Just kind of checking in.

I still have the stuff oozing out of me.
Still infected. Still achy.

Yesterday was a bit tough.
I dropped the phone while checking out mom’s baby watermelon.

The screen tried to make friends with the gravel driveway. It didn’t work. The screen shattered. Friendship was not achieved.

So – Amanda – bless her – found a store that can fix it. It’s over an hour drive away, however. But it’s Thursday. So, maybe, I won’t freak out because of class.

Yes, I have a class. It started yesterday.
There was a full two weeks when I didn’t think I would have a class – a paycheck. But that was a bit of a cluster.

Okay – in short – I’m a contractor. I’m not an employee, but rather a glorified gig worker. Everything is on a deadline. If I miss a deadline, I don’t have a job.

Class started on Wednesday.
I was notified on Monday night. It had to be set up by Tuesday at noon.

— This is an insanely tight turnaround.
If I wasn’t psychotic in checking my email, I could have entirely missed this.

Further salt, the class is a pity offer. Another instructor who had two or more classes voluntarily gave up one of her classes so I could have work.

This other instructor had the class already built out. So, I learned my charity class came from an instructor who knows four languages, has written three books, and lives in Los Angeles.

So… yeah.

At least I stole some of her crap.
I copied all of her announcements for future use, provided I actually have a paycheck offer after this one.

———- The whole thing is disgusting.
I’ve been with this company for over ten years. Yes, it’s always been a gig as I’m not worthy to be hired on full time.

The whole urgency, hoping I wouldn’t see it, the pity thing.. It’s humiliating. And I know the class is just going to use AI BS anyway like last term.

Disappointing on so many levels.
Disgusting and insulting on the others.

But — back on track — There’s a sensor in the water heater that died. It has faltered before but came back after some fiddling with the breaker box.

Not this time.
I’ve reset it multiple times. The washer doesn’t fill. It’s cold water, not hot, Water comes out of the faucet and we can flush the toilet. But I don’t know if that’s from the water heater’s tank or if it actually refills.

I’m petrified to run water more than a minute.

Fortunately, a tech is coming out.
He’s $150 an hour. $150 for a trip charge.
Since the sensor will probably have to be ordered, it could take a week or more to arrive due to the holiday and tariffs.

** Hopefully, the tech shows up. Since my phone’s screen shattered, I don’t know if he’s

It’s going to be expensive. Really expensive.

It’s hot outside and the air conditioner has been struggling. I’ve watched the thermostat go up and up while the air conditioner struggles valiantly to bring it down,

Since we’re just going into July and there’s August, Sept, and October to survive, hopefully the air conditioner will survive.

If not, and it needs to be replaced — with the restrictions, inflation, ect, it’s going to make something expensive even more so.

As a secondary matter, I’m going to be reassigned to a new infectious disease doctor. Because money. The insurance company won’t cover 90% of my current doctors. Need new doctors.

And, what if this doctor has a different take than the last one? What if this one thinks I’m stable enough to get over there and have a Mortal Kombat fatality – my spine being ripped and (hopefully) repaired.

Something has to happen before I become allergic to the antibiotic, or it will stop working. I didn’t rebuild my bones fast enough for the other doctor.


So – yay?
Everything feels like it’s going fine until it’s not.

Thank God for Amanda, Jason, and mom.
I honestly don’t know what I’d do outside of camp out under a bridge.

But – yah.
In short, that’s how things are right now.