Well it certainly seems like Tuesdays are my blog update days. Maybe it has a lot to do with it just being the only day of the week I don’t find myself swamped….wait…no that’s not true.
I’m almost completely over being sick. I’m at about 93% right now. All I have left is a little bit of a runny nose and a slight cough. I think I’ll be back up to 100 % soon. All things considered…I’m not surprised at all about getting sick. I’ve been super stressed and I’ve not been getting enough sleep. I get sick once or twice a year at most. I guess it was just my time. At least this time I didn’t get a sinus infection like last year’s nasty cold. Yuck.
Today wasn’t bad after a string of days that just sucked. I wish I could tell you why too. There’s a lot of reasons, and I’m not allowed to talk about them. Yeah, I’m being serious. Let’s just say…there are a lot of things I’m not happy with right now and there are a lot of possible things that may change that in the near future.
Anyway, back to today. I stopped to help out two people today, and it made me feel great. I was at the grocery store, and a woman was calling for some help. I looked over as I was walking, and it was a woman in an electric wheelchair. She needed help getting something. No one else was paying her any mind, and that really bothered me. I walked over and helped her. She was a very nice woman and was very gracious. Why don’t people stop to help others more often?
Also, I went to check out and swiped my two items at the self check station. I looked at the price and was like “Gah!!”. It was several dollars more than it should have been. I had two items: a pepsi and a donut. The bill was six dollars for some reason. Turned out someone had scanned dishsoap and forgot to void it. So I did. I went to swipe my card afterwards, and the receipt was already on its way out. Turns out someone had gone through but didn’t finish their transaction. So instead my two items were on that person’s card. Most people would walk away claiming a freebie. I have a conscience. I told the clerk, and she took care of voiding that transaction. I rang my stuff up and paid. I was thanked for my honesty.
That transaction was the last one I’ll get this week. Payday is Friday, and I am literally flat broke until then. When I got home from work today, I opened my mail box to find a collections letter in there in regards to my medical bills. I called the number and had a long conversation with the man on the other end. They expect me to pay back $700 in five months. I have literally no room in my budget, and they want me to pay 150 a month or so. I have no idea how I’ll manage that. I don’t get it. So many people hold off on paying medical bills. I was specifically told to put that last on my list. Why am I dealing with collections? How do other people manage when they have bills outstanding for much longer and at much higher rates? I hate money.
At least there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. I have some new freelance lined up. Another editor backed out, and I got the gig instead. That’s always good for me. The videos are 3 minute clips for a set of restaurants in the area. There will be five of them, and they pay $350 each. Starting this month. Maybe I will make it through ok. In fact, I may come out with even my furniture paid off! Who knows. Maybe in a couple months…I’ll even have some money in savings?!!
I have to do my taxes yet, and I’m not looking forward to it. I may have to pay. Due to my sickly financial situation, I never was able to put any of the money I earned through freelance away. I overpay on my full time job taxes and I can write off a lot of things for my business. So we’ll see. There’s also a possibility of a return. Here’s hoping. I’m putting money away for taxes this coming year. That’ll make me less stressed next March.
There’s some potential change coming in my future. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do in the coming year, and one of the things that has come up recently is grad school. If things continue, I may have a lot of my debt paid off by the time I could start grad school. I’ve missed the deadline for applying for this coming fall. That’s actually ok. I still have to take the GRE. I am thinking about two options. The first is the more likely of the two. I’m considering the Mass Comm graduate program at the University of Minnesota. My major would be Mass Comm with an emphasis on communication processes, structures, and effects. The minor would be in feminist / gender studies. The second option would be at the Annenberg School for Communication, which is part of USC. That’s like…the premier of schools for communication, and it’d be difficult to get in…and pay for. But I might as well try, right?
There’s a position opening up in Chippewa Falls at a dentist office. It’s not glamorous. It’s a receptionist position. I know the owner / dentist, and she’s a really awesome person. She’s a friend of mine and Chris’. She actually mentioned it to me. It’ll be opening up in July. If I apply and get that, I’d move in with Chris. He’s moving into a house that costs $700 a month to rent. It’s much bigger than my current place and is cheaper. We’d be splitting costs. So bills would be cut down by a significant amount. I’d go from $760 a month in rent to $350. Plus, I’d be living with my best friend. We’ve done that before and we know it works. So neither of us is worried.
It’s a big move, but at the same time, I think it’s the right one. I’ll be happier. The job is much lower stress. Paying bills will be easier. And with the lower stress job…I might be able to get more done on goals of mine. Right now, I work my job and when I come home, I don’t want to go back to work. So nothing gets done. If I had a low stress job, things might be different. So I’m strongly considering it.
My big concern has been freelance and whether I’d keep it. Honestly, I can’t see why I’d lose work. I have an ftp site, and most of the work I do has web delivered content. I’ll probably be down in Milwaukee once a month to meet with people and work on some longer term projects. It could prove even more lucrative than staying here. That’s my hope at least. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Podcast news…I’m working on an ambitious approach to my next few. This upcoming one will be about the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation. I’m going to start shooting this weekend. I’ll probably shoot some of the middle of it during the week, and hopefully it’ll be online sometime late next week. I’ll post about it. The ones after that one will be a three part series. 
Aren’t you excited?!! I am.
OK…I have to get up early tomorrow. I’m leaving work for an early lunch tomorrow to help a friend go to a doctor’s appointment. I want to get to work earlier to make up for the time. Hopefully I’ll find some time to post another update before next Tuesday. Have a good week otherwise.
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