OK, just got a call -- the school that's probably my first choice right now, the one that was checking my references this morning, wants me to come for a campus interview.

Yay! Good luck, Hil.

Yay Hil!

OK, just got a call -- the school that's probably my first choice right now, the one that was checking my references this morning, wants me to come for a campus interview.

Woo! Have you interviewed with them before?

That sounds really promising.

Woo! Have you interviewed with them before?

Yeah, I did a phone interview. (I didn't think the phone interview went very well -- I'd gotten almost no sleep the previous night.) It's about an hour and a half drive away, with no good public transportation, so I guess I'll reserve a Zipcar for that day.

Hil, that's great news! Best luck in your interview.

Barb, I left the house at 6:15 this morning, so the commute was doable. Apparently this construction project is going to be playing the "some days no delay other days watch out" game. I have a feeling the commute home is always going to be worse than the one in, so we'll see how I feel tonight.

I emailed the new school once more letting them know that my current school has given me a Friday 2:30 deadline and asking them gently to let me know if they have either decided to go with someone else or won't have a decision by then. At this point I'm assuming the job isn't going to happen. I've decided that given our current financial situation, I can't afford to resign this year without a definite prospect, so I'm just going to have to deal with the commute (now with added 405/Sunset construction!) next year. I will look actively for a new job closer to home next year. Could be much worse. I do have a job, after all, and I love the girls. So, yeah. It will be okay.

I'm subbing practically every period I'm not already teaching this week. Brain hurts.

I feel your pain on the commute, Pix. I have to leave home at 6:15, too. If I leave school by 3:30 or 3:45, the commute home isn't terrible, but after that? I wait till 6 to leave.

And, currently, school was supposed to be out 5 minutes ago, but we're on lockdown. Don't know why, yet.

Argh, Pix-- well, I hope it's not too terrible going home, but then again, I've driven LA rush hour traffic. I'll be crossing things for you.

IOmeN, after putting it off as long as I possibly could, I just had to write a substantial check to the Publisher Who Will Not Be Named, paying them back for canceling the book that became STARS. While intellectually I know I'm in a much better place now, with a much better publisher, it still chaps my ass monumentally that I have to pay the original publisher back at all, considering I worked my ass off on that manuscript for over fifteen months, doing revision after revision at their behest, and they then decided it didn't fit what they wanted.

I had to include a copy of the termination letter with the check and it's amazing how it still fills me with HULK! SMASH! RAGE! that I had to sign a letter that claimed I'd failed to produce an acceptable manuscript.

I'm in such a terrible mood now and on the verge of tears. This is so stupid.

All in the game, Barb. In West Baltimore, I think you could have your crew beat the shit out of them, though. (It's surprising how often I console myself with that same thought...I think the mystery of why the greeting card company never got back to me is solved, however.)