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Traffic and weather were OK considering the holiday and the cab drivers' strike.

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Our network beat CNN to the earthquake story.

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I got some air time.

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I got to go home.

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K was there to relieve me.

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I finished my hospital volunteer requirements. And I got my cable back. And I booked a flight to Florida. Paid for by Mom. And my prescription arrived in the mail.

WEEK 79

Finished my last four required hours of hospital volunteership. Other than that it hasn’t been much of a week, just hanging in there, waiting to refinance the condo, waiting for more money.

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My cousins are safe.

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Free power steering fluid.

NEW MOON OVER DC

According to Dianne a new moon enters my sign today, starting a new cycle. Things are supposed to be similar to the way they were 30 years ago. Does this mean an exact repeat ? If it did at least I would weigh less.

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I did not have to watch my home burn down like the people in California.

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A nice client. And a nice tip.

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A very special phone call.

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K sez maybe G-d has shown me more than I realize. And maybe he's right.

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Mom won about $135 at the Hard Rock Cafe.

WEEK 78

It rained. That’s the first real rain we’ve had in about a month. Despite talk of droughts and higher farm prices, I’ve been enjoying the weather, almost literally making hay while the sun shines. Ok, dirty cars, but also no ruined hair styles, makeup, clothes, shoes or papers.

It’s been a week of anxiety and disappointment, worrying about whether payments will be transferred on time. At least I was able to pay the mortgage. Things should get better when I refinance the condo, at least it will leave me with some financial breathing room.

It gets harder to get up with every knockout punch, every bad decision made, every bad bit of advice followed on – the job that just ruined Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year before fizzling out and kept me from advancing at another, the “media networking event” that turned out to be a meeting of a social club for the severely mentally ill. The only recognizable members of the media were me, my boss, and a WTOP reporter.

The latest job from Hell was actually recommended by the school. I told L not to send any students to them. And not to give them free advertising.

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L gave me a flower. And some job leads. And Jacob Allen has been found alive.

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The vet visit went well and it looks as though the refinancing will go through.

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I earned a fair amount of money and stand to make more tomorrow.

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I got a lot of sleep. And hope to make a lot of money tomorrow.

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We had a nice time at the pignic.

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I will be getting more hours than expected in a couple weeks.

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The people at the hospital said nice things to and about me.

WEEK 77

A tough week, financially and emotionally. On Wednesday I got the following e-mail:

"Both ABC and XYZ complained regarding your professionalism. Your tone, attitude and demands did not reflect well upon our company. Consequently, we can no longer use your services and we will not pay you for your services as XYZ is refusing to pay for last night’s debacle.
Best of luck in your career."

When I asked for what the “demands” and “attitudes” were it was

1. Asking for a glass of ice tea (the sales director asked if I wanted anything besides water.
Asking for a pencil and paper (the client did not provide a list of people asking for massages, as was the usual. I didn’t want anyone to get cheated out of a massage.
My “attitude” towards the valet parking attendant. I was upset because he left my car with the keys in the ignition for almost three hours. This was in the dark at the intersection of 23rd and M Streets.

I asked to let him tell me my side of the story and he said “you don’t have a side.”
So now it’s off the labour board. I should not have come back when they asked me to.

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A sez I'm a good therapist.

SOME ADVICE

Buy Philippe Saisse CD's.

Don't stay at a Westin Hotel.

TRYING NOT TO BE TOO UNHAPPY ABOUT IT, OR MY LIFE DOESN'T SUCK TOO MUCH CII

I still have most of my jobs. And the boss at one wants me to work more hours. And I won 12 dollars playing Powerball.

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I made a fair amount of money with relatively little effort.

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I had the day off. Wow, 100 days of this. Ok, so I have to stretch some days.

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I got to sleep uninterruptedly. And the weather was nice.

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Diablo's tooth is OK.

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I got paid.

WEEK 76

88% done with my volunteer obligation. Five weeks to go. One thing I have learned from volunteering at the hospital and taking Metro: DC is seriously unprepared for a major crisis. A major hospital runs out of pillowcases on a good day. And one Metro station closes and it screws up the whole red line. I am not optimistic about our chances of dealing with a pandemic.

And I wonder about the wisdom of trying to conceive a baby “no matter what it takes.” From looking at some kids’ files it looks as though fertility clinics are working to provide fodder for our physical therapy department. And special ed teachers.

It seems as though everyone works for someone who works for someone else. Case in point: a couple weeks ago I did a health fair at a Baptist Church in Northwest. The health fair was sponsored by Providence Hospital. I had to explain I was not a parishioner and did not work for Providence, that I was an independent contractor for a third-party provider.

The National Governors’ Association is a client of another boss. When I pitch stuff to stations and networks, I have to explain I do not work for Governor Goodguy, that the news release comes from National Governors’ Association who is paying us to pitch this stuff.

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My foot feels better.

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It's like this: I am feeling good about psycho ex-boss and the job-stealing bitch being out of my life, at least temporarily. And about my financial situation improving and maybe other things too. And I get an e-mail about a job which wouldn't be my dream job, but so much better than anything I have now. So I e-mail a resume and the boss e-mails me back and I get excited. When we finally make contact he says something like "I just wanted to give you the benefit of a doubt" and that I probably don't have the experience he's looking for. I manage to bullshit my way through it and get an audition.

I figure I barely have a snowball's chance of getting the job, but there is NO hope for me if I don't audition. And it will be good practice and hopefully I will have made a friend.

The problem is when you've been beaten down so often it gets harder and harder to pick yourself up. So I guess I the thing I should be happy about is that I have an audition Monday.

TRYING NOT TO BE TOO UNHAPPY ABOUT IT, OR...XCIV

V, the job-stealing bitch, has got a temp job at Lockheed. Let's hope it becomes permanent.

TRYING NOT TO BE TOO UNHAPPY ABOUT IT, OR...XCIII

The stock market closed at a record high. And I had a pleasant, profitable evening at Starbucks.