Did This Guy Just Try to Kiss Me?

I continued to feel like an outsider at our place. I tried looking for something else online. I bumped into Man’s ‘girl’ a few times on the boulevard. Once, she said, ‘sh*t!’ when she turned around and I was right there haha. I said hi, she said sh*t! Oh well.

I posted my own ad online after responding to numerous ads looking for a place and having people flake out on me. One morning, I took the bus to see a Game show taping, Mind of a Man, hosted by the cute actor and comedienne, DeRay Davis; I got a response from a guy who we’ll call Speed. I had posted that I was looking for a private room to rent. He had a huge room for me with a couch. I was excited, it was what I was looking for and because I didn’t have furniture, I could just use his couch. I emailed back asking for pictures. He told me that he wasn’t able to attach them and asked for my phone number. I wasn’t that psyched about sending a random man from Craig’s list my number. He assured me (not that that carried any weight with me) that he was a responsible, decent man who wouldn’t abuse my number. I sent it to him because I was desperate for a way out not because I trusted that he wasn’t going to abuse my number. He sent me a slide of pictures of the apartment and one of himself with the creepiest smile I’ve ever seen. I showed that to my new friend. A girl I was sitting next to on the bus. She was going to the same show I was and had been there before. She also happened to have a nice wig and told me where I could get them for a nice price. From then on, we became bosom buddies. When she saw Speed’s picture, she was like, oh heck no! Ignore! Do not move in with this man, he looks creepy as hell! I was like, I bet you this guy is a vegetarian. With all due respect to vegetarians, I’m somewhat of a vegetarian myself, one who loves meat but hardly ever eats it, I’m just saying though; dude looked like a yogi and a vegetarian. That’s not what’s creepy looking about him. It’s his smile that is! He has a smile of a 3 year old girl. Like Fck the what?!?!?!?

I responded on account of don’t judge the book by its cover. I didn’t sent him my picture in return though. We arranged for me to go view the following morning. He works as a tour guide. I rushed over to his the following morning. He met me at the gate. He looked much much older in person, maybe 86? He took me upstairs to the apartment, I went in there and saw one giant room, much bigger than where I was living. I asked to see the bedroom, he was like ‘this is it! I told you it was one big room that we would share’ #BubbleBurst. It was a huge room with a bed, a huge, leather couch, bathroom, two closets, kitchen and dining space. It was quite spacious. I told him I would have to think about it. We sat on the couch and talked for a short while then I had to leave for my date with Lewis. Speed had lived in Utah too so we had something in common. I thanked him for his time and as I was about to leave, he gave me a hug. I didn’t think we were that well acquainted for us to hug but ok, some people are huggers, I guess.

He walked me to the gate, then gave me another hug, talked some more then gave me yet another hug and went for a kiss in the mouth, I ducked, and he got me in the cheek. Bye! I could swear he said by honey, but I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong! I walked away puzzled, talking to myself, ‘did this man just try to kiss me?’ DID THIS MAN JUST TRY TO KISS ME? I couldn’t believe it. Again, I hope I was wrong cos that came out of the blue. We weren’t even talking about romantic stuff or anything. At least as far as I’m concerned. #OnlyInHollywood

I took the bus back to mine, Lewis texted and told me that he was outside already, CRAP! I had a small window to freshen up and get ready. As I was walking towards my place, I looked at the cars parked on the side of the road and wondered which one Lewis was in. There were all kinds of cars in front of the apartment, I never realised the variety of cars out there until that day haha. There was nobody in any of the cars I looked at though. I saw a man with a hat standing in front of the house next to our complex, I wondered if it was Lewis. As I drew closer, I was like, whew, thank goodness, it’s not him! The man had a cap with three sides, wait, no, four! It was kinda like a cap/floppy hat, dark green, kinda like a farmer’s hat, he had a fanny pack on (moon bag) and safety boots. I promise I don’t go around judging random people’s outfits, I’m just giving you a picture of the guy I was grateful wasn’t my date that morning. As I was about to enter the gate at our complex, the man turned around and said hi IT WAS MY DATE, LEWIS! Christ! I was like, hey! How are you? I couldn’t believe my eyes. He is definitely short, probably my height, shower than he said he was. Trust a man to lie about his height. Men always have to add inches, be it height or length. I rest my case.

I quickly went in, freshened up and went back to him. He took me to his uhm car? Huge 1970’s truck, you know those old steel trucks from way back when? I thought he was kidding me when he took me to that particular truck of all the cars that were parked out there. He opened the door for me and asked me to open for him from inside because the thing doesn’t work on his side. Of course it doesn’t! SMDH. Really Jen? You hooked me up with THIS guy?

He asked if I was hungry, I told  him yeah, he took me to his favourite restaurant in Burbank or Studio City, can’t remember. Earth something. All organic and healthy stuff. The food was delish. He told me to order whatever I wanted. Which was nice but was it necessary? I don’t know. Before the restaurant, he went to the bank, withdrew a ton of money and held it in a clear plastic bag, then he sorted it out and put it in his fanny pack. He reminded me of the minibus (taxi) drivers from South Africa. The subject of me being too old and too fat for me to be acting came up again. Dude talks loud! I wasn’t gonna tell him to tone it down. That’s rude. I let him be. After about an hour of screaming, he said, ‘I think I was talking too loud, that lady just signalled for me to tone it down’. LMFAO, Thank you, lady!

During the date, I got a text from Speed. It went something along the lines of, ‘Hey brooke (I can’t stand it when people spell names with small caps.) as far as I’m concerned, you are it! Call me after your date. I would like to play you some music, maybe we can talk some more about your travels.’ Speed is in a band. He’s a bass player. I waited until after the date to get back to him.

He paid for the meal and asked the waiter not to keep the change, he would tip her afterwads. She brought the change, he took all the money, put it in his fanny pack and we left. No Tip! #awkward.  He took me home and promised to call when he got home. Just before he drove off, he asked me for some casting agency contact numbers, HE wants to pursue acting! Are you kidding me? If I’m too old and fat,and he’s ten years older than me, how is he the right age to get into acting?

The Lady Is a Tramp

One afternoon, Man asked if I wanted to go with him to The Boulevard (Hollywood blvd), there was going to be a red carpet event, he wanted autographs. Of course, I said yes. We headed over there, there were tons of people already waiting for the celebrities. We were there quite early too! I got to meet Man’s ex, nice Argentinian lady! The celebs showed up about three hours after our arrival. Nobody signed that evening. It was an experience for me, having never been to that kind of stuff before. I took pictures. Sorry, my internet is still too slow. When I get faster internet, I will post picture blogs. After the red carpet thingy, we went over to the hostel. We hung out with Jen. She hooked us up, remember? It was a nice night in Hollywood. We must have hung out out there for more than two hours. A random lady showed up out of nowhere and was very happy to see Man! He didn’t seem that psyched but what do I know? I’m just a girl from Africa. They excused themselves and went around the corner, came back after about five minutes. Something about that rang bells in my head. Head being the operative word. If you catch my drift.

Just before we left, Man told me that the girl is ‘coming over’. I was like, ok! On our way home,she walked so fast, he was trying to catch up with her and slow down for me, we formed a line, she, in front, he, torn in the middle and me chilling in the back. If I didn’t know better I would think she was trying to lose me but we were going to my place, b!tch where’s your place? She had a backpack on her back. We took the bus, then walked some more off the bus. Same line thing all over again. I thought to myself, I don’t like this girl, why she gotta act so weird?

We arrived at the apartment, they watched some TV, No talking, just tv. It was awkward. I felt so much like a third wheel. I felt like if I weren’t there, sh!t would be going down. . . until, I heard her giggle, and of course my eyes went straight toward them. He was touching her in her hello Kitty! I didn’t hear anybody say no, she was all giggly, I thought to myself what a sl*t! Hello, I’m right here! I can see you foos! I was getting worked up with the disrespect of it all. I texted Jen and asked if she knew that girl. She told me she’s homeless, she crashes at friend’s homes and never leaves. I told her she was there with us, she was like OMG, she’s sleeping over. WHAT?!?!?!?! She told me the girl’s whole life is in that backpack. She goes home with whomever and never leaves.

Me:        Is your friend spending the night?

Man:     IF SHE WANTS TO.

ME:        So you guys are going to have sex with me right here and you don’t care?

Man:     WE WERE GONNA WAIT UNTIL YOU WENT TO SLEEP.

Me:        Oh hell no! Asleep or not, nobody is having sex here tonight! Not with me in the same room, f*ck that! Are you kidding me? I am going to hear you guys! What happens if I wake up in the middle of all that?

Man:     WE’RE GOING TO BE QUIET!

Me:        No you won’t! You’re not going to have sex. Not here. Not tonight!

Man:     But I told you she was coming over and you didn’t have a problem with that!

Me:        Coming over and sleeping over are two different things. Why would you think a normal person would not have a problem with someone having sex in the same room as them?

Man:     -.

I stayed up, used the internet,in total disbelief of what was about to take place at the place I called home. I wanted to go hide somewhere. We hung around the hostel for more than two hours. That’s more than enough time to have sex. He couldn’t take that girl home then, boink her silly and then tell me when he was done so I could go home and sleep? Nobody is c0ckblocking anybody. All I ask is that you don’t make me watch. I’m not into that. That woman was like, uh oh, did I do something wrong. I ignored her cos why are you talking? Who’s talking to you? STFU! Go home! I would have left the moment the awkwardness began. Scratch that, I never would have tried to sleep with a man in the same room as someone else. Plus they aren’t even a couple. But that’s none of my business. They ended up leaving around 1:30am. Man came back after about an hour or two. He wasn’t talking to me the following day. I could care less. I knew there and then that it wasn’t going to work out. I had to start looking for another place to stay. As if the Cat smell and all the other grossness wasn’t enough, now we’re adding wh0res to the equation. Enough is enough. When will I ever settle down?  I asked if we were not talking, he told me he was mad at me, he didn’t understand why I over reacted the night before when he forewarned me of what was going to happen and I was ok with it. Clearly that was a huge misunderstanding because I will never be ok with being disrespected that way. I told him that it would have been different if I was out and he asked me to give him some time until further notice or something.

The following day, he messaged me and asked me to give him an hour or so. I got the message an hour late, I was still out, heck, I gave him two more hours over and above that, to air the space out. When I got home, she was there, relaxed and f*ck, he was shirtless. I had to fight not to have an image of what happened a few hours prior in my head. Out of spite, the probably did it in my bed, who knows? One can only hope for the best, right? I don ‘t want to live with someone who I have a feeling would do something like that. He is a good person though, I don’t think he would do that, but then again, I don’t know him that well, so.

She was at our place every other day for like 12-15 hours per day. I would find her there in the afternoon when I got home and she would leave the following morning around 1 or 2. Whenever she was there, a roll of my double ply toilet paper would go missing. It got to a point where I had to hide it. B*tch got expensive taste! Use your f*ck buddy’s single ply 99cents store toilet paper, boo. Leave my stuff alone WTF! When I hid my tp, Man marked his. It was the craziest most hypocritical thing. Excuse you, your hoe has been stealing my sht! No pun intended. I had no interest in his thin-stick-in-your-butt-cheap-*ss-toilet-paper anyways.

I guess the girl had officially moved in with us. They smoked weed all hours of day and night, she was loud and obnoxious, walking around the apartment barefoot. I tell ya b*tch got comfortable. She was more comfy there than I was, that’s for sure. I had nothing to say to her, my issue was with my roommate who brought in one more person and a cat to an already overcrowded studio apartment. Who does that?

I'm Not In Your League!

Jen called the evening after Lewis and I talked. She wanted to know how it went. I talked her we talked for an hour. She was like, ‘An hour? Wow, you guys get along already! What did you talk about that long?’ Normal everyday things people who’ve never talked about talk about! She sure seemed surprised for someone who was convinced we have a lot in common. She asked when we were going to meet up. He wanted to meet up that weekend, Friday or Saturday, he was going to confirm closer to the day.

We agreed on meeting up Saturday evening. He wanted me to take the Metro (train) to meet him in his neighbourhood. I thought that was not gentlemanly so of course I told him I would rather we meet up in Hollywood. I mean what kind of man tells a girl to take the train to go to him? He told me I live close to the metro, he thought it would be easier for me to get to him than it would be for him driving to Hollywood. He then came up with another brilliant idea, he was going to take the metro and come meet me in Hollywood. What? I am not used to this kind of behaviour! Where I come from, a guy picks up the girl, takes her out on a date and drops her off, unless she insists on meeting up somewhere neutral. He is my friend’s ‘friend’, so I was ok with him picking me up. Only, he wasn’t! He told me that he doesn’t mind driving to Hollywood (really? I thought that was your problem. Traffic.), it’s just that, there’s no parking space where I live. I told him there was outside my apartment, plus he won’t have to park, I would be ready when he got there. He finally succumbed after which I told him to think about it, he could still change his mind if he felt he didn’t want to drive all the way to me. In which case, we wouldn’t meet cos I wasn’t about to dress cute, and then run to the metro, heck no!

Jen and I talked, I told her about the picking up/dropping off situation. She was so mad at me. She yelled at me for being high maintenance, she told me that I may have turned him off (cos I really care about not turning a cheap guy off). She was like, when someone sets you up, you do whatever it takes to meet up. I was like, no you don’t! When someone does you a favour, you return the favour, simple! You don’t go against your own principles to please you friend’s cheap ex-boyfriend. At least not in my books. If he doesn’t want to meet up, fine by me, great, actually! She was disappointed. I didn’t care. I asked for his picture, she told me she didn’t have it. So of course, I asked him to send me a picture, he did, He looked ok, more normal than I had expected. I sent him mine, he didn’t even have the courtesy to acknowledge receipt. He just went quiet. I didn’t hear from him for two days or so, third day, he called. I was about to switch my phone off, I was on set. No, hello, how are you, this is Lewis, or anything, just ‘so when do you wanna meet?’ I was like, who’s this? I knew who it was. I wanted him to slow down a second. I asked to call him back. I called him after the show, this was before we confirmed to meet on Saturday.

Saturday morning, he sent a text about how his sister isn’t well, he was going to spend time with her in the hospital because she is family and family comes first, all they have is each other, blah blah blah. When I told Jen that, she told me he probably is no longer interested in meeting up because of the car thing and because we exchanged pictures.  He didn’t think that was a good idea, that’s why he lied and told me that he didn’t have his picture. Why don’t I listen to her yada yada yada. Because I am old enough to make my own decisions, Jen. Relax. The world will not come to an end just because you are not in control. S-s-s-s-sl-l-l-l-l-o-o-o-ow-w-w-w-w down! She told me that the guy has been turned off, that was my doing. I subconsciously self sabotage. I push people away. I was like The f*ck’s that all about? She told me she has a background in Psychology. B*tch, get off my d*ck, WTF! This chick was getting all personal, I felt claustrophobic. Leave me alone! You don’t know me! From the looks of things, you never will, presumptuous freak!

Lewis called Saturday night, after spending time with his sister. They thought it was something serious. False alarm. We talked about diet and stuff, he told me how he is vegetarian, about how he lost some weight and still counting. He told me what the best way is to lose weight and keep it off, the problem is not the amount of calories you consume per day but blah blah blah yada yada ya. He was literally shoving his opinions down my throat, regardless of the fact that I told him I had already lost 30lb counting calories (+-15kg). I thought to myself, this guy and Jen have way more in common than I do with either of them. They like to ram their ideas down people’s throats.

He went on to ask how big I am. I told him I weigh 389lb (180kg). He was like, THAT’S HOW MUCH YOU WEIGH?  Yup! Is that a deal breaker for you, Lewis? Hahaha. He told me it doesn’t matter to him, he is looking for what’s inside than anything else. I’m thinking to myself, dude, I’ve seen what you look like, it shouldn’t matter what I look like. We were on the phone for two hours that night. We talked about people’s types. He asked me if I don’t think I am too old and fat to be pursuing acting? Isn’t it more for younger, blond haired, blue eyed, model types? I was like, I don’t think so. I think it’s for all kinds of people. If they are looking for a 62 year old black lady, they are not going to hire an 18 year old model, are they? He said they won’t but they will hire someone who has been in the industry since they were young, not someone who is starting out. He told me that every channel he tunes into has younger, skinny, white model type actresses. I told him I don’t know which channels he watches but I’ve seen all kinds of actors on tv. I’ve been on tv myself. I kind of have an idea how it works. He was like, ‘who doesn’t like blondes? Hell, given a chance I would be with a blonde model. I love blondes, but I am not their type! I once messaged this blonde girl online. She messaged me back, [sorry, I’m out of your league!] AND SHE WAS RIGHT!’ I was sitting there listening to this guy yapping on the phone about how he basically is not attracted to me and my friend for that matter. And he still wanted us to meet. I mean! He told me that he left the online blonde alone because she was right. She is out of his league. He will never date a blonde. I told him he can be with whomever he wants. If he wants a younger blonde, he should be ‘generous’ and he can be with whomever he wants. He told me he will never do that. He wants someone who will love him for him. I thought, oh well, good luck to you! I am helping you fulfil your wishes. You think an 18 year old model is going to love you for you? I am not saying that will never happen, but what are the chances? And where would he meet this girl? Driving the bus? Never mind, I just remembered that was Jen’s bad, he isn’t a bus driver haha.

He was to call me again and set a date.

I talked to Jen, updated her. She wasn’t very impressed. First she was shocked that we were on the phone that long. She was like, I hardly talked to that guy for five minutes collectively in the time that I have known him! What do you guys talk about? I told her any and everything including types. She said, ‘I told you not to exchange pictures!’ She Seemed shocked at some of the stuff he said but turned around and defended him saying that’s the down side of talking over the phone especially with someone you have never met. She told me that he is actually a very nice guy, if we had talked about that stuff in person, I would have understood that he was just sharing his insecurities with me from his body language yada yada ya #RollingEyes. Jen said commented on Lewis and I talking on the phone for two hours when we could have just met up in person and had more of a normal conversation in person within those two hours. She had a point there, but oh well, it’s still different. He could have got stuck in traffic and and and

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