Online Gossip: Good times, great tunes, and the death of Punxsutawney Phil

Good times, great tunes, and the death of Punxsutawney Phil
Do you ever feel that you have a black cloud over your head? Maybe you either have constant bad luck or maybe perhaps bad things always seem to happen to you at the same time something good does? I’m so sick of alternating between the two, having those angry or intense moments. For instance, I started two different blog posts [...]

Do you ever feel that you have a black cloud over your head? Maybe you either have constant bad luck or maybe perhaps bad things always seem to happen to you at the same time something good does? I’m so sick of alternating between the two, having those angry or intense moments. For instance, I started two different blog posts this weekend, one titled Walking on Sunshine Friday afternoon and the other was Bitch on Saturday, so let those titles give you an indication of the past four days for me.

I had to laugh after re-reading those posts and decided to start over, and do a little less ranty and a little more fun blog post about all the funny and stupid things going on in my life. To make it a little more fun, I’m using the music I am playing right now thanks to my iTouch to make it a little more fun, and I’m writing the post according to the tunes as they come up on shuffle. Much easier than it sounds.

First and foremost, I started volunteering for two new charities last week. I really like both places and the people I work with, thank god. One place I get free lunch, which is a major perk as this will save on groceries a little bit. The other place I get to work sitting surrounded by dogs that I can pet. I couldn’t ask for anything better, except maybe pay of course! But, my head is spinning tonight from how hard I worked today. I can’t believe how many people need help from this place, and how badly budget cuts have left them seriously understaffed. I’m going in Thursday and telling my boss it is ok to not talk to me the entire afternoon because she is training three of us at once while we have to juggle those phones and do all of her work, too, as administration and reception is combined there. When you work for a non-profit you already make crap money, but to have to work like as much as they do for that pay is so not fair. My new boss left me on the phones and manning the lobby by myself, and I seriously answered 53 phone calls in twenty minutes having to answer three different phone lines, and we have over two hundred people working there, plus volunteers, and the people who call are located from all over the WORLD looking for help and referrals. Still, I am enjoying getting out of the house on a regular basis, as I’ve been unemployed for four months now.

I don’t understand why more people don’t volunteer, especially those like me, who collect unemployment. Even if you are working, I feel you should get out and do something to help someone, even if it is just once a year. Volunteering is a wonderful way to meet people and feel good knowing you are “paying it forward.” You never know when you may need the aid of a non-profit yourself.

Actually, I’m getting help from a non-profit, a patient advocate group, to help kick Mayo’s butt so they will fix my medical bills that they screwed up last April. We just hound them via phone and letters in tag team shifts, and together, me and my girl rock. After fighting this hospital for ten months to fix the bill, I needed a second row string to help go to bat for me. If it wasn’t for her help, I would have gave up and paid them the $840 I don’t owe but they think I do, to wash me hands of it. Now I’m never giving up, lol!

Ok, this sucks. Friday night I drove to my friend’s house for book club. She lives reasonable close in comparison to everyone else, but we both live bordering country. I was almost there, singing and seat dancing in my car. I had made it out of the high deer zone and was feeling groovy about it, as I have horrible night vision and hitting a deer is my biggest fear. Plus, I was turning in my car soon on my lease, so I had the fear that something was going to happen to it, as we aren’t exactly rolling in dough right now.

So, of course two cars are being a-holes and trying to pass one another. One is right next to me, the other behind me, and all of a sudden in front of my right wheel a weird creature appears in the road. I couldn’t slam on brakes or swear to avoid it, so I rolled over or hit it going 55 miles per hour, the speed limit out there. All I saw was a blur of brown fur, four legs well off the ground, and it looked like a giant cat-like creature crossed with a woodchuck or groundhog. He actually ducked, and all I heard was two huge thumps, and I just knew it didn’t end well. But the car was doing good, no smoke, no flying parts, no noise, and no Punxsutawney Phil laying on the side of the road. I thought maybe he made it out alive, but, I know better. RIP unknown creature who after may or may not be an American Marten. I’ve seen a cougar outside of East Lansing on the damn freeway, and deers who live in the graveyard, so why not this fella, too?

After seeing this picture I’m convinced even though we locked eyes for a split second.

I inspect the car, but I’m parked in snow so I see nothing. Hours late I leave, and after ten feet my tire is making the scariest scraping noise I’ve ever heard. Had to turn up the music to try and block it out, as I know I have to get it home asap, because it is the magic drunk driving hour and they are everywhere, trying to hit me. It takes me like twice the amount of time to get home than normal, and I see where the bumper part that hangs underneath is all shredded and hitting the tire, and the wheel well is lose and hanging and has a huge head-shaped hole missing.

I had that sickness of killing an animal combined with the guilt of not turning my car in early like my husband has asked me to do for weeks now, so we could save on insurance and gas. Hey, I loved my car, and the freedom it allowed me, but I’m not looking forward to sharing a vehicle with a man who has banned me from ever brushing my hair inside of it. (Had you seen the big hair shedding of 2009 you would completely understand this.) He had fear in his eyes last night when he saw me load my lint roller in “his” little death trap, aka our Toyota. I can’t wait for it to accelerates and crash, leaving us with no car. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I spent Friday night agonizing over telling him the next morning, because I had finally decided to turn in my car the following Monday, and now I first had to get it fixed. Thankfully, after many dead groundhog jokes with the shop guys I only had to pay $133. All I know is it could have been much worse. Still, we had to make an emergency run through Taco Bell. Loving those new 89 cent burritos, by the way.

I’m glad I live in a beautiful and cool city and with beautiful parks and great places to eat, and everywhere I volunteer is within walking distance, but I live at least 45 minutes away from my friends and we have no public transportation which is the stupidest thing ever. Only in Michigan. I am not looking forward to becoming a shut-in because no one wants to drive over here and pick me up just to go out. Sure, a brave few have done it before, but I know it’ll be rare and I don’t blame anyone. I hate driving here, too. But there is no way I’m driving him to and from work with the hours he works just to have a car. We would put on nearly 60 miles a day and who can afford that gas money? Plus the car stereo is way too quiet for my music blasts.

When I got this laptop, it came with maybe $60 worth of free Napster downloads, which is great, because they automatically load with my iTunes library. I seriously have a great music collection, since I’ve been buying cd’s since 1987, and rocking out to music since age four. I can remember listening to rock, blues, soul, R & B, Motown and pop ever since then. When I met my husband, his music collection complimented mine very well, so between us we have most of the great songs from the 50s to the 90s. I enjoy all types of music, especially the ass-shaking jams and love songs and power ballads in addition to my guitar gods and beloved Beatles. Go ahead and ask me if I have something. I really miss the days of singing and dancing along to the radio 24/7. Old age, fibromyalgia and degenerative joint disease suck. The other day I started dancing and I thought I was going to vomit my knees and back hurt so bad almost instantly. Arthritis may get my body, but I’m still shaking my booty on my couch and in my mind!