(Oded, even though this is partly a music related post, please do not skip).

The Raconteurs, the new band formed by The White Stripe’s Jack White and his mate Brendan Benson, issued their first single in the UK yesterday. Unfortunately I do not have immediate access to such 7″ wonders, but the music can be wonderfully streamed off their website.

Which brings me to the other point I wanted to make: what an amazing retro design! So simple, yet so good. Like a long awaited trip in a time machine. Check it out!

(Thanks to The Modern Age for the link).

Although I am not officially unemployed yet, I already do not go to work, so it is sort of a holiday. Still, my days can be relatively eventful. Maybe even more than they were when I was working, as every day is different from the one before.

Here are just some of the things I have been up to today:

Waking up
What’s that?! I think I forgot…
My alarm was set to 8:00AM, because it’s about time I got my day into order, but I didn’t even notice it until 9:00AM, and didn’t get out of bed until shortly after 10:00AM. I should start behaving.

Lunch is a wonderful thing
Having lunch with E. always makes things better. It used to light up my day when I was working, and it was wonderful to see him in the middle of the day today.

The right place at the right time
After lunch I needed coffee, and as I was in no hurry, I went into a café for a while and sat there reading a book. This proved to be a very smart decision, as when I walked out I ran into someone who used to be one of the company managers in my first job, many years ago. Since then he climbed up the ladder in a few places, and now he is working at a high rank in a large corporation. He gave me his card and asked me to send him my CV to pass on to the relevant people. I better take care of that tonight.

A bit of shopping
I drove to the Arena shopping centre just to wonder around. I have been looking for a simple white shirt for a while, so I kept my eyes open for one. I spotted a shirt in one of the shops that didn’t even bother to put on a price tag (this should have been a warning). They asked for NIS700 (that’s about £85 or US$150) for a simple cotton shirt! I ended up finding one that looked nice (though very see-through) at 1/10th of the price at Fox.

Hunting Sunsets
I have set my mind on hunting a perfect sunset. Today wasn’t one of those. It was a clear afternoon and a nice, warm winter day. I still managed to catch some nice photos of the sunset, and they will be up in the photolog later today, and maybe more in the next few days.

My first comment spam!
Again, I am a step behind everyone. Today I got my very first comment spam right here, on Deviant Brainwave. Maybe code obscurity is a good defence after all, as I believe the attack was done manually.

Regrets
I just had a call from a friend from work. They are really crumbling under the pressure there. I do feel for them. My friend said that some people are beginning to regret their decision to let me go. Hmmm…

Statistics
I stopped counting the number of irrelevant calls I received since I started job hunting, and I lost count of the number of places that I sent my CV to, directly or indirectly. What I can tell, is that I have been interviewed by only one company and got to the second level of interviews so far. Here are some other statistics:
Number of working days since hunting began in earnest: 28
Number of first level interviews: 1
Number of higher level interviews: 1
Number of days to unemployment: 7

The past several days were all about Willy.

He disappeared on Friday afternoon, giving me quite a scare. He was gone for almost three days, and I was so worried I couldn’t sleep at night. I knew he didn’t feel well when he left, I could see it in his eyes, so I was afraid that he is out there suffering, and would be too fragile to protect himself, and I won’t be there to help.

The mystery was eventually solved when early Monday morning Sebastian woke me up, and I could feel another familiar bundle of fur sleeping near my feet. Unfortunately Willy wasn’t well, and there was a traumatic visit to the vet that including a long waiting for Willy in his carrier box in very uncomfortable conditions. (Biking Geek, I’m sorry, again, for the horrible cat urine smell in your office, and thanks again for your hospitality while we were waiting for the vet’s office to open).

Now Willy is getting better. He will be on antibiotics for a week, and there is a lot of sophistication in making sure he is not going out, while still allowing Sebastian some freedom. Willy is unhappy about being locked up, but he is drowsy enough with antibiotics. Sebastian is more upset, but he’ll have to live with it. Everything to make sure my cats are happy.

I’m not into memes usually, but this one is really good. I found it on Lee’s blog, and it so accurately described her. Oh, and it’s about coffee, so I couldn’t resist:

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

I made a list of things that I want to do while I’m not working. Surprisingly, my schedule keeps filling up without me noticing. The job hunting statistics have not changed much since I last posted. I think there was just one more company I send my CV to directly, and two more irrelevant phone calls. I am just enjoying my time off too much to give it up.

My To Do list is a bit long and constantly growing:

• Sort out the paperwork
• Hang up a curtain in the entrance room
• Go to the gym as much as I can
• Renew my passport, and use it to visit a friend in Germany
• See as many sunsets as possible, preferably on a cloudy day, when all the clouds are painted in amazing shades of orange.

Is this too much to ask for?

I love Scotland. I visited a few times and was amazed every time, and one of my dreams is to go back and live in Edinburgh. It’s gorgeous. It’s not only the sceneries, the cities and the friendly people. The sounds too. The music and the accents, as non-understandable as they may be the character and tone are so sexy, that I just can’t resist.

With all these in mind, I was thrilled today to find out that Xfm now has a Scottish station which broadcasts online. It was so good that it provided the soundtrack for my first day of working from home to finalize a document for my soon to be former job. The problem was that it was so brilliant that I just could not concentrate. It was like working with a porn magazine open in front of me. There are other things to think of than work. So I didn’t work much, but I think I will still be able to finish the document on time.

And if we’re already on the subject, here’s the statistical update:

Number of working days since hunting began in earnest: 13
Number of recruitment agencies contacted: 7
Number of companies contacted directly: 3
Number of companies my CV was sent to: unknown
Number of calls from prospective interviewers: 3
Out of which relevant: 1
Number of first level interviews: 0
Number of higher level interviews: 0
Number of days to unemployment: 25

My nephew has started blogging. Check it out!
At the age of 7 (soon to be 8), he is probably one of the youngest bloggers around, and he is making his auntie very proud.

I was given notice of the termination of my employment today. Hardly surprising, and a big load was taken off my chest. It sucks to be rejected, and it does feel sad to be made redundant, but as I was thinking of it anyway, I will get over it very quickly. There are some people here that I will be upset to leave behind, and a few that I will be happy to get away from. Every end is a new beginning, and my new beginning is coming soon.

Hence, yesterday’s statistics are being updated:

Number of working days since hunting began in earnest: 10
Number of recruitment agencies contacted: 6
Number of companies contacted directly: 2
Number of companies my CV was sent to: unknown
Number of calls from prospective interviewers: 1
Out of which relevant: 0
Number of first level interviews: 0
Number of higher level interviews: 0
Number of days to unemployment: 30

Number of working days since hunting began in earnest: 9
Number of recruitment agencies contacted: 6
Number of companies contacted directly: 1
Number of companies my CV was sent to: unknown
Number of calls from prospective interviewers: 1
Out of which relevant: 0
Number of first level interviews: 0
Number of higher level interviews: 0