Cautiously.

The set-up:  I am willing to help just about anyone, whether they’ve been a good friend or not.   The day before the ride on the coaster, I received a call from an old HP friend in need of help with a computer of his lady friend.  She was given her daughter’s old computer and they couldn’t get the connection to the internet after many attempts.   Funny thing is, after an hour or so of this and that, I FINALLY PUT ON MY OLD HP SUPPORT HAT and thought, what’s the first thing to check?  Resetting the silly ISP box was the answer.   However, during the attempt to help (disguised as wasting time because I didn’t think to reset the box first), I received a phone call from a friend who knows all of us. She proceeded to BLAST me for helping this lady friend…because the lady friend has been known to curse me and my name all in the fear that I’m “after her man”.  I have no interest, designs, or anything close to wanting her man, but haven’t been able to convince the worried lady.   My friend said to me “you help all these people, people who say mean things about you behind your back, do you think ANYONE is going to help YOU when you need it??”  I assured her that I knew that, when I needed help, my friends would be there.

I’ve probably written about this already, but it was the next day that the battery of the golf cart decided to lose it’s charge as I was on my way back to the moldy mobile in the Pre-Historic section of The Villages…I stopped by the closest friend…only to find that she (surprise, surprise - a 91 year old) couldn’t remember any time that I’d “ever” helped her out - nothing to warrant allowing me to let the cart charge in her garage overnight.

I felt betrayed, etc., etc., etc…and looking back now, AS IS ALMOST ALWAYS THE CASE, I see an opportunity for me to LAUGH about the situation, instead of getting so emotionally blasted that I became ill, and the stayed sick for nearly a month, more than a month.  A 91 year old, lonely woman, who lives by herself but with a caregiver who stops in every day, couldn’t remember that I’ve befriended her on multiple occasions.  Did I understand or accept?  Nope.  I took it personally.

So, I can sit here now and look back and contemplate going to see her, even though I guess that she’s probably never given it a second thought…

Laugh.  Find the humor.  Find the forgiveness.  Find the bright shiny place.

When will I ever learn??

On the ride back home, with the full moon (?) shining in the sky, I was contemplative…not realizing until I heard it on the radio (PBS station) that it was a year ago today when the awful shootings occurred and so many innocents were shot.   Little Christina among them.

May the dead rest in peace and may the living find some solace on this anniversary.

$55.25/hr definitely a thing of the past…employment with health benefits, matching 401K plans, daily commuting in 7 lane traffic, performance reviews and looking professional (occasionally, thank goodness I didn’t have to do that in the last 7 years as a Response Center Engineer)…all things of my past.

Thank the Good Lord.

These days I don’t really have a place to call home, but I have so many friends and reasons to be happy, a spring in my step (when I’m not coughing or home sick) and no concerns…I know it’s all going to be ok.  Somehow.

And, I get to dance.

But, touching base (or trying to) with some of the folks I’ve remained friends with over the years…enjoyed that as well.   Getting the calls in BEFORE “they” make it illegal to cell and drive!  The road were pretty empty, which made it nice, to be sure.

Anyway, I’m hoping that there will be more time for Susan Nola in the coming year…although, I had an idea for what I hope will be the answer to the existing financial picture!

Time will definitely tell…

The mobile is still vacant, and although I have finally removed everything of mine (but the two $6 each damp rid devices), and I’ve put the For Rent signs back up (on my own, not sure what the owner has planned, except that I know he didn’t want to take care of the property, would rather have someone who is NOT sensitive to whatever it is that is making me sick), I still haven’t returned his key.

Partly because I’ve been very sick for over a week now with what I suspect is a cold, but the longer it lasts, I’m not really sure what is going on.  Still tired, my eyes sunken (went to get water today and a friend was shocked at my appearance), I’m fighting whatever it is with homeopathic remedies, as well as household items like honey, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar and tumeric, and the usual, garlic, onions and chicken soup.  And, I still have the key because I’m actually afraid of the owner.  He seemed nice enough, until I showed him the filth and expressed my concerns for my health…then I became “nothing but trouble since the day I moved in”.  His words, spit at me when I told him I couldn’t stay there any longer.   He threatened me and told me to bring an attorney if I wanted to get my money back, told me to NEVER CALL HIM AGAIN, and to get my stuff out as he was afraid that I “was going to die” on his property.  He said AFTER I had vacated, and after I returned his key, THEN he would talk about returning the last month’s rent, the $200 spent to attempt to professionally clean the HVAC (it didn’t work), the hours spent cleaning the dump, etc.   Given all of that, and being sick for over a week, I’ve not yet returned his key.

Since then I’ve stayed at a friend’s place for nearly a week, before moving into a lovely home in The Village of Tall Trees…fate would have it that the owner would be out of town for the month and, as a favor to a friend, I could stay here for $400.   I’ll be wiping everything down with Clorox wipes before I leave, don’t want to risk the owner catching this, whatever it is.

I’ve missed the lighting of The Villages Christmas Tree, the Christmas Parade (golf carts) and the Downtown Lighting of Lady Lake, not to mention any chance at all to dance anywhere.  People everywhere are coughing and sniffling, and I’ve heard that “it’s going around”.   Must be how I picked up the virus (?)…people out and about while sick, spreading germs.  OR, I was just exhausted after moving 3 times in less than 40 days, working too much and stressing over where and what and how of the future.

I’m safe.  I’m warm.  I’m getting healthy.

I’m not in Japan, or Haiti, or Turkey.  I’m not in a wheelchair.   I’m not in the hospital with some terminal illness.

It’s just another beautiful day in The Villages!

Still reeling from the attempt to eliminate the filth from where I’m now living, even after the Angel Cards, I KNEW I had to do something to cheer myself up…GOLF CART TO THE RESCUE.

This past Thursday, even though it was chilly, I took the cart to the first of the three jobs I now hold…past the lake with the beautiful waterfall, and this time of the year, the geese - someone was feeding them.  I stopped to watch, UNTIL I heard the dogs barking and yapping at the dog park I have to pass on the way to the bridge over the highway…

I left the beauty of the geese and the water, to head to the park where I stopped to watch 2 little dogs on the small dog side of the fence running head to head with 2 huge dogs on the other side…back and forth, the length of the fence, these 4 dogs ran - barking and yapping at each other…I was smiling when they finally wore themselves out and went to find a place to relieve themselves…

I continued smiling as I went up over the bridge and then, free “falling”, LOOK MA, NO HANDS (and no brakes) as I flew down the other side, past another pond/lake where more water fowl were serenely paddling around.

I arrived at work HAPPY again…the sky was blue, the sun was shining and I had access to a golf cart.

Heaven.

Long story short, for $13/mth, I have internet access (THANK HEAVENS!) from “home”.

And, the offer to visit 4 beautiful cats whenever I want.  One is an outdoor beauty…the other 3 indoor cats.  The two sisters, one computer literate, the other a writer, have invited me to visit whenever I feel the need to be with their animals.

The world is a beautiful place…sometimes, I forget.