It was a busy and, at times, productive week. It’s a lot like a NASCAR race (yep, I’m making a NASCAR reference in the first paragraph) where someone runs up front for most of the race but has an issue with ten laps to go and finishes 30th. What I mean is that while I don’t have a lot to show for the week, I am pleased and proud to say that there was definitely a fair amount of effort put in.
Over the course of the week, I applied for nine (9!!!) jobs this past week. I was kinda hoping that I might have heard something back from one of those applications, or one of those I had sent in over the last few weeks. To no avail and while it’s easy to get discouraged, I keep getting up every weekday and checking the job boards. I did hear back from one job I thought I had a good line on, but it was not to be. I won’t get into the whole story but in retrospect it might actually be for the best, as it sparked a couple of changes that I am making in my approach to the job search. Whether it works or not has yet to be seen but it can’t be any less successful than the approach I’ve been using thus far. Meanwhile, I was hoping to find one more job to apply to so that I could make it an even ten but I think applying to nine jobs is a pretty good accomplishment.
Monday was the second anniversary of my Dad’s passing. We decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to take a road trip and revisit some of our old home towns. The first stop on our itinerary was Glencoe. My Mom stopped in to visit her friend and former co-worker, Carol. It was great to be able to visit with someone beyond our own four walls, plus we got to see her HUGE cat, Bear.
From there, we went on to the Oakland Cemetery to visit my Dad and sister’s gravesite. (Not to be morbid but eventually it will be my gravesite as well.) My Mom had wanted to go out and clean up the gravestone so this was a chance to do a bit of that. We got a good start on getting it cleaned up and may try and get some more done if and when we go back to the Glencoe area for the town-wide yard sale (part of Tartan Days).
We had been to Glencoe (and to the cemetery) a few times over the past few years but it had been quite a while since we’d been to West Lorne. On Monday, we headed north, past Battle Hill and Woodgreen, and found ourselves in the town that I like to say my grandfather built half of, where my Dad grew up, and where I graduated from high school.
As I said, we’ve been to Glencoe a few times so while it has changed a lot since we lived there last in 2009, we’ve come to see the changes as familiar now. Checking out West Lorne for the first time in probably twenty years, maybe, was a real eye-opener. Things have really changed, not the least of which was the building of a row of townhouses just north of the train tracks.
We almost ran into an issue when we first got into West Lorne. I had read on Facebook that, the day before, there had been an increased police presence in the area of Mary and Walker Street. (I think the latter is correct.) I knew we’d end up going down Mary Street since that’s where the house my Dad grew up in and where we lived for a while is located but I wasn’t sure where this police presence was. I was sure, meanwhile, that it’d be cleared up by the time we got there.
Turns out, there was still that police presence, with a police car at the corner of Mary and Walker Streets, and another further down Mary Street. I really couldn’t see what had prompted the police presence but it was weird to see cops on a side street in West Lorne. Glad I never did anything to cause such a fuss when I lived there.
On the way back home, we made a few stops including to Value Village and to Walmart (my Mom was looking for a set of dishes and a new microwave but came up short on both) and got a late lunch at McDonald’s.
Overall, we’d had a good day out. We came prepared, with snacks and drinks to have along the way. My Mom got to see an old friend and we saw some places we hadn’t seen in years. The weather was good, not too hot but no rain. The hope is that we’ll be back in the area in a couple of weeks but we shall see.
The rest of the week was hit or miss as far as productivity goes. As I said, I managed to get nine jobs applied to, but on Thursday, I had a headache for most of the day. I rallied around 8 or 9 o’clock. Why does that always happen? I spend the entire day fighting to get something done and then with an hour or two before bedtime, I feel great and productive.
If I kinda lost Thursday, I kinda made up for it on Friday. I was helping my Mom clean out the front eavestroughs. There wasn’t a lot to clean but every little bit helps. I will say that it was not too enjoyable to be up that ladder but I figured it was better than sending Mom up there. Then it was off to Ingersoll to get groceries. Friday was a lot like the rest of the week. Nothing major to speak of but a lot of little things got crossed off my To Do list. I’m hoping to do a lot more in that regard this weekend.
Meanwhile, I hope all is well with everyone. Drop me a line if you can and I will see what transpires next week.
johnmilner.ca 