Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2009
September 8, 2009
Bad Kitty
I spent much of my Labor Day weekend playing Find the Turd with our cat, Fez. On Friday, he decided that crapping on the carpet in our den was infinitely more pleasurable than laying cat cable in his litter box, so Mrs. BH and I had to run through a gamut of different ploys to try and coax him back to his usual place of defecation; this involved cleaning his boxes thoroughly, replacing his scented litter with unscented, laying down vinyl carpet runners with the spiky side up in his favorite dukey deposit sites, and spraying the den with so much cat repellent that even we couldn't bear to be down there. When none of this worked, we finally sealed up the den entirely on Sunday night. Since then, he hasn't taken a shit anywhere...at least not anywhere that we can find....so we are now waiting to make an unpleasant discovery, perhaps in our daughter's closet, or in the bathroom sink, where he's lately become rather fond of sitting. I will take him to the vet this week to see if there's a physiological reason, but I think he's just being spiteful.
Anybody out there want a slightly used cat with bad aim?
August 28, 2009
Drinks on the House!
Great news, folks. My 6 long months of "Funemployment" have ended! I start my new job on Monday. Thanks to all of you who lent me encouragement and support. Regular blogging will resume shortly. In the meantime, watch this space and have a few virtual cocktails on me to celebrate!
May 24, 2009
Bum-aversary
It's been 3 months today since I became an unemployment statistic, and I thought this would be a good time to check in and give everyone a brief update on my situation. In short, I'm still looking for another job, but we're still able to pay the bills, so I'm not out on the street holding a sign yet, like this poor guy.
The road back to gainful employment is looking to be a lot harder than I thought. I've had a fair number of interviews, but the pressure on hiring managers to fill positions internally, and procrastinate on their decisions is immense, plus the competition for available jobs is fierce. Still, I'm optimistic that something will turn up, and if it doesn't, I've already started looking for temporary work to tide me over. Mrs. BH wants to remain in her job for another year, so that's been limiting my search to the local area, which offers few opportunities for the kind of work I do.
Financially, we're in okay shape. I had been counting on receiving about 4 months of wages and benefits from my former employer, but when they filed for Chapter 11 on April 1st (no fooling), everything they owed me was tossed into bankruptcy court, and I was forced to start collecting unemployment insurance, as Mrs. BH's salary is not enough to cover our expenses. Let me tell you that anyone who thinks that UI is some sort of wonderful benefit that turns otherwise hard-working people into welfare queens is in for a rude shock if you ever find yourself in my situation; what I get in a month works out to barely 10% of my former wages, just enough to pay our mortgage. If not for our second income, we'd be in dire straights right now. As it is, we are just covering our expenses, and will have enough to last us through next summer, if we're very careful and don't get any nasty surprises.
As for the lost severance, after consulting with an attorney, it appears that I will probably be able to recover almost $11K of my pre-filing wages and benefits (minus taxes), but everything they owed me after April 1st is essentially lost. If I'm very lucky, I might see 2-4% of it. The company that purchased the assets of my ex-employer has no obligation whatsoever under the law to repay the monies I'm owed, so my legal options are extremely limited. Bankruptcy law in this country is weighted almost entirely towards the employer, and what laws exist to protect employees are filled with easily exploited loopholes.
All in all, things could be a lot worse though. I've run into former colleagues who've been out of work for years, and have few prospects of ever returning to the workforce in any meaningful capacity. While I'm waiting for the next opportunity, I'm getting a lot of home projects done, and brushing up my skills by training myself on new software packages. I'm also looking into taking some college courses, if we can afford it.
Finally, we're still planning to attend the Hukilau next month. We'd already purchased the plane and event tickets before I lost my job, and my sainted mother has offered to cover the rest of our expenses as an early 29th wedding anniversary present.
That should about cover it. I'll be back in another 3 months, or earlier if I have anything positive to report.
Aloha,
Mr. BH
February 28, 2009
Where's the Breadline?
Dear Readers,
I lost my job of 26 years last Thursday, and will be devoting all of my time and energy to locating a new one. Blogging will resume when (or if) that happens.
I pretty much saw this coming, but it was still a shock when it happened. Fortunately, we had taken steps to greatly reduce our mortgage debt and build our savings up last year, so between Mrs. BH's income as a librarian, the severance package from my former company, savings, and unemployment insurance, we should be able to pay the bills and eat for quite a while if nothing turns up. Mrs. BH has great health insurance too, so that's not a worry either.
Hopefully, this will be just a temporary setback, and I will be back to entertain you again shortly. In the meantime, please keep us in your thoughts and/or prayers.
Your pal,
Mr. Bali Hai
August 16, 2008
Done Fishin'
I'm back. As you can see, the fish were biting a little too hard for my liking.
Mrs. BH and I have been graciously invited to attend a luau in Minneapolis this evening, so regular blogging will resume tomorrow, unless I'm nursing a killer hangover.
August 8, 2008
Gone Fishin'
Back in a week or so.
August 7, 2008
Satanerd
June 22, 2008
M-I-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I-T-I-K-I
In two-zero-zero-eight I took an anniversary trip
Along with Mrs. BH down the mighty Mississip.
We ate a walnut burger and we had some Smørrebrød
And we caught the bloody Cheeseheads in the town of Trempealeau.*
We've just returned from a 3-day trip down the Great River Road to pick up our daughter from orchestra camp in Decorah, Iowa. We stayed at a couple of bed-and-breakfasts along the Mississippi River, antiqued and thrifted 'til we dropped, ate odd local delicacies, and generally had a very fun time. The weather was absolutely picture-perfect.
As you can see, my tiki-scoring mojo endured my return from California, as I managed to find cool PolyPop tschotkes just about everywhere I went, and at very reasonable prices too, although I did have to pass up a couple of fairly common Trader Vic's fog-cutter mugs which some jackass dealer had marked up to $95 each! Good luck selling those, buddy.
Larger images and item descriptions are located once again in the mug gallery, and some photographs of our trip can be viewed at my Flickr account. I even saw a Tiki bar along the muddy Mississipp, but unfortunately, there wasn't a single thing tiki about it besides the name.
[Link: Tiki Mug Gallery]
[Link: Great River Road Photos]
*-No actual foam Cheeseheads were harmed in the making of this truly awful song parody.
June 18, 2008
It's the Future...So Where's My Rocket-powered Tiki Arm?
Mrs. BH bought me a Waring Pro Professional Ice Crusher for our 27th anniversary. It's fabulous, but it's got a really big chute, so I know it's only a matter of time until I get my paw chewed off sticking it in there to dislodge a stuck ice cube.
In anticipation of that tragic day, I've decided that I wish to be fitted with a rocket-propelled prosthetic arm, holding a tiki mug.
That is all.