Another day, another bit of babble

I had a good friend in high school.  The kind of friend I could count on.  The kind who really cared about me. I didn't understand what that meant back then, or I didn't trust it, or I took it for granted but along the way my friend and I lost track of each other... until about two years ago when he found me on Facebook.  We were both ecstatic.  We called and e-mailed and even got together once.  It was wonderful and exciting and I felt like new worlds were being opened up to me - maybe second-chances.  Just about a year ago he disappeared again.  We talked on the phone one night and we talked about him visiting me.  He said he'd look into whether he could get some days off.  I never heard from him again.  Never got another e-mail (although I've written many).  I got his voice mail - left a message once or twice last year, then got discouraged.  Yesterday, during a layover at Dulles airport   (Washington D.C.) I happened to think of him.  He lives near there.  I tried to call his daytime number and was told he didn't work there any more.  He's got my e-mail address.  He'll write if he wants to.  I guess it's just been really hard because I thought he was as happy as I was.  I thought I at least had a real in-person friend in him, if not a chance to be more than that.  I guess I was wrong on a lot of fronts.  Maybe he'll re-appear one day.  Maybe there are reasons.  Maybe not.  He doesn't owe me anything.  I'd just love to see him again.

I've been running this month.  Last week, Texas.  This week Pennsylvania.  Next week Kansas.  It will be my first trip to Kansas.  It's encouraging to me how many "Help Wanted" signs I'm seeing everywhere I go.  Most of them are in the lower end places - fast food and retail, but also trucking companies.  That tells me a couple of things - people are starting to have at least a little bit of money to spend.  They're going to McDonalds again.  They're buying the things they hadn't been buying, and as the store shelves get empty, the trucks have to bring new merchandise... and as warehouses empty out, the factories will have to start producing more.  The wheels turn slowly, but they are, indeed beginning to turn.  I also learned that there are an unusually large number of jobs in Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia because of shale-oil deposits that have been discovered.  I'm trying to figure out how to get my out-of-work son up there.

Yes, I'm babbling.  Sorry - It's been a rough week.