Journal: 05/30/06

For whatever reason, I slept fourteen hours last night. That’s a long time to be in the sack for me unless I’m down with the flu or something. I surmise that my nearing the end of available resources put a lot of pressure on me and I exhausted myself unduly. Still, I was up at my usual time this morning and embraced the day with uncommon vigor and optimism. Again, I don’t know where that change in attitude came from, probably all that extra sleep let my brain do a little more thorough housekeeping.

Finding a Second Job

With the great start to my morning, one new idea flooded my brain. It was a simple idea; yet one I had discarded because of my tenacious grip on keeping my schedule constant as a way of maintaining my emotional balance. Startlingly enough, this morning I knew that my attachment to my rigid schedule had to change if I were going to survive this monetary drought.

I’ve known for a long time that I would have to take up part of the slack from the loss of Joann’s monthly check. I also figured that I don’t qualify for any programs, except maybe disability, and I’m not sure I want to get involved there anyway. Just the fact that I’m not homeless with Bill creates a barrier to any help program I might apply to.

The only thing I know how to do is work for a living. The problem was that I already work for my home and couldn’t see any was around that. Upon reflection though, and fourteen hours of sleep, I decided that I could give up four hours in the morning before I go to work at the front desk. That would make for a thirteen or fourteen-hour day, but I could still get seven hours of sleep. Moreover, even at $7.00 an hour minimum, I would bring in enough in a five-day week to cover the basic bills, cigarettes and the occasional beer.

Maybe it’s just that I’m resigned to finding other ways to make do, but I can invest four hours a day that I otherwise sleep through. Bill can’t handle the additional cash load and I can’t quit smoking or taking nicotine lozenges, I have bills that have to be paid and a cold beer at night before bed is a ritual with me. It also keeps me from popping too many sleeping pills. Health wise, it wouldn’t kill me to get up earlier in the morning either.

Such a simple idea, so hard to tumble to. This afternoon I started looking at part-time jobs in the newspaper and on the web. The job market on the Monterey Peninsula is tight right now and will only get worse once the schools let out, but I have to begin somewhere. I also called the thesis processor at the Naval Postgraduate School to ask about thesis preparation work. I used to do a lot of editing for students there and hopefully they still allow off-site editors to post flyers in the hallway. Unfortunately, all I could do was leave a message, it being too late in the day.

Well, it’s a start anyway.