Because I know y'all find it so fascinating. (Not.)

Some weeks (months?) I just don’t have that much that's interesting to say.

I'm still brooding on Monday's interview and Wednesday's polite email notification that the company hired someone who was Not Me. Not to be all arrogant or anything, but when I was in my 20s and 30s, I was essentially offered every, single job that I interviewed for. In fact, I occasionally had difficulty convincing some would-be employer that I was serious in turning down their job offer.

As we've all noticed, I'm not really seeing that kind of action during this stint of unemployment. Nor did I see it during the last stint. Or the stint before that. All of which have happened in the last four or five years.

So, you tell me. Is this a sign of the dreaded Age Discrimination or just more evidence that, cooked numbers and cheery speeches aside, the corporate world knows better than Bush&Co. that things are not only Not Good, but Not Looking Up?

Most people I know agree that these days you can't find a job unless you know someone on the inside. In fact, the last four jobs I've gotten, I've gotten through a reference from someone already employed by the company, so that's looking more true the more I think about it.

And (speaking of past jobs), She called me the other day. With questions about a software program She was finding Herself unable to work. No matter how often I tell Her that there are manuals and instructions for everything, She never goes to look until I tell Her "there's a manual for that." In this case, I wrote a User Manual for this software program since it came without one. I put a printed copy in one of the Information Books and left the electronic copy on the computer harddrive. During training, I pointed the manual out to Her, making sure She knew it was there.

Yes, I'm a little bitter. Not only did I mostly train myself to use all of those proprietary and/or obscure software programs, but I wrote comprehensive manuals for all of the ones that didn't already have manuals. And I revised and simplified some of the other manuals. She shouldn't be calling me five months later, asking for help. I write good manuals, but I can't do anything about someone too dumb to read the manual. (Nor can I do anything about the fact that She and Bernie alienated the only other "expert" they had access to.)

Also, I'm tired of Her calling me and asking where in the electronic files something is. Everything is clearly labeled, either filed under the client's name and sorted by project, or under "company business" and sorted by project. Just look.

In addition to asking for help, She also wanted to say She had a line on a temporary project, if I was interested. Which was incredibly nice of Her and makes me feel a little bad about dissing Her.

It turned out to be a three-day job in Los Angeles, working for someone who couldn't guarantee they could cover my lodging and with no mention of travel expenses being covered, so not exactly a plum, but who knows? I haven't contacted the person yet (I was a bit distracted by the oral surgery there for a day or so) but maybe I will. A couple of hundred bucks is a couple of hundred bucks, right? (I'm assuming the job will be worth at least that.)

And, speaking of my mouth, it's fine. I never really have a lot of problems post-dental office work. Beyond the crankies because I couldn't really eat anything for 24 hours, I had no problems.

They always offer prescriptions for great pain meds and I'm always tempted to take them up on the offer, but I rarely do. The good stuff is expensive and, to be honest, I've thrown away so much unused medicine in my life that I'm to the point where I'm not even pretending I'm the kind of person who would take and/or abuse it.

I had plans to have lunch with a couple of friends yesterday and decided to go in spite of the missing tooth and the inability to actually eat. After all, if you can't go to lunch and visit with friends when you can't eat, can barely talk, and don't want to open your mouth and reveal your lack of dental accoutrements to the world, when can you go?

It was fun, but I think I'll let any other dining plans wait until I'm actually allowed to chew.

Today (brace yourself for the excitement) I'm doing some laundry. And rewriting a letter I sent my niece a couple of weeks ago. It's weird--I had a strange feeling about that letter, even as I dropped it into the letter box. Normally I just post my letters and stroll off, secure in the knowledge that the Post Office knows how to get paper from Denver to Kansas City. This time, I had a weird, uneasy feeling about it. And, sure enough, I talked to her today and she never got it. So annoying.

Later, I plan to eat something.