It's Been a Couple of Weeks ...
A few weeks ago I finally broke down and took my friend's mom up on her offer to stay with her (in her basement) until I "get back on my feet." The weather was turning ever colder and was supposed to top out in the 30s (Fahrenheit) for about a week, which meant teens overnight. I probably could have lasted a day or two, but not for the foreseeable future. As it turns out, that cold front barely lasted a week.
I'd held off due to her stipulations about moving in with her. No alcohol, to include coming home from the bar; no porn and no women.
Yes, really. In fact, out conversation went something like this:
But, the move was timely, at least. Maybe not convenient, but timely.
After the first few days of being there my friend's mom, let's call her "Veronica", started badgering me about finding work. "Go work at fast-food," she would say. Or, "UPS is hiring." Or some variation thereof: "the store", "Home Depot pays well", "I see 'Help Wanted" signs everywhere".
It became so frustrating that after just a couple of days, days spent at coffee shops (like the one I'm in now) or at the gym, or looking for work at the Workforce Center. But every day I would come back to the house she would have something to say about why I'm not working yet.
Hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself ...
When I first arrived at her house, on a Thursday evening, she handed me a key to the back door, "I don't know where the front door key is, so you'll have to use the back door and come in through the garage." The problem was, in order to get to the back door, I had to walk around the side of the house which was so close to the neighbor's house I nearly scraped my shoulders on the siding of both houses at the same time. The lawn was unkept at best and I tripped over some things hiding in the grass, but this woman was helping me out so I decided to keep my criticisms to myself.
After a few days, maybe a week, she asked for the key back. I was caught off-guard. I thought this arrangement was "until I got on my feet." That takes more than a week. I still hadn't found a job, nor did I have first and last months' rent laying around.
As she explained, the key she gave me was the only one she had to the house. She didn't know where the front door key was, nor the door to the back patio - only this one that went to the garage. And even then, it was an only copy. I told her, "Had I known, I would have made you a couple of copies."
She said she preferred only having one key top the house as it meant she was required to keep an eye on it and not lose it anywhere.
Does that make any sense whatsoever?
Regardless, she was being nice to me and it wasn't my place to be argumentative at this point.
So, I gave her the key back and she gave me the code to the garage for ingress and egress.
Entering and exiting the garage is a sticking point for me. Not that I have a problem with garages, but using the electricity to power the garage door opener each and every time you want to enter or leave the house seems like a huge waste of resources to me. Especially when I simple twist of a key is far less energy dependent. But, whatever ...
But again, not my place to judge. It took her over a week, but she eventually moved a few Pepsi's from one shelf to another so I could have two shelves for groceries. No talk of the freezer though. I still haven't looked in it.
About a week later I was on the phone with my friend and mentioned this particular scenario and decided, for the first time, to open the fridge in the kitchen. It was more empty than the one in the garage. Some condiments, a gallon of milk and a couple of smaller things. That was it.
And yet, my food had to stay in the garage.
Whatever.
Did I mention "Veronica" is extremely religious? She hasn't preached to me yet, but she did mentioned she wakes up every morning at 3AM to catch her religious (read: televangelical) shows before she gets ready and leaves for work a little after 6AM. 🙄
Again, not my place to judge, but as a die hard atheist isn't somewhat unnerving to see the plethora or religious accouterments all over her house and her unhealthy talk of telling "God" what to do. (hold on, I'll explain in a moment)
On a normal Friday morning I was sitting at this very coffee shop and the HR department from my previous employer called to offer me a position back with the company. She said, if I was interested, I needed to let her know so I could interview Friday before starting Monday. I said, "Yes," and rushed over to the office where I interviewed for a different department than I previously worked in.
Monday morning I started the new job at the old company.
On Tuesday the transmission in my truck went out while driving to said job.
This is why I said earlier it was timely. Had my transmission gone out while I was sleeping in my truck, I would not only have been vehicle-less, but truly homeless as well.
The other convenient part was, "Veronica" worked just a couple of miles from my office. I asked her if she could drive me to and from and she said yes. Of course, I had to keep her schedule, but that was fine. Leaving at 6AM to get there by 6:30 had me arriving about an hour earlier than I needed to, and staying past my 4:30PM close of business time until 5:20ish when she came to pick me up made for long days. Longer more that I had to spend the mornings listening to her tell me about how "God" would fix my truck if I only told him to. Yes, told him to. For the life of me I'd never heard that you could make demands of a god and it was a requirement that the god grant yourwishes prayers.
An actual conversation while she drove me to work went like this:
"Veronica" then prayed for me right there in the car.
For the record, prayer is about the most useless thing you can do for someone. It's right up there with wishes and sending good vibes.
A week later, the following Monday we're driving to work (my truck still isn't ready, but I guess that's what you get with "miracles") and she starts in on my job, "You said you worked in IT before, right?"
Well, not exactly IT, but telecommunications networking. I don't want to have to explain so I simply say, "Yeah."
"You know, 'Samantha', (her daughter and my friend) works in IT. She could probably get you a job at her company."
"That's alright. I want to see what I can do at the company I work at now. There may be some long term possibilities here."
"But, you'd make more money in IT. It's hot right now," she said.
"Maybe, but I haven't worked in IT for years and I don't really want to anymore. Besides, there's more to a job than money," I said, hoping her advanced years would have imparted some wisdom, but I was wrong.
She replied with, "Well, you can't stay with me forever. This was only supposed to be until you got on your feet."
Uh ... that caught me off guard. No, this was never supposed to be a permanent fix, but I'd barely been there two and a half weeks, my truck was broken down and it was going to cost me about $2200 to fix and I hadn't been paid by my company yet. And she's hinting that I need to be on my way?
I'll admit, I was caught off guard. "No it wasn't," was all I said.
And that was it.
On the one hand, she's telling me to use the kitchen, use the washer and dryer, telling me she'll clean up the basement, move the treadmills (see above photo) and maybe take the small desk upstairs so there will be more room for me and on the other hand she's hinting I need to go, that I've already over-stayed my welcome. At one point I mentioned my storage unit, with all my household goods and even my motorcycle and she asked if it wouldn't be cheaper to find one closer to the house so I could access it more often. Who makes such suggestions when they're hinting you need to move on? Bring your things closer, but you have to go ...
When I came upstairs yesterday I saw the directions for re-programming the garage door code on the dining table as though someone was checking to see how to make such changes. Now, I could be overthinking this, but after her remark on Monday (or, maybe Tuesday morning) I'm wondering if these are all hints and she's going to tell me to go and change the proverbial lock behind me.
On the other hand, she left me a Christmas gift on the kitchen counter. Yes, she underlined the "Christ" in Christmas on the card she left. I don't know what's in it or what the card says as the note she left says not to open it until December 25th. It was signed, "From your Grand -roommie, -landlord, -friend".
Just what I need: more stress and uncertainty.
I'd held off due to her stipulations about moving in with her. No alcohol, to include coming home from the bar; no porn and no women.
Yes, really. In fact, out conversation went something like this:
Her: "Do you drink?"
Me: "I have the occasional drink, but am I a drinker? No."
Her: "Well, there's no alcohol at my house. I won't have it [in there]. And there's no going out drinking and coming home drunk, either."
Me: "Okay ..." It wasn't a big deal because I really don't drink that often, especially at home.
Her: "Do you watch porn?"
Me: "Like normal stuff or the really weird stuff?" (Yes, I actually said that)
Her: "Any of it. I won't have that stuff in my house."
Me: "Uh, okay."
Her: "And there will be no women either. I won't have that in my house." By that I had assume pre-marital sex.
But, the move was timely, at least. Maybe not convenient, but timely.
After the first few days of being there my friend's mom, let's call her "Veronica", started badgering me about finding work. "Go work at fast-food," she would say. Or, "UPS is hiring." Or some variation thereof: "the store", "Home Depot pays well", "I see 'Help Wanted" signs everywhere".
It became so frustrating that after just a couple of days, days spent at coffee shops (like the one I'm in now) or at the gym, or looking for work at the Workforce Center. But every day I would come back to the house she would have something to say about why I'm not working yet.
Hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself ...
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| Most of the Basement has Treadmills in it. Four in total. |
After a few days, maybe a week, she asked for the key back. I was caught off-guard. I thought this arrangement was "until I got on my feet." That takes more than a week. I still hadn't found a job, nor did I have first and last months' rent laying around.
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| The Bed She Had Out For My Use |
She said she preferred only having one key top the house as it meant she was required to keep an eye on it and not lose it anywhere.
Does that make any sense whatsoever?
Regardless, she was being nice to me and it wasn't my place to be argumentative at this point.
So, I gave her the key back and she gave me the code to the garage for ingress and egress.
Entering and exiting the garage is a sticking point for me. Not that I have a problem with garages, but using the electricity to power the garage door opener each and every time you want to enter or leave the house seems like a huge waste of resources to me. Especially when I simple twist of a key is far less energy dependent. But, whatever ...
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| There's usually a car there, too. |
"Veronica"also has a refrigerator out in the garage she said I could use once she moved a few things around to make space on a shelf for me. At this point I'm thinking she uses the garage fridge as overflow storage, but when I opened it all I saw were shelves of Pepsi products. Not that I'm against Pepsi products by any stretch of the imagination, but who keeps a whole refrigerator for sodas?
But again, not my place to judge. It took her over a week, but she eventually moved a few Pepsi's from one shelf to another so I could have two shelves for groceries. No talk of the freezer though. I still haven't looked in it.
About a week later I was on the phone with my friend and mentioned this particular scenario and decided, for the first time, to open the fridge in the kitchen. It was more empty than the one in the garage. Some condiments, a gallon of milk and a couple of smaller things. That was it.
And yet, my food had to stay in the garage.
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| The Fridge I Get To Use |
Whatever.
Did I mention "Veronica" is extremely religious? She hasn't preached to me yet, but she did mentioned she wakes up every morning at 3AM to catch her religious (read: televangelical) shows before she gets ready and leaves for work a little after 6AM. 🙄
Again, not my place to judge, but as a die hard atheist isn't somewhat unnerving to see the plethora or religious accouterments all over her house and her unhealthy talk of telling "God" what to do. (hold on, I'll explain in a moment)
On a normal Friday morning I was sitting at this very coffee shop and the HR department from my previous employer called to offer me a position back with the company. She said, if I was interested, I needed to let her know so I could interview Friday before starting Monday. I said, "Yes," and rushed over to the office where I interviewed for a different department than I previously worked in.
Monday morning I started the new job at the old company.
On Tuesday the transmission in my truck went out while driving to said job.
This is why I said earlier it was timely. Had my transmission gone out while I was sleeping in my truck, I would not only have been vehicle-less, but truly homeless as well.
The other convenient part was, "Veronica" worked just a couple of miles from my office. I asked her if she could drive me to and from and she said yes. Of course, I had to keep her schedule, but that was fine. Leaving at 6AM to get there by 6:30 had me arriving about an hour earlier than I needed to, and staying past my 4:30PM close of business time until 5:20ish when she came to pick me up made for long days. Longer more that I had to spend the mornings listening to her tell me about how "God" would fix my truck if I only told him to. Yes, told him to. For the life of me I'd never heard that you could make demands of a god and it was a requirement that the god grant your
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| Sunrise (Looking East) |
An actual conversation while she drove me to work went like this:
"Veronica", "I was praying for God to fix your truck for you."I didn't want to argue theology with her, but I was sure prayers didn't work like that. Of all the christian denominations, I've never heard of one where Abraham's god had to obey prayers.
Me, "Thanks."
"Veronica", "ado you need a miracle?"
Me, "No, I just need my truck fixed."
"Veronica", "But, you don't have any money. Do you need a miracle?"
Not knowing what she was getting at, I just said, "I just need to get paid so I can pay for my truck to get fixed."
"Veronica", "You're not listening to me. I'm praying for your truck to get fixed. Now, do you need a miracle or not?"
Still confused, but wondering if she made arrangements with her church to pay for my truck to get fixed, I said, "I really don't believe in miracles, believing instead of the old saying that god helps those who help themselves."
"Yes or no, do you need a miracle?" she said in a tone a little more demanding than previous used. I guess she was a little annoyed at my not jumping on the miracle bandwagon.
"Yes," I said. "I'll take any help I can get in getting my vehicle repaired."
She seemed to relax then, "Okay. Well, I'm praying for you and God listens to prayers. He'll fix your truck for you. He has to. Once you pray to him he has to do what you ask for."
"Veronica" then prayed for me right there in the car.
For the record, prayer is about the most useless thing you can do for someone. It's right up there with wishes and sending good vibes.
A week later, the following Monday we're driving to work (my truck still isn't ready, but I guess that's what you get with "miracles") and she starts in on my job, "You said you worked in IT before, right?"
Well, not exactly IT, but telecommunications networking. I don't want to have to explain so I simply say, "Yeah."
"You know, 'Samantha', (her daughter and my friend) works in IT. She could probably get you a job at her company."
"That's alright. I want to see what I can do at the company I work at now. There may be some long term possibilities here."
"But, you'd make more money in IT. It's hot right now," she said.
"Maybe, but I haven't worked in IT for years and I don't really want to anymore. Besides, there's more to a job than money," I said, hoping her advanced years would have imparted some wisdom, but I was wrong.
She replied with, "Well, you can't stay with me forever. This was only supposed to be until you got on your feet."
Uh ... that caught me off guard. No, this was never supposed to be a permanent fix, but I'd barely been there two and a half weeks, my truck was broken down and it was going to cost me about $2200 to fix and I hadn't been paid by my company yet. And she's hinting that I need to be on my way?
I'll admit, I was caught off guard. "No it wasn't," was all I said.
And that was it.
On the one hand, she's telling me to use the kitchen, use the washer and dryer, telling me she'll clean up the basement, move the treadmills (see above photo) and maybe take the small desk upstairs so there will be more room for me and on the other hand she's hinting I need to go, that I've already over-stayed my welcome. At one point I mentioned my storage unit, with all my household goods and even my motorcycle and she asked if it wouldn't be cheaper to find one closer to the house so I could access it more often. Who makes such suggestions when they're hinting you need to move on? Bring your things closer, but you have to go ...
When I came upstairs yesterday I saw the directions for re-programming the garage door code on the dining table as though someone was checking to see how to make such changes. Now, I could be overthinking this, but after her remark on Monday (or, maybe Tuesday morning) I'm wondering if these are all hints and she's going to tell me to go and change the proverbial lock behind me.
On the other hand, she left me a Christmas gift on the kitchen counter. Yes, she underlined the "Christ" in Christmas on the card she left. I don't know what's in it or what the card says as the note she left says not to open it until December 25th. It was signed, "From your Grand -roommie, -landlord, -friend".
Just what I need: more stress and uncertainty.
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| Garage Door Driections |
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