Nothing much has changed i'm afraid. I'm still looking high and low for work all over, not having any luck i'm afraid. I revamped my resume yet again, hoping that I Can make it more attractive to those prospects i've been applying to. I swear I must have applied at over a hundred places all over the country. I only had one interview so far and haven't heard back from them yet. Somehow I doubt i'll get it though... it seems most places want people who already have a set of certifications that I don't have. I could get them, but it's very expensive to get them and I just don't have that kind of money.

I'm running out of funds now.. and thankfully someone decided in a bout of insanity I think, to send me some money to my paypal, for which i'm grateful but also shocked. Don't get me wrong, i'd help out the next person if I could, and have done so in the past, but I don't want anyone depleting their funds either. Maybe I just have some friends who are richer than I thought lol... but I digress.

It's just weird being on the recieving end of help when i'm so used to being the one helping.

Well i'm still looking for work... hoping something pans out soon. wish me luck.

So... after waiting patiently for the last 5 weeks to get a decision from unemployment and hearing nothing, I call up and get told that the application was not processed properly and I'd get a notice within 48 hours. The letter came today and said I was DENIED.

The reason? Comcast said that I took an unauthorized absence! I took a day off to go to a independent medical review, which was requested by Comcast, from my worker's comp injury from last year. I advised my supervisors a whole 3 weeks ahead of time, and even reminded them 3 days prior to the day. I go to the Dr and while I'm there get a call asking where I am... I reminded them I was at the Dr and left it at that. So they waited a whole 3 weeks before they decided that they wanted to fire me...but they approved the time I was paid for!!! so how can I have an unauthorized day off but still get paid for it???

I swear, I have done nothing but get the short end of the stick from this new manger, for his ineptitude in the position. He can't do the job, so he blames the workers when something happens. In this case he neglected to remove me from the schedule, then neglected to realize that I was not at work until 4 hours into the day! But that's MY fault... right?

So now I'm home... with no job.. no income.. and no money left in the bank. I have several applications out there, but none of them have come through yet.

sometimes I wonder why I even bother anymore.

# explosive devices went of in Boston today, 2 at the finish line for the Boston Marathon, and one at the JFK Library. 3 additional devices were reportedly discovered and disarmed by police.
The city is pretty much on a lock down right now with a no fly zone instituted by the FAA over the city, and all cell service has been shut down to prevent any remote detonation of any possible additional devices.
Reportedly there have been at least 2 people killed and over 50 injured.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22160691

The BBC has actual video of the explosions at the finish line where people can be seen falling to the ground injured. **GRAPHIC VIDEO**

Anyone in the Boston area... check in with us when you can please.

Still looking for employment here, I have an interview for a state IT job on Monday, but I have a feeling i'm not qualified enough for it. Most of the companies want applicants to have certain qualifications that I don't have. I can get them but the courses are over $1000 each. Not something I can afford to pay for.

Unemployment is still reviewing my application and haven't reached any decision yet, meaning that i'm on hold until they get around to deciding. Regardless i'm nearly out of money now and going to have to start selling things on ebay to get some money.

I've been applying for jobs all over the east coast, but most of the companies haven't chosen me as a viable candidate. It's very frustrating and depressing. I really don't know what i'm going to do if I don't get back to working soon. This is hurting me financially and emotionally and i'm nearing my breaking point quickly.

Well... it's been fun that is for certain.

My the grace of some friends, I was able to attend the con after all, with my room being picked up by someone who insisted on it after I told him it may have been best to stay home since I wasn't working anymore.

I'm grateful for this beyond words.

I helped out around the con as needed, and had a lot of fun seeing old friends, and making some new ones. Couldn't buy anything of any real value, but did get an inexpensive badge which was well worth it, i'll scan it when I get home.

Had many good times, ate well and enjoyed myself immensely.

Uncle Kage and I hosted the charity auction and we were able to raise quite a bit of money for the charity. The very last item was some items that were donated by Panda Guy's estate. They were a couple of plushies that he had and I was chosen to auction them off to the crowd. When I took the plushies off the table and tried to describe them to the crown I felt my voice breaking up. I tried to maintain my composure and professionalism in front of everyone, but it was no use, I just couldn't do it. I started crying on stage with everyone watching. I wasn't embarrassed so much, but the energy in the room was palpable as the room fell silent and MANY others there began to cry as well. Uncle Kage saw just how much trouble I was having and stepped in to help me out. We managed to auction them off properly and they went to a good home. After the end of the auction I had waves of people coming up to me while I was still openly crying and just give me lots of hugs and comfort me, saying they knew exactly how I was feeling and that PG woulda been proud of me for trying so hard. Personally I wish I coulda bid on them myself just so i'd have something to remember PG properly, but I just couldn't afford it.

Anyway, i'm going to go back down and see who is left around and join them at the dead dog party. I'm going back home tomorrow so i'll let you all know when I get back.

See ya!

Two weeks now without a job and it's making me insane. I've applied for so many jobs I lost track. There doesn't seem to be much of anything available here which means I may be forced to move to another state just to find a job. This is a horrible thought as i'm not sure if I could even afford to move. All this is doing is making me even more depressed than I was.

Ya know, things in life can be taken for granted too easily, we never really prepare ourselves properly for the unexpected. You can be so in tune with your day to day routine, that in can be snatched out from under you in an instant, leaving you confused, hurt, and simply lost.

I still can't find any meaningful work, and have to go down for unemployment this week. It looks more and more like i'll have to move to another area of the country in order to find work in the IT/Telecommunications field. Talk about turning your life topsy turvey.

This whole thing has me feeling so damn depressed, feeling like i'm worthless and simply of no value to anyone.

I Still don't even know what the reason for my separation was for. I just don't know. :(

so.... comcast determined that I don't need to work for them anymore, so yesterday was my last day with the company. Now I have to sort things out and see where this next stage in my life should take me. I could take the opportunity to relocate to another state IF I can can find a decent job. Right now i'm still in a bit of shock so thinking straight isn't very likely for a while. I'm open to suggestions tho.

Hi guys,

Today is my last day in sunny Florida, where the weather is perfect, and the fun is nearly at an end. I wanted to give a quick thank you to all the FL furs down here for being awesome and allowing this stressed out coon to regain some of his sanity.. if I had any to begin with.

KP was amazing to put me up at his beautiful home, I certainly owe him big time!!!

Being a guest at Yappy's and being on the pawpet show was amazing to say the least. i've been watching for over 10 years now but it was completely different seeing it from the other side. Being able to puppet and talk to everyone in channel was awesome and will be a highlight in my life for some time.

While I was down here I got to spend some time with some long time friends also, who were very gracious towards me and made me feel right at home. I definitely needed this trip.

So I leave tomorrow to return to the snow and cold up north, back to my hum drum life and all, but it was great while it lasted. THANKS GUYS!!!!

Ya know, as much as I love my friends and respect the artists for their talents, I have to wonder just why people seem to be so greedy. The thing that i'm referring to is how all of a sudden, it seems that every artist around is asking for a ridiculous amount of money for relatively meaningless things, such as auctioning off the "rights" to a character, with some of them making it to 4 digits. What ever happened to drawing for fun and making people happy? have me seriously sunk so low as that everything has to be a money making thing? Please don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that the talent and work should go unnoticed or that the artists shouldn't get paid for their work, but some artists have been asking for some crazy amounts for pictures like they were davinci or van gough paintings. And the sad thing is there are people willing to pay these amounts too. I'm not wealthy by any stretch, and honestly have been having problems paying bills, but i'm not going to throw money around like it's nothing just to have a nice picture of my character, especially money thats been slated for things like food and rent.

So either i'm just being the sensible one here, or i'm crazy. I dunno.

KITCHEN IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It took 3 months.. and cost a TON... but it's complete!!

http://s152.beta.photobucket.com/us.....brary/kitchen?

So yesterday at work, during a routine service call, a customer's TV set was defective and unbeknownst to me at the time, was pushing 220v of AC power back onto the cable line. unknown until I touched the line and BOOM!!!!.. blue flash.. severe pain.. and floor!

So an all-nighter in the ER, and a follow up at the company Dr today, has me out of work with muscle damage to my arm and some minor burns on my hand. Considering how bad it COULD have been, i'm lucky. But now I have to heal and popping some meds to keep the pain away.

if it wasn't for BAD luck i'd have no luck at all!

AS you may know, i've been in the process of renovating my kitchen. It really needed it when I moved here 10 years ago.. but I never could afford it or get up the nerve to start without knowing I had the proper help to do it right. Well this year I couldn't take the kitchen any more, with the cabinets falling apart, nothing fitting properly, and simply unable to use the kitchen properly. So with the promise of help and knowledge from a few close friends, I took on the task of demolishing and rebuilding the kitchen from the floor up...literally.

Planning and shopping around ensued, projects were planned in stages, supplies purchased and installed, and many tylenol taken. but as of tonight, I have a nearly complete and usable kitchen again. The next step is to get the counter top templated, manufactured and installed, then the only things remaining will be small trim work and cleaning up.

It's been a TON of work but I couldn't have done it without all the friends who helped, and I thank you so much for the help!!!!!

Thankfully the power was restored tonight just a little bit before sunset. I was dreading having to sleep in a cold house again because I was not able to extend my stay at the hotel any further. The house is still VERY cold, but the heat is on again!

Thanks for the well wishes and concerns friends :) but we still have friends in need all over. Keep your eyes peeled for anyone who may need help.

I managed to get a room in a nearby hotel that was able to reopen after having no power for a couple of days. I'm in a nice little room at the days inn only a few miles from home. I will be here for up to 3 days or until the power comes back on at home. The hotel manager was so nice to be able to accommodate me and give me a decent rate too. I'm gonna be a broke coon for a while, but at least i'm safe n warm again.

This is now the 4th day without power and i'm ready to lose my mind. No heat makes for an extremely cold house and being sick dosen't help matters any. with the lack of heat I got a really nasty chest cold that's not going away anytime soon at this rate.

I really hope they get the power turned back on soon. :(

Still no power at home, woke up this morning with zero heat in the house and the thermostat reading 50 degrees. No heat or hot water makes life very uncomfortable. I'm currently relocating to my squadhouse for the time being, theres power, hot water, heat and an air matress with my name on it. I may not be online as much as usual, but i'll b safe and warm in the meantime.

Be thankful friends... there are so many more who lost everything!

Well Sandy roared through here last night, we took a direct hit and had the eye of the storm pass right over us. Many houses have been damaged on my complex, there is no power and many many power lines down in the area. Nearly every tree in the area is laying in the roadway or against a house. Cell phone communications are spotty at best and unreliable. The national guard is here and telling us all to remain in the house or evacuate to another area. I'm actually considering it, but I don't know where to go.

Aeon is here with me because his house is currently underwater :( we are safe and sound for the moment, but very cold and without reliable communications. I;m only barely able to get online to make this journal by tethering my cell service and hoping the battery lasts.

I hope everyone else is safe n sound. We may be in this for a long time.

Well i'm home again after a really great furfright, Even with the 4am parking lot gathering, it was a great time. I felt very relaxed and very much enjoyed seeing friends and meeting some new ones.

I was initially going to stay another day, but the weather reports have the hurricane staying over NJ for the next 2 days, meaning it'd be at least 3 more days until I could get back home, so I decided to chance it and beat the road closures and all, but I made it.

Plenty of rain and wind so far, but i'm hunkered down and ready to ride it out.

I hope all of you are able to stay safe n dry I hope that power stays on and i'll be in contact as best as I can.

HUGS!!!

Well i've been pretty hush hush about this because I didn't want to worry anyone, but I got the results today from the doctor that i'm cancer free..... It was scary to think about the possibility that I may have the beginnings of this deadly illness, but thankfully the follow up tests were normal.

BIG relief!!!

i've been pretty upset all night about hearing that  pandaguy passed away so suddenly. I was wondering if it may be a good idea to collect some donations and make a donation to the American diabetes association in panda guy's name. I know it's a bit early, and his family's needs have to come first, but it was an idea that I wanted to throw out there for opinions.

I was just informed of the passing of  pandaguy late last night due to complications from diabetes. PG was always there for me if I needed something, whether it was a lively discussion about something, or a place to rant about things, he would always be there. Over the last few years, the diabetes wracked his body and caused him much pain and misery. He's to hoping that he's in a much better place now. He will be sorely missed. 73's my dear friend.

hey guys.... get a commission from an awesome artist!!!

refer to>>> http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3878181/

GO NOW!!! you know you want to!

Wanted to thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes yesterday.. it means so much to me that so many people remembered my birthday... even if I wanted to forget lol... but i'm the big 44 now and gaining speed....

I can't comment about this, but wanted to share the following link in the ongoing saga...

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/.....rs_barred.html