20 Best Islands To Live On

I’m sitting in bed prompted up by two pillows and a blanket underneath and I’m reading the number 20 of the magazine Islands – 20 Best Islands To Live On. I promise myself that I will visit each and every one of those islands someday… someday by the time I’m 60; that is my new life goal. But for now I’m laid up in a domestic violence shelter bed with a pinched nerve after spending the last two months recovering from a herniated disc injury, again.


We have two new residents and one is already a bit miffed with the current one that I'm not overly fond of either. The main complaint - her child having hourly temper tantrums and having fun of common area literally bouncing off the walls. I tell her what lesson I learn and was told by a staff member. "Your here for you and just you. Don't worry about anyone else but you."


I go to explain that I'm as friendly as I can be but I avoid conflict to a fault. Its just not worth it, I say to her.


The other new resident is young and I think a little naive. She was telling me what she thought the shelter would be like describing all the scary things "bums, drug addicts, men and women sharing one big room, gays."


Gays? You classify being gay with bums & drug addicts? Oh boy.... I kept my mouth shut {avoid conflict} I just nod my head. I think instead of all the "It gets better" ads we need to have a campaign with positive, good influence / role model type gay people do an ad to show all the Hollywood stereo typing of gays & lesbians is bullshit. This is why people who are gay are afraid to come out.


So I won't be starting my new job until probably next week...until my back recovers enough to allow me to sit at a desk for a few hours. It sucks, but I won't be defeated. Its only a setback.

Fall

Sneezing, aching and miserable time of the year.

I hate the Fall due to my health limitations and this Fall weekend has brought the WTF inside the house. I hope it leaves soon.

We have a new resident but she’s only here for a few days. She’s going back home to family out of state.

The other resident who is still here is mind boggling. She apparently knows how to cook but every time she pulls out raw food she puts it on the top shelf in the refrigerator. Doesn’t everyone know, at least all people who are cooks know that you never put raw food on the top shelf? Even if it is in a bag? If it leaks it leaks from top to bottom and ruins all the food underneath it – YUCK.

I believe one of the staff members finally told her that she has to share in the cleaning of the entire house..she actually mopped once. Of course she did it during the time she knows I work and it was super annoying, but I kept my mouth shut. I don’t need the stress.

Brownies for breakfast… oh yea, that’s nourishing for a 5 year…and you wonder why your child is bouncing off the walls and screeching like a banshee.

My back is giving me tremendous amount of pain and I’m really hope it’s just the cold as I suppose to start my new job tomorrow afternoon. But every time I get up I’m in agonizing pain and even dizzy - not good. I’ve tried sitting up for my computer and it still hurts horribly. I can barely concentrate on what I’m doing it hurts so bad.

General Relief (GR) - what a joke! The "workers" they hire literally cannot do two things at once, have short fuses, are bitter and have to be talked to like a 3 year old. I wish was over exaggerating.  I had to spell my last name which is not hard twice. I called her because she left a voice mail for me to do so and then snapped at me for calling her telling me she can't do anything until Monday.

So I can't even get my stupid $160 to buy myself business clothes until a minimum of Wednesday. GROW is suppose to help with that but because the  (GROW) worker barely understands English said she won't even talk to me until she receives notice from my (GR) worker who can't or won't look for the stupid report until Monday. Then it gets approve (2 to 3 days) and the 2 to 3 days is in theory. THAN I can go to my GROW worker (make an appointment) for employment assistance. I was told by someone in line that in actuality it can take up to 2 weeks to approve a stupid monthly report and go through GROW for employment assistance...and it doesn't matter that the worker never sent it to me.  

Uggg - bring on winter already.

Just smile and walk off

I feel like I'm walking on glass. I shouldn't have talked to the night counselor about what I found out about my ex. I was freaked out and I know I'm paranoid and for a good reason. But there is absolutely no evidence that he has any clue where I am. I have a huge traffic fine that is preventing me from companies that do background searches and the only way for me to get it reduced or even released is to go through Homeless Court... So I have to stay here in LA County area to do that. If I'm relocated I'm relocated potentially to a different state because my ex has friends and family in other SOCAL areas.

The current resident is grating my nerves. She doesn't clean up anything but her own dishes and thats it. She expects others to do the normal house upkeep cleaning - namely me. I almost snapped at her when I asked her if she could mop the floor this afternoon because I wouldn't be available to do so...and she told me repeatedly to clean the microwave.

{smile, just smile}

I need to keep it together so I can convince the DV Shelter manager I over reacted and get into the transional housing.

4 gallons in 4 days

The DV Shelter provides food and beverages and the women here consume it like locust. One single mom and her three kids (soon to be four) are the main locust consumers. Now no one has milk for another two weeks.
:(


...and the same single (helpless?) mom is dropping food crumbs and her kid's tiny toys in the hallway and leaving them (& the house) for the rest of us to clean up.

Is this how she treated her home? WTF?!

It’s a little like Hangman…

This morning I added an arm to the body that was added when I was showing my “smartness.” I woke up early today because today is the day I potentially get to genuinely become a statistic (General Relief Qualification / Orientation if approved appt.) Do I get a Food Bank cupcake with a little plastic Welcome toothpick?


Anyway… One of the residents left yesterday because she called her husband from the house phone and told him what city she was in. The attendee heard the call from outside the open office door and immediately started the process for her to be removed. Because she was gone her chore was left undone – dishes. One would think if there is no one else to clean up after you, you would do so yourself. Hell, I’ve never expected someone else to do my dishes and I’ve been doing my own since I got here. But that is only me. My roommate and I were in the kitchen and I mentioned the dishes. We were talking about general house stuff when I said

“I’m not their mommy and I’m not the house mom so it’s not my business.”

BBF (Best Bitching Friend) walked through the kitchen right as I was saying it – opps. Not sorry though. If this is the long Hangman version I just added an arm. If it’s the express version I've got legs and arms now.

At times she (Trauma Queen) has seemed nice and sincere but the other side is manipulative and threatening....

There’s something disturbing about a size 24 woman wearing a strapless cheetah mumu with thick white bra straps, connector and sunburns showing and dancing to her headset contained music in the kitchen and living room as entertainment for herself and the kids. It’s like seeing where the writers of the Drew Carey Show got their inspiration for Mimi but made Mimi funny instead of scary.


'Unemployment report portrays stagnant job market' - LA Times