i am about to experience my first dust storm. very odd. i can taste the dirt already and the storm isn't even upon us yet. psychological? (pause to examine taste in mouth) nope. it is real enough. the sight of the storm coming on was surreal. as i drove home from work all looked normal (fought to keep the car on the road, though). the mountains behind the house gleamed pink in the afternoon sun. then just a few minutes after i had come home, the mountains were completely obscured. the dust crawled our way like some ominous entity bent on consuming us - which it now seems to have done. my brother warns that sleep will not be easy. the wind itself is noisy enough, but when it throws sand at your windows...

i'll be back with a post-sandstorm update if i survive the night.

i have a job. not a great job. but a good job. it amazes me still how my self-worth and identity hinge on having a job. i knew that. and yet i hated the last job so much i was willing to jump without a net.

of course, i had a plan.

i had another job before long. however, my plans did not include having a nutcase for a boss. in an ordinary job, i could tolerate a psycho boss for at least 6 months. but this was a live-in nanny job. the woman gave no indication of her insanity during the interview process. although, in hindsight, i had a few twinges of intuition between the time i was hired and the time i actually started the job. note to self: trust intuition.

so, i ran screaming into the night. i had no idea that it would take me 5 months to find another job. and i am intelligent and educated! actually, that might be part of the problem. i think it was hard to find a service job because employers thought it strange that i would want or need a service job. so, overqualified for most jobs and underqualified for many others, i languished in the 'no man's land' of job seekers.

bush said we need to focus on math and science education. hmmm...as a biologist, i must say that a math and science education has not been much help at all. and i will spend the rest of my life trying to pay for it.

but, i have a job. my self-worth has been validated. it is a good day.