Ok, so once again I let too much time lapse since my last post. So much has happened - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, the Sugar Bowl (woot - woot!), the inauguration etc., and yet things with me are so much the same. Still looking for a job with not much to show for it. I did decide to make a fresh start with the new year and try to make the best of my current situation. So far mixed results. Part of the problem has been the cold. See illustration above - click on second picture. That's right, your eyes do not deceive you, it says -22 and feels like -38. What does -38 feel like? Effing cold. Real effing cold. Why the hell did I (or anyone else) ever come to live in this god foresaken place cold. We started having car trouble (car not starting after sitting overnight in the cold) just before Christmas. I replaced our battery but the problem persisted. I took the car to the shop and told them "Just figure out what the problem is and fix it." Essentially handing the mechanic a blank check and an invitation to take me to the cleaners. After extensive testing which included leaving our car overnight so they could "simulate the conditions" they concluded that there was nothing wrong with our car. Still the problem persisted. The car wouldn't start until the temperature got into the double digits above zero. This was one thing when the car not starting in the morning ment a delay of a few hours, but a completely different matter when the temperature was not going to get to the crucial range for a period of days. We saw the problem coming and knew that once it wouldn't start we would either have to get it towed to the shop where they could then start it in the warmth of the garage and tell us nothing is wrong with our car or we could wait carless for five or six days for the temperature to move back into the low single digits above zero. Neither of those options seemed feasible so we opted for choice C - me getting up in the middle of the night to start the car and warm the engine. It was a long week.
I don't think I can face another winter like this without a garage. I may not want to face another winter like this period. I have looked into waiving into the bar in other states. So far I found out that I did well enough on the bar exam that I can waive into the Washington D.C. bar. As of tomorrow I will expand my job search to include D.C. I am even considering taking another bar exam in July. The economy sucks everywhere but some places are better than others. Utah is still home and ultimately probably where we'll end up. I'm just grateful that thanks to Patty's job, deferment options and interest only payments on my students loans I haven't been forced to take a job at my local Mc'Donalds...yet.
But seriously, ya'll should come visit. There's really nothing like a Minnesota winter.
