I learned this afternoon that a friend of mine had passed away. It wasn't altogether unexpected, but in a way it was. Gee, can I be more vague? I haven't felt really teary eyed about it, but throughout the day I've found myself thinking about things we had done together, or conversations that we'd had. No more of that now.

A mutual friend feels the same way. "I can't help thinking about him," he says, and that's it exactly. I'll miss him. But, given his personal circumstances, I've been missing him for a while.

As for the job quest, I mailed my application for a network technician opening to the local municipal court. I think its a long shot. I got the opening from the local paper, which means that they probably have at LEAST a hundred applicants. All of them with better credentials than I, no doubt. I sent it anyway, as I can't let my self-defeating mentality get the best of me.

Tomorrow morning (or this morning, as I look at the clock), I'll be attending the first class of CERT training. For those of you who aren't aware, it stands for Community Emergency Response Team. It was the brainchild of some folks out in L.A. Its designed to give people a modest background in disaster work and preparedness. Nice to see all those post-9/11 dollars trickling down to the local level. If you're interested in reading more about the program, check out EMI's CERT page.