trilogy means three

some friends of mine picked me up this weekend for a much needed escape. they took me to see the latest x-men movie called last stand. well, i felt about this movie the same way i've felt about most of it's kind... it was decent but they need to just stop hinting at the possibility of another movie inside of the last two minutes. seriously, when you create a trilogy you should simply set out to write three breathtaking offerings and leave it at that. there's a final scene in the x-men movie that suggests one of the head mutants regaining some of his powers after being stripped of them from a cure that was earlier introduced into the fold. all in all, it was a good movie and a relatively tight plot up until those last few minutes, which nearly ruins the prior two hours of footage.
friday came and my h-mate once again let me down. i had to convince the city water plant to give me until today to settle our arrears. it's such a degrading feeling to be in this position but i know several people have it much worse. i've never so much as had a late payment in my life before my friend moved in with me. he didn't move in to help offset a financial burden, which is the real kick in the tail. i was offering my place to him as a result of him being in a very difficult place, where he simply needed somewhere safe to rest his head. at that time i was fully able to support myself and my surroundings. unfortunately, that all changed when my divorce finalized and i lost my medical benefits. that meant i had to take out my own medical coverage through work, which obviously cuts back my take home pay. in addition to that i was being taxed as a single individual instead of married and that was a rude awakening, to say the least.
my human resources office finally caught on and the adjustment (between tax difference and medical coverage) amounts to just over $500 less take home each month. needless to say, this change brought about the need for supplemental income. it seemed nice that i already had my friend move in because that appeared to be the answer. well, i failed to mention that my friend has been working for a start up company the past nine months, doing everything he can to make each daily sacrifice and keep the head above water. i should mention that his company's idea of surviving came in the form of a payroll freeze that all employess had to agree to in order to be kept around. sounds rather shady to me and i wouldn't have agreed to it unless it was in writing that this change would be temporary. that was seven months ago and he still has never been paid fair wages since the freeze. in fact, it really was a freeze because they owe him easily over 10k and he's been lucky to receive 10% of that.
all i can really say is that he has a hell of a lot more patience than i do. i would have jumped ship a long time ago, if not only due to the personal needs that money often meets. he has not been able to pay me more than $200 over the past four months. i'm really close to the position where i need to tell him to figure it out or find a new place to live. at the same time, he is a really good friend and in supporting him i find it difficult to pull the rug from under him. what that ultimatum will likely sound like is something along the lines of get a different job or find another way to make money before i'm unable to support you any further, which is quickly approaching.
i have until 3PM today to get our water bill paid or we most certainly face shut off before 5PM.
my friend is completely aware of this and he couldn't be more clear on the details. i'm told he will have a co-worker front the bill in exchange for a favor. i don't know much more than that and truthfully i really don't care. all i know is i cannot let this slip and it simply won't, again because it cannot. i also know that i'm to a point where i will not live this type of lifestyle every month. let me remind you that it might be nice to know how to survive these types of setbacks but first hand training isn't exactly the method i would have chosen. no doubt i will be more fit to tackle these obstacles again but i find no desire to formulate that need to test my theory.

i have follow-up with the doctor's office today, mostly the paperwork end. my doctors are so incredibly busy that an actual appointment with them is a hot commodity. i have a back-up appointment scheduled for this wednesday and that simply means i'm on a call-list in case somebody has to cancel or cannot make their scheduled time. the appointment i have set in stone as a second option isn't until this friday. in the meantime, i'm still on medical leave from work due to the drugs and physical needs of recovery. it doesn't present itself in the most convenient ways and makes it hard to focus on much of anything besides these run-on sentences in my blog.

i have another birthday coming up in two days. this will be the 32nd time i've faced that occassion and it's really no big deal. i simply have a hard time understanding where time goes sometimes. it's even more evident as i watch BJ grow before my very eyes. these discoveries are indicative of how we must not let time get away from us and it's best to capture the
moment(s) when available. i've been talking with some old friends recently about this and it appears i just may have a major transition in my life within the next year, depending on what manifests from our talks. the bottom line there is that i cannot just stand still while everything else around me is moving at such a rapid pace. i'm still healing and that often slows down the tempo but it would be unwise to pause too long and watch my surroundings cultivate without finding a way to be a part of it all. there will almost certainly be more on these efforts in future posts, probably not in the real near future but soon, nevertheless.

i spent some time listening to the leak of the new dashboard confessional record. it takes a turn to a bigger production after years of listening to chris carraba and his five string take residency in the studio. it's a rather interesting take on how he's grown musically and takes some very bold steps toward more traditional rock and roll. it's different and i can see it being a very good move on his part. you might check it out (called Dusk and Summer) if time permits. i see best buy advertising the record for $6.99 if you have a student id, which is a complete steal. if you don't happen to be a student, i'm pretty sure circuit city is running it for $8.99 this week only.

besides that, i took some time this weekend to view death cab's DVD called directions. i bought it a little while back but didn't have the chance to watch it. wow, what an interesting project. the concept is their album "plans" set to videos from independent producers, where the band had no say in the artistic direction of everything. it must truly be a cool testament for the band to see what fans have created because of the art they produce. i mean seriously, what a compliment. there isn't much footage with the band as this project was an incarnation of an idea that chris walla (one of band members) had in passing and the record label brought to fruition after a lot of planning. bottom line, check it out if you enjoy indepent productions.

breakfast calls, thanks for listening.