Community Service Day 02 - 190 hours remaining

Today was Drama Day at the Rehab Ministry. First off, there was a major 4 car wreck right on the corner, and secondly, I managed to give myself a fairly nasty scratch with a pick-axe.

I was tasked with breaking up some hard-packed dirt, and to weed the area afterwards. They gave me a pick-axe when the shovel failed to offer any help. Well, above my head, there was a low-strung phone line, and on a down-swing, I caught the cord, which then rubberbanded the pick backwards, and the sharp end gave me a good scrath down my side, near my right kidney.

They send me home after a lot of paperwork, and gave me credit for a whole day's work. w00t!

I have since told all my friends and Nine that I was beaten over the head, and woke up in a bathtub full of ice, missing a kidney. So far, the alternate story has met with dubious glares, and downright denunciations of the veracity of my claims. It was funny, though.

Community Service Day 01 - 195 hours remaining

Yesterday was my first day of Community Service. I am assigned to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation ministry in Los Angeles. Yep. Drugs. Alcohol. And God. Just shoot me now.

Although it wasn't that bad. It is full of friendly black people that use Mr. and Mrs. infront of their (and mine) first names. Not Mr. Mac Guiness, but Mr. Aengus. And not a single person bothered to call my by my rank. Hello? Captain? Jedi Master? Nothing.

And what did I do for my first 5 hours? Garden. Which isn't that bad. I got to play in the dirt, they fed me, the cook kept bringing me glasses of cold water and then insisting that I take 20-30 minute breaks. That wasn't too bad.

A nice thing happened. At the end of the day, as I was finishing up, a humming bird flew into the bush next to me, and began drinking from the flowers. I was standing arm's legnth from the bush. The bird looked at me, then continued feeding, two feet from me. It was kind of neat, as I have never been that close to a humming bird before. I could actually see it's tiny little wings as it buzzed about. Pretty nifty. The bird and I watched each other go about out business for about ten minutes, or until every last flower on the bush had been drank from.

I wonder what I will be doing next time...

Stay tuned!

Community Service, Day 0 - 200hours remaining.

So yesterday I drove up to Gardena to start my community service. The guy I report to there, Mr. Simpson, is a pretty cool guy. I will be working at a some kind of Alcohol/Drug Rehab Ministry place. Seems all right. I was originally planning on going to my first day of actual vollunteer work today, but then I got a call back from my 2nd Boat Job. Job Interview! w00t!

The Buzz at the Catalina Boats is that if you get called in for an interview, you pretty much have the job. So anyways, internets, wish me luck! I will continue to post my progress at the Community Service and stuff..

While I was in the SF Valley this week doing court shit, I took the opportunity to drive by my old house in Woodland Hills. Now, I no that Madame moved out of there a long time ago, almost a year or more. I expected to walk up the driveway and look up at the house, and see unfamiliar cars in the driveway, unfamiliar furniture and decorations adorning the yard. Instead, I saw this:


The Faire Table Jimi and I built for the booth, destroyed by the elements. The sink in the background was the faire sink.


This sad pile of memories contains the base of the Faire Shower, as well as some of the shelves from the booth.


Foreground: A table from the store in San Pedro I built. Background: A part of a bar that Madame worked at in her younger years that we salvaged at Lake Arrowhead.


This one hurts a bit. The sign was used at Koroneburg, when I ran the Makoto machine. I hand-carved that sign. It is resting on one of the hanging shelves I build for the original booth, which I also helped build. Why is everything disposable in Madame's life? That isn't stuff. It's memories.

I am glad to have Madame out of my life, and wonderfully happy with Nine in it, do not get me wrong. But I like to think that I made the best out of a bad situation while I was there. I had some good times. Faire, the shop in San Pedro, and with Madame aside, the lifestyle was kind of cool. I have some good memories. It hurts to see the memories disrespected in this way. Just reenforces what kind of person Madame is. To just up and leave, and not even bother to remove all of her belongings.

I don't know how, but in the year she has been out of that house, it has apparently changed hands twice, and never been occupied. The neighboring house is selling for 1.1 million. The broker I talked to is willing to settle for less than $700,000 for this house. It is a good house. I wish someone I knew was looking for a home. I would totally love to visit that house again...

I almost want to IM Madame and ask her WTF. I mean, seriously. It's fucked up. Not pictured was the remains of the booth her brother and I designed and built in front of the garage. So sad...

"Keep up the good work."

I had court this morning. Probation violation. Well, technically it a hearing to determine if my technical violation was in fact a violation. Confused? Don't worry, you aren't alone. Long story short, I came to court with a letter from my Probation Officer saying that I was in compliance, and the Judge looked at the letter, then smiled, found me not in violation, and told me to "keep up the good work."

So I went home feeling quite relieved. Since monday I have had an unfortunate combination of High stress levels and Cholula hot sauce. Which, in case you didn't know, equals Gastrointestinal Armageddon. Nine told me that if I didn't stop tossing and turning and emitting Death from my ass in gaseous form, she was going to demote me to the couch.

EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that that last paragraph was inaccurate. I apprently emitted no Death in gaseous form, and instead, it was my snoring that was offensive, along with tossing and turning due to extreme stress. The tossing and turning has subsided, but apparently I am still snoring a little bit. Also, I wasm't threatned with expulsion from The Bedroom. Hmm. So, I retract my last paragraph, and replace it with this one. Thank you.
END EDIT

On the way home from the Courthouse, I stopped at Toasty's and t3h C0ff33 shop, and reapplied at both. hopefully, I can get hired back with them, and make rent. My current parttime job is working, but it is sporadic at best.