Day 16: Wipeout

Maybe it's the early summer heat. Maybe it's just general mental exhaustion manifesting itself.

Regardless, this turned into a somewhat lost day.

I am volunteering for a local nonprofit and joblessness at least makes that more doable. Today two of the major players and I met with a government official about some initiatives and just basically to open some doors. The early-morning activity was useful, and the government official truly struck me as someone brilliant. This person goes 90-miles-a-minute but had the innate ability to pull many disparate thoughts together to sum up issues perfectly. Impressive.

Other than applying for jobs, this is the most my brain had been stretched in a while.

But after spending the morning doing this, I came home and spent a little time looking at job sites. Nothing was a great fit. Then I felt tired. I laid down for a few minutes, and four hours disappeared.

Downstairs, the Mrs. is also asleep.

It's prematurely roasty here in Gawd's country, so that could be a factor as well. This week has taken a toll.

The national employment numbers came out this morning and the facts were not encouraging. The rate is back up to 9.1 percent. Job growth is again slow. The genius Bill McBride at Calculated Risk (www.calculatedriskblog.com -- for some reason I cannot link. CR is a must read if you have any interest in important things) had an as-usual relevant summation of what these figures mean. The bottom line is that the so-called recovery continues to struggle to gain real footing.

For me and my other jobless friends, the news isn't great. The fear is that the future will hold more frustration. CR estimates it will be another four or five years of sustained growth before we get back to 2007 levels.

Thanks, W, you idiot.

Anyway, I've hardly eaten today. Some fresh pineapple, a few handfuls of popcorn and trailmix, and that's it. Time to snap out of it.

Today's timesheet: 4.5 hours.

Researching jobs/prospects: 1.5 hours.

Jobs applied for: 0. Hopefully maybe later.

Other productive activities: Volunteer work, restorative sleep, dieting through sleep. 3 hours (not counting the last two).

Nonproductive activities: Restorative sleep, dieting through sleep, Web time suckage, 5 hours.

Song for today: "I Go to Sleep" by The Pretenders. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xardv_pretenders-i-go-to-sleep_music