We were pretty on-edge up until today, friends had to evacuate and one's mother-in-law who lived up the hill lost her home. We had some pretty smoky days! But containment is up to 30% and most of the evacuation orders in Sonoma County are lifted. Napa County is still fighting hard but Calistoga got to go back home today. Praying for Thurs/Fri forecast of rain to come true!!

I certainly hope it was a pilot! Now that I know there are several books already, the development of a series sounds quite possible. I think Sherlock was quiet because he didn't want to give Enola away to Mycroft. I rather liked his quiet, knowing smiles and I am glad to know that Mycroft will not be in charge of that young lady in future.

I have been having a lot of fun with Donna Andrews' fluffy mystery series, which was recommended here. It makes a good distraction from fire news, bad air, and keeping the windows shut in triple degree heat with no a/c....oh, and the seemingly eternal job search. I don't know how dh keeps going! Hopeful news, we are over 25% containment now and the sky is blue....only a little smoky and the weather is cooling nicely. My technical writing web site went live last night, thanks to ds's help and dd's logo design skills. If you know anyone who might be in need of business, proposals, or biometrics writing or want writing coaching for their kids, please pm me! So far I've had one client and he liked my work and I had fun doing his rewrites. My reading this coming week is going to be all non-fiction, about copy writing, social media marketing, content writing & etc. as I try to expand my skills.

@Negin - I am a bit late getting back on the topic of Iran, but that information about # of expats certainly rings true. My dad was there for a year on his own, more or less, and then my mom and younger sister joined him for about 6 months before their sudden return. Most of their friends there were expats, and my dad especially liked the Brits they met. They left the 20-something "kid" crew in charge of their house (brave!) and then when they returned w/24 hours notice AND my mom was ill, well, it was a bit of a fire drill! I harvested basil today, so much to cut that I had to wrap it in a bath towel to bring it in, then rinse it all thoroughly to remove the last remnants of smoke and ash from the fires. We can't make actual pesto due to oldest dd's allergies, so we are going to try something with white beans in lieu of nuts. The recipe dd wants to try is a strawberry basil cocktail....I wish. I have been on a John Ringo kick...military SF stuff, the latest series with a so-called zombie plague, eerily reminiscent of early pandemic fears. And my husband wonders why I know so much about weapons, LOL! I like the books he writes himself much better than the ones that are sharing his "world" with other co-creators. Next, I am reading a couple of Liaden books in anticipation of the release of the new book, Trader's Leap by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Thanks to all the language discussions, I just ordered a new testament in French/English...that will be SUCH a stretch since I haven't used the language much since I lived on a "French-only" dorm in college. But sil is French Canadian and she and my bro are now living in Montreal. Maybe I can use the enticement of visiting them to keep me reading! You guys help me keep my brain awake! In between way-too-many resume submissions -- dh and I are tracking our resume # in a bit of a competition. Gotta do something to keep the months of job-hunting from dragging.

@Negin -- my dad was a contractor in Iran when they were building up to revolution. He was helping with analysis and system design for public safety communications and recordkeeping. They left in June after the government tried to get the contractor to fire him so they could rehire him, but he said no. Had expat friends who were there up until armed revolution began. Such a sad, difficult time.

I read one book by Rebecca Rupp on how she did unschooling and decided it would be too much for me! She did huge amounts of research and worksheets designed to help her kids collate information on the topics they had chosen. But reading her at least helped me give my kids some grace for Friday parkdays and reading-only weeks or stretching math out so we finished it in July. And yes, there were days when we counted cyberchase and a history documentary as "school" -- but not too many! -- and Saturday field trips also counted as school days. As someone else said above, there was always a year or so of the teen years (different for each kid) that was really rough. In two of those cases, I decided to let go...so one kid went straight to CC/commuted early with Dad/rode the bus home, and one kid was in a charter where she met weekly with the teacher and got all her assignments from her, and we didn't pursue a college prep path for her. The other two girls mostly worked through their tough year with a little extra patience and a lot of kleenex (for both of us). Right now the youngest is dual enrollment online for all her school this year, so I can go back to freelance writing online. She has "class" 3 hours/week carrying 10 units, but is working on assignments pretty much 10-5 M-Th and checking back for things she missed on Saturday. Number of hours of "school" -- depends on how you count it.

DH has an interview today and another next week, both with companies in the same industry he's worked in for the past 10 years. Praying he is impressive and presents himself as THE GUY to hire! The company I freelance for has put in a quote that may lead to a *lot* of work....once we get vetted and approved, which is another month down the road (sigh). When it comes through I may well be quite busy, but it's still "wait" for now. DD whose company went bankrupt has registered for her CNA course, which starts the end of the month and which is through the community college, so she should be able to pay for it with college savings $.

I've been having a blast this week with three fantasy books by Rachel Hartman: Seraphina, Shadow Scale, and Tess of the Road. Vaguely late medieval with dragons who can look like humans if they wish, saints with special powers (who turn out to be half dragon), and multiple cultures and creatures. Well written, much about the difference between cold logic (the dragons) and feeling (humans and....other critters) and lots about social expectations and what happens when you outgrow them or never fit them to begin with. I watched the new Netflix short series "Unorthodox" and was fascinated, so found the book at the library for my kindle. That and Finding Dorothy (recommended here, I think) are on the list for next week.

I can empathize with the migraines issue. My dd who finds school the most difficult also has multiple migraines a week. She took a Parks & Rec lifeguard certification class at age 16 and went to work at the local senior center (NOT the big city pool, too overwhelming) and really fell in love with working with seniors. She continued to lifeguard and began looking for other work with seniors/disabled. Through a friend's referral she got started working with in-home health care, both individual clients and group homes. It doesn't pay terribly well either, but she can up her earning potential if she takes a Certified Nurse Assistant class (about a month f/t), so that's what we're looking into now. Luckily the local community college offers this so we think we can use her college fund to pay for it. She may also look at being a case manager but that's less patient contact, which means less of what she likes about the work. I think lifeguarding and learning to teach swim lessons would be a great sideline for your daughter. It can fit right into working with kids and provide a 2nd income stream (most lifeguarding and teaching is a 4-hour day, mornings or evenings but sometimes there are agencies that match teachers up with private clients, which pays better but you have to buy some toys & equipment). Anyway, just a thought. CPR certification, which comes with lifeguard training, is also a plus for childcare.

Refer them to the state organization's web pages on How to Homeschool and Working with X-age/stage child. Well, unless they are a personal friend and then I ask more questions and refer them to Rainbow Resource for brain overload and Timberdoodle for fun stuff.

This is sort of my weekly relief, too -- from unemployment, fires and smoky skies, covid and bickering young adults. We're thankful to be down in the low 80s now rather than the triple digits we got for labor day!

Two business meetings, two sets of notes, one revised quotation and a page and a half of things we need to know before we can provide more detailed quotes. Hopefully this effort will lead to MORE WORK for ME. DH sent out 2 more resumes and tells me he has an interview on Friday. Thanking the Lord for every little step forward, even if it means relocation to another dang fire zone. All of CA is a fire zone these days. And a threatening power outage. We've been lucky enough not to have to buy a generator; we're adjacent to main transportation and county airport, so minimal power outages even in the big fires of 2017 and 2019. And those pale next to this year's statewide suffering. As usual, I turned on the raised bed drip system and forgot it. 3 hours later after meetings.....water bill pain is waiting for us. Spent the rest of the day discussing fires and evacuation checklists with friends near Fresno, CA and Medford, OR. One of them has a special needs daughter so their evacuation is a bit fraught with challenges. Makes my loss of two bottles of insulin (pulled them from the refrig for expected evacuation and forgot to put them back in while still cold) seem pretty minor. Cooked something so family could find their own dinner.

Thanks for the recommendations; dh is looking into them. Cedar Rapids....was home to my dad's family until they migrated to CA back when he was 15. Odd coincidence.

I've had such conflicting advice! The guy I'm working with recommends LLC, which amounts to about $800/year, my CPA-from-home friend says don't bother, my friend who trains accounting professionals in seminars & such says just a sole proprietorship. AB5 has a 3-point test....and I can't see how I would get around that, and if that doesn't hit you then there's a 12-point test to consider. Ack!! I already started filing for the LLC, so I think I am going to go with that for this tax year. I set up the bank account this week so I can send in my first estimated tax payment. But, can I have your friend's contact info for possible future needs? Do you know the rate charged for consultation? Thanks so much!! You can private message me, I think.

When I was in high school I read Harold Lamb's biographies of Genghis and Babur the Tiger through several times. I was fascinated with them, and talk about escapism as I sat up in our mulberry tree dreaming of other worlds! Now that I look that author up I see that he wrote quite a number of books about asia/central asia, including cossacks and tamerlane. If you ever feel like an old book hunt, I'd love to hear what you think of him as a historian and writer. Most of his work now is OOP.

Thanks for the suggestions. He has a BSEE from the -80s and has done hardware-oriented applications engineering for various products, most lately custom connectors and cables. I don't think he's looked into contracting in that area. Connectors & cables are a bit of a niche. Applications skills can transfer to other industries but more of a learning curve and the interviews he's had haven't gone very far. Door dash and instacart are possibilities. I tried applying for online teaching and....well, I appear not to be fun enough or young enough or just don't come across on video. That has gone nowhere. I wish! Technical writing pays well enough, but I am in the "go find clients" phase, so it does take time...and fees for the LLC which is *supposed* to provide some protection from AB5 but nobody can guarantee that and they keep "amending" stuff. If a law generates universal hatred and has to be changed that many times and drives major employers out of state, is it a law you should keep??? There is another amendment on the November ballot, but pretty squarely aimed at exempting big employers rather than little independents like me. Sorry, whining again.

So absolutely true! I am currently HATING AB5 in all its many labyrinthine confusions!!

If you'd like to similarly explore western mythology and epics with your daughter, we've really enjoyed retellings by Geraldine McCaughrean, a British author who does meaty retellings of things from Gilgamesh to Arthur, Canterbury Tales, El Cid, and more. There are some pictures but more text so for us they were definitely a read-aloud but one we really enjoyed.

This is only a 1-month training program for the CNA, but full time. She's got some options, and she could apply for p/t or weekend shifts. Hmmmm, I will have to discuss with her. Thanks!

We definitely are, just north of SF. I love working from home and really enjoy the "BK" work colleagues I have reconnected with! I can work from anywhere, so we are willing to move (if a bit overwhelmed at the thought) but all our family is CA or pacific northwest. But, wherever God leads, really.

It was 112 deg F here today. Winds are now predicted beginning Mon. night. God help us.

Census work ended this week, which is a good thing because next week will be triple digits. Setting new records here. Meanwhile, no interest on the job applications front. I continue to work 10-15 hours/week, but that may be more soon (looking at a new customer being added). And I'm trying to figure out how to become an LLC to get around AB5 (the dang gig worker law that has a 3-point test AND a 12-point test that seem to somehow cover every. single. independent. contractor. in the state). Sorry, whining a bit, praying a lot. I think dh may look into the contact tracing and possibly other temporary work. Ironically, the company that let him go 7 mo. ago is now advertising for a field applications engineer with exactly his qualifications. He's going to apply just for the heck of it. Our nearest fire is over 80% contained, hurrah, and the smoke has mostly backed off, but big winds are also predicted for next week, which means more serious fire danger. Oh, and this week kid #3, 20-something and living with us, lost her job because the corporation running their elder care home went broke, hasn't been paid in a month, and had to evacuate the clients not due to fire but because the embezzling head of the company was making threats at the various homes they run. This does mean that (if she can get thru the EDD forest of failures) she can get unemployment and use the time to get a CNA which should help with a better paying job. What a week! Anyway, frustrating circumstances and no guidance yet.

At least the fire situation has calmed down. Nothing new on the job search, but now that the heat and smoke are better he can at least put in his 4 hours/day for the census. That's been sad. He got assigned a lot of addresses that are still empty lots from the fires in 2017 in our area. Meanwhile, I am starting the process of filing an LLC: Tandem Technical Writing, We Work With You! And I have my 2nd client. I am both excited and yet (having reviewed the relative cost of LLC filing by state) grumpy about the cost of it in CA and the fact that our anti-gig-worker law in CA is forcing me into it. Once dd and I figure out the logo for the FB page, I will be beating the bushes for more clients and making my first estimated tax payment. It is not even close to paying the bills without unemployment (which has now run out), so more work is definitely needed!

Well, unfortunately dh did NOT get the job and we are back to square 1. He'll start over this week sending resumes and talking to recruiters and friends. Sigh. The kitty is getting low. However, we're on fire watch (like much of CA), so everything else lessens in importance next to that. The solution to both is the same: Wait and pray...and have your bags packed.

UPDATE: DH had a good video interview this morning -- talked to 5 management people over the course of 3 hours and felt generally positive. Has one more person to talk to (at his request, a person doing the job he's applying for in a different region) tomorrow. Talked to the hiring manager again and he said he'd already heard "good things" from two of the interviewers. So we are feeling pretty excited and hopeful. Praying that an offer comes soon because this is now the only open possibility....all the others have turned into closed doors.