A few notes on my current life:The first three months after leaving BGS, I spent working the phones nearly every day. It's a nightmare to navigate the bureaucracies. Nobody can give you a straight answer, and most state and county employees don't even care if they give you the right information or not. The first thing I had to do was secure food/shelter and insurance. After a lot of research I found I could qualify for the SDI (State Disability) Insurance program. Then next month I will start receiving a monthly stipend from Social Security. My next biggest challenge was insurance--keep COBRA at the whopping charge of $359 a month? Or rely on Medi-Cal? With Medi-Cal's cutbacks, the latter was a risky probability, and the former would bankrupt me of my severance pay in short order. Again, research, research, research... after talking to 10 people over the course of November, December and January I discovered a state program called HIPP (Health Insurance Premium Payment). I just finished doing the paperwork for that, and now the State of California is paying my COBRA premiums. So, another few months I can survive the cruel, cruel world. All this and a roommate, and I'm fairly well set till the SDI runs out at the end of November 2003.Taking advantage of the generously provided time-off, courtesy of Brian Potter, Glenn Castan and the late, not-lamented Carl Glaser, I've started taking classes in things that interest me. This month, it's screenplay writing. Next month, nonfiction book writing and Arabic. After that, probably some technical stuff--tech writing/web editing/JAVA, and things that might lead me to something new and exciting. Or at least, not old and boring. It's kind of like being dumped by one's spouse of 12 years: one can either mope around home in one's jammies, or dress up and hit the singles bars looking for something better! I choose the latter--but in my own way. Things look hopeful, but as always there may be some disaster lurking right around the corner. Or, some stupendous success. Only time, and God, will reveal the truth.