Dancing to the Beat of the Doldrums

I haven't posted lately because, frankly, I'm having a hard time getting a laugh on this nutty world. I guess you could say I'm depressed. Many factors contribute to this feeling (or, at times, the dull ache of too little feeling), but chief among them is that my awesome boss is leaving town for good, all of my coworkers and I are freaked out, and for the first time since I was hired, I sometimes dread going to work.

But I don't want to get too deep into that. I value my job enough that I don't want to create a weird situation for myself or for anyone else by openly bitching about work online. Besides, in this economy, I have enough job security issues already.

And yet, I know I'm lucky. In the past, when I was depressed all the time, I never found much relief in "counting my blessings" (people who suggest that strategy usually suffer from too many blessings and not enough empathy). But when you're standing at the precipice, and so many people around you are losing their jobs and their homes, and even rich people are killing themselves over their losses, it's easier to appreciate what you have. You may not have it for long.

In my case, I consider that:

I have health insurance, so if I return enough pop bottles, I can afford the copay on my annual pap smear

Never lost money on that non-existent 401K

If I ever get laid off, I can go back to working some crappy job and then I can bitch about it online - no qualms!

I have no credit cards and no temptation to open an account. Do you think anyone would actually extend credit to me?

No matter how hard my life can be, it never sucks as bad as growing up did

I'm prejudiced against machines. There are a whole lot of 'em I don't want and/or don't know how to operate, including cars, dishwashers, ipods, blackberries, microwave ovens, curling irons, cameras, coffee grinders, electric can openers, lawnmowers and segways. This saves me the trouble of purchasing, repairing, or replacing said items.

In the US of A, we the people of Michigan are on the cutting edge of pain. So I figure that when we finally bust the hell out of this state, I'll be ready for the new economic downturn in my new home.

I have awesome friends, and some of them have cable.