Webster Art

My last class teaching beginning web development ended June 19. I have been offered another quarter starting in late September, but then I’m off December 17 and wouldn’t work again until Spring quarter in early April. This is not a good situation. I need a full time job.

I got accepted for unemployment benefits and have been searching, and applying for jobs as required. I’ve only been unemployed twice in my entire life. First time was in ’97 when I got laid off from a printing job. I was out for 5 weeks, but only because I was enjoying my time off. As soon as I got bored I quickly got another job…but that was back in my printing days.

Printers then were like nurses are now. We could get a job anywhere, anytime. Since applying for unemployment in July, some of the more entertaining jobs I’ve looked at are Automobile Photographer and artist model at TCC. The models make a lot more than just working at REI…which would also be fun. I’ve taken a lot of evening classes in life drawing, and I’ve been a clothed model in my own drawing classes. I would get the students to take turns modeling once I demonstrated how easy it was.

Modeling for artists could be a fun job. I’d get to eavesdrop on the instructor as he taught them how to draw me. I could make a lot more programming…but truth be told after 18 years I’m not 100% sure I want to stare at a computer screen anymore.

I do still enjoy programming webpages, and I think I would like doing it fulltime, if the pay was good. But I do have some reservations. For one thing, it’s not healthy. Almost all of the programmers I know look like they spend all day sitting down.  It is possible to stay healthy programming, but it requires a lot of exercise. During the last couple weeks I taught web programming in June I was riding my bike to work. That was awesome. By the time I got to work I’d had my exercise for the day. Riding home just made it better.

But I do miss working with my hands and making things. Printing was great that way. We could see the fruits of our labor as it came out of the printing press. You knew you had made something that had value. And it took both mental knowledge, and physical skill. Those are big complicated expensive machines.

But, after 28 years I was burned out on printing. Now though, after 18 years of teaching web programming, I’ve forgotten the bad stuff and only  remember the good days in printing.

We had a family re-union over the weekend recently. Everyone but Malcolm, Clint, and John’s kids was there. I really don’t even know most of them anymore. They are all nice, but it’s like a high school reunion. They just aren’t part of our lives anymore, spread all over the country and as far as England.

I tried to paint a lighthouse on Saturday and bombed. Sunday the fog rolled in. We did have a nice jam session around a campfire. It was me, Jack and Marcus’s daughter. Two guitars, my harp, and her ukulele.

It’s been very smokey lately. The mountain has been totally hazed over. I went to the climbing gym this evening with F. and now my arm hurts. It’s an old chronic bicep problem. I can ride bikes and  climb outside just fine. But something about the gym aggravates it. There are some huge roofs at the remodeled gym now. It’s burly pulling through them. F. led the layback crack cleanly, from the ground up. I was impressed as I’ve not sent it clean yet. The man is a beast, and he’s my age. I guess we are both quite remarkable compared to other guys our age. Not too many white haired guys lead climb overhangs.