Well, I got offered a job Monday. Night auditor/front desk clerk at a local hotel. Low pay, part-time (though I got the impression they’d like to make me full-time quickly)—and only three blocks from home. I think I’m going to love it. I asked for a week to get my afairs in order, but don’t think they’re going to give me that much time. They really do need somebody right away.

I also warned them that I have three city-manager applications in the pipeline, and two of those jobs I would take if offered. (I am not expecting them to be offered. I also won’t know until some time this summer if they’re even interested in interviewing me. Even little Wheeler, 13 miles north of here, wasn’t interested in interviewing me. Instead they picked somebody almost fresh out of school. And I sent them the usual thank-you note wishing them well on the path they’d chosen.)

So now I get to juggle all the stuff I’d managed to crowd into my Unemployed Person schedule. Since part of the work (and initially all the work) will be in the middle of the night, I actually still have weekends free—I just have to spend part of them sleeping (because I’ll be working while I’d normally be sleeping).

Down the road, I will have to bail out of the caller classes, because they’re on one of the nights I’ll have to be working. (That won’t happen for a while, though.) I should still be able to practice calling with my guinea pigs, practice with the marimba band (probably on a reduced schedule), and practice with The New Band, too (also on a reduced schedule). I’ll still get to go to Planning Commission and Urban Renewal Board meetings, and maybe even cover City Council meetings for the paper. I won’t be able to travel—but I haven’t been able to travel for a while anyway because I couldn’t afford it

Some other pluses: I can walk to work, which lets me object to the obscene price of fuel the only way I can—by not driving. (The truck will last a lot longer, too, if it’s not being driven.) I’ll pick up a lot of new recipes while I’m fixing breakfast for the guests (another part of the night front desk clerk’s duties).

And thus do we embark on a Neat New Adventure.

For the Arts Center Showcase May 5, I have confirmations from Roger MacDonald, Eric Sappington, Wayne Turpin, Sedona Marie and Michael Dinan, Ken Hardy and Jane Dunkin. And I’ll be there, of course—playing either with Jane or with the whole band. With the Tillamook Community Chorus as headliners (on for half an hour) and everybody else on for four songs, we probably have a roughly 2-hour show. Next step: the posters and press releases—for which I need photos.

I got a mug shot from Eric, and one of Michael and Sedona; I have ones I took of Roger and of Denise, and I think I’ve got one of Ken and Jane, too, from our NCRD performance. I snapped a group photo of the Tillamook Community Chorus (our headliners) at one of their practices. I want to acquire or take photos of everybody if I can, and use them in the promotion. (I think Wayne is the only one I’m actually missing—assuming I can have one of Jane’s kids take a photo of the band at practice Wednesday night.) Did a poster for the square dance club’s upcoming June 9 dance and it came out looking nice. Guess I haven’t lost my touch.

It’s Tuesday, so I have caller class in Portland. One of the habits I’ve gotten into is “programming†the Soundtrack from God so that on Tuesdays it’s playing square dance music, and I can rehearse my “moves†along with it as I go about regular business. Wednesday, after my shift at the Arts Center, I go to Tillamook to record “The Resurrection Blues†in Jim’s shop studio—and in the evening, I have to do Schedule Triage because I can’t be in two places at once. I’ll bail on the square dance and go practice with the band. We’ve got performances April 28 (at The Mercantile) and May 5 (at the Arts Center)—both short—and the Big Gig (2 hours) at the 2^nd Street Market May 11. Not much time to prepare.

Joe