6 months / 24 weeks - Week 1, Day 2

Hello!  This is me writing from a new place in a new, albeit temporary life, in the country of my birth, after 20+ years of not having lived here.

In fact, apropos of the above, I found out yesterday that I might be deceased.  What’s that??, you say.  Yes, there is a red capital D next to my SS# which most people can’t see in their systems, but which the electric company found when checking me out as I tried to connect the electricity for our apt by phone.  They said my 'Social' (that's how they refer to your social security number) had “issues” and asked me to come in with two picture IDs.  Naturally, I was concerned, and when I finally found the place – another interesting detail about how the streets run here, and how they are named, renamed, and unnamed along the way (which I thought was a characteristic particular to Mexico but not here, in the land of logic and practicality) – I asked right away what the “issues” were. The man there, who btw was so nice that I actually asked him (in a rhetorical way) if there were any jobs available there, told me that someone else seems to have been issued my ss number which is why there is a red “D” with a question mark next to my name.  He said it could have been a typo when someone was registering their number somewhere, but that I should check on it, which is just one more thing to do that I’ve added to my list.

I’d like to take a paragraph here to talk about bureaucracy today in the US.  EVERYWHERE we go, people check you out.  They call it a background check.  You need to get car insurance? You go and they ask you for all your history, and then do a check on you.  You want to live somewhere?  Same process.  You want to get a job?  Same process.  And these checks they do on you are very privacy-invading and you have to agree, the alternative being you won’t be able to get the insurance, or the house, or the job.  They check your credit, your criminal background, your driving record, and whatever else they can think up to check.  Since you’ve given them all your ID numbers, they’ve got the right to do it, and you sign a paper saying you understand that.  I have felt very sad in the last few weeks about this situation.  It’s so demeaning.  It seems that if you move to a new place, you should be able to do it ONCE, get some kind of plastic or official document that says you’ve been THOROUGHLY CHECKED and not have to go through it at every individual step of your bureaucratic life as you try to get settled.  Cars are inspected in such a way, right?  You get it inspected, and you get a sticker saying they’re safe to drive.  But I guess it wouldn’t work because the truth is, there is no trust here.  WAIT! There is an exception to the rule.  The libraries!  I got my library card with a minimum of hassle, and I’ve been to two others since, and all the people at each library are extremely helpful, nice, nonjudgmental people.    

One thing interesting I found in moving to this apt. yesterday as we did is that we moved in on a full moon.  It was so beautiful, and I want to tell NONE-OTHER, that she’s lucky she got a full moon for her birthday!  That’s always a lucky sign.  We inaugurated the apt with a delicious pre-dinner of chips and hot sauce and Shiner Bock.  Before sitting down to partake of such refreshments at our card table and folding chairs, we brought in some essential stuff from the van, pumped up and sheeted the air mattresses, which held our weight most comfortably all during the night, lined the cabinets with newspapers, and set up our laptops in the hope of finding internet for free floating around; no such luck there guys.

After the snacks, we went back to work, bringing in more things, washing up the boxed dishes, making the real dinner – you guessed it, mac n cheese (although I had gone shopping and we did have great salad ingredients, but in the end, we didn’t feel like making up a salad).  So Sam played the guitar as I finished washing the dishes, and then we decided to try out the beds and put a movie on my laptop.  That worked great, and I fell asleep in the middle of the movie, though he watched to the end and turned everything off. 

Now it’s morning.  We’re here at our little table.  I’ve just made my list of THINGS-TO-DO, and he’s reading 1984, which he has on his computer, and eating a bagel and cream cheese with his coffee.  I’m blogging this now and will upload it when I go to the library in a little while.  I like the fact that Sam doesn’t have to go to work so early.  Gives us time to have a leisurely morning.  I need to check my mail though.  I sent in my résumé to someone offering a job I would REALLY LIKE to get – something right up my alley as they say… I hope I get an answer on that, though I haven’t gotten answers on any of the other 10 jobs I’ve applied for online.  Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised today!

There is another thing – I do have an interesting little job that’s sort of inventing itself, and it came about in a spontaneous sort of way.  Sam and I went to check out this apt that was very near his work.  As it’s a central location, it was more expensive than our budget allowed, but Richard, the manager of the apts, started telling me how I could help him out and he would pay me and that would help out with the rent.  Sam didn’t really believe him – he thought Richard had other interests in mind – but I felt no such vibe from him.  He’s a guy from Guatemala who migrated to Texas by way of California… and he’s a very open friendly person.  He told me how the owner of the apt complex believed in him and gave him one responsibility after another, and now he’s doing pretty good.  He’s even got a little business of his own doing bodywork on cars.  He told Sam he could maybe work there on weekends.  And he told me my translating skills could be very useful in writing up contracts (he does them in Spanish but has a hard time putting them in correct English) and maybe even answering phone calls. 

As it turned out, we turned down the apt. and found something better for us financially, and with more to offer, as this place has “amenities” whereas the other had nothing – not even a little pool.   Still, Richard called me yesterday and asked if I was still interested in the work.  I told him of course, went out to where he was working and helped him with the paperwork.  He’s very nice.

Well, Sam’s going to work now.  Guess I’ll get going too.  More later.