Visiting my hometown

Today I start my trip back to NYC, something I've been looking forward to for weeks now. I'm catching the Bolt Bus from South Station in Boston to outside Penn Station. The seats promise to have more legroom than the Greyhound buses I used to take to Ithaca, NY. The seats have electrical outlets, so I plan on bringing my laptop and catch up on some DVDs! Gonna goto Blockbuster this morning and see if I can get Taken, Gran Torino, Quantum of Solace, Seven Pounds, Slumdog Millionaire, Day the Earth Stood Still. Yeah :-)...

Staying at my mom's in Rego Park tonight. Have some real good vegetarian Chinese food, hopefully. Then tomorrow I got permission from the principal of my old junior high school, JHS 157 Q, to visit the school for the day. I am so psyched! In the evening I'll be meeting friends from my old company for drinks (cranberry juice and ginger ale for me) at the Reade Street Pub downtown. Will catch up with my brother later that night and stay at his apt on the Upper East Side.

Saturday I'll be headed to the Cornell Club of NY for a board meeting of the Cornell Alumni Federation. (I'm a director of the northeast region.) Later that afternoon I'll hop on a Bolt Bus back to Beantown.


Yesterday I went to the Quincy Career Center and tried to apply for unemployment benefits. All the paperwork was filled out when I mentioned to my counselor that I was still on the payroll, until the end of this month, even though I am now unemployed. She told me to wait until June to apply. My claims would have been denied until I stopped getting my paychecks.

That's okay because Melinda, my counselor, was very nice. A fellow Chinese American she confirmed my status in her system and estimated my gross weekly benefit, which is the max plus $25 per dependent plus $25 courtesy of President Obama. The benefits would last from 30 to 72 weeks, thanks to two federal extensions and two emergency extensions. This is Massachusetts unemployment, btw. All in all, it was a good experience down at the unemployment office...