I can’t thank those of you who pitched in this month to keep me in lights and air conditioning and Internet. If anyone can spare a couple of shekels, please consider me, your humble atheist blogger. My Paypal account is at Darksydothemoon-AT- aol-com. A few more bucks this week and I’ll have survived this latest crisis. Things are looking up. Maybe we don’t have to be poor anymore …

The economy in Austin, TX., has gone from terrible like everywhere else, to a little better than average, to virtually exploding just in the space of a few months. I know there’s people reading this who are in as bad of shape after the Great Recession as I’ve been. I get emails from time to time from some of you — and these folks don’t have the kind of outlet I’ve enjoyed to gripe or beg or simply get basic human sympathy. And I know they’ve heard too many times now, that the economy is coming back. But folks, it really is. Be patient, keep checking job listings, interview for anything and everything you can. Even if it’s a lousy paying job, the process keeps you in good form.

I just had a promising interview with a local start-up that’s growing like a weed to the point that they’re swamped. The job assesses prospective employees, mostly for local tech and med-tech firms/clients, sending the qualified folks to the respective recruiters, and pointing applicants to financial aid and other resources for various certifications or formal degrees if they’re short on required skills. Which in my view is real decent way to both make a living and make a difference in someone’s life. The pay is not bad, better than my short-lived networking job and the benefits are immediate. Just to be safe, I’ll continue looking. But if all goes well I’ll start in mid August and I may be barely back in the Middle-class within a couple of months.