At The Movies

I am glad Man got furniture the day I moved before I had to camp on the floor. Before I moved in, He was sleeping on the red carpet. Literally! From some red carpet event. He told me he has to sleep on the floor for health reasons. When  he got the sofas, he slept on the sofa and didn’t have any complaints. Go figure! He also moved his cat in with us, so that was fun! Cat fur all over the place, my nice clothes, everything! The smell of its crap in the apartment! The windows were always close cos it was cold. Man had the heater on 24/7 even when it was warm outside, well, he only went out to smoke, he never really left the house! The smell of poo, dirty cats, humans who haven’t showered in days, stuffiness from fart, heat from the heater, it was unbearable to me. I made sure I left everyday whether or not I had somewhere to go.

My friend Jen, called one day and told me that she had an extra ticket for a movie. I took her up on the offer (she did offer J). I got ready  and left early the following day, called her when I was on the bus to confirm. She told me she was at work and wouldn’t be able to go to the movie. Well, thanks for telling me that now that I’m calling you at 11 instead of when you checked in at work at 8am! She told me she thought she would let me go ahead and enjoy the movie by myself anyway. I’m like, in future, let me make my own decisions. I’m pretty capable of that. I was no longer that psyched about going to the movies, but I went along, what else was there to do?

She gave me both tickets and told me to ask like a random person to go to the movies with me. I was like, yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do! NOT. The line at the Chinese Theatre was long, but we all got in. I met a nice lady in line. She was Mexican, looked and sounded more European than Mexican, apparently she was half Polish. She’s an actress. She wanted to swap numbers after the show. Nice! By the way the tickets were for the Nelson Mandela Movie – Long Walk to Freedom. That was a nice surprise. Nice movie, good acting. But I still think South African Actors would have done an even better job. I mean they could have still Cast Idris Elba as the Lead and maybe Vathiswa Ndarha as Winnie or anyone else for that matter. Just my two cents! IT brought a lot of bad memories, I’m glad most of those are in the past. Needless to say, we still have a long way to go as the Country and the world in general.

After the movie, I went to my friend’s job, she was about to knock off (get off work), she told me to wait for her, she had a few more tickets for that day. WHAT?!?!?!? Yay! She freshened up and we went back to the Chinese Theatre. We saw Short movies – Seven of them! All nice, different Genres. Thereafter, we went and saw some documentary/movie about Republicans in Iowa or something like that. Everybody seemed to like it. My friend was so into it, she was laughing out loud, having  a blast. I was yawning, bored like a mutha f*cker! Thankfully, halfway through that we had to go watch a Nigerian movie she really wanted to see. She’s Nigerian. I’m not a big Nigerian Movie fan but anything was going to be better than that political docie I was watching. The Nigerian movie was entitled Half of a Yellow Moon. Anika Noni Rose who was of the Dream Girls (Beyonce, Anika and Jennifer Hudson), White Chicks and a whole lot others is in this movie. She was at the Screening with the Director. They did Q&A’s afterwards. We also got a chance to go down and meet then and talk with them. We hung out for quite a while with her, Jen and I. She liked that we’re Africans. She loves Africa. I got to take a picture with her and she signed my ticket.

Ten movies in one day! Top that! It was a good day, for sure. Thanks Jen! Man and I spent a lot of time together, either at home, listening to his stories about himself or helping him with his autograph business. Fun times! All stuff I wouldn’t normally do anywhere else but in Hollywood. Every now and again, I would call Ted and check on him. No answer on his house phone. Oh well.

I did a few more Talk and Game Shows, one had that guy Jeff Something something of Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Big fan! I got a chance to shake his hand, that was nice. Kirk Franklin and his choir do the music for the show, so we spent an entire day with them. Kirk is so cute, so petite, he can break dance! They had a group of Mormons VS Priests, the show is called American Bible Challenge. I never watched the episode or any of the shows I’ve been too, so I don’t know if you can actually see me. Let me know if you do, ok? J

After the movies, Jen told me that she would like to set me up with a friend of hers who is a bus driver.

Me:        Is he short? I’ve a feeling he’s short.

Jen:        Well....

Me:        Ok, so he’s short, great!

Jen:        That’s the problem with you! You jump to conclusions! You don’t even know anything about this guy and you’re already ruling him out!

Me:        I didn’t rule him out, I’m just saying! How do you know this guy any way?

Jen:        He’s a friend of mine.

Me:        Why don’t you date him?

Jen:        He’s too short for me.

Me:        And too tall for me?

Jen:        You’re shorter than me, he’s taller than you but shorter than me

Me:        Ok, so we’re talking about a short guy here. Awesome.

(Jen is 5’10 {175metres} which is kind of average for men. Don’t get me wrong, I never said I wouldn’t go on a date with the guy. Jen is the one who jumped conclusions about me not wanting to date this guy.)

Jen: He is a very nice guy, you guys will get along.

Me: And you couldn’t? I don’t understand why you are praising this guy and yet he’s not good enough for you to date him!

Jen: Let Me finish!...

Apparently dude has his own apartment, no roommates, in a nice neighbourhood, Jen said it things work out with this guy and I, we could live together (dude and I). Because that’s what I am trying to do; move in with yet another man. Heck no! She told me that she would arrange for him and I to meet up, asked if I wanted her to be there when we met. I was like, yeah, NO! No chaperones! Why don’t you just give him my number, then we’ll take it from there? She told me that he is painfully shy, almost never talks (I guess that’s why she thought we’d get along, we’d have a lot to not talk about), he is always working, he is very lonely, doesn’t have a life, so he goes to work even on his days off, blah blah blah. Oh and they met on a dating site and went on two dates but didn’t have anything in common because, well, I guess, of his height and according to Jen,he’s too old for her. She’s younger than me. I don’t know why she agreed to go on two dates with a guy who is both shorter and older than her considering they have those details on his profile on the dating site. First of all, I don’t what anybody’s hand me downs. That’s just weird. Why would you look at me and think, oh yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do! Imo hook her up with that short, old, bald bus driver dude I went out with and didn’t like. WTF! I agreed to go out with him because she wouldn’t take no as an answer and I owed her one.

The following day, dude calls, we’ll call him Lewis. We talked for an hour over the phone. He works for Metro (The bus company in their IT department). He asked me what Jen told me about him, I told him that he is a bus driver, he was like WHAT? The guy isn’t shy at all. He talks like any regular person. Nothing painfully shy about him. He hates working weekends. He only does so when he is on standby, other than that, he loves his weekends off. Basically, everything Jen told me about Lewis was not true. Who does that? Who goes on two dates with a guy and still knows nothing about him? A girl who is a friend of mine and knows nothing about me! The fact that she thought she’d hook me up with her ex is a sure sign that she knows nothing about me, cos I am not that girl and I don’t know anybody who is anyway. Lewis proposed a meeting. I accepted. I didn’t have a choice.  

I Found a Place! Where We Can Boogie, Boogie Tonight!

I was up all night googling the guy I was planning on rooming with. I found Youtube videos of him and his documentary on his site. I watched that. It's about 2 hours long. That gave me a good feel of who is. I was looking forward to meeting him. He seemed down to earth. At the end of his documentary, he gets married,I was told he is divorced now, which is sad cos the doc was only done five years ago, if I remember well.

I kept checking my facebook messages and got nothing.

The following morning, back to Craig's List, looking for more rooms to rent and stuff, same ads from the same people. If we talked and you promised to get back to me and didn't, I am flagging your ad next time I see it! Meaning it will get removed. I have no mercy! Why promise to call if you won't when you're supposed to be looking for someone? Same goes for the jerk who let me walk all the way to his place and didn't have the audacity to pick up my calls when I got there. I flagged his ads for almost a month haha, even when I was no longer looking for a pace to stay. Makes you wonder why he was looking for someone that long. Cos he's a jerk that's why!

Some people want you to pay rent for a room, or a room to share and still walk their dogs three times a day.  THREE BLEEPING TIMES A DAY! Those people also want you to have a job so you can afford rent, OMG these people are unbelievable. I pray I am never that desperate for a place to stay that I will pay someone rent and still be their little slave.

Finally, late the following day, Man, we'll call him that, added me on Facebook. I was so excited. He probably wanted to check me out because, believe it or not, my profile is private, you can't view it if you're not my friend. I accepted, he sent me an email saying he was still looking for a roommate and would be on the Boulevard the following day, he would meet me there. I was so excited. He was going to contact me around 11am the following day before he got on his way towards me. I didn't see why he wouldn't want to room with me, so I checked out the following morning. I had been so over paying daily for accommodation anyway.

No word from Man around 11 that day! I had checked out before 10am. I was wandering the boulevard already by then. I kept checking his Facebook. He doesn't have a cellphone so. Yeah, I am talking about now in 2013 in The United States of America. There are still people who don't have phones. IN HOLLYWOOD! Figure that one out!

Noon, no word! Crap! What does this mean? I saw him online around noon, I messaged him in fear of looking like a stalker, but I had to do it! He went off line. Shoot! Around 4pm, my cellphone battery was giving in, I went back to the hostel to charge it. I asked Jen if I could charge, she let me, she told me I could hang out in the tv room. I didn't have to wander the streets of Los Angeles. Thank goodness! She suggested I just check back in, spend another night at the hostel and leave the following day whether I find a place or not. I went with that idea.I wasted enough on my day anyway, I could have been online looking for other places but I had a feeling I was things were going to work out with Man.

They did! He called that evening around 6. He came over around 7 that night. So much for 11am. We met up, dude is tall! He's like 6'4 (190cm). That's freaking tall! He's lean too, so that makes him look that much taller. He was going to have dinner at the pizza place next door to the hostel, so we went there together, I watched him eat spaghetti haha. I had already had dinner. We then went to the apartment together. It's a small studio (bachelor flat), two closets, very important! He has a lot of stuff, like clothes and memorabilia from movies etc. There wasn't any furniture in the apartment yet which was a bummer because I didn't have any furniture myself and wasn't ready to buy any. I was looking for furnished accommodation. He was sleeping on the Red carpet. Literally.  From some Red carpet event. I found that interesting, in a good way.

There was nothing in there, not a fridge, even though most apartments come with a full kitchen, no microwave, no stove. That kinda dampened my spirits but since Man came so highly recommended by Jen, I thought I will take the place if he will have me. I had dealt with enough flakes on CL, I was so done with that!

He offered me the place, I accepted. I left after about an hour, back to the hostel. I told Jen all about it the following day. I left early the following morning, around 10. The cab driver was a nice girl originally from Texas. She told me she has been in Hollywood for five years now. She would be happy to show me around, as a cab driver, she knows all corners of LA. I was excited! I had a new friend! We dropped my stuff off at the apartment, she asked if I wanted to drive around with her and kill time. She had about two hours to kill. I was like heck yeah! I told man, I would be back in two. I paid him, he gave me my keys, all set! He was like, I thought we were gonna go shopping for stuff for the apartment! I thought to myself, I thought since you have already been living here, you would already have stuff for the apartment! I wasn't ready to go stuff shopping for the apartment, after I just paid rend and spent all that money moving and at the hostel. PLUS, because they hacked my bank account, I didn't get paid on the 25th. They told me they had to wait until they check bounced in my old account, then they would mail me the check. So that was another bummer. I asked them to deposit the money into my new account, they wouldn't do it. They told me they had to mail me a check, oh well.

I soon gave them my new address and asked them to mail my check there, they promised I would receive it in five days. I didn't! While driving around with Cab Driver, I got a call from Man; he had just found couches for the apartment, he wanted to tell me that they were a steal, he was going to buy them for us, i would then automatically owe him half ($75). He called again, while I was still digesting that, to tell me that those people also had a Fridge, $150, my share for that would be another $75, meaning in total, I had to pay $150 over and above all the money I had been spending all along, I blatantly refused! I told him if he wanted to buy furniture for his flat, by all means to go ahead but I didn't have the budget for that, plus what was gonna happen when we had to move out of the apartment? How would we split the furniture up? He told me that we would then find another apartment, that we would share. I didn't want to be a Debbie Downer and be like, what if things don't work out and I have to move out? Experience has taught me that I was going to have to move out for one reason or another. So yeah! I had to play safe. He told me he was going to go ahead and buy the stuff either way because he's from here and he knows how much things cost here, and those were a bargain. It's an American thing, they assume that just because you're from another country, you don't know how normal everyday life works, they always explain things to you, which to me makes them come across as not that intelligent, someone explaining something super simple. I forget that they are trying to make things easier for me. I usually just..well...Yawn.

He bought the stuff, they gave him a free tv, chandelier, cutlery, dishes, omg, you name it, with those. And cookies! Armenian stuff, the guys were Armenian. We were in the part of Hollywood with lots of Armenians, next to Thai Town, not too far from Korea Town. I felt like I was back in Georgia, there was a lot of Russian Speaking. I had to bring back my 10 Russian words haha. I taught in a Russian school in Georgia, so yeah.  I couldn't hold a conversation in Russian though, unlike in Georgian. They did get pleasantly surprised, still do, when I whoop out my 5 words.

The place is pretty central, walking distance from the 99 cents only store, my favorite Armenian bakery, lots of Bus lines in the neighborhood. It was a pretty convenient location for someone who doesn't drive. I applied for CNA jobs in the neighboring hospitals and nursing homes. Lots of Latinas in there, I don't know if they hire other races. Still haven't heard back from them

I was lucky that the very day I moved in with Man, he got the couches, our apartment looked like a living room. He had told me when I went to view that he doesn't sleep on couches or beds, he needs to be on the floor because of his sciatica problem. He went on to explain what that is. Thanks, I'm a massage therapist, so no thanks. I kinda know what that is. I might even be able to help you with that! If you can stop patronising me! They don't do it to patronise though, they mean well! He told me how he was going to empty one of his storages, move some stuff into his main storage and some to the apartment, he was going to bring his cat back which was staying at his friend's all along. I was just curious why he didn't do all that all along. All of a sudden, he's making all these life altering changes in his life. Oh well.

I had been told that he is a very busy person, he has a plethora of jobs and and and. Well...

Hollywood, Here I Come!

I weighed myself the day I moved to LA. I lost 25lbs (more than 11kg). I was psyched! I had probably lost a little before I bought a scale because I felt like I lost at least two dress sizes, which is about 14kg. I still have a long way to go, but it all starts with one step, does it not?

I took the Greyhound bus. Oh my goodness! What a shack! I had never seen such a filthy, run down Greyhound bus in my entire life! This is an international bus company that has been around for the longest time, are this people kidding me? In South Africa is the bus! Not the last one I took before I went to Georgia though, hot mess! Maybe Greyhound in general is going down, who knows? I had a ton of luggage! Initially I thought I could fit everything in my two huge bags and a small one and then carry the laptop bag. Nope! I needed another bag, and another one, and another one! This is all after I had donated four huge Black bin bags of stuff! I had to keep taking stuff out, putting it in the donate pile. Not a  very smart move when youŕe pressed for time cos youŕe not thinking clearly. I had these tiny little bags together with my two huge ones, it was a mess. When I went to check in, the lady told me, I was allowed one free checked in bag, everything else had to be paid for. I could take one, maybe even two of the small ones in with me as carry on luggage, but that was it. Uhm, what about the other five small ones and the second big one? Oops. I paid about $15 for the second big one, then she told me every other one was going to cost me $40 or so each, my best bet was to buy a box, $10, stuff all the small ones in there and pay $40 for them collectively. I had no option but to. She couldn't find the bigger boxes and her supervisor who had the key was busy, she told me to try taking them into the bus, see if the driver would let me. I tell you, I was rushing, tired and sweaty, I just needed a break. I wasn't up for carrying the bags onto the bus, being turned away, and going back to check them in, they were heavy, and I was tired. The driver didn't even look at me twice, I took everything in and found space for it inside. Yippee! I sat right behind the driver, female driver, with blonde fake hair, long, fake eyelashes and nails. Surprisingly enough, she could see the road. She was a fast yet safe driver. My kinda girl! Her son was sitting across from me, playing games on his Play Station.

The bus was FILTHY! IT reeked of body odor, sweat and just grossness from never ever being cleaned. We left around 7pm. It was going to be a 15 hour bus ride. I wasn't looking forward to being on the road that long, I was exhausted so I knew I was going to sleep majority of it. Which was a good thing. We had a few stops on the way and one major one in Vegas where we changed buses. Thank you Father! Our last stop before Vegas, an Eastern European girl got on crying, ran back out, back in, out, in Gosh! I was just like, make up your mind woman! She left her stuff on my seat. When she got back in taking her stuff, I realised she was crying, so of course I asked if she was ok. She said she was and decided to sit next to me. Don't you hate it when that happens? When you still plan on sleeping some more and someone comes and sits next to you? Not only that, she poured her heart out, she was weeping! Apparently she was leaving America for good. She had been here for a year or just under and had met and fallen in love with a man. She was sad to leave him. I understood, kinda why she was so sad. Kinda because I am hardly ever in a relationship so I don't recall going through the same thing myself. She was going to Vegas.

We entered Las Vegas! Lights! Lights! Lights everywhere. Flashing lights! Casinos and hotels, that's all I saw in every corner. It was pretty exciting, I won't lie to you! I took pictures with my silly phone which kept freezing on me. We stopped for more than fifteen minutes, I walked around and took more pictures, taking it all in! I'm in Vegas, babe! So thrilling! I wished I could spend at least the night. We got onto a nicer bus from Vegas to Los Angeles. By The way, Las Vegas means The Meadows. Los Angeles -  The Angels. Just FYI (Spanish). The new bus was much newer, it had outlets to charge out electronic devices, wifi, air conditioning, nicer, comfy leather seats #HoneyLetMeUpgradeYou! I took the same seat as before, right behind the driver, cute guy with a nice butt. There's more room there (behind the driver not in the driver's behind, get your mind out of the gutter!)

More casinos and hotels on our way out of Nevada (The State where Las Vegas is based). I had always wanted to go to Vegas, it was nice to get a taste of it, even for a few minutes. I will be back!

I tried to get some sleep the rest of the journey, I had my iPod on, listened to some music I haven't listened to in forever, I hardly ever use the iPod or listen to music on my phone for that matter. We had a few more stops, we passed through Arizona. I had been there before, on my way to Utah, when my sister's old friend took me out for lunch and a hike up the mountain in the scorching heat! All in good fun though, all in good fun! We had another stop as we entered the State of California, some dodgy spot that wasn't lit. It was still locked when we got there. A lady who was in uniform (hell, could have been a man! Welcome to California) came out to open for us. She let us into the restrooms but didn't turn the lights on, I made the hugest mistake of asking her on her way out if the lights did work. She flipped! I just came in, Just give me a minute yada yada yada! I told her, ít's a mere yes or no question. You wasted more time yapping than you would have just giving me a simple yes or no, which is all I asked for! EXCUSE ME! I gave her my hand to talk to and walked away, secretly freaking out, hoping she wouldn't follow me into the dark and stab me, shove the roaches that were having a field day all over that building down my throat or worse! She did! She followed me in there, I quickly got into a stall, sat down on a wet seat, YUCK! Clearly  I wasn't thinking because I never sit in a public bathroom and I didn't even need to use the bathroom, I just wanted to stretch my legs.

She left when she saw how much of a coward I really am haha. Oops!

We drove through the Inland Empire, the county where I lived in Ontario, then into Los Angeles County! It was morning, the Southern Californian sun was shining, it was a new day! In every way! I had really left Utah, it all happened so sudden, but it was done! I had just arrived in Los Angeles. A whole another world was ahead of me. A whole lot of uncertainty, I had nowhere to stay really, and no job, nobody was expecting me, but I knew in my heart of hearts I be just fine.

Last stop, Greyhound Station, downtown LA. I was the last one to get off. IT was around 11am. We did 16 hours on the road. I was ready to get the kcuf Out of that bus. I didn't know which direction I had to go for the hotel, I didn't care, I'm in LA Trick! I took off my many pieces of luggage, took everything inside the station and started looking for means to the hotel. I called the receptionist, she told me of two shuttle companies. One didn't work that route, the other one was going to be able to pick me up in two hours. I checked with cabs, they charged more than three times the shuttles. Crap!

I sat there trying to figure out plan C. I thought of paying for a locker, getting a day's bus pass and making two trips to drop the stuff at the hotel. The locker guy gave me a deal on that too, so I would have been set, kinda. A man who had been sitting at the station waiting for someone told me to go outside and negotiate with the backdoor taxi drivers. You know the ones who's cars are unmarked? I found one who agreed to charge me the same as the shuttle or a little more, can't remember. I had to carry my own stuff to the car though, they weren't allowed at the station. I did that bit by bit always making sure nothing was out of sight. I felt like I was in Joburg, I tell ya! Park Station. Been there, done that! Driver was sweet, he asked about me, I asked about him. He asked for my number and asked to call me that afternoon to arrange taking me out that night. He liked how excited I was to be in Hollywood.

I took my many bags upstairs, the hotel/hostel turned out to be just a hostel, which suited me just fine! Especially for the price and the location. It was a small walk from the Dolby Theatre where they hold the Oscars, The Jimmy Kimmel Studio, Chinese Theatre where they hold red carpet events, movie premiers etc, you name it! It was in the heart of Hollywood. I wanted to live there. The lady told me they might be hiring, so I talked to her boss, he told me it was a very quiet time of the year, to try again in the Summer. I understood, there weren't that many people there. I was in a six bed room all by myself, which was great. Otherwise I would have had to pay for storage for my baggage, which took over most of the closet. The lady let me put it in the room because I was alone. I bought my food across the street, at the Fresh n Easy. Nice grocery store, cheap and has fresh stuff. I got yogurt for the week, fruit and a few TV dinners and some sandwich stuff. They offered breakfast, bread, peanut butter, jelly, oatmeal and milk. I used to have the oatmeal with my yogurt as I usually do at my own place.

It was nice having my own room and only pay a sixth of the price, I also got a discount because I booked online. Score! The stars were aligned! The receptionist fast became my friend, weĺl call her Jen. Nigerian who apparently had lived in London and was now going to school in The States. She worked at the hostel in exchange for accommodation. She became my guardian angel who helped me with a lot of things, she referred me to people who helped use me as an extra, so I did that for some pocket money. I went to a lot of TV shows, and still do, too fun! Just being the same room with the likes of Queen Latifah, people I grew up watching on tv (U.N.I.T.Y that's the unity, who are you calling a b!tch?) and never thought I would get to meet in person. The first shows I went to was Craig Ferguson's, I had of him but had never seen his show. The only talk show I had ever been to before was The Felicia Mabuza-Suttle Show in South Africa when I was Weighless Slimmer of The Year early 2000's.

I stayed at the hostel for a week. In as much as I was enjoying it, I had to move somewhere where I was going to save money, I couldn't stand paying every morning. I did that because I was actively looking for a more permanent place and didn't know when I would find it. Los Angeles is rough when it comes to accommodation! These people don't play, some will put on their ad that they want you to weigh no more than 110lbs (less than 50kg) and be a certain height, go to the gym no less than 4 times a week, you must have two full time jobs and go to school full time. Basically, don't ever be home, just pay for storage. Loony, if I want storage, I will rent storage for far less! Majority of them want to room with someone they are going to have sex with. Not officially but that's the elephant in the room. So you have to pay this person for the convenience of having sex with you. How nice! Simply because they got to the apartment before you. Cos, let's face it, these people don't even own these places, they are tenants just like youŕe gonna be when you finally find a place. Some even pay less than you do, just for the heck of it!

I didn't qualify for most of the ads I saw on Craig's list, unfortunately. Some women wanted bisexual or bicurious women to room with them, someone they could have fun with behind closed doors. F#ck you! I'm not gonna pay you rent and still let you have your f*cking fun with me behind closed doors! What if youŕe not my type? They all wanna see your picture as they are for sure a catch, I mean they may not be your type! Ever thought about that greedy, horny fool?

I would go for walks everyday, and interviews, cos not only was I looking for a place to live, I was also looking for a job. I would go sight seeing, take pictures etc. I was still tired though from the last few crazy weeks I had in Utah. I wondered about Ted, called his house a few times to no avail. One afternoon after having gone to view a place around the corner from the Hostel and not being let in, the guy didn't even pick up the phone when I called from outside, I went back in disbelief, wondering if I would ever find a place in Hollywood. What a vain society! My gosh! Jen told me about an ex resident at the hostel, someone who works on the boulevard as a character, he had, not too long ago found an apartment and was looking for a roommate. She didn't have his number, I was to walk the boulevard looking for him or ask around. Apparently everybody knows him. She gave me some details about him. I googled him that night, found his facebook page and sent him a message. I was wary of weirding him out, but desperate times!

I walked down Hollywood Blvd looking for him, asking around, they told me they hadn't seen him in two weeks. They told me he had a part time job somewhere, I called the store and there they told me they hadn't heard from him in two weeks as well. Great! I hoped he would get back to me on Facebook. He seemed to be kinda active there. Unless he had taken a two week break on there as well.

Bank Roberry

One afternoon, while minding my own business, I got a call from The head of nursing. The one who had texted me before about the sexual harassment claims. I was about to go to bed, just got home from visiting Ted in the hospital. She wanted me to go to the office, she needed to talk to me. I was tired, I needed whatever little bit of sleep I could get before going back to work that night. I went to sleep. If it were that important, she would call. I still don't get this thing of professionals using text messaging! I couldn't help but wonder what she wanted to talk to me about. Nothing happened that night at work.

The following afternoon, I got a call  from the supervisor. He told me management wanted to talk to me, he was going to pick me up if I needed a ride. CRAP! Why won't these people leave me alone! He wouldn't tell me what it was about. He told me he wasn't allowed to tell. Uhm, excuse you! Youŕe going to disturb my peace and then tell me youŕe not at liberty to tell me what it's about! Really? He came by to pick me up and hinted that it was about the resident who had an issue with me, I talked about it here. I thought to myself, awesome, I am going to get fired again! Just what I need. I'm gonna be homeless and jobless.

When I arrived at the office, head of nursing was in there, the company social worker and my supervisor. IT was serious! I just wanted to wrap it up and go to bed. There was nothing I could do to change anybody's mind, might as well get some rest. They wanted to hear my side. I don't have high opinions of those people, I won't lie to you. After they let me go, I didn't care anymore, I will say, though that, I felt like they really listened to me when I gave them my side of the story. They told me they would forward the paperwork to the Department of Health and let me know the following week their findings. In the meantime, I wasn't allowed in that room. That was one more room I wasn't allowed in. Inasmuch as I was relieved not to have to see that woman's face, It wasn't a good look for me to have more and more people not wanting me to work on them. Maybe I should move to LA and start afresh!

One afternoon, on the bus home from Ted's, I saw the Jamaican lady who started just before I was let go from work? She looked rather miserable. I asked her what was going on? She told me that she got hurt at work. Not my story to tell but she couldn't find another job because of the injury and she wasn't getting paid workmen's compensation. I told her that I did hear about it when I returned to work. She told me that she was o longer talking to my friend from work. The lady they were the biggest fans of when they started out. I was like, really no? Why on earth is that? (in an accent haha). She told me the lady is two faced, she will sell you out in a flash. WWwaaahhhhhahahahahahahah #EvilLaugh Now you tell me! They were all acting cute, following her like loyal puppies, telling her all their secrets. Throwing me under the bus in front of the supervisor thinking that they were the world's best CNA, it was all a facade! Waahahahahaha! Serves you right! Enjoy your never ending sick leave biiiaaatttcchhh! I got off two stops after she got on the bus, lucky! I didn't have to listen to the rest of her depressing story. See ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!

I was glad that they didn't fire or suspend me for that lady's report. I was looking for a job in LA, just in case I ended up moving. I had an over the phone interview with an agency who deals with Home health care for the elderly. The interview lasted about a month. I Was on my way to view an apartment when they called. Try trying to impress someone while trying to find a place you have never been to and trying not to doze off cos youŕe so tired too. As my niece said this morning, I'm taking the phrase juggling things to the next level. I didn't get the place. It was too depressing, I think the guy was disappointed to see me, and vice versa, so c ya!

I started looking up hotels and other temporary accommodation in Los Angeles as my plan C. The guy who interviewed me asked to do a Skype interview the following morning with his business partner and I. I waited for their call the following morning. Partner was a no show! I ended up being interviewed by the same guy all over again. Same amount of time. Talk about redundancy! He told me that he liked me and wanted me to work for his agency, he was going to email me the contract which I was to email back to him and to call him when I arrived in LA. I was excited! Things were going the right direction! I got a call from an assisted living (old age home), they asked for my Resume (CV), I sent it to them, lady called me back, I missed her call, I called her back, she missed mine, #PhoneTag. Not cute, aint nobody gut time for dat!

While busy with all the drama of work and Ted and moving and and and, I got an email from my bank confirming the change of email address I had requested. I never requested any changes! I called to find out what the kcuf was going on. They assured me it was nothing, I had a feeling it wasn't nothing, I asked them to double check my balance and tell me what they say. The money hadn't been touched, thank goodness! That very night, I got an email from the bank again, telling me that someone tried to make a transaction on my account, they wanted me to call the bank asap. I did, I kept getting disconnected. I was torn because the lady from the bank had previously told me that that wasn't the bank contacting me, to disregard those emails. I went ahead and forwarded the emails to their Scam email address, just in case.

The following morning, I tried to access my account online and couldn't! I freaked out! I went outside work and called the bank, the guy was like, mam, I'm so glad you called, we've been looking for you! What? Why is the bank looking for me? He told me that someone did in fact try to wire money from my account, he wouldn't tell me how much. I was dying! IT was freezing outside and I was feeling hot. This is like 5 oclock in the morning! He put me through to his supervisor who in turn put me through to the fraud department. What the heyl! The cool took what seemed like forever, they still wouldn't tell me anything. They just told me that the account was blocked, I wasn't going to access it at all until I went to the branch with my ID. Lordy! I asked if my money was still there, it was like pulling teeth, those people wouldn't tell me anything. Eventually, I found out that my money hadn't been touched, praise the Lord!

I had to put that in my already tight schedule! One more thing to do. I needed my bank account to do everything I was going to be doing the next few days. Those fools picked the perfect time to mess things up for me!  On my off days, I went to the bank to apply for a new card, that took forever because it was totally an application for a new account altogether. Fools had changed my contact details, they even had a new email address with my full name @yahoo, cute s holes, very cute! They also changed my mobile number and put a South African number on there, claiming that I had gone back home in South Africa and was going to need all my money. Apparently they tried to transfer all the money to their account! All of it! Who does that? Never mind, I've already had that happen before, I know who does that! The people who took all my money when I was a struggling actress in South Africa, I had an equivalent of $2 000, they cleaned me up! I didn't need that happening to me again, I really didn't, once was way more than enough. I don't even wanna go there, can't think about that and what it did to me. But I survived it! Here I ARE!

The new card was going to take 5 business day to get delivered to my branch. Until then, I couldn't do anything! I could use an online account, but I wasn't about to activate an online account, sorry! Not again!

I emailed the guy, sent him a message on skype and texted him, nothing! Oh well! I booked a room in a hostel/hotel on Hollywood boulevard. Go big or go home, right? If I'm gonna be in LA, might as well be in Hollywood and if I'm going to be in Hollywood, might as well be on the boulevard, right by the walk of fame! IT doesn't get any more inspirational than that! I only booked one night, I didn't know if I was going to end up going to LA, in case I didn't, I didn't lose a lot of money in deposit. Time drew closer, the closer it drew, the more it looked like it was all systems go to LA. I was getting more and more excited about the change too.

I remember I had been telling my friend at work that I was due for a vacation, I felt like going somewhere far away, Vegas Maybe? I even brought it up while talking to Cindy. She was like, OMG, I was thinking the same thing too! Let's do it! Let's go to Vegas together, WHAATTTT??????? Why would you think I wanna go anywhere with you? That's not gonna happen, snap out of it! That was before she asked me for a loan. I guess I would have had to pay for the trip to Vegas too smdh.

My friend was like, you can't stay in one place for a long time, huh? You get bored easily. I was like, gurl, I've been in Utah for six months! That's the longest I've stayed in the same place in four years! Just saying! I decided to take the bus to LA, instead of flying. I wanted to make a road trip of it and see the states in between Utah and California. I knew that the route went via Vegas, that was going to be my chance to set foot in Vegas, even for a minute!

I booked a Greyhound bus the night before, I was packed - almost, because I had to move either way, so my stuff was already in bags. I had to give a ton of my stuff away though when I decided to move to LA because I wasn't going to take all that with me across three different states. That sucked. I had accumulated so much in the time I lived in that condo because I was under the impression I was going to be there for a while. Alas, I had to give most of it away. Some of the stuff, I never used. There was no time to get sentimental, I was running out of time.

I quit my job on the way to the bus station. My landlords (the roommate's parents) are so precious, they offered to drop my stuff off to charity. I didn't care which charity, so they took it to one of their choice. They then took me to the station. First to work, to resign, then to the station. It was rush rush, but we made it. Just about! I got my deposit back, yay! I still never got my deposit back from Laura! Remember her? Lady in the closet?

Teddy, What Have You Done?

I was still looking for a place to stay. Nothing was coming up! I viewed one apartment which belonged to a bunch of very friendly Mormons. They had advertised it for one amount but when I got over there the amount changed. Drastically. I would rather they not be friendly and just be honest. They told me they would contact me in future I had a feeling they were not going to and I knew I wasn't going to contact them either. I talked to a few other people who had rooms to let. Nothing came out of that either. I was running out of time.

My roommate and her boyfriend started moving back in. She had told me that they would move in two days prior to my moving out. That didn't happen. They disconnected the TV and the Internet. I was getting confused as to what was going on. They literally moved back in the way before the time they said they would. All of a sudden I was leaving with two other people and her parents were there all the time. I don't mind the parents, they are very nice people. I'm just saying that the house suddenly became very crowded. Good thing I was always in my room sleeping or working at Ted's in the daytime.

I decided to take Ted up on his offer. He was half excited and I don't know what happened to the other half. He told me I could use his room and sleep on his bed. I told him I didn't think that was a good idea I would never do that to someone like him; move in and take over his house, I mean really now!Plus this is someone who is incontinent. That bed and the entire house, for that matter had gone through a lot. To say the least. He was desperate to save money. He wanted to shop some more!

 I started cleaning up the other room and shifting things around. There was a lot to move around. The room was literally a storeroom. I finally cleared the bed up. I was ready to move in some of my things bit by bit. Ted came up with this brilliant idea, he told me that because I was going to be living with him, he wasn't going to pay me. I told him that was not part of the deal. If I was going to be at his house 24 /7 I was actually going to help him out 24 /7. We had to have a serious talk about that. He wasn't too pleased but we agreed on the original deal of him paying me for the three days out of the week that I was working for him before moving in.

Ted is such a Shopaholic, you have no idea! Every single time I went to work for him, there would always be these boxes outside the condo! He would always be ordering something new; something he already has; something he already has two or three of OR 6, of oh my gosh! I think when he saw the space that I'd made in the spare room, he thought that was for him to stock up some more. Anyway, I had a strange feeling about moving my stuff in. You know when that feeling comes along you listen! One Saturday morning, I was scheduled to work. I showed up and I knocked and knocked and knocked on the door, no answer. I just had this strange feeling. I hoped he wasn't in the hospital or worse!  I knocked and knocked and knocked on the door, no answer! I was yelling Ted Ted Ted! Finally, I wrote a little note for him saying that I was there that day and the time, the date and shoved it under the door with the hope that when he did open up the door, the wind wouldn't blow it out hahahaha.

I went back to work on Tuesday and asked Ted about Saturday. He told me that he was resting, he hadn't been sleeping well. That was one day that I was not going to get paid for that I had shown up for work for. But what can you do?

Ted was getting paid in two days, a Thursday. He didn't have money to pay me that Tuesday. Which to me kinda explains why he was resting and tired' that day. That was so that he doesn't have to pay me for the day because he didn't have enough money, he spent all his money shopaholicing!  I had the day off, the following day, from both my jobs. It was a good day. I got to do whatever I wanted to do, which included either shopping or lots of rest.

Thursday, Ted got paid, the moment I walked into the condo, he handed me a long list of things to do. Or should I say to buy. I was so happy for him! He was in such a great mood, finally having money. This is a man who eats out three times a day and still buy tv dinners (boxed meals, that you microwave), he seldom gets to eat some of the food in the fridge, because he's busy eating take outs. I wish he would cut down on his take outs but thing is when you get to that age and have nobody, you find joy in whatever you can. I wasn't going to take away the only thing that brought him joy and comfort. Well, that and porn, but who's counting?

He asked me that Thursday not to going in the following Saturday. He and I know that he needed me everyday, but I was going to do as he pleased. That's what it is! I went back to work the following Tuesday, that's five days later. My heart sank when I saw that the door was closed. He usually gets up around 7am, has breakfast and sits by the tv in the living room. By then the front door would be open. I started anywhere between nine and ten in the morning. I got in that morning to find the door closed, freaked out, as I got closer, I realised that the door was slightly open. I saw Ted on the floor. He was crying for help. He had lost his voice by then. I couldn't get in quickly enough! Literally! There was stuff jamming the door, looks like he fell, knocked a few things on his way down, they ended up blocking the doorway. Some stuff, it looks like he tried to hold on to it while trying to get up, man it was a mess! I eventually squeezed into the door. He was completely pale. I asked him a few questions to check his level of consciousness, it was hardly there! I quickly called 911. He has one of those emergency necklaces, the ones with a button you push that automatically calls 911, only thing is, when he fell, the button went behind his neck, he's too big and the arms are too short for him to reach that far and he had fallen on his back.

We won't go into detail, all I can say is, he lost a lot of blood. He didn't know how long he had been lying there for, it looked like it may have been three or four days. He could have died! If only he hadn't stopped me from going in that Saturday! I am suspecting he fell Friday or Saturday. Anyway, Emergency services picked him up, he was then hospitalised for a while. There go my moving plans! That explained why  I was stalling moving my stuff in.

I had less than two weeks before it was time for me to move out of the condo, I had nowhere to go! I started looking for a place to stay both in Los Angeles and in Salt Lake City. Oh and I had started talking to someone else online! Paul! He lives in California, three hours from Los Angeles. We exchanged numbers. He was all over the place, but I still talked to him, simply because why not? I was talking to another man from Lake Elsinore as well. This is where I worked for that Chinese woman who never wanted to pay me. When they found out I was thinking of moving back to California, both men offered to have me move in with them. I thanked them but politely refused. That was the last thing I needed. I did that with Perry and with Elvis, done! Not going to do that again. At least not at this point in my life.

Paul is 35, never been married, has 8-10 cats, depending on the day, 40 bicycles and counting. The other man lives by the lake in a trailer but he calls it an RV. I saw the pictures, it sure looks like a trailer to me. Either way, I be damned if I'm gonna move in with a man who lives in a moving home. One night youŕe here, Lord knows where you'll wake up! Plus, dude looked scary, nuff said! Apparently, he was involved in a car crash two years ago. He was with his girlfriend, she died in the scene, he is still recovering from that, both physically and emotionally. He is all about himself, he did mention on his profile that he had times when he would be so depressed. He wanted someone who would understand, thing is, he was depressed all the time! One minute, he had a nightmare, the next, his blood sugar dropped, he always wanted to know from me what to do, blah blah blah, I was just like, I can't even deal with this guy and his problems anymore!

Paul and I talked everyday, He was nice distraction. He told me to move in with him and his cats and his bicycles and get a job over there as a CNA. Thing is, I was considering quitting a job I liked to move back to LA to pursue my dream of being an actress. I wasn't about to move three hours away from LA, live with a guy who's lifelong dream was to chill out and watch tv. That dream actually came true for him, now, he kinda regrets always wishing he could grow up to be an adult sitting on the couch watching tv. I don't want to be with someone who doesn't have the same drive I have, or at least a drive, any amount, period. Otherwise, they don't get it! I can't be with someone who is going to expect me to be home everyday, cooking dinner, packing him lunch for the following day and bringing him breakfast in bed. He needs to understand the type of business I am into. That it's unpredictable.

Two weeks before the end of October, I still hadn't found a place to stay, neither in Utah, nor in LA. People in LA wanted to meet up in person first, which I totally get. I couldn't do that from three states away. I had to have a plan C. A being to find a place in Salt Lake City (Utah), B moving to LA, C, well... I decided to find Temporary accommodation. I bounced that idea on Paul. He was like, yeah, why don't you stay in a hotel in Utah? Because, Paul, I am not going to spend that amount of money to stay in a place I am over! If I am going to do that, it better be in Los Angeles, that way, I know, I am looking for permanent accommodation. All his ideas were kinda out there. In that they didn't make any sense. By the way, he has a learning disability, which he is getting paid Grant for (SSI). I guess, he is a LOT bit slow. I say that with all due respect.

I went to see Ted in the hospital, EMT (911 folks) wouldn't tell me where they were going. I am not going to say it's one of those racial issues, I'm just gonna say, they just didn't want to tell me. They left me hanging in the veranda, wondering where they were taking him, after I called them myself. I had to make a ton of calls to all kinds of hospitals looking for him. Not cute, Utahans, even you can do better than that! I finally got hold of him and scheduled a day to go see him. He was still very confused when I got there but he recognised me, which was good.He had tubes all over him. It was crazy, but he was still alive!

High Speed Chase

I was in the middle of giving Ted a shower when my phone rang on full blast. I ignored it, knowing I would just call whomever it was back. They kept calling, Ted was like, aren't you gonna answer that? It was Cindy. She wanted to know where I wanted to meet up.

Didn't I tell this woman that I was going to call her back after work? Please respect my wishes and my job! I told her I was almost done and I would call her back after work as I had said before! She was like, please do, it's urgent! B*tch! I don't care if it's urgent or not! I'm not Dr Phil! 'If it matters to you, it matters to me! If it matters to you, that's what I wanna talk about!' Well, on the contrary! 

After work, I rushed for the bus, went to the supermarket, bought some groceries, then went home, had dinner, put my feet up and watched my tv recordings. Cindy who?

She called me that night, I picked up. She told me that her husband flipped when he found out that she was cleaning the house (yup, never stopped cleaning), instead of making something to eat for his mom. Apparently husband told little one to ask Cindy to stop what she was doing and make breakfast, she told the kid to tell husband she was on it, kid told husband that that's what she said, even though that wasn't what she was doing. Husband got mad, more drama ensued. He tried to kill her. His mom didn't intervene, according to Cindy. Blah blah blah (Bears really cares about you. Why not call them? - {South African Inside Joke}). Husband then kicked her out of his the house. Ironic huh? The kicker outer became the kickee outer. Can you see the worry in my eye? Don't get your eyes checked yet, no worry over here!

She was staying at her friends, she was homeless and car less. He had taken the car keys and told her she would get them back after returning his mom's money she had saved for his mom. She told me that she was going to go to the house the following day to give him the money in exchange for the car keys. She said she was going to take the police with her. At that point, I really couldn't care less! My feet were up, I was enjoying my afternoon, didn't have a care in the world! She asked to meet up after all that. I was like, sure, let's! Like I was going to be seen with her by that husband and get killed!

The following day, I didn't hear from her. Thank Goodness! I called her that evening while I was out and about. I had a feeling, he must have disconnected the phone or something, everything is under his name and he is the kind of person to use that to his advantage. I couldn't get through to her number. No word from her at all that day!

Apparently, husband had promised to leave the keys in the car for Cindy, she was supposed to get in the house, drop the money and then leave. I know her husband, he's very smart. He would never come up with such a ridiculously dumb plan. That's something she would come up with! Because, if that were the case, all she had to do was get in the car and drive away without dropping the money off. Done! Which is what she had planned to do. Yup, she told me that!

That evening, she went to pick up their little one at school with her friend's car (Cindy's friend, not the little one's friend's car, she's only three, her friends don't have cars! Come on now, keep up! haha Just kidding). Husband and his mom were waiting by the school for Cindy. His mom wanted her money, Cindy told me she was ignoring their calls. I was like, why? Why won't you just give her her money and forget about them? That may have been a rhetorical question, I am so done trying to figure out her thought process, you don't even know! She told me she doesn't have the money, SHE USED IT! Like really now! She used a senior citizen's money, she had been saving to take with her to Africa in a few months when she goes back to Africa for good. Cindy took it upon herself to use that money! I asked her why she did that. She told me she needed money, her husband suggested she used it. Whatever!

It was time to pay up and she didn't have the money, that got her into more trouble because husband was determined to make her pay. She told me that They tried talking to her, but she just locked the car doors and drove off, they followed her. Here she is in her friend's 10-15 year old Toyota Corolla, husband is right behind her in his 2012-2013 Toyota Truck, Good luck! She called me in the midst of that High speed chase! I was like, dude, you can't do this with a kid in the car, you are going to get into big trouble. Stop somewhere and tell these people you don't have their car! She told me she wasn't going to, she was hoping to lose them. You're not gonna lose these people in your tiny car, they are driving  a Brand new truck, that thing is huge too, they see beyond other cars. I told her I couldn't continue talking to her while she was driving, the last thing I needed was for him to catch up with her and find out she was talking to me on the phone.

I never heard from her again that night. The following morning, I saw a missed call from a number I didn't recognise, I had a feeling it may have been Cindy calling from her friend's number or from jail, the hospital or something. Heck, she may have even been calling from the morgue (mortuary). I called the number back while I was at Target doing some shopping for Ted. It was Cindy! Her husband had indeed disconnected her number! She went and bought her a new phone at Wal-Mart. I had told her while I still lived with them that she needed an emergency bag with all the stuff she would need should the fit hit the shan (get it?). She was like, oh yeah, what a great idea! She never did it. I had told her that she had to have another phone, copy all the contacts onto there, blah blah blah. She does have another smart phone, but she was busy cleaning the house, she never came around to prepping the bag.

He plan was to pay the woman back once she got paid, payday was around the corner. Payday came and went, I got a call from her. She was like, call me back, it's urgent! I was on my way home from Ted's. I was getting so tired of all these urgent calls. I am not the person she should call unto in time of needs. I shouldn't even feature in her list of people to call. She had told me that her husband had once mentioned that wherever I was, I must hate her. Cindy told me she told him, Baba has no problem with me, you are the one she hates. I thought to myself, this B*tch has no clue! She has no concept of anything! If she was so innocent (even though she is the one who sent me the text to get the f*ck out of their home), how come she never stayed in touch?

I called her back on my way home. She asked me to meet her at her kid's school and lend her $1 000. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MARBLES? I SHOULD LEND YOU MONEY? I SHOULD DO THAT? Really? You must have been hit too much in the head! That's more than 10 000 bucks where I come from. You're really retarded if you think I am going to meet you at all, let alone lend you any amount of money. How are you going to give it back to me? You never have money! If you hadn't kicked out of your spotless house, I may have even given you a thousand bucks, but you fcked up, bro! That's your bad! I told her I didn't have the money. I was like, 'Remember I have been unemployed for a while and I was also homeless for a bit (never happened, God forbid), I spent a lot of money during that time. Right now, I am making just about enough to pay rent and that's it.' I was lying through my teeth. I hope she knew that I was. I like it when someone I don't care about knows I'm lying cos even so, there's nothing they can do about it. #InYouFaceBeeeeeoooootch! She was so desperate. She told me her husband was at the school with the police and his mom and they wanted the mom's money there and then. Can you imagine me rushing to save the day, these are all people who don't give a darn about me and my well being, they all don't! They all teamed up against me at some point. How dumb would I have to be to go interfere with their dysfunctional family crap? B*tch Please!

I told her to ask for an advance payment at work. She was like, yeah, they won't give me that, well then go to the bank, or whatever, I don't care! I took the train and headed home, put my phone on silent and enjoyed the evening in peace.

Next time I talked to Cindy, she told me her husband had gone to her work place to demand she pay back his mom's money. She said, he made such a scene there, they had to call the police. He made a bigger scene in front of the police that they threatened to lock him up if he didn't leave. According to Cindy, police told her that they would help her with a safe place to live and provide her with lawyers if she needed them etc. She took them up on the offer. They moved her to a shelter, just like she wanted me to live in a shelter before. She ended up moving there herself. Isn't that ironic? She had the kid with her. She started divorce proceedings.

She went to court, got a restraining order against her husband. The court ordered him to move out of his prized possession the house, Cindy and the kid were to take over the house. She told me all this with such a smile on her face, I could hear it over the phone. I asked if she wasn't afraid kicking the man out of his own house, he had made no secret of the fact that that was his house, he was paying for it. Don't get me wrong, all you who live with men, married or not, I get the whole, oh but I contribute too etc but this man would die for that house. I would never be the one to get between him and that house and still be proud. That could end so badly. I brought that up, but Cindy was like, I have a restraining order. I said ok, I'm sure that will prevent him from shooting you, the kid and then himself.

I got over finding myself unintentionally giving her advice. I guess I can't help myself cos I had no intention of being of any help to her but because she is so bright, you find yourself intervening and offering some advice. I had to stop talking to her. I did so more than I had planned to anyway. She told me that she needed a character witness for him. Apparently, I was the only person 'still in her life' who could help in that regard. I begged her not to give my number to anybody, I don't want to go to court for any reason whatsoever. She told me that they were only going to talk to me off the record. I was like, either way, I don't want to get involved. What does the court normally do when there is no character witness? Please!

A few days later, I was back at my old job, I got home and was asleep. Got a call around 9 in the morning from social services. They got my number from Cindy! They wanted to talk to me about her husband. I never picked up the call because since talking to Cindy, I had gotten to paranoid. They left me a voice message. I thought to myself what kind of a person am I dealing with here? She didn't care, she was going to do whatever it took to ensure that things went her way! She called me after two days or so. I asked her about giving social services my number against my wishes. She told me she didn't do that. She had given my number when they moved her to the shelter, they asked for someone to call in case of emergency, she gave them my number. SHE GAVE THEM MY NUMBER! MY NUMBER! AS AN EMERGENCY CONTACT! REALLY? The hell was she smoking? Who am I to her? Where are her real friends? What the heck!

She tried calling me a few days after that, I wasn't in the mood, so I didn't pick up. She sent me a text saying that my phone she was going through to my voicemail every time she called me recently. Well that was because I was back at my old job and she always called when I was asleep. I didn't tell her that.though. A few days after that,  She sent me this text , 'Are you ok?' that's the text that sealed it all for me! For her to ask me, four/five months after kicking me out of her house if I was ok, just because she wasn't able to get hold of me for me to help her with her messy divorce was juuuuust! It was the most annoying message she could ever sent me. She should have never done that. That was the last time I talked to her. 

Phone Calls From The Dead

Not too long after taking my exams, I got a call from the girl from Sudan, she wanted to know what to expect from the exam. Uhm, why are you calling me? We're not friends! I gave her the most ambiguous answer, we talked for a bit, she wanted to know if they were hiring at my job, I told her they were always hiring because they always fire people, I myself was no longer working there. She didn't want to work there without me. I am not sure why. It's not like we were friends! She told me she had scheduled for her exams and would call to update me. She never did. 

I didn't realise how much I missed everybody, especially the residents (patients) until I saw them again. 

CNA's had designated wings this time around. I worked the East side. They hired two new people just after me. We were short staffed for a while, having to work non stop, with no breaks, running around like headless chickens. I wondered why it took them so long to get me back to work if they were short staffed, oh well, one of those mysteries of life. The scheduling was still the same as before. That girl still got more days than other people. I was done stressing the second time around. I went in at 10pm on the dot, did my job, left in the morning, that's it! Nothing more. Well, except for the times they would ask me to fill in for others and work overtime, the supervisor would even pick me up and drop me off whenever he needed me to work overtime. It was a five minute drive. 

There is a bunch of ladies at the facilities who are friends, they smoke together, go out to the movies together and all that. They are not roommates. I was cool with them, one of them had been there forever, the other one only for three months and the other one for about a month. The Newbie, was in my wing. She would always ask to be woken up to use the bathroom about three times a night. I didn't mind. I did do rounds three times a night, I could have woken her up when I was in her room for my rounds but she wanted to be woken up at specific times. God forbid you should be a minute late! She would walk past the linen room, come all the way to me, tell me she needs fresh linen and walk back to her room, passing the linen room again. I had a weird vibe about this woman! 

One night, one of my residents had fallen, when they fall, you have to check their vital signs every 15 minutes for an hour, every 30 mins for 2 hours, every hour for blah blah blah. The first three hours are the worst because you can't get anything done, just after you're done checking them, you need to check them again. Within minutes of the resident falling, I got called outside by another resident. Another one had fallen. Also from my wing. That's 15 minutes for an hour, etc etc simultaneously! While doing my rounds, I realised that one of the residents wasn't in a good condition, I informed the nurse, she did what she could, but had to call Emergency services (911). So now, I had two people who had fallen and one who was in a critical condition. Newbie hunted me down, until she found me to confront me about not waking her up in time. She wanted fresh linen. My colleague was in her room helping her roommate! I asked Newbie if she could wait a minute for my colleague to help her as I was busy with an emergency. She knew! She could see! She found me in that room with emergency people! And she knew my colleague was in her room. On my way out, I decided to just get her the linen and get it over and done with, so I did. I got her three of everything.

She came back, nudged me on the shoulder and called me out of that room to tell me that one of those night gowns was way too big. I grabbed it, threw it in the hamper (washing basket) and asked her to use another one from the ones I had given her. 

The night ended on a good note, nobody died, nobody else fell, happiness all the way.

I got  a call from Spotty, he wanted to go to the park together that weekend. I accepted not thinking it was going to happen. As a result, the day of, I was spring cleaning the condor, I didn't even think about him. He texted me two days later asking if I had fun at the park. I replied '?'. He told me he thought he saw someone who looked like me over there. He even said hi. I ignored him. He was wasting my time. He called and was like, weren't you at the park this weekend. Yes, s hole, I was, with you! What a jerk! I was like, first you call me out of the blue, ask to take me to the park, call a few days later to confirm, disappear and then rock up with a random text like how was it? What is this? Are you going to act like you didn't stand me up? I told him, I didn't sit by the phone waiting for his call, but he doesn't know that, therefore, he should acknowledge the fact. He was like, yeah, I thought we could be friends but this just got weird. I was like, bye! The f*ck!

My roommate, who was never there. She spent all her time at her boyfriends, sent me a text that she wanted to talk. I called and asked what it was about. Her boyfriend's lease had expired, they decided to move back to the condo, they wanted me out. Great! I started looking for another place to stay. She gave me ample notice, more than a month. This was the month I got my job back, I was losing my apartment. Winter was around the corner. It was getting dark early, I had to find a place closer to work, that wasn't going to be easy. I wasn't psyched about the news at all. When I moved in, they told me they don't really use the apartment, three months later they wanted me out. I wasn't about to challenge someone about their own home. Time to hit the road, Jack! When will I stop moving?

While I was at work one afternoon, at Ted's, I got a call from my supervisor. He wanted to tell me that Cindy had been looking for me. Four Month's later! You know I blocked bother hers and her husband's numbers. She decided to call my job. I wasn't back there yet, but we were in talks with my supervisor. I called her back out of curiosity and the need to feel that justice had been served. I had always felt that she would need me one day when that husband of hers tries to kill her again. She was like, 'stranger, I haven't heard from you in a while?' Is this b*tch kidding me right now? B*tch, you kicked me out of your house! 

Cindy - How are you doing?

Me - Ok, thanks, you?

C - Ok thanks, where do you live now?

M - Murray?

C - Where?

M - Murray

C - Nice! Where about in Murray? What's the address?

Me - Uhm, what's up, what's new with you? I heard you were looking for me?

C - It's a long story, I will tell you in person, what's your address?

M - Why don't we meet halfway between my place and yours?

The f*ck's she talking about, what's your address? YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN MY HOME! I don't want your negative energy there and your yelling husband and your screaming child! That is my precious place, I am happy there! Happiest I have ever been in this country, you will no mess that up for me! Why are you so eager to come to my place all of a sudden? When you kicked me out at four oclock in the morning, what did you think my address was going to be? F*ck you!

C- I've to pick up little one from school, then I can come to you afterwards, what's the address?

M - I'm at work right now, why don't I call you after, we can arrange then? Are you ok though?

C- Ok

M- Cheers

Got License?

I had ample time between my two exams and the testing locations were near each other albeit I'd never been to either.

I took the bus to the next location. A very big college building, with theatre halls and all kinds of stuff! I had more than an hour to kill, so I made my way to Mc Donald's and had me something to eat from the dollar menu. Don't judge me, I make my dollar stretch! Far! After that, I headed back to the school, I met a cool chick from my school, we hung out for a bit amongst homeless people who were lying on the lawn in the shade. Her exam time was before mine. The invigilator asked if I wanted to get in with her. I appreciated her offering but needed more time to go over everything, so I politely declined.

We had 150 questions, pass mark was 75%. Problem is, it was only multiple choice questions. You know how they are! All answers look like possible answers. I took my time, checked what I thought was right. They hardly asked anything we had studies, a lot of it was general knowledge. I left there feeling less confident than I did walking in. They were going to send the papers to the department for grading, we would find out in two weeks whether or not we had passed by receiving a certificate in the mail or a voucher to reschedule exam. Question is, would I receive any of those at all in my mailbox, what with my history! I didn't hold my breath.

I still had my job with Ted. It was still challenging. He fell two or so more times, averaging once a week. No fun! He watched a lot of Porn, you know, the playboy channel; couples swapping partners, licking, sucking, you name it, all on camera! He invited me to sit and watch with him a few times. I refused a few times. He once told me it feels nice when I touch him there! OK Ted! Let's keep some things to ourselves! He asked me over and over to move in with him and use the spare bedroom. He wasn't going to charge me rent. Thing is, I really enjoy my independence, something I hadn't had in a while. I was enjoying to pay for my own things, plus his condo still needed some work. I told him all that.

I had an interview at a nursing home right next door to Ted's. It went very well, they promised to call. They never did! I called them a few times to which they promised to call me back which they still never did! After three or so days, I started checking the Nursing  Registry of Utah's website to see if my name was listed there. As soon as you get licensed, they list  you over there. I wasn't going to keep checking the mail because of my history with that. I wasn't in the mood to get depressed. I literally had their website open all the time on my internet browser, I would just keep refreshing and refreshing, morning, noon and night. Daily. On the fifth day, I punched my name in and IT SHOWED UP! I was so happy, I was shaking! The first person I called was my supervisor. He had told me my job was mine as long as I had my license. He told me to meet him at work the following day. I called my sisters (By the way, I have brothers too, fyi but my sisters are my best friends. How are you doing bros?), they were just as happy for me as I was for myself. It had only been about two weeks or so since I was let go from work.

I went to meet up with the sup the following day. He told me to bring him the license as soon as I got it. I told him to look me up because that's what they do anyway to verify. He told me that one of the new girls had gotten her nursing license and had put in her notice, she was going to leave as soon as they found replacement for her. I asked him to tell her to leave, I was available to start that very night. He promised to call me. He didn't.

I called him almost everyday ever since, he told me he and the girl had agreed, she was going to serve a week's notice instead of two. I could start early. YESSSSSS! A week came and went, I called him, he told me he didn't have any position for me. I asked about the girl who was going to quit early for me. He told me he had filled that position. I was devastated! He had just given my job away, again! Why? Why? Why? I lost all faith in him. I got to the point where I didn't know if I was going to get the job back.

He called me after a week or so and told me a position had opened up. He wanted me to go to the office to sign a contract. After my three month probationary period, I qualified for benefits, they let me go, so I no longer did. He told me I wasn't fired, I assumed I would pick up where I left off, instead they made me sign a new contract with a new start date. I stopped liking them completely. I was on probation, again! What in the hell!

From then, I stopped having that thing that I had for that place, you know doing whatever it takes because I felt like they deserved it. They were a nice company to work for. I didn't care anymore, they had screwed me over one too many times! I signed the contract, peed in a cup, and all that. Then, he told me to be back the following night. I didn't call to confirm, I just showed up at 10pm that night. I wasn't going to risk hearing another story.

It was so good to be back! My friends were working that night, my fave nurse, remember the one who once offered to let me use her car to drive home instead of sleeping in the office? It was a nice first night. Good to back!

The Aftermath

Weeks prior this is the same man who said, 'what? No, I'm not breaking up with you! Do you think I would take you out and then break up with you? That's mean! I would never do that!' Good thing I don't believe anything anybody says until they actually do it or else I would have been crushed that he went ahead and did exactly that which he had vowed he would never do. I rushed in to work and clocked in. I wanted to be on time for my last few days there. That's all I had at that point. My new best friend had just dumped me. We spent all our time together, laughing and joking and just being and he just dumped me. Just like that! As if all that meant nothing to him. Clearly, it didn't!

All I asked is if he were sure that's what he wanted. When he said he was, I said ok, bye, I gotta go. I'm late for work! That was it! I had nothing else to say. I have nothing to say to someone who doesn't want to be with me. What else is there to say? Please, please don't leave me! You love me, I know you do! I can make you happy? N word, please! That's when you start regretting and feeling sorry for yourself, wishing you could take back what you said. I deleted his number so I wouldn't find myself calling him and all communication with him. NEXT!

I remember I was working with the two new girls that night. The one who was going to be a nurse, she was like, hey, how are you doing? I told her, I just got dumped. Her response, 'interesting!' I found that interesting, who says that? These new girls were little b^tches! That was my last night before my two off days and officially my last night at work as the off days fell on the last two days of the month. Thanks Spotty, for picking such a fine time to dump me!

Walking home that morning, I felt it! Having just been dumped and losing my job the same day, surely there is no God! If he were there, why would he put someone like me through all that? What was left for me to do? I was more depressed for having lost my job and the way that it happened than the break up but that just added fuel to the fire. I was mad at God for letting it all happen. That shook my belief in Him. What was I going to do in Salt Lake City? I had just moved into this new, expensive apartment. I sucked it up and took it even though it was expensive because it was close to work. I only lived there for a month and I lost my job! What was the point? There I was stuck with my new, nice place which was around the corner from a job I no longer had. What was I going to do with myself? I had been looking for another job, everybody told me they were hiring, I filled out applications but no body actually hired me!

I arrived home feeling like sh#t, I called my two sisters. They were right there with me, just as sad and depressed for me but they tried to make me feel better. They all told me to pray, I was like, yeah, that's not gonna happen, f&ck god and all that. If he's out there, he can come and find me. I'm going it alone from here on out! Clearly, I was all alone all along. I stopped praying, I stopped believing, I stopped all that. I had work at Ted's that morning. When it was time, I got ready, and headed off to his place. That job was all I had. I didn't have any friends in Utah, Cindy, the reason I was there to begin with had kicked me out of her house, MB my friend from work had accused me of sexual harassment and tried to get me fired, my new friend from school (Sudan), was acting weird) and I just got dumped, I had no social life at all. I was like, finally, I get to watch my tv recordings! #BrightSide! I got more rest, none of that one hour of sleep here, one hour there, running around from my place to Spotty's, spreading myself thin. I had time to take my multivitamins, and to watch what I ate. I bought a scale and started recording my weight weekly.

I called the department of health to enquire about my voucher, they had it! I asked if I could pick it up myself, they agreed. Hope! The following day, my second day off or out of a job, I took the two hour bus to the dept to pick up my voucher. I tell you, I had such mixed emotions when I finally had it in my hands. I rushed home, had to find a testing place. They have about a dozen in the entire state. I called a few and left messages. I found a spot the following week! It was time for me to take out them books and study, HARD! I wasn't going to fail that text for my life depended on it! I studied, and studies and youtubed videos of some of the practical stuff.

It was hard for me to look through my bedroom window for the view from my room was the main road and the on ramp into Spotty's street. I didn't wanna see it, I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't!

I worked three times a week, five hours per day, Ted bout lunch, and breakfast sometimes, everyday. He bought me lunch too. I didn't care about that, I asked him to let me buy myself whatever I wanted for myself with an equivalent of what I would have spent on lunch. He agreed, so everyday, I would buy some groceries, a few yoghurts here, some fruit here, veggies, etc. It felt nice to go home with shopping bags everyday! I didn't have to worry much about groceries in my budget, which was already so limited. I had some money in my savings to cover rent but I didn't want to go there, you never wanna go there. I was still going to get paid mid August for the last two weeks of July, so I was going to be ok in that sphere.

In a flash, the following week arrived, it was time to go take the exam. We had two, one written and a practical one. Everybody was talking about the practical exam, apparently, the examiners don't play! You can only miss so many marks and that's it, they fail you if you lose more marks! I was going to take my exams at two different places, I wanted to take them the same day. I started with the practical. I hardly slept the night before. I was on youtube all night long, looking at videos and stuff. I got ready, took the bus and headed to Salt Lake Community college. I had never been there before, thanks to the GPS, I made it, easy breezy! Plus it was right by the train station.

They took in two people at a time. You take each other's vital signs, i.e. blood pressure, temperature, pulse and all that. The girl I was going to go in with was young, she was ever so prepared, she was ever so chilled. I was still on youtube on my phone, still going through the book. I was asking her questions, she had all the answers off the top of her head. I was envious! Our turn came, the examiner seemed serious, she looked kinda like a librarian. She asked where I was from. I told her,her face lit up. She had been to South Africa in the eighties. In the apartheid (segregation). Inasmuch as I wanted us to talk about it, I was too nervous to even think, let alone speak. I have gotten nervous at auditions and thought that was the most nervous I had ever been, it wasn't! That day! That was the most nervous I had ever been! EVER!

We went through a few questions, that girl and I, we got those, easily. Then it was time for vital signs, she offered to go first again, because she saw how nervous I was. My Blood Pressure had shot through the roof! The examiner thought she did it wrong, she asked me if I suffer from BP, I told her I don't! I may be fat, but I'm good! She took my BP herself, it was UP! They told me to take a minute while that girl took the examiner's for exam purposes, they told me to take deep breaths. I tried, the nerves were killing me! Literally! I had to pass that thing! They came back to me, took my BP again, it was higher than before! They told me I could go home and reschedule. WHAT! Are you bleeping me? I lost my job for this sht, I need my License! ASAP! I told her I wasn't going to go through all that only to go home. What was I going to do at home? The hell with that!

The chilled girl wasn't getting the correct readings, she tried taking the pulse so many times, she just wasn't getting it right, they had to fail her and tell her to reschedule. What do you think that did to my BP? this was the girl who was so prepared! If SHE was gong to fail, who am I? Well, I'm the girl who NAILED IT! After she was let go, we took a minute and talked about South Africa. I think that lowered my BP a bit. She had some interesting stories to tell. They wouldn't let her go to the blacks only toilets (she's White, we're in Utah, remember? Everybody's white). She was so pressed, they just wouldn't let her! They also would let her onto the blacks only bus and she was in such a hurry, haha. Their black friends had to sneak into their house and not be caught by police.

After that, I had to  pick a random card with random things I was going to get tested on. Nailed it! She went, Congratulations! I was like, errrrr?!?!?!?!? She told me, we're done! You passed! Ohhhhh myyy goddd! Don't get it twisted, I still didn't believe in god! It was just an expression! I was so happy, I forgot my floppy hat there, and the sun was killing outside! I didn't care! Good thing, I bought it at the 99cents store. Off to the written exam!

Feelings, Schmeelings!

I took a quick shower, had dinner, Client, we'll call him Ted, had bought me lunch, chicken salad from his favorite Mexican restaurant. That's what I had for dinner. It was delish. Must be all the poop in it hahahaha! #Nutrients

I dozed off after dinner, I didn't know if I was still up to going over to Spotty's. I had been up for 24 hours and working hard the entire time! I saw a lot of poop in that space of time! Spotty sent me a text telling me he had an uninvited guest, he would call me when she had left. I was like, ok. He kept texting me promising me that nothing was going to happen, he was loyal to me, blah blah blah. How was I to prove that?  I wasn't going to question him because that wasn't going to change anything but at the same time, that didn't mean I believed him. I hardly knew the men! Even if I did know him, that wouldn't change anything, people will still do whatever they want, no matter your opinion of them. 

He called to tell me she had just left, it was late, he understood that I was tired, he thought to let me rest that night, we would meet up the following day. He appreciated how maturely I handled the whole situation. Apparently the guest was his ex girlfriend, she had taken her bike for a ride and ended up in his neighbourhood, it started raining, so she just drove over to his place. That was his story, true, false, whatever! We talked over the phone for an hour or more, then went to sleep.

At one point, Spotty asked me for naked pictures of me. I refused. He asked why I was so uptight, he wasn't going to show the pictures to anyone, all his exes had given him their naked pics, he still had them. I was like, talk to me again about it when you no longer had pictures of your exes.  I don't get it, but oh well. I don't know why someone who introduced me as a friend to people, who had himself told me he didn't have the kind of feelings he should for me, would want naked pictures of me! 

Back to work in a few days. At the end of the shift, my friend wanted to talk to the supervisor about her roster for the following month. I asked the supervisor for specific days of, his answer was, 'If I were you, I would worry more about getting my license than off days cos you might not even have a job here next month.' In his broken English with Mexican accent. How you doing Mexicans! This he said in front of the entire night shift crew. He was very show off, that guy. I was dumbfounded that that's how he wanted to talk to me about me losing my job. A few days before I did, in public! What if I hadn't asked for those off days? I told him that I didn't know what the delay was but I still hadn't received the voicher. The new girl, from Jamaica was like, that's strange! Sup was like, you know you didn't do the course, why would you expect a voucher when you didn't even do the course! He was on the roll that morning! My friend was like, yes, she did the course, she was sleeping on the couch at work, going to work and classes at the same time! He insisted I didn't do it. Jamaican was like, if you had done the course, you would have gotten your license by now. I wanted to kick her through her stomach, and pull that ugly thing she had on her head off! B*Tch, who's talking to you? STFU!

I left, in disbelief that I was really going to lose my job and there was nothing I could do about it. It was the last week of July, even if I did get the voucher in the mail, I didn't have enough time. I had a lot to think about that morning. Spotty had work early that morning, he called me on his way back,  I told him what had happened at work, he was so pissed off that they would treat me like that. That's one thing about him, he doesn't just say, oh ok, I'm sorry to hear that, do you wanna make out? He feels you pain, and gets more pissed than you. Love it! That's how I get :) #Passion

Last Sunday of July, Spotty took me out. We went to the park again. This time, he didn't pack us a nice lunch or anything. He picked me up from my place, walked in and was like, 'what?'. I went, 'what what?' He told me I looked like I wasn't in a good mood or something. I was fine, he looked like he wasn't in a good mood. I felt like with him, I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

We sat at the park, he smoked pot the entire time, he even stocked up on more weed right there in front of me. I consider myself pretty open minded but there are things that you, as a gentleman, shouldn't do in front of a lady, like dealing in weed. Couldn't he go somewhere, do the deal and then come back to me? He was not nice the whole day. I didn't get why he picked me up at all. I had work that night, I could have just hung out at my place and watched TV recordings. Later on, I was like, I think it's time to go now! He took me to The Olive Garden (Restaurant), bought us dinner. It was divine, I had stuffed mushrooms, and seafood.

He flirted with the hostess on our way in, and introduced me as his friend. We sat and had dinner, he took offense in everything I said. Thank goodness dinner was delicious, otherwise the whole thing would have been a complete mess. He packed some of his dinner for me for lunch at work that night. Which was nice, I guess.

It was raining outside by the time we left. I assumed, as a person who has a limo driving, aka in being a gentleman, he would bring the car around and pick me up. He was like, come on, let's go. I was like, Aren't you gonna bring the car around? He told me no, unless I wanted him to leave me behind. I put my handbag over my head and ran to the car. When we got in the car, he said something along the lines of I'm lucky he didn't leave me there. I was like, then I'd call a cab! I know a guy! He took offense to that too because I'm not supposed to have a cab driver's phone number when he himself is sort of in the business. Well, clearly I will need this guy, if you're threatening to desert me in the rain at night on my way to work!

This was three days before my last day at work. Everything had been confirmed. I was going to have to be removed from the system because I didn't have my license.

We arrived at my place, he waited while I got ready for work. We got to work just in time. Just before I got off the car, he broke up with me.
























, what? I'm like  what what?