Just over a week ago I announced that my wife and I were about to become parents.
Of course, it all worked out well in the end. Reid James Newton was born at 9:33pm last Friday. He suffered a little from bilateral pneumothorax, a condition where a pocket of air forms between the body wall and lungs. He was monitored over night, and again periodically throughout his stay at the hospital. We were home 3 nights later.
I’ve taken some time off work to get used to having a baby in the house. I’m trying to not worry about my work and I’ve managed to not check my work email since my wife and child came home from the hospital. That’s stressful in itself 
I don’t want anyone to break anything while I’m gone but at the same time I hate to think I’m holding anyone up.
Thinking that two weeks off work would be a sort of vacation was a mistake! Up to last week I had managed to read 5% of a book every day (the Kindle app shows percentages). I’m reading The Return of the King in preparation for the BluRay release at the end of June. It’s the 9th today (I think) so I should be at 45% completion. Nope, I’m 8% in. Reid is taking up a lot of time. When he’s awake, and he seems to be awake in the middle of the night, then I’m awake. When he’s sleeping I’m sleeping.
We’re learning. And I’m sure eventually things will be relatively back to normal.
So what has been going on with me? A whole lot of not very much.
Not very much in the way of paying work. I’m unemployed, and I have been since June 30th. There’s not a whole lot of work around here for someone with my abilities. Erm… I mean, for someone who wants to limit his job search to those that use his abilities.
I’ve had one phone interview with Ogopogo Media, but that didn’t get very far. Tip: Do not offer honesty in an interview. Answer only what they ask.
Huh? That means don’t be too honest (like I was). When asked about my PHP skills, I said they were “hobbyist”. That I did not have “professional” experience with PHP… and that I have never finished any of my PHP projects. Come to think of it… why am I writing that here for the world to see?
So while I’m waiting for employers to find me (because I’ve got no luck finding them) I’m working on what I like to call my “Creative Juices“. That is, one haiku, one 50 word story, and one image, every day. All original.
By today that should total 18 of each. Every day means Monday through Friday, by the way. I don’t work weekends (at least not yet).
So what does a broke-ass guy do to keep entertained on the cheap? I use the internets. It’s an endless source of entertainment. Free entertainment… after you get past the $50 a month charge for broadband internet. Hey, there’s some things a geek just won’t give up.
Legal entertainment. Legally free. Have I made my point? Here are some resources for free and legal entertainment. You won’t find any pirated works here, because the authors give it away free.
Stay tuned for free entertainment. I’ll post what I have to say about it fairly soon.
