Last week Cheeky Prof accepted a position at Mooseknuckle University in the depths of the upper Midwest. I was in the Mooseknuckle area trying to get a sense of what my job prospects were and she had a deadline so that is that. It's a good thing that Mooseknuckle University is relatively close to what passes for a metropolitan area in that part of the country since it's my only chance of finding a job.

I travelled to schmooze with some of the luminaries of the New Metro because my current boss was going out there to give a presentation at the local AIA chapter and all of the New Metro Gods would be in the house. I did meet some people I have known by reputation for quite some time and they were all very encouraging so I am relatively sure that I can find a job that has the potential for the type of comfort challenge and reward that I have here in the bubble of my current position. I just can't get myself up for this whole thing. Cheeky is talking yard sales to get rid of our junk and having Realtors coming over to the house to tell us how they would market it. She traveling to Mooseknuckle U to attend meetings and get to know her new colleagues. Still, the only thing I can think about since we started to get the feeling that she would be denied is that we are going to lose our shirts on the house we scraped and cheated and lied and stole to buy just 16 months ago. It has caused me to lose sleep, and n ow be focussed. I can't bring myself to do any work around the house, I just sit and think about it. I take the dogs outside to do their thing and catch myself in long unfocused gazes thinking about what I need to get done to ensure that I won't be locked into owing several thousand dollars at closing to my mortgage company. Then there's the idea that we now have to find a new house in Mooseknuckle. I have decided that the only thing I want is a house that needs nothing more involved than mowing the lawn and cleaning up the yard for the next four years. I need a reprieve from the constant thoughts of how should I fix this problem or that problem that came with my beloved piece of shit house. I had just formulated the long range plan for rehabilitating our little bungalow and was ready to begin tackling it. So now I don't want to have to do anything for four years. I will paint and refinish but no "real" projects for an olympic cycle. Let's get past the next tenure review before we start dumping money into the next hole.

I'm thinking about sending a promotional DVD like to my potential new employers.