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!