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Sorry, I’ve been busy …

I think everyone can realize how hard it can be to balance one’s life. The work side, the personal side and whatever comes in between. I fall into that rut every now and then when I just can’t seem to manage my life, things start to get out of control.

There doesnt seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to be done and I start to get weary and tired. During those times I start weeding out those things to somehow hopefully recapture just a little bit of time so my life can seem organized and in control. So far, I dont think I’ve found the remedy. I need more time in the day to take care of everything.

A couple of weekends ago, I started sorting through my crap. Not willingly, not because I wanted to. If it were up to me, I’d leave those boxes of crap in the cabinet, locked up tight and continue pretending they weren’t there. Unfortunately, my landlord came by and told all the tenants that anything stored in the carport area had to be cleaned out, meaning I had to do some spring cleaning.

I’ve been a packrat the last few years. Slowly, at least once a year, I’ve gone through my boxes and disposed of the useless crap that I was saving for “someday”. I started out with about ten boxes of “someday” crap and had managed to wittle it down to about five boxes when I moved into this apartment. Boxes of old papers, magazines, books, and odds and ends. I dont know why I hold onto these things, but for some reason I do. I know I’ve been storing the shit for at least five years without even looking through it, and I know the chances of my using the crap is never, but I keep the stuff locked up in the boxes and move it from apartment to apartment.

So, in a way, the using the landlord as my excuse, I began emptying out the cabinets in the carport and sorting through the boxes. I made one pile for donations to GoodWill, one pile for trash and one pile for things I need to hold onto. After four hours of sorting, I had a good sized pile to donate to GoodWill, a tiny pile of things to keep and a huge pile of things I really needed to part with.

I think it was really time to get rid of some of that stuff. I did keep some of my elementary school stuff and eventually will need to sort through that, and kept a few odds and ends that I might be able to use “someday”. What can I say, I got rid of five boxes of crap and got it down to one … let me keep something.

Even thought I sorted through the closets down in the carport, I dont think I actually gained any extra time. I’m more organized, sure, but I’m still not completely organized. I still need to sort through my bedroom closet and through my shelves and clean them out. Also, I have piles of paperwork to go through and am behind in so many other things. Maybe I just need one day a week to use as my organization day. I hate not being organized, it totally stresses me out.

I mean, I can’t hide from being unorganized because as I sit in the room, I can see the piles of papers that need attention. The bills sitting on the counter needing to be paid, groceries needing to be purchased, favors needing to be granted, time for me needing to be had … how do I make more time in the day?

I’m always willing to grant a favor, whether to a friend or a family member. Last weekend I spent Saturday painting my grandmothers kitchen. She’s just gone through an entire remodel of her kitchen for the first time in the 35 years she’s lived in the house. New cabinets, appliances, and countertops all deserved to have a new paint job. I promised months ago that I’d do it, and when the time came I got up bright and early to get to the Home Depot to buy all the stuff we’d need to get the job done. I even talked Grandma into buying some new light fixtures for the kitchen.

It took us about an hour to get through the store because of all the big decisions needing to be made. Grandma pretty much left it up to me to decide what color for the kitchen and what lights for the ceiling. So it was about noon by the time we got back to start scrubbing down the walls and taping up the plastic. Then the painting began, two coats.

The hardest part was installing the florescent light fixtures, because you need to hold them up above your head for a long time to drill the holes and screw in the screws. My aunt was helping me, but we were dying. All the blood in our arms drained out and we were starting to get crabby. In the end, we got them both installed, but it took every last drop of energy out of me. Plus standing on a ladder and holding up a light fixture put my back out of whack.

Next weekend I’ll be helping my friend Les move out of his studio apartment. He and his fiancee are looking for an affordable one bedroom apartment in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. Unfortunately, “affordable” isnt a word most landlords use when describing their palacial one bedroom closets, so Les needs to move back to his mom’s house temporarily until he find a place.

Looking for an apartment has opened his eyes a bit. Terms like “built in kitchen” usually mean you’ve got one of those stove-sink-refrigerator combos sitting int the corner of your living room. “One bedroom” usually refers to the walk-in-closet that has been turned into a room for a bed. “Affordable” refers to … hmm, oh yeah, nothing is affordable here. And if you are lucky, you might be able to park your car near your apartment, for a nice little fee of $200 a month for the spot. Of course, most of this refers to places within San Francisco. The farther you get from The City, the better the place will be and the more affordable you’ll get. I mean, you can live in bum-fuck egypt and get a palace … along with a six-hour commute to your job.

Les and Cindy are looking on the other side of the Bay also, meaning they could find a more affordable, and possibly larger apartment and then deal with the commute over the bridge everyday, along with the $2 to $3 a day cost just to cross the bridge. Not to mention, that to get from one end of the bridge to the other, five miles total, it takes about an hour with bumper to bumper traffic.

Oh, how great it is to live in San Francisco. If it weren’t for the fact that my job is here and the pay is pretty good out here, I’d be out of here in a second.

Friday morning, I have to settle a little legal matter in court. Basically, I have to deal with the ticket I got, after doing a California roll through a stop sign. Since its my first ticket, I’ll probably be able to get traffic school, but I still have to pay the ticket and then pay for the school. But the points won’t show up on my driving record, meaning the insurance wont go up. At least in California, you are allowed a certain number of points, before you lose your license and I’m very fond of my clean driving record, so an eight hour session in driving school shouldnt hurt me too much.

Sorry for the ranting session … or at least I see it that way. I dont think I carved any more time out for myself doing this, but at least you now know what I’ve been up to and why I’ve been a little bad about updating this month. I can hardly believe I’ve only updated twice this month. As for quitting, I still haven’t decided. Thanks to those of you that have written me, it means alot. I know Katie has decided not to quit and Tim is even thinking of returning. For some reason, this journal thing is really addictive. I mean, its so damn hard to quit. I think its because I’m part of a unique group of journal people and we all find ways of supporting each other and kicking each others asses when we feel like quitting.

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