I almost feel as if this message thread is my psycho therapy. lol Bob was doing very well today. He was surprised that they let him have water this morning so soon after the surgery. After his bypass surgery, they didn't let him have water for about a day because the lungs can fill with fluid from being under anesthesia for so long. We won't know until they exam the section of colon they removed as to whether it was cancerous or not. The surgeon "thought" he got it all. So I imagine more tests are in order to know for certain. I have mentioned in my past posts that I have fibromyalgia. After a day at work, even though I have a job where I sit at a computer all day, I am totally wiped out. So Bob does all the cooking around here. I have trouble standing for very long so it is difficult for me to cook. So at the hospital, he is giving me ideas for food I can make and telling me the best way to cut onions so my eyes don't hurt as bad. Tonight he was telling me how to steam the rice he gets. I just let him ramble on because I know it makes him feel better. I was so glad I had a clogged drain so I could ask him how to unclog it the past few days. It kept him talking for about 45 minutes. Today I was able to tell him that I finally got it unclogged. He was so excited when I told him his tomato plants had little tomatoes. He is doing very well. They were waiting for him to fart. I guess that is a sign that things are going well. If that's the case, I must have one healthy colon! lol So keep up those prayers that Bob finally has a good fart and that he is cancer free! Thanks so much for being my therapists! Love, Kathy

Jo, So, next to gardening, your other hobby is spending money? Heaven help your bank account if it rains for another week. : ) Lynn, I wish the rain would leave y'all alone for a while! Too much of a good thing is still too much. I hope your soil gets a chance to dry out soon. Paula, I was watching footage of the OKC flooding on The Weather Channel last night. What is is with the weather and central Oklahoma this year? It seems like the weather just won't give central OK a break this year, although at least the temperatures are a bit cooler even as the water floods people right out of their homes. We did get rain FINALLY, but not as much as they got at our Mesonet station in Burneyville. I think Burneyville was showing 1.37" at one point and we'd only had 1/10th of an inch. It was getting depressing. The heavier rain finally arrived late in the day, and now we're up to 2.3" in the last 24 hours. That's pretty much our average July monthly rainfall in one day. Since June was well below average, we'd be happy to have some more rain fall. I think we're about 4" or 5" below average still. I see more approaching rain appoaching us on the radar, so am hoping it gets here and then stalls over us and rains hard for a while. Our soil isn't saturated enough to make flooding a huge issue here, unlike much of the rest of the state. Our dewpoint was 75 yesterday which is incredibly high and causes breathing difficulties for anyone with asthma or other respiratory issues. So, I knew it would rain hard at some point, since the higher your dewpoint, the more rain that generally will fall. Carol, I'm glad the rain finally found y'all. Maybe your county will look better on the Soil Moisture maps now, cause it was looking pretty sad before. Littledog, My own rain gauge almost never agrees with the Mesonet station either, so I use my measurements...or at least I keep a running total in my head...something like "we have received 3" less than the mesonet station so far this year". In 2007, we had a June similar to yours. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was a lot (I think about a foot in June after 6 or 8" in May) and we had flooding issues both on the Texas side and OK side of the river. In fact, that was one of the very few times that the water at Lake Texoma has over-topped the dam, which resulted in a lot of downstream flooding. I think either Wed. or Thurs. was the 3-year anniversary of the day the water first overtopped the dam. Lake Texoma should start rising soon as the heavy rains that tell in SW OK make their way down the river, but it is a very long way from being fall enough to overtop the dam. I know the Red River was flooding in part of the Jefferson County (the county just west of our county) area last night. Swokiedokie, We have the same. I'm hoping for harder rain so the ponds can refill. I know some folks have had too much rain in the last couple of weeks, or even in the last month or two, but this is the mildest July weather we've had in a while. I love the temps, but bet they won't last much longer. It is, after all, July. Dawn

You are right, people are more important than any possessions but I'm sure glad you found that ring. As for the purse thief, well, they will pay for that action eventually, Grandma taught me that "what goes around, comes around" and it sure will. Thankfully, I"ve never had to deal with floods or tornados destroying my own home, although I live in an area that is prone to both of those and have had family members who have had homes destroyed. There are always items you reach for and then realize they are gone and those can't be replaced. At least everyone is safe, so I'm thankful for that, and you and your fmaily will continue to be in my prayers. Annie

Jerseygirl gives some good info. I recently hired 7 people and despite the large number of resumes I received, it took months to do so-- I had very little luck with posting to dice.com. The FLOOD of resumes was unmanageable and very few received the personal attention they deserve. I did, however, search the dice listings-- and that is what the services are suggesting employers do. Definitely post your resume if you have not already. I hired 1 of the 7 employees from Dice. All the other new hires came through personal connections (2) and a local staffing company (4 contract to hire). I recommend that you NETWORK and check out some of your local staffing companies. More and more organizations are using the staffing orgs. Research them-- who is placing the most people right now? My company works with just one (Tek Systems) and we have for years. While we complain about their rates, the reality is that their screening saves us a lot of valuable time (and likewise, saves the candidates a lot of time). While it is frustrating for you sending out your resumes and getting no response, it is just as frustrating for understaffed employers to read them all and to go through numerous interviews. These staffing services really help push the process along for all parties. And if you use one, be sure to make a good impression with your recruiter-- they are very involved with placing the right person in the right job and tend to push their best candidates to their most reliable companies. One more thought on staffing companies-- many offer training courses. Use your downtime now to beef up your skills. What skills are being sought after in your area? I wish you luck-- but the reality is that in the good times finding a job is a full-time job. In these times, you absolutely need to put ALL the energy you can spare into your search. Don't look for the perfect match or the work from home gigs-- look for the companies that are hiring and impress them-- then try to find the best match for you in their organization. I, for instance, am very generous with my work from home policy with my staff-- but I absolutely would not hire someone who walked into an interview asking about telecommuting/working from home. I need a team player-- if I hire someone who has all the skills and characteristics I need for a position then I would absolutely trust them to work from home. If someone walks in the door asking to work from home, my first impression is that they are either a slacker or not interested in being a part of the organization-- neither of which would encourage me to hire the individual over the next guy or gal. Finally, make SURE your resume and cover letter are well written and contain no spelling or grammatical errors. This sounds like a no brainer but I can't tell you how many resumes and cover letters are littered with errors. Nothing moves a resume or application to the "no, thank you" list faster than poor grammar/spelling errors. Good luck to you and all others looking for work.