Rant #2,458: Believe It Or Not

My allergies are killing me.

I can barely see out of my right eye at this time of day, which makes it very difficult to type, to read to do much of anything, but with even just one and a half eyes to work with, I soldier on.

And alluding to the title of this Rant, believe it or not, I actually had a job interview late last week on Friday.

It was just a phone interview, and if it lasted 10 minutes it was a lot, but at least I can say that I have that under my belt.

I think I did OK on the interview--which was for a writer's job, by the way--and we will see if there are any callbacks on it.

If there are, fine, if not, I move on.

Doing job search lite--as I described last week--doesn't mean that I slack off entirely from looking for a new position, it only means that I don't apply for positions to accumulate applications, but only apply for jobs that I really want to do.

In fact, over the weekend, when I forcibly do not chain myself to the computer looking for work, I applied for a couple of jobs, jobs that I really would like to have.

The one negative is that Unemployment contacted me by letter, and said that my unemployment insurance was DENIED for the time being because I received severance pay, but although I did receive this pay, it was such a minimal amount, that it really is incredible that they are denying me what I have been paying into for decades.

I can't reapply until later this month, and when I mean reapply, I mean that I have to fill out the form once again, from top to bottom, something that I had some problems with the first time around, but was finally able to do after the third or fourth try (not doing it at the right time of day, the site not being open 24 hours a day, etc.).

And it isn't just me. I am trying to keep in contact with some of my former co-workers--or at least the ones who want to keep in contact--and they told me the same thing, they were denied for the same reason. I mean, none of a year of severance, or even six months, or even three months. We got pretty much bupkis from working at this job, each of us for over 20 years, and now we are "paying the piper" because we got some measly severance.

Goodness gracious, land sakes alive! And the bills keep on coming in ...

Thank goodness I was able to pay off my car bill. One less bill to worry about.

So right now, I am managing, but I do not foresee my unemployment money coming in before December, so I am going to really have to batten down the hatches until that time comes. I know how much I am going to get when it does kick in, and I will feel much better when it does; at least some money will be coming into my coffers.

So that is where things stand right now, but I did not let the situation stop me from watching my traditional Halloween movie this weekend.

I don't care that nobody came to our door--I later discovered that somebody did come to our door, took the bowl of candy we had, and stole it all, dumping the bowl behind the bushes but taking almost every last candy we had in that bowl for themselves--but Halloween would not be Halloween without viewing "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," probably the best horror/comedy movies ever made ... and one of the best movies ever made, too.

Bud and Lou, along with Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi, make this frightful flick the classic that it is, and it was so successful 70 years ago that it not only saved Universal Studios from going out of business, but it spawned several other similar movies, including "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man" and "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy," classics in and of themselves.

Further, if you receive the Abbott and Costello Newsletter, an online publication produced by Chris Costello, Lou's daughter, guess who is in it? ME!

I am in the Spotlight On ... You segment of the e-newsletter, where I talk about my writing, my record collection and how it all intersects with Abbott and Costello. I am sure you will find it to be a fascinating read.

Subscribe at ACCollectibles@aol.com.

Speak to you again tomorrow.