Pizza For Breakfast

I have decided to try another approach to earning a living.  No more office jobs!   I am not an office personality, not conformist enough.  So I am trying pet sitting and house sitting.  Low start up rate and it seems that lots of people (all women so far) make a decent living.  A good way to jump to another phase. 

My father came home from the convalenscent home today.  He was supposed to come home yesterday, but did not.  Tip:  If the “powers that be” want to release your loved one on a Sunday, fight it!  After sitting around for 2 hours waiting to be dischared, Dad could not leave because no one had taught my mother how to give him an insulin shot.  Mom didn’t even know he was getting insulin shots!  No social worker was there to give her a pep talk on what to expect and what to do when he came home, even though that is supposed to be routine.  Med care is too expensive to be so slack in the execution of such mundane matters.  We got him home and he started to feel pain, but we had no pain meds.  Mom went to the pharmacy and no presription had been placed for pain meds.  Now this is after a week in the convalenscent hospital, where she attended him every day.  Moreover, they stole his clothes!  A track suit and two pairs of sweat pants.  It is not that big of a place, and smack dab in the middle of a very upscale neighborhood.  Weird.  The last complaint I will make is that of my Mother’s; she is older, she is a little hard of hearing….and has a hard time understanding people with thick accents that talk fast.  I have no problems with foreign born people making a living, but I think it only fair that in the medical profession a person should work on their pronunciation as part of the job.  It is only good customer service. 

Really interesting weekend.  I finished “The Piano Tuner” by Daniel Moran.  Dissapointed with the ending, and it held so much promise at the beginning through the middle, but got kind of mushy and unfocused at the end.

This Saturday I put my self esteem at risk by going to see a side band which had a famous musician in it that I used to know and like tremendously.  Being Labor Day the room was rather sparse, which worked for me.  I did see my old crush, and he was sweet, surprised and stand offish, it was a bit more awkward than I would have liked, but I am not surprised after all.  We haven’t seen each other in 15 years, and he has been a rock star for at least that long.  I can imagine that he runs into old  contacts and fans that want a piece of him in ways that he couldn’t possibly deliver all the time.  But he was kind, introduced me to his friend, who talked to me for 30 minutes or more, so I met a couple of people to talk to or say hi to if I see them out again.  The rock star’s bandmate showed up and it was a real treat to see him too.  First, he remembered me, but he didn’t know from where, which is sort of charming in its own way.  Second, he made it clear that he thought me attractive.  Now this fellow was a hound dog, so this was in keeping with how I remembered him from the past, he seldom slept alone, I wager.  But it is nice to be thought of as worth a play, even if he might have had second thoughts in a less dim setting : }  The band was great, they are all seasoned performers and still hold their enthusiasm for playing a good set.  I was so happy I went. 

In spring, I resolved to get out to see music more often than not, my heart and soul has missed it so much.  This is a resolution I have made periodically throught out the last 15 years.  Thwarted in the past by the fact that it seems impossible for me to make friends with people that actually like music just a tiny bit outside the mainstream, and who want to see it live in a club.  I had no idea when I was in the music business how dis-interested the general liberal-music listening populace is in going out after 9 PM, even with someome who knows how to pick good shows.  I shouldn’t have be, clubs seem to discourage attendance, overselling the room, poor or exhorbanent parking situations, unfriendly patrons. 

Through the summer I had a modicum of success with meeting my resolution.  I am going alone mostly, no small feat for a mid-aged woman. But, I didn’t get out as much as I told myself I would, and the last two weeks in August stumbled badly when I couldn’t face 90 minutes of traffic to stand alone on the beach to watch Patty Smith (I asked four people to go out with me to that one!) although later I was told and did then did realize that I would have seen people I know there, which is good and bad, I get a bit self concious at being seen alone all the time.  But overall, I did meet a few people here and there, ran into and got reaquinted with some folks from my old club haunting days, though no one that I can call and have a meal, coffee or a movie with (or maybe that is me being shy) but some great songs were played with a generous spirit, some wonderful jams and I experienced the uplifting feeling you get after watching fine players doing it for ya! 

I Spent the rest of the holiday with Dad and Mom.  Dad is in a convalescent hospital after surgery a few weeks ago and progressing slowly.  But us kids are rallying behind him and my Mother, we are three adult children with no kids or marriages of our own, so it is easier for us than for most

I go back to looking for work tomorrow.  Yuk!  I can only hope my buzz lasts for the next few days.