«  Tue.08.14.2001  » 4:47 am EDT        59°F (15°C) in metro Detroit Calendar of Updates It has again been a long time between updates. A lot of things have happened, so I'll try to give a semi-rundown of things. First, the biggest change in my life since June 17 is that I am no longer living with my parents. Though there isn't really any ill will on either side, I suspect they're glad to have me out of their hair, and I know I'm glad to have left. My current whereabouts will be kept off this site, although I can tell you that I've remained in the metro Detroit area. I am living with a young couple, renting the basement of their house; it's nice in that I'm not completely alone here. One or the other of them is usually around for a chat, assuming I'm not gone. I am still on the employment merry-go-round; that hasn't changed since my last update. I left Bianco in early July, not out of any dissatisfaction with the company, but because there simply weren't enough charters to keep me busy. Faced with the prospect of a six-day lay-off that I simply couldn't absorb financially, I left. I am now working at Jimmy John's, a sandwich restaurant in Royal Oak, as a delivery driver. The pay sucks, but it's money. Nym originally referred me to Jimmy John's Ann Arbor store locations, but upon learning that neither of them was hiring, he told me to try the Royal Oak store. I jumped in there about a week after applying. As for my employment future, I am considering several options. I probably need to find something high-paying this week, but I can survive at Jimmy John's by cutting a few corners here and there. I may end up as a manager of Jimmy John's new Rochester location when it opens on October 1; that remains to be seen. Alternatively, both my housemates and my father have given me several suggestions and references, and it's just a matter of finding some "9 to 5 time" to go out and apply. (Lately, I've tended to be either working or sleeping between 9 am and 5 pm, sleeping if I had to work late the previous night.) I celebrated the one-year anniversary of my coming out yesterday. Well, I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, except to think about how that year has gone. As I said to a JJ's coworker this evening, it's been at the same time the best year and the worst year of my life. It has seen the biggest upheaval, and the greatest stability. I know that doesn't really make sense, but it's been that kind of a year. If you're looking for an update on "Lisa," my car, you've come to the right place here. She now has 9500 miles, and it seems like nothing can stop her. The only real problem she has is a loose interior trim piece that rattles going over bumps or at low engine RPM. I bought her a gay pride static cling sticker a couple weeks ago, so she's officially my gay car now. Hell, I've put 700-plus miles on her in the last week, and other than going through a shitload of fuel, Lisa's kept running almost perfectly. Which is good, because I have zero money for a major repair right now, knock on wood ... On the relationship front, I remain single. I try not to think about it too much, because when I do, I invariably get all these conflicting feelings as to what I should do or not do. That doesn't mean I don't want a relationship any less, it just means that for the time being, I'm probably destined not to find one. But then again, who knows. I've remained surprisingly coherent up to this point, but I can feel my brain starting to shut down for the night. I will only be getting about five hours of sleep; I need to be in to work at noon tomorrow.