Today I am thankful for extreme weather.
Extreme heat and extreme cold will tell you what needs repaired.
Wow.....
Everything is breaking.
Thank goodness for YouTube.
In the past two days, I'd had to watch videos on
- repairing a kitchen faucet (which broke after we fixed the leak),
- trouble shooting a warm upright freezer,
- what it means when your lawnmower smells like varnish,
and
- what causes overheating in a vintage Buick Century.
Oh my.....
Oh....and I almost forgot....
- how to avoid scam job interviews.
The freezer is defrosting. Someone left the door open overnight and the coils got all frosty.
The faucet was fixed with super glue.
The lawnmower needed a tune up and I met a flirty guy who fixed it for me. He gave me a $20 discount because I left an awesome Yelp review.
My car was low on oil (and may need the fan repaired because it's humming weird but that's another YouTube video for another day).
I NEED a second job. I have my business but I need steady income, too.
The scam job interviews are weird.
So......
it started last week.
Some guy with a familiar name invited me to interview with a company called Torchmark. I was promised $750 a week plus commissions.
His name was bugging me. I wrote and asked for the address. It was far too familiar.
Last summer I wrote about my ex-husband needing money to finance business trips. I gave him my van, bought gas and snacks for his trips to Kansas. He was selling life insurance for a shitty little company called American Income Life.
He had to pay for his own leads. They were old leads and didn't generate enough business. They fired him after his van got hit and needed its radiator repaired.
I've sold insurance for years. I trained insurance salespeople at my last job.
There is a saying in the insurance industry, I'll paraphrase it -
"Hire and train as many as you can, keep the highest performers and put everyone else's ass in the can."
That must be the Torchmark/American Income Life mantra.
I know enough to avoid these asshats.
They changed their name? I wonder if they've registered with the state under that name?
A asshole by any other name is still stinky.
My cable company had a bait and switch job interview.
My neighbor has been after me to join their call center. I have a talent for calming down irate people. They wanted me. They said I could work the weekends so I could keep my hypnosis business going. It would be a pay cut (about $200 a week) but at least I'd have some money coming in.
They told me to drive to their call center down the road for an interview.
I did.
I walked away when I was told they wanted me for a door to door sales position.
Redheads and the sun?
Um.....No.
*****
There is a saying about the fun being in the journey rather than the destination.
It was an interesting journey to the job interview.
I saw someone that looked exactly like Sampson (my old roommate) panhandling on the side of the road. I looked at him and, at first, thought man he's too young to be Sampson.
He had the same walk.
He was 6' 3".
He always wore olive drab green.
He had the same face.
He had the same blue eyes.
When I noticed the gray in his beard, I thought it could be.....
If it were Sampson he'd recognize me.
I was stopped at a light. The guy started to saunter to my car....and the light turned green.
It couldn't be......could it?
I went back today and the guy was no where to be found.
I'm sure if he needed something he'd reach out, wouldn't he?
I'm sure he would.
This is crazy.
Not an actual picture - it was a six lane busy road.....scary stuff.
As I drove down the road a little ways,
I noticed a crew from my local government repairing potholes.
There they were in their little green vests with no orange traffic cones and no signage. A black car came within inches of hitting one of the workers.
I wanted to take a picture -but- I can't drive and take pics very well.
I did the next best thing, I pulled over and called the city and reported it to the head of the public works department.
I have the number memorized.
I'm not sure they care.
I care.
Two years ago a colleague's best friend was hit while doing road work. He died at the scene.
The city ought to do better to protect these men and women.
I'm going to have to buy a camera for the car that records while I'm driving.
It'll come in handy during some of my trips.
I spent the rest of the day buying herbs and trying to find candles.
I wondered why my life was so crazy....
Maybe it's not crazy.
Maybe I'm just bored.
My neighbor is pushing me to date.
There really is no one I want.
I'm terrified of love right now.
Even Sampson.....I'd probably carry a pair of hair cutting sheers and short a fake wedding ring to keep him away.
There were things that we didn't have in common.
He liked all things cannabis.
I'm allergic to hemp.
He was Pagan when we met. I was Christian. This was why we didn't get together.
He is now allegedly a devout Christian.
I'm a devout Pagan....so....our religion never seems to work out.
I'm not sure he's forgiven me for the scorpion incident. He's one of my November birthday buddies. When he was 19, he was excited to have saved up enough money to buy his very own scorpion.
We went out to a fair and spent the day in the sunshine.
I was having trouble getting over my ex at the time. So Sampson adopted a show cat for me. It was a fluffy blue Persian. She was gorgeous. The previous owner had her hip destroyed in a domestic violence incident and could barely walk. I could keep the cat so long as I kept her name. Her name was Pretty Purr.
We left the cat alone in the apartment with the scorpion.
That cat climbed shelving to get to that animal. When we opened the door, the scorpion was in the cat's mouth.
Sampson ran over to his pet and picked him up. The scorpion pulled out it's stinger and died in my friend's hands.
I've only seen him cry once.
It was at that moment.
It broke my heart.
Sampson had the patience of a saint. My ex at the time had confronted him at a convenience store and allegedly thrown him into a beer case. Sampson was a bit of a thug and rumor had it that he had to call off his boys when they saw what happened.
I never told you how I met him, did I? One day I was assaulted by cops in downtown Denver. They threw me to the ground and searched me. One of them, a Sgt. James, was pissed that I didn't have drugs on me. His partner was officer Miller.
I was a devout Mormon. Um....they'd have been hard pressed to find me with a Pepsi at the time.
Sampson picked me up out of the street. He told me that these cops often roll kids for drugs. I found out that he knew my sister.
Two weeks later, I was sexually assaulted by one of my sister's friends. I was too afraid to call the police. Sampson came to visit when he hadn't seen me leave my apartment for awhile (he lived across the street). When he discovered that I was terrified of living alone, he moved into my walk in closet.
We shared the apartment for about five months or so before I went back home. It was the scene of my assault and I couldn't tolerate living there. I gave everything in the apartment to Sampson (except my bass). He donated it to a family who basically had nothing.
I guess Sampson and I are both gypsies, huh?
Right before I became creeped out enough to move, Sampson let my ex follow him to my apartment. He arrived, opened the door and said he brought me a present that I could find outside. The guy under my window was unrecognizable so I ignored him. Sampson said it was my ex. My ex was blonde. This guy had black hair.
Months later I ran into my ex. He dyed his hair.
I never knew what to believe about my ex. Thugs lie. Sampson didn't want to talk about it. He did tell me that he told my ex that we were a couple. I was 17 years old. On that day, Sampson thought it was funny to call me an "old lady".....I think he meant to say 'his old lady.'
I hated being called lady.
I think that was when I stopped truly trusting my ex. I've always been on guard around him since that day. The same is probably true of Sampson. When men fight....it's nonsensical and something I don't quite understand.
Many months later, Sampson bought me a fake ring. There was no talk about it. He gave it to me to keep men away from me because I hated getting hit on so much. Maybe that's where I got into the fake wedding ring habit. The one he bought me was nice (white gold, 1 ct cz). Sampson came from money but ran far away from home and got a job at a jewelry store. I think he was trying to get away from his father's influence.
His father tried to throw his money around. Once he called begging me to marry his son because he was worried about his lifestyle. He wanted a wedding at his home on Catalina Island. You know....um....there really wasn't time to get to know each other in a more......personal way.
Love takes time. That wasn't a conversation I should have had with someone's dad.
I was far too young to even think of those things. Maybe I should have asked what was on his mind.
I'm not sure he would have told me.
Working at the jewelry store, Sampson would present me with rubies and emeralds. Now that I'm Pagan, I wonder what he was thinking about. At the time, I put more stock in words than actions. I didn't understand. I didn't hear the words that would lead one to believe there was an interest in a relationship.
Maybe there was more there. Maybe not. I don't know.
When a Pagan man gives you stones that represent the fourth chakra, that is a meaningful gift. It was almost like he was trying to open my love center. I was too hurt to open up to anyone. I was too young to know better. I wonder....if I had not been in the pain I was in....would things have been different?
I do know that Sampson shows up from time to time. He would visit me when I worked at a convenience store across town. In the early 90's, he threatened a guy who beat me up and put me in the hospital. How he knew about that, I'll never know. Another time he watched me do some Christmas shopping at a Wal-mart on the day after Thanksgiving. It must have been 5:00 in the morning.
I think that was the last time I saw him.....2007ish. I remember seeing him as I was buying dolls. I remember making my way through the crowd only to find that he disappeared.
When I went out to the car as the sun was rising, I saw that he was in the car parked next to mine. His driver pulled away as he waved from the back seat through slightly tinted windows.
Weird, eh?
I wonder what was up with that?
Maybe I need to buy him a new scorpion.
I owe him that.
If I saw him yesterday, his fortunes have changed. Let's pray I'm wrong.
Love ya,
S.
P.S. Yes, yesterday was a Friday full moon. Yes, I promised to post a love spell if I ever got around to burning that love spell candle I found at a thrift shop many months ago.
I never burned it.
There is no one I can think of that I want.....
without ruining his life.
All sorts of things can go wrong when you put out the intention to love a specific someone. The person could be attached or in pain or gay or not into people like you.
It's just best to leave the couple candles alone if you're unattached.
There are men I love.
I just care too much about them to hurt them.
I'll probably just cleanse the candle and donate it.
Sorry to disappoint you.
I've seen three men fall apart after being with me. I've seen one lose his composure and destroy a young friend of mine that he seduced during our relationship.
I can't do that anymore. It hurts too much.
I'm beginning to think that my saliva is toxic. I'd better keep that stuff to myself.
I guess if you are a woman wanting a love spell.....bathe in rue. Drink rue tea (unless you're pregnant or trying to get that way).
I don't know if it works. I've never done that. For all I know, it'll smell and taste like skunkweed so use it at your own risk.
I've always told men to carry an amethyst because it brings faithful women. In 2009, I gave an amethyst to the ex referenced above (the guy that allegedly threw Sampson into a beer case).
The day I gave it to him, I was driving my ex-husband's car (the one that had seats held up with bricks). It was tax day and I wanted to drive to the Capital for a Tea-party event. I switched cars with my ex because I didn't want him toting the kids in such a dangerous car. I mentioned to the ex with the amethyst that it was my ex-husband's car after he made fun of it's condition.
It was a crappy and filthy car. It was filled to the brim with empty candy bar wrappers and soda cups. I was afraid to take it to the car wash. Part of me always felt that it was the filth that was holding what was left of the car together.
Several years later, my ex-husband found the amethyst in his car and gave it back to me!
That amethyst didn't get any of them married off!
To be fair, neither one of them carried it. You're supposed to carry it!
Ugh!!!
What a hoot!!! I try to get one ex married off to a good chick and he throws the stone in the car of another ex that needed to be married off.
I've got too many traumatized exes. I don't need any more!
Right now, I'm playing with Devil's Shoestring. The Hoodoo people say that it trips up the devil so he leaves you alone.
My life is hell. I'm carrying that stuff everywhere I go.
I have quite a bit of it. If you ask me for a strand, I'll share.
Cheers!