Bitterness, Boredom and Frustration
Trip Start
Jun 02, 2011
1
22
27
Trip End
Jan 31, 2013
Campbellsville, Kentucky
Friday, December 16, 2011
Up until recently, I've really been working hard on staying positive and trying to see that even in the worst situations there is usually something to be happy about... but lately, the annoyance, boredom, frustration, cold, physical pain and sheer white-hot blinding hatred I have for my employer has grown to the point where I've been utterly derailed mentally. And frankly, I don't want to talk about any of the things I've been going through over the past weeks with my body, being removed from work and the subsequent fight to get back onboard with my employer. Suffice to say, after several frustrating and emotional days, I am finally set to return to work tomorrow. I'm super relieved because this money is going to get me to my next location and I am so looking forward to that!
In spite of everything I learned that I am glad to have the gig and I will be working into January here, but I don't have details on when that will start or end as of yet. I may even be doing a different job, but they are a bit sketchy on the details right at the moment. I hope to work until the 15th of January and then begin heading south toward New Orleans to spend the winter there.
Let me just catch you up on a couple of smaller items that pass for excitement around here. The weather... it's hard to really describe the weather here. It's amazingly changeable. We will go from having 4 or 5 days that are in the 30's and then suddenly it's 65 and sunny, or it will warm up to the 50's and rain buckets for a week. The rain is so intense here, I think I mentioned that before, but it never stops being amazing to behold. Last week it rained so much that the state park I live in sent notices around to all of the residents of the park letting us know they were concerned about flooding and that we should be prepared to evacuate to other campgrounds. That was not good news, luckily it didn't happen. But, the lake was definitely way above normal. The beach was gone and part of the road was completely swallowed by the water. I took some pictures so you could see, but alas, I think my camera is history. They are all blurry and you can't see what I was trying to show. I've posted the pics anyway since they are all I have, but hey, if anyone is looking to get me an awesome christmas present, I need a CAMERA! lol
This week is a perfect example of the weird weather. It's been cold and dry for the past 5 days - sunny all day long but never getting warmer than about the 40's in the daytime and 20's at night. Then suddenly on Wednesday it was 74 degrees and sunny... gorgeous day. And it stayed warm yesterday mid-60's, today it's 35 and raining icicles. That about sums it up.
Update on the Helo front... he has yet another ear infection. I think this makes 5 since we've been here. No matter what the weather, he still wants to swim which is causing his continued ear infections. He smells terrible - like stinky feet times 10. Which means my bed and pillows also smell terrible. I've attached a pic I took before my camera went lame showing how Helo likes to lay across my pillows. I'm constantly waking up with dog hair in my mouth and eyes. I shake everything out several times a week and wash the bedding every week, but it doesn't really seem to make a dent. He's a furry little bastard and although I'd love to get him a haircut, I think he needs his winter coat more than I need a hair-free environment. Now you are probably saying to yourself, "why doesn't she just keep him out of the water?" and you have a point. That would be the simple solution, but I'm a walking ball of guilt where Helo is concerned right now. Since I'm working so much he spends a lot of time alone in the truck. So when I come home and get him for his walk, I take him off leash so he can really stretch his legs out, and he just always heads to the lake. I go along with it because it makes him so happy. I always thought I would be more of a strict disciplanarian and not such a softy with my dog, but I'm a freakin' marshmallow when it comes to him.
So Aidan is the kid that's been taking care of Helo for me for the past month or so. I used to drop Helo off in the morning before I went to work and Aidan would keep him all day, but the kid is only 11 and he was getting bummed out about having the responsibility of a dog all day. So, now I carpool to work with Latisha and Josh and leave my truck and Aidan comes by twice during the day to take Helo out. But, Latisha and Josh have a daughter named Alisha (you can see her in attached photos) she's 9 and a very unique and entertaining kind of kid. Very outgoing and conversant.... she's taken a liking to me and she loves Helo. She asked me a couple weeks ago if she could take Helo out sometimes, and I told her to go for it... he would love the attention! But that started a bit of a power struggle thing between Aidan and Alisha. She would go to get Helo and Aidan would tell her no, she couldn't because Helo was his responsibility and she should butt out. When I heard this, I of course talked to Aidan and told him she had my permission, but that conversation did not alleviate the issue. So Alisha starts telling me daily how lazy Aidan is being toward Helo. I gave him specific instructions regarding Helo's care, the length of his walks, etc but he hasn't really been following my instructions, at least according to Alisha. I thought about the problem a lot - Alisha said she would be willing to take Helo for free, but it seems to me like she's probably asking for more than she could handle. So I talked to her parents to find out their thoughts. They said she would do a good job, but I wasn't super comfortable still. So I sat down with Aidan and Alisha and proposed they share the job. This way, they could both make a little money and have less responsibility. Tomorrow will be the first try at this new plan, so hopefully it will work out. Aidan will take Helo for his morning walk and Alisha will take him out in the afternoon.
That's about it from Campbellsville. I want to talk about my upcoming plans, because it's getting very interesting! So, some of you that read Facebook know that I'm heading to New Orleans after this is over - New Orleans seems like the perfect place to be after this ridiculously boring town but I've been a little nervous about some of the stuff I've been reading regarding crime in the area. Safety is of course my number one concern, with finances being a very close second. At least until I know the town, I don't want to just be parked on the street, but I'm not going to be able to afford the RV parks in the area. So, I joined couchsurfing.com to see if I could find someone who would be willing to let me park in their driveway and shower at their place a couple times a week. If you aren't familiar with couchsurfing.com you should definitely check it out. The site's goal is to hook travelers up with folks who would like to host them, for free! It's a fabulous idea, and I know some of you reading this are travelers or would make great hosts so I would highly recommend you take a look. I perused the site for awhile and sent some "couch requests" I was rejected by one of the folks because he only hosts people on weekends, and the other two people I didn't hear back from... until yesterday. After two weeks I finally got a reply from a lady named pearl who lives in New Orleans. She's a mime and an artist and she calls her house, Kamp Katrina - it's an artist's colony and OMG it looks like so much fun. The absolute antithesis of where I am now. She hosts artists and street performers from all over the world - if you've ever seen a documentary on the Katrina storm and subsequent rebuilding of New Orleans, you've probably seen Pearl. She has a bunch of videos uploaded on youtube as well. If you go to youtube and search 'mymimemspearl' that will bring up related videos and you'll be able to see where I'll be staying in New Orleans! She says she has a concrete slab in the back yard where I can stay as long as I want, for FREE. But I intend to make sure I give her money or work trade or something while I'm there because I'm sure she could use all the help she can get to keep the place running.
I really like the idea of this because it seems like more of a community environment and I'm excited about all the unique people I'm sure to meet there. And, even better, maybe I can awaken that long dormant creative side of myself that's been lightly rapping on my insides trying to get me to pay attention to it again. Ah, inspiration!
Also, my friend Debbra Palmer wants to come and visit while I'm in New Orleans and she is so freakin' talented artistically, it would probably be fun for her too.
So for now, that's really all I have - I'm hoping that my next entry will be right before I get on the road and out of this lameness for good. When I say my goodbyes to Campbellsville and Amazon, you can bet I'll be doing a happy little jig.
I love you all and you are in my thoughts every day. Here's to future fun, adventure and moving forward in a positive way!
