My roommate’s car, for which he still owes a lot, needs a new engine.  And he’s being sued by his former landlord for damages he did not cause.  I feel like I was transported into the middle of a daytime talk show.  His life makes mine seem grand. 

In other news, I get an extra day off (Monday) this weekend.  After some serious job-hunting for a second job, maybe I’ll actually write again.  It’s been about a month since I’ve done that seriously, but I have dabbled here and there.  Any writing always makes me feel better.  I’m starting to look forward to spring…

My roommate loaned his car to a friend in need over a week ago and still has not gotten it back.  The day it was borrowed, it supposedly broke down.  My roommate didn’t even know where it was for days.  None of this seems normal to me.  I picked my roommate up from work three times so far (about 20 mins. from home the opposite direction from my job) and took him to find his car the other day.  (Besides not starting, it had a flat tire, likely from the towing).  I don’t mind; he’s helped me a lot since I got here.  It just strikes me as very odd that the friend who borrowed the car has taken no responsibility for getting it back to my roommate or at least helping him get it.  The guy took him to work a couple of days, but my roommate has basically been left to find rides every day until he figures out where to tow the car to find out what’s wrong.

I like it here, for the most part, but I would really like for things to “settle down” to some kind of normalcy to which I can relate.  Till then, my blogging will remain eratic.  Apologies.

The heat got fixed this week.  I also seem not to be sick any more.  Time to start looking for a second job so I can stay in L.A. and keep the screenwriting dream alive.  I finally started a new script and shared a few pages in my writer’s group.  It’s a start…

I went back to my friend’s writer’s group (2nd visit) last week and followed that up with emailed comments to two members who had submitted full scripts that I have since read.  I’m starting to feel a bit like a writer again.  I’m also starting to feel not sick again, which is most welcome.  If my roommate would ever get the heat fixed, I might be able to sit up and write on the weekends now.  As it is, I spent yesterday either wrapped up in a blanket or lying in bed (both trying to keep warm) while reading.  It has dipped back down into the 30s at night, so going to the garage to do laundry is less fun than usual.  I’d probably have gone crazy by now if not for a little space heater.  Anyway, the writer’s group meets over an extended dinner with wine as precursor to lengthy artistic discussions.  It’s a good group.  We meet again Friday, I think, so I hope to scrounge up a few pages of an existing script to submit for consideration and discussion.  Time to get back in the fray.  Amazing how different the world can look when you have your health.

I’ve been sick for longer than I’ve been sick in years.  I’m sick of being sick.

Oh, happy new year.

 WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE OFFICE PARTY

Well, I never got the white elephant, but I did get to open several presents because I drew #2 and picked some gifts (Texas Hold ‘Em game, lava lamp) that others took.  That meant I got to take something already opened or go back to the table.  After three or four trips to the table, I finally ended up taking $20 of lottery tickets that netted me $9 cash and three more tickets.  Our group has a rule that freezes a gift once it’s been stolen three times.  Since the lotto tickets had already been pilfered twice, I knew if I took them I wouldn’t have to get up any more or risk being stuck with a year’s supply of bubble bath.  It was a “safe” pick, ya know?  I had more fun than expected with this game.  I’m blessed to work with a good bunch of people.

One of my favorite Christmas memories is the year I got my first bicycle.  It was a little green job with a “banana seat.”  I loved my first set of wheels.  We lived in the country, so I zipped up and down our road and down our long gravel driveway.  For some reason, I loved to ride up to the highway and try to get truckers to blow their horns.  My cousin had taught me the summer before, driving through the mountains of Tennessee, that most 18-wheelers have different sounds connected to their horns.  Many of those sounds can be quite entertaining, at least to a young boy looking for something to pass time.  I may have a picture of that bike somewhere, but it’s beyond my abilities right now to find and scan it.

Another memorable moment of Christmases past was a few years later when my sister wrapped a gift for me in about five different packages–carefully wrapping each one.  She really enjoyed that.  The one my family enjoyed most was the time she wrapped about five different clues designed to lead me throughout the house (three floors) to the final package.  So I opened a box and found a clue then went through the house to find another package…with another clue.  She always claimed I was a brat and that she was just fighting fire with fire, but I’m sure mom dropped her on her head when she was young or something.  As the politicians would say about such negative spin, “I have no recollection of that.”

Whatever way you choose to celebrate Christmas this year, I hope it is joyfully and memorably spent with people you care about.  Peace…

Today is office party day, i.e., Christmas lunch with “White Elephant” gift exchange.  I’ve never done the W.E. thing before.  Seems kinda contrary to the idea of giving to “steal” someone’s gift, but I’ll play along.  My new coworkers have been very good to me.  I have gotten several unexpected thank you presents, even though I’ve only been here about 3 months.  And if what they say is true about drinks and such after lunch, we won’t be back to the office till Tuesday, so a paid half-day off is pretty nice too.

That’s about it for my break.  If I am around my computer Sat. or Sun., I may post something creative, having more time to play again for the first time in a while.  I wish everyone a fun weekend with friends/family.

The dogs are gone, puppies thankfully (supposedly) sold/given away.  They have more of a chance than their mom does for a decent existence, even though I don’t know where they went.  The situation they left is beyond sad.

In other wild-news, it’s now cold enough at night to need heat.  I could see my breath last night as I walked inside after parking the car.  So in keeping with the way my life has gone the last three months, we discovered that the heater does not work.  As they say in radio, “the hits just keep coming.”

I survived over a week of 3 puppies and their mom in our garage.  I love animals (but prefer cats), but on top of everything else out of sync in my life right now, this was too much.  Those poor dogs needed someone’s time and attention, and I was the only one around most of the time.  Sad.  I’m too tired to post details now–maybe tomorrow.  Past bed time…