I am posting now to this blog for the first time in more than two years. When last I wrote, I was still employed by Berkeley College and complaining about badly timed layoffs. I left my employ with the college in October of 2018, very shortly afterward, my wife staged an all-hands intervention meant to confront my alcoholism.
I was out of work for a little less than a year. I spent some good time with the children, being around to get them from buses, etc., but never, ever really worked on the other thing.
I began working for the US Postal Service in August of 2019. Strange the way that lined up. Going into a holiday season, got through it no problem, made a trip to Africa to celebrate the new marriage of my stepfather Charlie and his new Senegalese bride Yaye. The coincidence of my having lived in a neighboring country for four years twenty years earlier. I share a tribal language, Wolof, with this woman from day one when Charlie and she literally had to communicate using Google translate for months before being able to do anything akin to simply speaking to each other.
Two week trip to Africa and Paris, Charlie took us all. Six planes up, six down. We are his closest family, and he has the money, so all good. Then we got back, David Perry got sick with kidney cancer, the pandemic hit, my regular carrier I was subbing for left for a four month maternity leave, David died. Work was crazy during early COVID times. Kim finally came back in early September and I began a regular progrma of getting myself into other offices to see what they were like. Peekskill, Mohegan Lake, and Garrison are the three where I found myself working. Peekskill huge (35 routes) and well organized. Mohegan big and maybe not as well run, then Garrison tiny and understaffed.
