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Things have settled down a little bit this past month. People are still protesting every night in Portland and maybe in other cities, but the news isn’t covering it as much.

More of the country is opening up. There have been spikes in covid cases. Some places have put a hold on opening up. I got tested last week and I was negative.

I’m still interviewing and still getting passed over. I got some bad news on a position that I really wanted. Hopefully, something will happen soon.

I did take on some contract work to complete a short project for a local company. It’s been nice to write code again on an actual product.

So this is what living through a global pandemic is like.

I think most people in the US are beginning their 3rd week of quarantine. I had already started canceling and skipping events about 2 weeks before then. If my memory is correct, I haven’t had any in-person social activity since the end of February. Trips to get food don’t count. I am going crazy over here. The dogs are great, but it’s not the same as being around humans. The loneliness and depression have definitely crept in. It was already bad from not working, but not being able to go out has made it worse. I envy people who are in relationships and don’t have to quarantine alone. Maybe they envy me.

I’ve had video chats with friends and I’ve arranged some online events with PDX Gaymers, so that has helped.

My trip to the UK and France in the beginning of May has been postponed. Once Expedia gets caught up, I should be getting a voucher that I can use up until April 30, 2021.

Other than inconveniences, things have been pretty good. I’ve made good progress on some video games, TV shows, and books. I’ve seen a lot of movies. I’ve done so much cleaning and organizing.

I got pretty sick a a few weeks ago. I think it was the first full weekend of the month, but this month has felt like a year, so who knows. It started out as puking and feeling lightheaded. I couldn’t sit up for long and I was sleeping pretty much all day. I figured it was food poisoning because I ate something the night before it started that didn’t quite taste right. A couple of days later I started sniffling and I had a sore throat. I was all better within days. I don’t know if it was coronavirus or not. Coronavirus seems to affect people differently. I’ve had some tightness in my chest most days for the past 3 weeks and sniffles. Could just be allergies. Could be paranoia. I had one of my daylong colds yesterday, but I’m all good now.

I think coronavirus started to hit home for a lot of people when celebrities started getting sick. Most of us I would imagine don’t know someone who has tested positive for it or has died from it. I’m thinking that before this is over, we’ll all know someone who has. I’m worried about my friend Xander who works in hospitals. He told me the other day that he had to perform CPR on someone who they think has coronavirus. They were waiting for test results to come back the last I heard. I’m hoping that he remains healthy and safe.

Not the downplay the serious of the virus and the lives lost, but I guess it could be worse overall. I don’t want to get too much into how our president mishandled the situation, but he it could be even better. Hopefully, this will pass soon and we can get back to some sense of normalcy.

One thing about being unemployed is that it’s hard sometimes to remember what day it is.

Not much has happened on that front. It seems like companies are starting to hire again, but I’m just getting the same B.S. as before.

I came down sick last weekend. Cold, flu? Not really sure. I’m feeling better now. I was on the couch all day for 3 days.

February was a very busy month for PDX Gaymers. So much fun. I had to cancel 2 events because I was sick, but there were still so many. Attendance has gotten so much better.

My trip to Europe in May is being planned. I’m going to London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Paris with Matt A, Matt H, and Mel. Hopefully, we won’t have to cancel because of coronavirus.

Hoping for good news and good times in the coming weeks.

A week ago today, my entire team found out that we were being eliminated, including management. That’s around 30 people. It really sucks because I enjoyed being on this team. Some of them have been working together for 10 years. I’ve been with them since early last year, when my previous team merged with their team. It’s not just our team that’s being eliminated, pretty much all the engineers in our division were being let go. It’s all cost cutting. The work we’re doing is being outsourced to teams in Ireland, India, and Poland. The term they used is that they were “right-sizing” the organization.

The good news is that I’ll still get an employee until October 31 and I can spend that time looking for a new job. I guessed what was happening last Tuesday when unusual meeting invites started going out, so I started updating my resume then. I’ve sent it out to a few contacts and applied for a few positions. There’s an internal job fair at Intel next week and there’s a good chance I’ll find another position then. I just don’t know if it’ll be as exciting as the one I’m currently losing. I’m not just limiting my search to Intel though. Hopefully, I’ll have something definite by October 31.

I don’t know how people have 20+ year careers at one company. I keep getting laid off every 2-3 years.

I received a summons once during my freshman year of college from my home county in Mississippi. Since I was off at school in a different part of the state, I got out of having to go. I’ve kinda regretted that since then and sometimes I’ve gotten a little jealous when people I know were summonsed.

Over 20 years later, I finally got another summons and last week I had to report. I was excited about the possibility at first, but then a major deadline came up at work for the end of the month. I figured I would be there a day, possibly two, and then I could get back to work.

I reported to the courthouse on Wednesday of last week. They had 15 cases and not enough jurors, so people who didn’t get selected for for one case would be recycled and could potentially be on another case. They mentioned a 4-day case and also 1-day cases. After we watched a video, they selected a pool for two 3-day cases pretty early on. Then they selected a pool that didn’t have to go because there wasn’t going to be a jury trial for that case after all. I think at this point we found out that there were 1 or 2 cases left because the others had been settled, rescheduled, or the defendant waived their right to a trial by jury. They called my number for the next pool. We all thought this was going to be a 1-day case, but it turned out to be the 4-day case that was mentioned! Shit! I knew that I was going to have to work nights to meet my deadline if I was picked.

After a lunch break we were taken to the court room where jury selection would take place. We found out the charges and were asked questions by the judge and lawyers. I was in the jury box from the beginning which meant I was going to be in the trial unless I was eliminated. The attorneys bumped a lot of people from the box during the challenge phase and each time the juror was placed by someone else from the pool. I thought some of my answers would show favor toward the prosecution, but I was never bumped. When selection was over, we were sworn in. Shit! Shit! Shit!

I’m not going to go into all the details of the trial. It was a sexual abuse cases involving a girl and her stepfather. We were there Wednesday – Friday and came back to finish the following Wednesday (yesterday). I feel sad that the girl’s life has been affected by this and her mother didn’t believe her that anything had happened. The defendant was found guilty by a unanimous vote on each of the 5 charges that we considered. I was sitting right next to the witness stand, so I got a close up view of all the witnesses. I tried to look straight at everyone at some point when they were speaking, especially the victim. After the verdict, we got to ask the judge questions. She said it was one of the toughest cases she’s ever had to listen to. We found out there were 8(?) more charges that he waived his right to a jury trial.

One funny things is that on Monday I went to the gym. Some guy hesitantly walked up to me. I figured that we knew each other from somewhere but just didn’t remember where. He asked if I had been on jury duty the week before. When I said yes, he said that he was sorry I got picked and they stopped the challenge/bumping process right before they got to him. Once he said that I remembered him and remembered him answering questions.

I’m glad jury duty is over. I wish my first experience didn’t have so much stress involved. I managed to get my work stuff done pretty early and we will meet our deadline. It’s nice just be able to talk about the trial now even though I’m still not going into a lot of details. We couldn’t even talk about it in the jury room until deliberations began. I’m glad that I can google information about the case now. Last night, I googled the defendant and found a whole list of charges. I can’t be summonsed again for two years. If I’m ever picked again, hopefully it won’t be as serious of a case.

Things are busy as usual.  I have some help now.  I’ve been leading a small team (4 people now) and I got some great praise about how well I’ve been doing. The company is doing well. I’m enjoying my work and enjoying life.

The next month is going to be stressful, but at least I get a vacation after that. More then.

Life is busy. Guitar lessons. Exercising. Taking on more responsibility at work. Moved desks twice. Planted a garden. I want to go to Mexico. More detailed updates as time permits.

There’s a little under a  week left in the year, so I’m going to try to spend some time over the next week getting caught up on all the blog entries I’ve been meaning to write. Some of these topics may have been mentioned on Facebook or previous posts.

Back in October, I got a roommate. My new roommate is my good friend Kysen.  I never thought I would have a roommate again. I didn’t think I would live with anyone else again unless I was in a relationship. But Kysen’s lease was ending and his roommate was moving to Astoria, so he asked if he could use my extra bedroom.

I lived alone for over 8 years before Kysen moved in so it was an adjustment getting used to sharing a home with someone again.  We’re different people when it comes to cleanliness and organization, but .  There were a couple of nights about a week apart where I went out and came home to find a decent amount of stuff rearranged.  I ended up liking what he did, but I just wish I could have been a part of it.  Thee are times where i still have to ask him where things are because I don’t know where he put them.  Overall though, I think we are both happy living with each other.

In November I got a new job. I’m an now a Cloud Software Engineer at Intel. It was about 6 weeks from the time I interviewed until the time I started.  It all came about because of a contact that I have on Twitter.  I’m working on the same campus that I worked on as a contractor. I love my team and the work I’m doing.  We work hard and we have fun socializing and engaging in random nerf gun fights. I’m so much happier than I was before. What a difference being happy with your job can make in all aspects of your life!

There’s been a lot of change in my life, but it’s been for the better. Life is good.

A week ago today at work , I heard a rumor that some decision had been made that would affect us and we would find out Wednesday the latest how it would affect our team.  On Wednesday, I was told that our project was canceled and I my last day at work would be the last day of the month, which was a week away.  My company normal offers me bench time when I’m between assignments (which has only happened twice), but this time they are unable to because there’s no room on the bench currently.  Our biggest client has made major cutbacks, so that hurts us.  The next day HR called to schedule an exit interview and told me I would be paid until the Friday after my last day. Even after some frustrations over the past couple of years, I hate that it’s ending this way. Hopefully I won’t be out of work for too long. I don’t like the idea of blowing through my savings.

The guy I dated earlier in the year, Alex, changed his name to Kysen.  Kysen suggested that we go out to eat Saturday night after a beach trip to Rooster Rock with some friends.  Kysen had spent Friday night at my place since I was giving him ride to the beach. Our group ended up dwindling Saturday morning, so I ended up driving everybody.  While we were eating he told me that he would just spend Saturday night on my couch was well and we could finish watching the season of Drag Race that we were watching the night before.  After we finished, we were both were having trouble getting our cards to go through. Kysen suggested I go to an ATM to withdraw money.  I left the restaurant and I’m pretty sure I pulled out my wallet to call the bank but just decided to wait and try the ATM. Once I got close to the ATM, I realized that I didn’t have my wallet with me.  I went back to the restaurant and didn’t see the wallet there. I thought I may have accidentally left the table without the wallet.  The wallet must have fallen out of my pocket like my phone did earlier on the beach.  I retraced my steps and later Kysen joined me and we retraced them again, to no avail.  I was holding out hope that someone honest found it and would return it or that the restaurant had it, but the next day I found out that the person tried to buy TriMet passes with my card. I also saw a weird charge on it at the restaurant we ate at. I think I’ve cancelled everything that was in the wallet.  There was a blank check in there for emergencies, so I closed my old account and opened a new one.  I still need to get a new drivers license and passport.  Hopefully, there won’t be too much damage caused by the person that has my stuff.  I realize that I rely on my debit card too much because it was difficult figuring out how to eat Sunday because I couldn’t go to a branch and withdraw cash until Monday.  I bought a new wallet today. I’m starting over.

I’m trying to stay positive. I always bounce back from these kinds of things.  Hopeful it’ll be sooner than later. Some good news, please.