What week is this ...

I woke up this morning and I swore it was early Sunday morning. It took me a few minutes to figure out that it was indeed Monday morning, and then I started thinking about it and I couldn’t actually remember exactly how many weeks I’ve been unemployed. Thinking about it logically, I’ve had 3 Unemployment payments, but I missed a week because of that gig that I had, plus the waiting week… So that’s 5 weeks. But that doesn’t feel right. It feels longer than that, I’d like to say 7, but I know February is a short month.

I’ve had between 5 and 7 weeks of time off and what have I done?

Well, I had that gig the second week. That was in Connecticut and took 2 days. Um, I did a little work on a movie with my friend out in Astoria. That was the third week but only took on day. That wasn’t a real job and didn’t pay, but I knew that going in. I got a beer and a burger out of my hard day’s work, like I was in college again! So there are 3 days so far…

Oh yeah, I did that camera thing for a couple days. So that’s like 7 days.

I watched a movie one day, that’s 8 days.

Ummm, one day I got sick, so I didn’t get up that day … cause I was sick. So that’s 9 days … Let’s make it 10 days.

So I’ve done something for 10 of the days that I’ve been unemployed.

You know what, I forgot; there was that day my old roommate moved out. I can’t count that day, or the day before when we went out to eat with him. So we’ll make it 12 days approximately.

And we’ll add in an acceptable margin of error, we’ll say I did something for 14 days of my current unemployment.

Now I have to break out the calculator, I was laid off on January 23rd so that’s 31 days I’ve been unemployed. So that’s pretty good, that’s like half the time I’ve been unemployed I’ve been doing something. I’m not nearly as depressed as I was when I woke up. That’s totally reasonable, I’ve been busy for 15 days and I’ve been home trying to find gigs and taking care of my life for the other 15. That is something I’m now very proud of. When you are unemployed time can really seem to slip away. I am going to take pride in the fact that I haven’t let myself get sucked in by Sportscenter or Cheaters afternoon marathons. I am a productive member of society even though I am unemployed. I will not be considered a leech on this culture; half my time is spent out being a productive member of society.

Wait a minute; my math is a little off. I forgot some of those days I counted were weekends and I only added up working days. Let me just add these weekends in … and the days I’ve been unemployed is actually … 45. Oh, that’s a few more than 30. Like 15 more than 30. That’s like I’ve only done stuff 1/3 of the time I’ve been unemployed. That doesn’t feel as good. That feels a little more … unproductive. I should probably do something with today. Let’s see, I already applied for my weekly benefits, uh, I already made my coffee, and I’ve already watched Sportscenter twice through today. Oh man, I should probably do something today. I should become productive. I don’t want to fall into the stereotypical rut of unemployment. I want to be productive, I want to be able to live my life and help myself. I am a proud man; I am a self-sufficient man. I don’t want to be on the dole forever! I am here to use the program as a crutch to keep me from falling off the ledge.

I feel really bad right now. I lost so much time and I’ve become just another statistic. I need something to pull me out of this funk. I need something… to do something, today, with my time that is worthwhile. Something that will make me feel good about myself and my unemployment… oh, cool, an X-men: The Animated Series marathon. I’ll start with that!