last logged in 9 weeks ago. In all of the years that I've had this journal (about six and a half) I've never gone so long without an update. Of course, even while I was alway I felt a bit guilty for not only posting, but a total lack of not being around. Sure some of you still see me through TBL chat, e-mail, in person, and on my blog but I've not had much contact with the majority of you in weeks. Sorry about that, as a few of you know it was a depressing time, for the most part. I guess I'll start with the bad so I can end on a high(er) note.
As I told some of you in person (at whitewolf_707 and john_pullinger's wedding) my dog, Jo-Jo died about a week (on November 3rd) after getting her home from the hospital. The steroid treatment failed to stop the spread of her swelling and by week's end her entire body was completely swollen. She couldn't stand, walk or even eat solid food anymore. Her rate of breathing had also dramatically increased to the point where it looked like she was never resting comfortably. So with tons of reluctance cwtyger (who was in town for the wedding) and I took her to one of the city's animal shelters and stayed with her as they put her to sleep. While there the vet told me that I did the right thing, because her heavy breathing was caused by the spread of cancer to her lungs. My last memory of her is when they tucked her lifeless body in the blanket that we had brought her in on, and wheeled her away forever. I did write one small tribute to her on the 14th of November.
Jo-Jo at the hospital the day before I brought her home. She was in high spirits but her health declined rapidly over the week.
This stuffed Retriever plushie now sits where Jo-Jo's bed was. Because of the swelling I had taken her collar off and she didn't have it on her when she was put down. Since this plushie was a gift to the both of us a few Christmases ago, I decided it would be a fitting tribute to Jo-Jo. I occasionally pet it to make the metal tag jingle when I think of her.
It took some time to get used to Jo-Jo not being here, but I was glad that I could get a few friends of mine to visit her before she went. It was also nice to have CW around for that period, it would have been way too depressing to face it alone.
As for the rest of life, the holiday rush is almost over at UPS and I'm not sure what the new year will bring. Like everywhere else hit by this recession I'm hearing cut backs and layoffs galore. Because I've been with the company for seven years now I'm hearing that my job should be safe, though hours are another matter. So while there was lots of hours to work and extra money to be made I worked very hard, about 35 hours per week until Christmas time. Of course, I'm dreading my return to searching for full-time work, since the job market looks a lot uglier than the attempts that I made in September.
I've also decided to stay with Philadelphia Weekly as an intern for once a week, starting tomorrow. My time at Philadelphia Weekly has been a mixed bag, to say the least. I gained lots of experience with the day to day routines of journalism and a semi-professional publication, but I failed to learn much of anything as a web intern. Still, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything, although it has been frustrating to put more time into Microsoft Excel and spreadsheets than with Microsoft Word and writing articles. At least I can put data entry down as a skill on my resume.
Finally before I head off to work, I want to thank all of you who sent my Christmas cards. I received them just fine in the mail and I appreciate you guys taking the time to send me one despite not being around for the past few weeks. It's probably too late for January cards, but if anyone wants one I could send out a few. I promise not to write anything depressing, honest.
On my last note, Christmas treated me well. Of the various things I got, a new monitor and a large dominating stuffed tiger were the most interesting. I would list video games, but I bought myself a few in November and early December. I've been playing Chrono Trigger DS and Persona 4 since I got them. With that, I should be heading into work, but hopefully this marks a return to regular posting and catching up on other LJs.
As I told some of you in person (at whitewolf_707 and john_pullinger's wedding) my dog, Jo-Jo died about a week (on November 3rd) after getting her home from the hospital. The steroid treatment failed to stop the spread of her swelling and by week's end her entire body was completely swollen. She couldn't stand, walk or even eat solid food anymore. Her rate of breathing had also dramatically increased to the point where it looked like she was never resting comfortably. So with tons of reluctance cwtyger (who was in town for the wedding) and I took her to one of the city's animal shelters and stayed with her as they put her to sleep. While there the vet told me that I did the right thing, because her heavy breathing was caused by the spread of cancer to her lungs. My last memory of her is when they tucked her lifeless body in the blanket that we had brought her in on, and wheeled her away forever. I did write one small tribute to her on the 14th of November.
Jo-Jo at the hospital the day before I brought her home. She was in high spirits but her health declined rapidly over the week.
This stuffed Retriever plushie now sits where Jo-Jo's bed was. Because of the swelling I had taken her collar off and she didn't have it on her when she was put down. Since this plushie was a gift to the both of us a few Christmases ago, I decided it would be a fitting tribute to Jo-Jo. I occasionally pet it to make the metal tag jingle when I think of her.
It took some time to get used to Jo-Jo not being here, but I was glad that I could get a few friends of mine to visit her before she went. It was also nice to have CW around for that period, it would have been way too depressing to face it alone.
As for the rest of life, the holiday rush is almost over at UPS and I'm not sure what the new year will bring. Like everywhere else hit by this recession I'm hearing cut backs and layoffs galore. Because I've been with the company for seven years now I'm hearing that my job should be safe, though hours are another matter. So while there was lots of hours to work and extra money to be made I worked very hard, about 35 hours per week until Christmas time. Of course, I'm dreading my return to searching for full-time work, since the job market looks a lot uglier than the attempts that I made in September.
I've also decided to stay with Philadelphia Weekly as an intern for once a week, starting tomorrow. My time at Philadelphia Weekly has been a mixed bag, to say the least. I gained lots of experience with the day to day routines of journalism and a semi-professional publication, but I failed to learn much of anything as a web intern. Still, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything, although it has been frustrating to put more time into Microsoft Excel and spreadsheets than with Microsoft Word and writing articles. At least I can put data entry down as a skill on my resume.
Finally before I head off to work, I want to thank all of you who sent my Christmas cards. I received them just fine in the mail and I appreciate you guys taking the time to send me one despite not being around for the past few weeks. It's probably too late for January cards, but if anyone wants one I could send out a few. I promise not to write anything depressing, honest.
On my last note, Christmas treated me well. Of the various things I got, a new monitor and a large dominating stuffed tiger were the most interesting. I would list video games, but I bought myself a few in November and early December. I've been playing Chrono Trigger DS and Persona 4 since I got them. With that, I should be heading into work, but hopefully this marks a return to regular posting and catching up on other LJs.