Back in the Saddle

It’s been a little over two weeks since I quit my job. What have I been doing? Well, very little, really.

The first week was actually quite packed – I was out and about, having lunch with people, doing a citizenship interview, helping demolish a restaurant etc. I met up with my old college friend Imogen Murphy who was in the city for the weekend to do a course. I hadn’t seen her for somewhere between 7 and 10 years! My erstwhile roommate Vanessa was also back in town for a few days for her birthday. I’ve visited her in Portland a couple of times, but not in NYC since she left five years ago. It was a good week for seeing old faces – not that either of the ladies in question are in any way old, of course.

But since last Saturday all that has ground to a halt. The days have been blending into each other – I spent a healthy portion of today thinking it was Thursday! It has been difficult to motivate myself to do things – not that I’ve been trying particularly hard.

I did have one project in mind. I had planned to set up www.whatdayisit.com as a kind of service for unemployed people – just a simple page that would say “Friday” in a large font if it was Friday, and so on and so forth. Those like myself with no compelling need to differentiate one day from the next could set it as our homepage, and be greeted with the information each time we launched our browsers. You know, one less thing to be caught off guard about. Unfortunately the domain name and all the reasonable variants have already been taken, although none of them have been deployed in a particularly useful way as far as I can see.

I suppose I should start adding some structure to the week. Today I actually went to the gym despite the fact that I didn’t have to, surprising nobody more than myself. Will I go back? Very possibly! I’ve also inquired about a beginner Tai-Chi class in nearby Windsor Terrace. Will I actually go so far as to attend? Again, very possibly! These are the lengths to which I am going to fill my days.

It seems I have forgotten how to be unemployed. When I was freelance I was really good at it – freelancing is basically interrupted unemployment. Ok, sure, sometimes when you’re well established you’re working all the time – maybe even more than you would with a full time job – but it’s not always that bad. The last six years of more or less uninterrupted work have ruined me. I need to get back in the swing of having nothing to do! And writing blog entries – that seems to have gotten away from me as well.

I have added an important poll to the sidebar – your anticipated participation is gratefully acknowledged.