"A Little Slower Than I Hoped..."

I heard that the Obama administration is guardedly optimistic that the nation's economy is perhaps beginning to turn around, citing that last week's unemployment figures were less than the previous week's. Seems to me that is small comfort to those unfortunate souls who were among that number presented with their pink slips. But when the nation's economic fortunes are as deep into the crapper as they are, any " upbeat" news is better than a constant flushing noise. Maybe it's just me, but this appears to be similar to the futile exercise of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

As far as my situation goes, I'm trying to figure out whether or not I am actually gainfully employed. My new employer requested I begin my first day a week ago this past Tueday, at which time I would begin to learn how they perform their estimating procedures. That took me all of a half day to master. They also requested that I "take off" one set of plans to determine if I really do know how to do construction estimating. I passed that test too. I spent the balance of the day making phone calls to prospective general contractors to determine if they had any up-coming projects for which our company could submit bids. That took another couple of hours. Wednesday and today I went in at eight o'clock and left at 11 a.m. Nothing to do. They said they would call me next week if and when any new projects come in that I can estimate. So am I employed or am I still to be considered among the folks sitting on the Titantic's upper deck waiting for the ship to go down?

I guess a bird in the hand is better than two seagulls pooping on your head. Pass the tissues just in case.