I think my friend Jose’s mom should be canonized as a saint. Boy, can this woman cook. I just had Enchiladas at his house last night and they were so good! I guess making Jose’s mother a saint probably wouldn’t be the best thing because I think you have to be basically tortured and killed to earn that distinction. That would mean no more Enchiladas! No, let’s just give her tickets to see Celia Cruz! Speaking of Mrs. Cruz, that woman is also amazing. She is old as dirt but still out there shaking her groove thang. Ms. Tami had a viewing of the latest video from Celia Cruz titled “La Negra Tiene Tumbao.” Mrs. Cruz shows us all that being 1500 years old doesn’t mean you can’t still have an active and thriving singing career! You go girl!

After an enjoyable evening at the Mercado-Herzberg residence I came home for a much needed rest. I really wanted to sleep for at least eight hours. I rarely get to sleep late because I am such a light sleeper. Now that Casper (my cat) is a little older he is not as playful at night and actually sleeps through the night! It only took six years! Anyway, I pulled the curtains shut and was all ready for a good nights sleep. Well, I tried to sleep but it was kind of hard to do with a helicopter hovering directly over my building! Yes! All night long and into the morning a helicopter was circling around the neighborhood. When I first saw it I thought it was the police chasing someone. Hey, this is Logan Square, you never know. Anyway, I’m up at 6:30AM (Ugh!) checking out the news to find out what happened. Apparently a pizza distribution warehouse burned down. That’s about 2 blocks from my house next to my favorite pizza restaurant, Father and Son which owns the warehouse. Hmm… Late night fire that started on the roof next to propane tanks. Me thinks someone was testing out the insurance policy.

God, I love my dad. This is a man that knows the value of a dollar. He has been collecting cans since I don’t know when and selling them to the aluminum recyclers. I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing in my condo. I could put out little bins and collect the cans once a week. Yeah, if I weren’t so lazy that might actually work! Anyway, back to Joe Jr., that’s my dad’s name. So Joe Jr. has collected a ton (literally) of scrap metal and he wants to take it to the junk yard to cash it in so he asks if I can come over and watch my nephews who are currently out of school while he cashes in the scrap at the junkyard. I guess the junkyard has a rule against allowing minors on the premises.

He finally gets ½ of the scrap loaded on his truck (because that is all that will fit) and he is sweating his ass off. Meanwhile I’m watching the kids. Perfect time to get some much needed reading in. About two hours later he pulls in the driveway and I can tell that he is tired as hell. “So, how much did you get?”
“Oh, about $24, that’s four dollars more that I thought I would get!” He says.
TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS!? For all that work? He wanted to give me ten just for sitting outside watching the kids. It just didn’t feel right! I politely declined. Yes, he definitely knows the value of a dollar… or does he?

Well, it finally happened. My brother finally got married after being engaged for what seemed like an eternity. Actually it was a little over a year but I think we were all ready for them to jump the broom. The wedding itself apparently came off on short notice. We (the family) all found out about it early last week. I didn’t ask my brother why the last minute wedding. I was kind of thinking that the bride’s father might be hiding a shotgun somewhere! Believe me, my family has definitely had shotgun weddings before! I won’t mention any names… OK, I know this was not a shotgun wedding. These kids really do love each other and I don’t think the bride was pregnant.

Regardless of the timing of the wedding I thought it came off rather well. It was an intimate affair with a small reception in a hotel room. We were treated to fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, appetizers and a big ass cake! There was a little fighting over the Mexican bean dip. It was very good. I really didn’t mean to body slam my niece but she was hogging the bean dip!? OK, I didn’t really body slam her but I did nudge her out of the way. Basically, it was a very nice wedding. I want to welcome my new sistah into the clan. Yvette, you is married now!

Being out of work as long as I have affords one the opportunity to reflect on other skills, training, etc. that one has developed over the past 20 plus years. Let’s see… I was a baker, a bag boy at a grocery store (three times), A communications repair technician in the Marine Corps, a quality control technician, a sales associate at Oscso, a telemarketer, a library aid, a bar back, an archivist, a systems engineer, a PC repair technician and finally an IT manager. Hmm… I have had a pretty diverse working career! With over twenty years of work experience coupled with managerial experience from several of these positions you would think people would be busting down the door of my apartment trying to get some of this good stuff! They don’t know what they are missing! Wait a minute. Am I still talking about work experience?!

Whatever! I feel much better just reflecting on the cornucopia of proven talents that I have. For all of those companies that did not hire me after (what I consider) a stellar interview you can all KISS MY GRITS! There is just too much talent wrapped up in this bi-pedal, bio-luminescent package for anyone out there to handle!

Since I have had the worst luck finding a job I have been distracting myself with this website. I actually just had a job interview earlier this week. I didn’t get the job and was a bit depressed about that. Hmm… This topic is quite depressing and does not conform to my original charter of “A New Hope” but this is my journal and I can write about anything I want! OK, so I’m all depressed and shit but the one thing I have noticed is that interviewing is like meeting someone new and asking them on a date. The first few times you get rejected you really take it hard and don’t think you can get back out there to find that “special someone.” After you have been rejected a dozen times or more (like I have) your skin starts to thicken and you invent more creative ways to show the world what a great guy you are!

Of course I don’t need to tell anyone reading this journal how great I am. You already know that! Now that I have had my little therapy session by re-doing my website I am getting back on the job hunting band wagon. Actually, if there are any sugar daddies that read my journal I do know how to cook and I am sure I can manage a large house that is fully staffed. Call me.

Now that I have given my website a new attitude I also thought it was time that my journal got a new attitude also. I think it had a bad attitude there for a while. Besides my journal has had the title of "Face of Unemployement" for over eight months. It will now be called "A New Hope." I'm sure the sci-fi geeks out there will know exactly where this title comes from. Hopefully the entries that follow will have a 'new hope' flavor. Thanks to all my friends for their support. Also, a big shout out to those special friends that have hooked a brother up at the bar with a cocktail. You know who you are.