journal entry 2016

By February 2008, my weight had ballooned up to 265, the highest ever in my life. My sister finally convinced me to join Weight Watchers Online for Men… I was laid off from Foley Electric as the economy was bottoming out and collected unemployment. By spring and into the summer I was working with Scott and Gary again (under the table so I could still reap the unemployment checks) installing central air and/or troubleshooting and service calls. June 10 Mathew was born. We were still living in Weymouth beside Tile World. In October the house at 83 Joseph Road was complete and we moved in, just in time for Halloween.

By mid-February 2009, my unemployment would run out and I was in need of a job, any job. Electric companies weren’t hiring, Scott’s AC work generally stops during the winter regardless of the economy. My brother’s friend Hen had just quit a job as an overnight security guard in downtown Boston.  Another of my brother’s gang, JT, the Accounts Manager, did the hiring and firing for the security company and if I wanted the position I should go in and apply. I got the job. Also, still doing the WW’s I was down to 195, an ideal weight for my height and age— not quite what I was in my prime but I felt much healthier and confident; although I was now a security guard, way down on the work force ladder and I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed because it was a high school kid’s job or college student, a retiree or second job. When people asked me what I did, I said electrician/AC work, technically not a lie but definitely far from the truth too and hoped people didn’t get too specific in their questions. The saving grace for me was that by doing the overnight shift, I avoided contact with people, for the most part and was off the clock just as the work force came storming into the building. I told myself in the beginning, I’m getting paid to work on my writing and watch movies. And besides, my thinking continued, I won’t be there longer than three months….