Greetings from Computer Number Four

There is a side benefit of coming to the library to blog.  I am getting out in the world again, instead of hiding in my house.  I was hoping to walk up here today, but the weather was fouler than I wanted to endure, so I drove.  Until I can get a bike to ride, I plan to walk up, a distance of about 1.5 miles from home, a good short jaunt.  I am terribly out of shape, and a short walk is a good way to ease back into a fitness program.  My heart will thank me for it, I know.

There is a different crowd at the computer bank this morning, and there are lots of empty chairs around the table, unlike my first visit here.  Today, most of the people here are in their late-forties, or fifties, with a sprinkling of us in our early-to-mid sixties.  Everyone is quiet, respectful of their neighbors; products of stricter libraries, no doubt, in their formative years.

I noticed the last time I was here that several of the younger (younger than 50, that is) people were doing job searches.  There are 12 computers in this bank and five of them were looking for work, including The Miner. (I overheard her say to the fellow to her left that she had been looking on Craig's List and another job-search site I can't recall.  He asked her what kind of work she was looking for.  She replied that her only experience so far had been with several local fast-food restaurants.  I think I know why she is out of work.)  That's almost 42% of the users out of work, or under-employed.  I hope that doesn't represent the percentage of the local out-of-work population, or we are doomed.

Ah, things are looking up.  A dear soul who loves to talk to anyone and everyone, loudly and non-stop, has joined us.  She speaks in exclamations, something I haven't encountered since working on the psych ward at Charleston Naval Hospital, many years ago.  I think I have seen her hanging out on The Square, among the homeless and indigent.  Maybe she comes here for the company, or to get in out of the weather.  She's pretty savvy with the computer, though, so I wonder what's her story, why she appears to be homeless and not wrapped too tightly.

On the other hand, maybe I am the one not wrapped so tight, you know?  For the last five years, I have slowly, inexorably, withdrawn from society, partly due to The Octopus, partly in shame because of the circumstances around my divorce from Ex-B and my increasing level of poverty.  I spend my time between my job (my only contact with other people on a regular basis, besides Daughter and Grandson) and The Warren (my rabbit-hole house).  I think having to give up my Internet connection at home will prove to be a godsend, for it is forcing me to be "among them" again.  I see I have a period of adjustment to get through, learning to be accepting of my fellows, instead of wishing this computer were in a three-walled cubicle where they can't see me, and I can't see or hear them. 

Wow!  This isn't what I expected to blog about today, but I think I'll let it be.  Maybe Computer #4 has some power to elicit truth from its user; a key, perhaps, that opens doors sealed for years and years.

Or, maybe I'm beginning to disengage from the Unreal life I've been leading, moving toward something a bit more Real, if such a thing exists.  Stay tuned.