July 4th

I didn’t have to work Tuesday night – I’ve only worked five days a week since I broke my foot (which is healing well, I think) so I was sitting here wondering what to do with myself when my friend A called and invited me over for some dinner.

A’s roses and their front door looked appropriate for the holiday.

We had a Fourth of July barbeque – shishkebabs and potatoes.

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Here’s J & A:

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And here I am:

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And here’s J and me:

 

 July 5

K* called this morning – her letter arrived this morning too, so I could go pay our storage unit’s rent with the money she sent and get some gas too.  K* won’t likely be here until September- air ticket prices go down after the Obon Festival season in Japan, but the airlines are charging fuel surcharges, she says, so her tickets will be more expensive than ever.  Poor woman has a bad cough too – I’m hoping she’ll be ok soon, since she’s not been well for a few weeks now.

I’ll be meeting the boss in a few hours to get my check – an advance (again) so that I can make most of my rent payment today.  I’ve been calling St. Vincent de Paul but haven’t got anyone on the phone yet… I may just go to their office, because every time I call, that’s at least one minute off my 500 minute allowance on the cell phone, and if I go over that, it’s 30 cents a minute plus on the next bill.

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It’s back to work tonight for me… three nights and then I get a night off again.  Next week, I’ll do the papers all week and be back to earning nearly what I earned before I broke my foot.

But this hole is deep, and I won’t earn enough to fill it completely.

The medical bills for that foot have come and it’s real fortunate for me that the boss is going to pay those (or give me the money to pay them) because they total (haven’t added it up exactly yet, but ball park) nearly $600.  Since, at the moment, I think I have about 6 dollars, it’s good that he’s going to do the right thing by me and pay those bills.

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Meanwhile, I can either pay all the rent and have nearly nothing left, or go ask nicely for St. V de Paul’s to help me out.  I won’t be getting a check next week, since I’m getting it today, so I have to keep enough gas money and food money.  I will be investigating the food donations thing too.

I’m thinking that the job search will begin next week, when my foot heals a bit more- I’m still limping on a bum foot, but I’m scraping bottom here now; it’s time to find another job.

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In the game of life, I am playing the hand dealt to me.  It’s not a great hand, but it’s not too bad a hand either.  Another case of It Could Be Worse.

Maybe (or maybe not…) I will buy a lottery ticket.  I rarely do, but hey, ya never know.  I do know that if I don’t play, I can’t win, so maybe maybe maybe I will win something.

(I may bet against it though – winning that is.  That’s a pretty sure bet)

Meanwhile, life goes on.

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