Rant #2,454: Don't Let the Rain Come Down

" ... My roof's got a hole in it and I might drown ... ."

And right now, I am basically treading water.

I had a very, very busy day yesterday, a day that was not planned, but a day where I found myself running around town as in between, I searched for a new job.

it really is supposed to be the other way around--I am searching for a job, but in between running around town, but not yesterday.

With my wife's car sidelined by an accident, and with my son needing transportation to and from work, I have become my family's designated driver. It is something I don't really mind, as I feel that I am helping my family, and it does give me a break from the four-to-six hours a day I am looking for work.

But yesterday was something else.

As I ate lunch, we got the mail, and I received some mail from Social Services related to some intense paperwork I had to fill out for my son.

You cannot imagine the chills I get when I get something for him from Social Services or from Social Security, but this thing took me a solid hour to fill out, and based on last year, when I had to do the same thing to the same form, it threw me into a slight tizzy, based on what happened last year.

As per last year, once again I was given a time for a "phone interview" to go over the facts presented on this form, but I am now going to explain to you how our government works.

Last year, I dutifully filled out the form, sent it out quickly, and prepared myself for my phone interview. It would take place while I was at work, and I brought with me all the paperwork I needed to help me answer all the questions.

Finally the appointed time came, but I did not get a call. I figured they were running late, so I gave them another 15 minutes ... and then another ... but still no call.

So I called them. Anybody who has called Social Services or Social Security knows that it is virtually impossible to get anybody on the phone in these areas even if you call at 8 a.m., and I ran into a lot of problems last year too.

Finally, I found a few alternate numbers that I had, they were the wrong numbers but at least they got me some actual people on the phone, and literally, after at least an hour of calling one number after another to no avail, I finally was put through to the person I needed to speak to.

I explained my situation, and I was told the following, "Even though the paperwork states that a phone interview would be held, it doesn't really mean that. It serves as more of a reminder that we need certain paperwork sent to us, so that is why you were not called."

Well, in my world, when it says "phone interview and it gives an exact time for the interview, it means exactly that, but in government speak, evidently "phone interview" means "certain paperwork must be sent to us."

Yes, very strange indeed, since I looked through the paperwork and I did not find any mention of an email or a person to send the material to.

Remembering all of this, I am covering myself several ways for this year's "phone interview" : I have made out the paperwork, and will send it out when I take my wife to work this morning; I found last year's email to this office, and I have replaced all of last year's information with this year's updated information, including scanning various forms, and I have sent it out to the pertinent person; and I once again await their phone call next month to discuss all of this, a phone call that I know probably won't come, because "phone interview" means "certain paperwork must be sent to us" in their world.

Well, as you can imagine, all of this took a few hours to complete including the hour it took me to physically fill out the paperwork, so when I was done with that, I went back to what I was supposed to be doing, which is prospecting and looking for a job. In between, I picked up my son from work, but when I came home, it was back on the computer for me.

With all of the interruptions, I pretty much finished what I was doing for the day at 4:30 p.m., and I shut down the computer and planned to prepare dinner for myself and my son, and pick up my wife after that.

But I received a phone call literally seconds after I shut down the computer, from my mother, who was largely incoherent on the phone. I quickly found out from another woman who took the phone from my mother that there had been a car accident, and that my mother was fine, but the two cars involved were not.

I pretty much dropped everything I had planned to do, raced down to the site of the accident, and yes, the two cars involved were in poor shape My mother's car took the brunt of it, and we are going to have to see if it even pays for fix her car. But the other car got hit, too, with its driver's side scratched, dented and damaged.

I consoled my mother--what else could I do?--the police were there, my mother and the owner of the other car exchanged information, and then the tow truck came, carting my mother's car away.

And I still had to pick up my wife from work, so I took my mother home, and then drove out to get my wife, not realizing at that moment, with all the tumult of the previous hour, that I was actually about a half hour early.

Clearly frustrated by the entire situation, I did something I should not have done. I went to the local fast food joint--world-renowned All-American Hamburgers--and I purchased my dinner there, and as I arrived at my wife's place of work a little early, I sat there waiting for her, eating my hamburgers and enjoying the music I was listening to, music that I had digitized during the past few weeks.

I need to chill out, and I did just that.

My wife finally came out of work, I took her home, and I passed out at 8:30 p.m.

What a day, what a week, what a three weeks it has been since I lost my job! I swear, there is a reason I lost my job when I did. God works in strange ways, but God has a reason, which I simply cannot figure out right now.

Today should be calmer. I still have to drive my wife and son back and forth to their jobs--we also found out yesterday approximately when her car will be ready, and she won't have it for a few weeks, so a loaner car might be in order for her--but I should be able to get my work done without any problems.

Right after I finish typing out this Rant, I will get to it--

But the wash just stopped drying, and I have to put all of that away.

Another interruption.

Nothing is "clear cut" when you are out of work, and I just hope that today, the rain does stop falling down on me, at least for a little while.

When it rains, yes, it does pour.