After I got out of McD's today, Deb called to see if I wanted to join her and Holden at the beach. I had planned to stick to my routine of taking a shower, then a nap, and possibly following that with a stimulating trip to the laundromat so I can wear clothes to work the rest of the week.
I may hvae to go to work nude this week. I decided the beach was a much preferred choice. And it was. We went through the usual scneario: Deb loaded up the car with Holden and their beach stuff, stopped to pick up drinks and gas, and came down to wait in my parking lot for me while I took a moment to get ready (read: I stripped out of the McD's get-up and into my suit, unshaven, and locate my beach towel and sandals, totalling about 5 minutes worth of effort that somehow stretched into 20. ??) We went to beach and got all set up while Holden ran down to test the water. Shortly after sitting down on the beach pad, and after a few brief words with Deb, I drifted off into a peaceful slumber accompanied by the sounds of wavesand happy babies, and the wonderful feeling of a delicious breeze which never paused in its gentle carresses. I hope I didn't snore too loudly.
After I while I got up and walked on the edge of the water. It was warm and inviting and I was easily convinced to make my way in up to my thighs. There was rip-tide today so I didn't risk going in far enough to swim, but I didn't need to. My feet had been sore when we left for the beach, since I had just come off an 8-hour shift of slinging burgers. The walk on the sand and throuh the waves worked wonders on relieving the aches.
It reminded me of sitting with my friend Rick last night. We were watching a movie and his feet were very sore. I tried to help him out with a massage, but they were apparently much too sore for that to be much help. After walking on the beach for a while, I thought maybe he should try that. I'll have to mention it to him.
As for going to work nude this week, I apparently will have to do that since today was supposed to be laundry day and now I am looking at a beautiful sunset off my balcony and thinking, "Well, I have one pair of pants I can iron, and there's those skirt things..." Since I have eaten dinner and had a nice glass of wine, I think I will have to wait and try to do laundry after work tomorrow night.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Saturday, September 17, 2005
I’m Going to Miss My View
I think I’ve decided where I’m going to move. It doesn’t look like I’ll have any problem getting in there, either. But it’s nowhere near the water this time, so I won’t have my beautiful water view and tree-house feeling, since the new place will either be 1st or 2nd story. And I’ll miss having beautiful scenes like the sunrise over the water, or the mystical scenes, like how it looks like the world ends at the end of my parking lot on really hazy days. I’ll also miss watching lightning from a distance out my balcony window late at night, or rain coming across the water as a storm moves inland from the other side of the lagoon.
The upsides of the new place are: It’s gated, so no more random weirdoes wandering into my building. There’s no elevator, so I won’t have to stand in someone else’s pee to get to my apartment. The way the parking is there, I should almost always be able to park right by my entrance. It’s still in Titusville, so my drive to work will still be about 10 minutes with no traffic. The rent is about the same, but the apartment is a little smaller. But it’s still a 2 bedroom, so I’ll still have storage and a place for guests to crash. And I think Binks and Mr. Bond will enjoy it as much as they enjoy this place now that they have adjusted to it.
So, now that I have found it, I have lots to do. I have to save up more money because I’ll need to pay deposits (again). I’ve only got $300 coming back from here, so that leaves me another $100-$150 to save up. Good thing I picked up that extra job! And I’ll have to make arrangements at the weekend job so I have a weekend off to do the move. (That way I can coerce male friends and co-workers into helping me by offering them free pizza and beer/soda, and talk them into using their trucks so I don’t have to rent one for a day.)
Guess I’ll still be stressed a little longer until this path finds its end. That’s OK, at least there’s an end in sight! Yay for the end!
The upsides of the new place are: It’s gated, so no more random weirdoes wandering into my building. There’s no elevator, so I won’t have to stand in someone else’s pee to get to my apartment. The way the parking is there, I should almost always be able to park right by my entrance. It’s still in Titusville, so my drive to work will still be about 10 minutes with no traffic. The rent is about the same, but the apartment is a little smaller. But it’s still a 2 bedroom, so I’ll still have storage and a place for guests to crash. And I think Binks and Mr. Bond will enjoy it as much as they enjoy this place now that they have adjusted to it.
So, now that I have found it, I have lots to do. I have to save up more money because I’ll need to pay deposits (again). I’ve only got $300 coming back from here, so that leaves me another $100-$150 to save up. Good thing I picked up that extra job! And I’ll have to make arrangements at the weekend job so I have a weekend off to do the move. (That way I can coerce male friends and co-workers into helping me by offering them free pizza and beer/soda, and talk them into using their trucks so I don’t have to rent one for a day.)
Guess I’ll still be stressed a little longer until this path finds its end. That’s OK, at least there’s an end in sight! Yay for the end!
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
9-Day Weeks, Good and Bad News from the Apartment World, Dragonflies and Cats
In order to have more than $2 left after paying my bills, I decided to pick up a second job. I did some applying around town and didn’t get any bites. Then, one day I was driving back home and saw a Now Hiring sign in McD’s. I thought to myself, it’s better than being broke, and it’s easy work.
So I U-turned, and went inside to fill out an application. The manager was waiting for me to finish the application so she could review it right away. I got hired on the spot and went through new employee orientation before I left that day. I started my first shift the following Saturday. I work Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and they feed me free food somewhere in the middle there. I worked it out, and I now have a 9-day week. I start with Monday. Monday through Friday, I work a regular 8-ish hour day and come home to do whatever I do then go to bed. Saturday 1, I work at McD’s until 2, come home, shower, take a nap, and then have Saturday 2, during which I do whatever I do, which will sometimes be a Hash. Sunday 1, I work at McD’s until 2, come home, shower, take a nap, and then have Sunday 2, during which I do laundry and housework or whatever. Not all weeks will be 9-day weeks. I refuse to spend every waking moment of my life working. But for now, I will do what it takes to keep my head above water.
Good news from the apartment world came in the form of a conversation I finally managed to have with the building manager here. It turns out that if I find a new place, I can get out of my contract here with no repercussions, as long as I provide 30-days notice. Yay! So, I stepped up the pace with the search. I hooked up with the realtor my friend Deb is using to find a house to rent, hoping to catch a decent deal, and started calling around to the other affordable complexes in the area.
The bad news from apartment land comes from not being able to find a decent house to rent in neighborhood any better than the building I’m in now. Failing (so far) in that, I continued with the calling of complexes. I liked several that were within my range, but none of them have anything available any time soon. I do have one lead, which I will check out tomorrow. There’s a gated complex nearby that has reasonable rates. I have my doubts about it, but have no choice but to check it out. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. All I know right now is that they have a place coming available in the next month or so.
My wild and wonderful balcony has spawned a new population. Not ants, thank heavens, or icky spiders, double-yay; I now have a bustling community of dragonflies hanging around in my balcony. I like dragonflies, and apparently the cats find them amazingly entertaining. When I came home this evening I opened the blinds to the balcony door, and saw at least a dozen dragonflies out there. They are fairly small, so they must be young. I don’t know how they breed, but think maybe it’s got to do with water, since my AC has a constant river of water flowing off it from its efforts to keep my apartment cool—quite a difficult task since my apartment is insulated with notebook paper. Anyway, the cats saw these delectable temptations flitting around out there and began a comic dance in front of the door, complete with summersaults and back flips. They have settled down now, after about an hour of this, and are content to lay on the floor watching the dragonflies, their ears twitching and eyes twinkling.
With this happy vision in my head, I think I will eat the last of the cheese and crackers I fixed, and go to bed to read.
Good night!
So I U-turned, and went inside to fill out an application. The manager was waiting for me to finish the application so she could review it right away. I got hired on the spot and went through new employee orientation before I left that day. I started my first shift the following Saturday. I work Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and they feed me free food somewhere in the middle there. I worked it out, and I now have a 9-day week. I start with Monday. Monday through Friday, I work a regular 8-ish hour day and come home to do whatever I do then go to bed. Saturday 1, I work at McD’s until 2, come home, shower, take a nap, and then have Saturday 2, during which I do whatever I do, which will sometimes be a Hash. Sunday 1, I work at McD’s until 2, come home, shower, take a nap, and then have Sunday 2, during which I do laundry and housework or whatever. Not all weeks will be 9-day weeks. I refuse to spend every waking moment of my life working. But for now, I will do what it takes to keep my head above water.
Good news from the apartment world came in the form of a conversation I finally managed to have with the building manager here. It turns out that if I find a new place, I can get out of my contract here with no repercussions, as long as I provide 30-days notice. Yay! So, I stepped up the pace with the search. I hooked up with the realtor my friend Deb is using to find a house to rent, hoping to catch a decent deal, and started calling around to the other affordable complexes in the area.
The bad news from apartment land comes from not being able to find a decent house to rent in neighborhood any better than the building I’m in now. Failing (so far) in that, I continued with the calling of complexes. I liked several that were within my range, but none of them have anything available any time soon. I do have one lead, which I will check out tomorrow. There’s a gated complex nearby that has reasonable rates. I have my doubts about it, but have no choice but to check it out. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. All I know right now is that they have a place coming available in the next month or so.
My wild and wonderful balcony has spawned a new population. Not ants, thank heavens, or icky spiders, double-yay; I now have a bustling community of dragonflies hanging around in my balcony. I like dragonflies, and apparently the cats find them amazingly entertaining. When I came home this evening I opened the blinds to the balcony door, and saw at least a dozen dragonflies out there. They are fairly small, so they must be young. I don’t know how they breed, but think maybe it’s got to do with water, since my AC has a constant river of water flowing off it from its efforts to keep my apartment cool—quite a difficult task since my apartment is insulated with notebook paper. Anyway, the cats saw these delectable temptations flitting around out there and began a comic dance in front of the door, complete with summersaults and back flips. They have settled down now, after about an hour of this, and are content to lay on the floor watching the dragonflies, their ears twitching and eyes twinkling.
With this happy vision in my head, I think I will eat the last of the cheese and crackers I fixed, and go to bed to read.
Good night!
Monday, September 05, 2005
Words in Favor of Hashers
For anyone who has ever encountered a group of Hashers (members of a world-wide organization known as Hash House Harriers), and come away thinking that we are careless, immature, or anything else negative, this is for you to read.
I have a friend, who is a hasher, whose home was destroyed in Katrina. His name is Bryan and he is in Biloxi, Mississippi. Bryan called me Friday night for 2 reasons: 1) to let me know that he survived and was well, and 2) to let me know that his house was destroyed and he was in desperate need of help. He needed someone with a truck to get to Biloxi by Sunday to help him with whatever water-logged belongings he might be able to salvage. Sunday was his only chance to do this because he is part of the disaster recovery team on his AF base.
Since I was unable to get there myself, I posted a message on the local Hash E-mail list and made contact with our former home hash in Virginia. People from the local list had various responses, all of them supportive. Those who could not go forwarded my message to other Hash E-mail lists; others called me with advice to offer him; and some got together by phone and organized a convoy to head to Biloxi with supplies and rations.
I am so very proud of all my Hashing friends, and I am very happy to be a part of the world these people share. I know that if my world completely fell apart, and I could not reach my own family for help, any Hasher would be willing to offer help in any way they could, and you can't imagine the relief that gives me when I think how quickly a person's world can turn completely upside-down like Bryan's has.
I have a friend, who is a hasher, whose home was destroyed in Katrina. His name is Bryan and he is in Biloxi, Mississippi. Bryan called me Friday night for 2 reasons: 1) to let me know that he survived and was well, and 2) to let me know that his house was destroyed and he was in desperate need of help. He needed someone with a truck to get to Biloxi by Sunday to help him with whatever water-logged belongings he might be able to salvage. Sunday was his only chance to do this because he is part of the disaster recovery team on his AF base.
Since I was unable to get there myself, I posted a message on the local Hash E-mail list and made contact with our former home hash in Virginia. People from the local list had various responses, all of them supportive. Those who could not go forwarded my message to other Hash E-mail lists; others called me with advice to offer him; and some got together by phone and organized a convoy to head to Biloxi with supplies and rations.
I am so very proud of all my Hashing friends, and I am very happy to be a part of the world these people share. I know that if my world completely fell apart, and I could not reach my own family for help, any Hasher would be willing to offer help in any way they could, and you can't imagine the relief that gives me when I think how quickly a person's world can turn completely upside-down like Bryan's has.
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