Breaking silence.

The demonstration yesterday drew over 1,500 people. We expected *maybe* 400 and agonized over whether that expectation was "realistic". As it was, it was a perfectly beautiful day and there were enough people in the streets that the cops had to close Central so we could pass. They were fairly cooperative, too. Code Pink did a five-storey banner drop from the balcony at Hotel Blue. About as close to an ideal event of this sort, based on those I have been to. Armen's idea to serve hot chocolate was downright inspired. People got to come out of the house and meet eachother and hear eachother speak and figure out who's really doing what in this town. The rumour is it's the biggest anti-war/pro-peace/call-it-what-you-please rally since the one that occurred on the day the US invaded Iraq, when the police sparked a riot. (By some accounts yesterday's event was bigger.)

CBS Evening News showed the Albuquerque March with that banner (which you can't read in my lousy cameraphone picture, because people are walking all crooked) that says "No More Wars". This is just the head of the march, it snaked for blocks on Westbound Central. They're entering Robinson Park through Central Avenue's brand new shiny roundabout, which no one knows how to use. ("Yield to the left? Huh?")

Danny Hernandez cornered Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM) at some sort of gathering a couple of days before the event and asked her about the possibility of a war with Iran, while telling her (and listeners) that the rally was coming. She said it "isn't likely", which is far from an assurance she'd oppose it if it did, or even acknowledgment that she's heard her constituent's opinions. She's *very* cagey. But how Danny even got a hold of her I have no idea.

The one minor disappointment in all this: I didn't get to cover the rally for KUNM; worse still, apparently no one else did, either. All that research on Iran, and as of yesterday it didn't much matter, 'cause I didn't have a microphone with me right then. Why not? Because I *thought* I sent an email out a week ago requesting a recording kit, but wound up hitting "save" instead of "send". For several days, the notion that I might have done that never occurred to me, and I assumed I had been blackballed. I have been scrambling like mad this month, and missed two News Department meetings. Nothing will keep me away from it tomorrow, though. And this story *won't* "go away". I've also got ideas for new stories, though they have tighter deadlines, being tied to the 60-day legislative session. May be a good thing -- the less time I have to lose myself in the trees, the better.

The whole "No War With Iran" message kinda got lost in the middle of the four or so other themes that all got lumped together under the all-inclusive slogan "No More Wars", but that's OK 'cause it brought *way* more people out than Iran by itself would ever have. And the Iran group got something like 37 groups and organizations signing on to that mission statement we spent two and a half hours crafting on a cold night in December.

It's been a totally chaotic month. I *have* to post, it's part of my sanity.

Then there's the snow. Still on the ground in icy patches from a MONTH ago.

Then there's the new kitten I rescued from the snow drifts, who bit straight through my thumbnail only to tame fairly nicely after all.

Then there's the selective demolition of the factory behind me and the news that my apartment won't be here in May.

Then there's the flooding from two feet of snow on the ceiling dripping SLOWLY through the ceiling over my bed, covering my bedroom floor with filthy water.

Last but not least, I hate to say it, but I quit my job without notice early this month. Bill was great to me but the business was clearly failing and there wasn't money in the bank to pay me for another week of work. I went in to work one Monday and I don't know exactly what happened, but by that evening at home I was punching up and printing resumes and cover letters. I basically "snapped", and just not going in seemed preferable to some of the other things people have done in the mental health billing business when quitting a job (e.g., stealing patient records, sabotaging computers, all par for the course). I was miserable bouncing off the walls and keyboard for a living, since it made doing so for pleasure far less enjoyable. I also realized I *need* to be around people. Not every day, not all the time, but spending entire weeks dealing with only one person is not a situation I even know how to handle.

Anyway -- Bill apparently got spooked, and meaning nothing but the best, I'm sure, didn't call to leave the usual "it's noon, are you coming in today or what?" message, but called me the day *after* I didn't show up to say that because he didn't know where I lived he was filing a missing persons report. Oh my.

I don't doubt he meant well, but that, in turn, spooked me, so I basically "disappeared", which necessarily involves not posting to the blog. (It's like in WWII movies where the submarine camptain says "maintain radio silence" and the whole ship goes comepletely dead in the water without a sound so the people up top don't know where to lob their torpedoes.) Long story short (I'm leaving out some twists and turns and intrigues), he knows I am alive and well now.

I apologize for disappearing like I did, but (a) I can't handle the level of isolation involved and (b) when I hear someone's calling the cops on me I freak.

I'm making progress though. Last time I did this sort of thing, in 2004, Kenneth threatened me with getting pummelled by his "uncle and cousin from Espanola" because I threw his precious couch cushions into the dirt. At least people don't mean me ill anymore, and I'm not *as* crass as to throw couch cushions into the dirt to set off that whole set of chain reactions.

I am now doing the one thing I swore I would never, ever do, because I got fed up with the whole "drop off a resume and call back in two weeks then we'll call you back and we can see if we want to start the five-week interview process or not for this job that's set to start in September for a period of three weeks" game. Fer chrissakes I'm not trying to get a salaried position here, I'm looking for an hourly wage. Don't give me fuckin' runaround. If you do I wouldn't want to work for your sorry ass anyway. And don't assume that just because I know how to look good in a tie that washing dishes is somehow "beneath" me -- some of the most deeply ethical people I've known have been dishwashers.

It's kinda rough for me, too, 'cause I've worked in a bunch of one-of-a-kind places. "OH MY GAWD YOU MADE TORTILLAS AT FRONTIER!?" young girls will scream at me as though they saw some fading remnant of the Beatles in my visage. But employers look at that on a resume and wonder "so he poked doughballs with a stick for nine months, how does that apply to this position, and why would he do such a freak job to begin with?".

Yes, I'm doing *the* one thing (short of dressing hair) that was "so gay" a job I'd never consider doing it, and wound up working at Foxes to prove I wasn't queer, or something.

I'm waiting tables.

I am kind of enjoying it, actually. Rough month on the finances with a week of total unemployment but it's starting to pick up now. Base pay's minimum which sucks but once tips start coming it it's not half bad! The variability from one night to the next is gonna make budgeting tricky, but I think I can do it.

The place is on Central, within walking distance, and has been open for something like 30 years. It's a family business. Like Musso & Frank's, it's a run-down classic, and people debate at length whether it's more run down or more classic, dividing both diners and staff into two distinct schools of thought on the matter.

I love the people I work with. Lots of newbies bail their first night or two when they find out they're making minimum because when they start out bussing tables they're working harder and getting less out of tips. I stuck it out two weeks because, heh, I had no choice! It was that or *no* money, and it's working out OK. I think.

Enough from me for now. I have broken radio silence.

Be well!