Eric found out yesterday that he got a job, but I didn’t want to say anything until he finished his first day. I’m VERY superstitious and I was afraid to make a kinahora, which in Yiddish superstition – wards off the evil eye. The way it works is, if you say something too soon, bad luck may come and take it away, or actually make something bad happen. For instance, if you tell someone, “You know, I’ve never broken a bone in my body,” that night you will trip and break your leg. That’s the way it works.
Another example: If you’re driving along and say to your spouse, “The traffic is moving SO well! I’m so happy,” you can be sure that at the next curve there will be construction and the 4 lanes will become one, causing a bottleneck that delays your arrival at your destination by another 40 minutes.
I have driven Eric crazy with my superstitions for many, many years. I’m not superstitious about normal things – like a black cat crossing your path, or breaking a mirror and causing 7 years bad luck. I think those are “cliché superstitions.” No, I’m superstitious about ridiculous things that are mostly in my own head. I am a BIG knocker on wood, even though I’ve heard it’s based on a Christian belief of touching the cross. I don’t care. I knock on wood ALL the time. Sometimes I will think of something while I’m lying in bed and have to lean over to my night table and knock on wood or I won’t be able to fall asleep!
I also hate when people wish you good luck. It’s a theatre superstition, but it stuck with me. I never wish anyone good luck. If they’re performing, I’ll say “Break a leg” which is the custom, or “Have a great show!” If someone is going for an interview, or looking at a house or getting ready for some big event, I will say, “Do good!”, but never "Good Luck."
So, anyway, remember I mentioned that Eric was “making the rounds” and even had an interview? Well, that’s the place where he got the job. He’s just like me – one interview and he nails it! He started today. He’s not very happy about the situation, and it may not last, but at least he’s working. It was VERY complicated, because he had to be in Santee, which is 23 miles away, at 6:30am, so I took the car to my job and he took the RV. It’s the most inconvenient and uneconomical way to do it, but he can’t drop me off at work at 6:00am and then go to work. I investigated car services, which would cost me about $40 a day. That’s ridiculous. Eric says it costs him about $20 a day in gas, because the RV gets such bad gas mileage (about 10 miles to the gallon).
I went online to investigate bus service, but nothing goes anywhere near Del Mar from here. Maybe if I took 2 or 3 buses I could get there, but that just seemed crazy. I asked a woman in HR about car pooling at the firm and it turns out she lives very close to me and offered to pick me up and drive me home, since we actually work the same hours (8:00am – 5:00pm). She said she couldn’t be sure she’d be able to do it every day, but I said we could play it by ear. If she could take me, then Eric could have the car. If not, he’d have to take the RV. At least it won’t be every single day, and my job is only for a couple of months, so eventually he’ll have the car all the time until I get my next job.
If I was working Downtown, it wouldn’t be a problem, because the bus stop is right outside our apartment and it has a few stops in the city, and I could walk anywhere from there. So, I have to try to get my next job Downtown!
It seems like this should work out for the foreseeable future. We’ll see what happens. I SO appreciate this woman picking me up, because I know she didn’t have to mention that she lives nearby or get involved with this responsibility, but I told her I’d pay her, since I was inconveniencing her and the least I could do it pay for her gas.
So, Eric was up at a little after 4:00am, left the house a little after 5:00am, and I’m sure was at work before 6:00am. I was so nervous about him and worried about him that I couldn’t fall back to sleep, so I was pretty much up from 4:00am until 6:00am when my alarm went off. I am not used to him not being home with me in the morning, so it was strange to get dressed and leave by myself. I drove to the office and parked in the parking lot.
My boss was in today, and he gave me a lot of little projects, including some typing (wheee!). I need to SLOW DOWN, because I finish everything too fast and then I’m bored again. I need to pace myself better. I went online a lot and looked at my emails, read articles on YAHOO and even perused my own website (www.peppysdream.com). It’s looking really good and I enjoy looking at the new set-up. If you haven’t checked it out recently, please do and let me know what you think!
I left work at 5:00pm on the dot and was home before 5:30pm. Eric wasn’t home yet, so I called him and he said he was on his way. LONG day for Eric! I told him I was thinking about going to a yoga class, but he said I shouldn’t chance it, because my left hand still really hurts from my fall (with my nieces) 2 weeks ago. I’m pretty sure I did something to it, and I’d like to get it x-rayed so I could know for sure, but it’s SO complicated when you don’t have a doctor and there are no walk-in clinics around (like in NY – Eric and I used to go to FIRST MED if my asthma was bothering me, or if he cut himself when he fell off his bike. It was easier and more convenient than the emergency room or getting an appointment with our regular doctor.)
I’ve been forgetting to mention how I’m doing on my diet. I weighed 128.8 for the past two days. I was 128.6 on Friday, so I guess I gained 2 ounces over the weekend. Maybe it’s that one piece of bread I had on Saturday night! Darn it!
Eric got home at 6:00pm and was not very happy. He said he sat around the office all morning until they figured out where they were going to send him, and he’s pretty sure he’s not getting paid for sitting around, so even though he was there at 6:00am he didn’t really start work until after 8:00am.
Then, after he was done working at 3:00pm (and he said he killed himself all day), he had to go back to the office and fill out a bunch of forms and he was there until 5:00pm, and he’s not getting paid for that either. The boss already told him not to come in tomorrow, because they don’t need him, so he’s not even working regular hours. The boss told Eric to call him at 1:00pm and Eric said he may have to go in at that time, if he has a job for him. Eric said the boss could call him at anytime and tell him to come in, and because it’s non-union work, there’s nothing that he can do about it. No, he is not happy.
Not that much makes Eric happy anymore. I was so hoping that this job would be good for him; that he’d make friends; that he’d be in a great company – like me. Unfortunately, it’s not looking good and it’s just his first day!
I told Eric that I thought working would be good for him, but if it turns out that it’s not, he should just quit. The truth is, we don’t have children to feed, we don’t have credit card debt or a lot of expenses. I’m making money now and if he’s not happy at this job, he can just find another. I’d rather have him stock shelves at Kiels than kill himself as a steamfitter again. That’s exactly what I didn’t want when we came to San Diego.
I only wanted him to work because I felt he needed something to fill his days, and he agrees that he needs to keep busy. But you have to weigh the pros and cons of any situation to see if it’s worth your while. We’ll see what happens. He says he’s going to give it time and see how it works out.
Oh, and another thing – there’s a problem with the RV! He hasn’t driven it much more than to the car wash or to fill it up with gas. Today was the first day it went on a relatively long trip – about 50 miles. When he got home, the lights inside wouldn’t go out. He came in and told me about it, then went back to the parking lot to see if they went off. They didn't. He says there’s a short, so he disconnected the battery and then when he reconnected it the lights were off. I think we should just sell the stupid thing and take a plane back across the country, when we finally go.
So, even though I waited to talk about Eric’s job, I still feel like it was bad luck, because he’s so unhappy after his first day. Maybe things will improve, when they see what a great guy he is and how much he can contribute. I hope so!
I made some organic cream of mushroom soup for us and I had the NUTRISYSTEM mushroom risotto (do you notice a theme here?) and Eric had NUTRISYSTEM chicken and dumplings.
I’ve been really good on this diet and only cheated when my nieces were here and a little Saturday night (when I had the piece of bread). I’ve been eating their food and tons of salads and vegetables for 22 days now and I don’t really think I’ve lost any weight. I haven’t been exercising, but it’s for a combination of reasons. I wanted to do yoga, but my left hand is now hurting. I want to walk, but my right foot is killing me. I’m not used to walking so much and all the walking I do at work is exercise, but it’s also hurting my foot. I know I'm full of excuses, but I just can't get my act together in that regard.
I made an appointment with the acupuncturist for next Monday, 2/11 at 6:00pm. I hope that can help me, because then I’ll be able to exercise more. I really don’t mind walking, but not if every step is a pain in the foot!
I’m going to get a ride to work tomorrow, even though Eric’s not working in the morning, because there’s a chance he may get called in when he calls at 1:00pm. It’s crazy not to know what your schedule is, don’t you think? Oh, well, Eric’s willing to deal with it, so I should just be supportive and do whatever I can to make it easier on him. I think I did the best possible thing by finding a ride to work, so at least he doesn’t have to drive the RV!
Tomorrow should be slow and boring, because my boss is going to be in San Francisco all day and he didn’t leave me any projects. I should bring a book to work, but I guess that doesn’t look very good. I wish there was another messy cubicle for me to clean up. At least that was fun and kept me busy!