Unemployment, Day 10

Went down to the office to retrieve my bonus check for 2008. It was odd having to be signed in at the office as a 'guest'.
Everyone was really excited to see me, and I spent over an hour being bandied about while people hugged me and took pictures with me, and some people decided that touching my beard was ok, since it just looked too irresistible. My former boss tried to hold my check hostage in lieu of a question about my job. Hah. I don't work for you anymore! Nice try!

Went to WaMu to deposit my check, which of course got scrutinized because of the amount. Had to have a supervisor approve the check, even though the only thing I was doing was having it deposited into my account, I wasn't taking any cash proceeds from it, nor was I cashing out anything else. Go figure.

I was able to pay off two of my three student loans with the net portion of my bonus, and I even had a little bit left over. Which was good. Because I planned on making a purchase with it, which I did.

I applied for a few jobs online at Regence / Blue Cross / Blue Shield, and then applied for my weeks worth of Unemployment.

Travis and I met Mom and Dad at PDX (Airport) for their 5 hour layover, they are returning to Alaska after a few weeks vacation in Palm Springs. I had offered to meet them at Stanford's in the airport, but they wanted to get out of the airport, and kill some time. We ended up going to Gustav's for dinner, since it wasn't that far away from the airport, and I know they have good food.
(And it has a full bar, which my mother demanded) Dinner was sooooooo good. Couple of Midori Sours, cheese and sausage fondue, nice chicken schnitzel. This makes for a happy bear. Travis ordered corned beef and cabbage, since I won't really make it at home since he's the only one who would eat it. My mother got a nice turkey dinner, and dad got a pot pie, topped with mashed potato. (Really more like shepherds pie, and it looks puny in comparison to our meals although I don't think it was since Dad couldn't finish all of it.)

Took them back to the airport so that they could catch their flight, and then Travis and I met Derek and his friend at Freds, where I bought myself a 46 inch LCD HDTV. (Samsung for those at home following along). Derek was nice enough to take the TV home for me.

I had been debating a new TV purchase for some time after the last TV decided it was going to fritz out and explode. I need a new DVD player with upconverter and I'll invest in a combo DVD and surround sound system. That will wait a week or so, I think. Right now the TV, which is actually compact compared to a tube tv, is sitting on our dining table. The only thing hooked up to it is the XBox360. The picture is just amazing. I'm sure I'll be wasting even more time on it now!