Dear Diary,
It's a long time since I've written anything in you, and I've actually taken to putting an ending date of 2023 into my references to you on my resumes. But as it turns out, I have things to say, and separately, want to go hiking again. So here goes.
About a month after I last wrote in you, I felt I was finally concentrating enough on job-hunting. So I filed for unemployment compensation, as it turned out, not long before my eligibility would've run out. But at the same time, I also applied to North Seattle College's accounting program. This has occasioned much confusion on the state's Department of Employment Security's part, and very little confusion on NSC's part, but anyway, it has also staved off renewed homelessness, by virtue of an incredibly patient landlord, some unemployment money, and the magic of financial aid.
But this also means I have basically no time to do anything worth telling you about, dear Diary, during each quarter; and I'm trying to complete a degree in six quarters. So I certainly won't be back at anything like the pace of 2020 or 2021, nor even, really, of 2022 or 2023, before I hope to graduate, in December 2025. In particular, the months of library hours research and writing, October and April, are off the table until then, although I fear the things that worried me about library hours in October 2023 are going to be even worse by October 2026.
However, between quarters, it's a different story. My first quarter ended two weeks ago, and although I haven't been hiking much yet, and not for you at all, that's about to change. I have three pages planned for this break, which continues three more weeks. One will be about your main topic, park restrooms and water fountains in North Seattle; I hope finally to just do the "baseline" summer hike I've talked about for years, a boring account of what's working, with which to compare winters and other interruptions. [1] One will be about a library. And one will be about something completely different. So, dear Diary, wait another week or so, and you'll have a few new pages, and I'll have to revise my resumes.
As to how well I can write your pages most specifically concerned with homelessness, now that I'm spending immense effort on a plan to avoid that status going forward, I just don't know. I probably won't really be able to write that kind of page well, but until I get to writing one, won't know how much effect that'll have. None of this break's planned pages are all that homelessness-specific.
Anyway, until we meet again, happy days and happy nights.
[1] I realise park restrooms are no longer of much interest to my fellow humans. I think it's worth continuing to pay attention to them, and particularly in winter, because I think it's quite possible that the next respiratory pandemic will not politely wait to manifest until July of whatever year. So it's fortunate that my two long breaks, while this continues, will be in August-September and December.
