I just got a card in the mail for Jury Duty in July which sucks.  Because I had to do Jury Duty in 2006, and the limit for having to do it again is 3 years, and I’ve passed it with the little card I kept by mere months [1/2006].

And now… Its occurred to me that I could be called around the time they may be choosing a Craigslist Killer Jury!!!!!  NOOOO!!!!!!!!!

This weekend the weather was absolutely beautiful.  Shane’s visit went really well, did a TON of walking around and the Sox swept the Yankees!  Our game on Saturday was a slugfest so it was fun to see all the offensive action and back/forth dogfight.

We also have FINALLY found a great guy and sent out an offer for a fellow Developer to work on the content management system and other web development with me.  And.. he accepted the offer.  I’ve been wanting this for damn near a year and half now and so this is going to be really REALLY awesome.  This is also going to free up my time to do some more creative things at work that I’ve been wanting to.  And, I can also start to finalize my 2 week vacation to Europe which I setup a loose itinerary for this winter.  More details on that later.

I had a really great time this past weekend.  Did a little work, went out a little..  I had Monday off for Patriot’s Day and went to the game with my Boss who has season tickets.  I then got his seats for Tuesday night but the game got rained out.  So that kind of sucks..

I have Friday off this week as well so I’m loving this 3-day week - just have to get through tomorrow.  Shane arrives Friday a little before lunch and then who knows what we end up doing.  We have Sox/Yankees tickets for Saturday and the weather all weekend is looking awesome.  It’s been one constant rain storm all week so far so I’m really glad its going to be nice this weekend.

I really should have done some laundry tonight but I guess I’ll hae to do it tomorrow. Time to catch up on some magazines. GO CELTICS.

In December, a fruit smoothie place I frequented once a week or so all last Summer and through the Fall closed up shop.  I was really bummed because they had quality ingredients, vitamin, fiber and other types of boosters that I thought were all really good.

At that time, upon learning of the closure, I called out for a Federal Fruit Smoothie Bailout on Facebook. [12/6]: Adam is calling for a blended fruit industry bailout! His favorite fruit smoothie place has officially closed. F’in recession

Well, I am happy to report President Obama (or some small business owner) has answered my call to duty!!  Walking home from the grocery store this morning, my spirits were lifted, when across the street I saw a new fruit smoothie operation has declared they will be opening soon.

The bailout has arrived as requested! And maybe.. just maybe.. These little glimmers of new businesses opening can bring hope in these tough economic times - signaling we’re close to reaching the bottom of the Bush Recession.

The MLB season has started and I’m going to my first Red Sox game of the 2009 tonight.  Should be a great match-up with Kazmir/Lester pitching.  We’re in grandstands, behind home plate.  It’ll be interesting to see how the new seats are this year.  They got rid of the old-school wood seats from the 30’s which is kind of sad.

Edit: iPhone photo I took that night..

Last week, my company laid off 8% of its employees (14 people).  This was somewhat startling since just about 30 business days before, company leaders said that they were not forecasting any lay-offs.  Then, on top of that, company leaders told us the next day that they were in-fact looking to sell the company.  And apparently, there is something lined up and they’re ready to pull the trigger, but they can’t quite announce what it is.  They can only say that there is a ‘big event’ coming and it doesn’t sound like a happy event.  Sooo  needless to say there is a fire lit under my ass to do everything I can to find a new employer.

My parents returned from their Panama cruise safe and sound.  They traveled via train up the east coast and that all went according to plan.  So all good news on that front…  However’ my Uncle’s Office Furniture store is not doing too well in this economy and my Mom has been reduced to only working 3-days a week / 2 days unemployment.  Buying office furniture, whether new or used is discretionary, and businesses simply aren’t buying nor are they expanding.

Last week’s concert was really great.  I didn’t know too much about Cold War Kids but the music was superb and I’ve bought a couple albums.  In other news, we saw a couple get booted on from an apparent jack-ass balcony-goer.  The story has  a happy ending though, as the couple was able to get cleaned up, stayed, band found out and even gave them a shot out for being so diehard!

This weekend I picked up some Sox/Yankees tickets for 4/25 that I found on craigs for a good deal.  Shane, an old friend from my Argyle days that I’ve reconnected with on Facebook, is going to come out for that weekend.  He has never been to Boston before and has only been to 1 yankees game being a fan for a long time.  So it’ll be a good time to hang out with him and show him everything Boston has to offer.  And, of course, watch the Yankees hopefully get swept for the weekend.  In bad news though, he was laid off this past Friday from his machine engineering job with a company affiliated with General Electric.

Recession Bottom Line: When all this recession talk started, I didn’t know anyone it affected and thought it was bad, but mostly was in construction/mortgage/real estate/banking industry.  Now, every single day, it seems like I hear another horror story or slow decline for someone I know.  And if you’re not losing your job, hell you could be getting thrown-up on at a concert trying to have fun!!

All this is getting kind of scary and I don’t know where the bottom is.  All I know is I’m ready for it to be fucking over.  I’m ready for happy times again, blue skies, flowers, birds chirping, drinking cocktails outside..  At least then, with Spring beginning and Summer on the way, things will seem a little more on the up-and-up.  I guess we can only hope.

Keep fighting the good fight!  Live everyday like its your last!!