5/08/2004 06:21:00 PM|||Joe|||This is kind of a test post. Still working on the CSS for this page. Also, it has a basic comments section, if anyone cares to do so, but I'll eventually write my own code for that (unless I find something that does things exactly the way I want).

Anyway, for anyone that reads this and cares, I've been in Minnesota for a little over a month now. Things haven't gone as well as I'd hoped. Things haven't gone worse than I'd expected, though.

I don't care what anyone says - the economy still sucks. And I hear lots of people talking about how jobs will pick up, that it's normal for it to trail a little behind, etc. All I have to say is that those people have jobs, and have the luxury of telling people to be patient.

Ok, so I do have a job. At Sears. Again. Not a cashier this time, though, so I don't have to push credit on anyone. That alone will make me enjoy the job 10x more than I otherwise would.

The point is that I'll barely subsist with this job. $7.40 an hour is no way to live comfortably. Don't get me wrong, that's better than the $6.75 I was making in Flagstaff. But don't call it a job.

I was supposed to be on the news. A local reporter wanted to interview me - she wanted to talk to 20-somethings who don't have health insurance. She kept postponing and finally cancelled. I had come down with a cold when she called. I hope she saw the irony and humor. I know I did.

I just can't help but feel that I keep making mistakes. Going to Flagstaff was definitely a mistake. Minnesota may be a mistake too. I came here because I thought I had a snowball's chance of getting a good job.

But two aunts, one uncle and my Grandma are all in Las Cruces. I have friends there, and my parents will be moving down there in a couple years.

What the hell am I doing here?|||108406629074057288|||Minnesota