The weekend flew by and I returned to work tired and sore. I spent all day Saturday re-covering the dash board of my RV. My precious kittoons had shredded the surface and frankly I felt as though the condition of the dash could be a deal breaker in the sale of the unit. It�s bad enough there is an electric refrigerator (the propane on died and I couldn�t afford to replace it at the time, still can�t) so it is already a harder sell without an aesthetic issue. It looks wonderful if I do say so myself. Mind you I�m not looking to do that again anytime soon and I would never make it as a re-upholsterer but still it turned out far better than I hoped. What a difference it makes too. First of all it improves the overall look of the place. Secondly, the smell of the new vinyl completely over powers the lingering smell of smoke that I have been trying to chase out of the space since I quit smoking some two years ago. I did find the leather steering wheel was holding on to the stench so hopefully cleaning that will help as well. Of course it won�t matter if I sell it to a smoker but I don�t want to be limited to smokers as potential customers.

I finally finished the task Sunday afternoon in time to have a quiet dinner at home followed by a movie (XXX State of the Union BTW I wouldn�t bother if I were you, I wasn�t expecting much and I was disappointed.) I was early to bed but awakened at 3 am to the sound of neighbors chatting away loudly on their balcony. I�m not sure if I am overly sensitive but it seems as though we live in a rather loud corner of the complex. If it isn�t the child screaming across the way it�s the folks adjacent screaming in ecstasy. I just can�t seem to catch a break. Morning came early and I was running late so to ease the sting of my tardiness I stopped for bagels. No one seems to mind if you are late to work as long as you show up with food.

Unlike the weekend the day is creeping along and it is only midmorning. I think I may go home for lunch since I left my cell phone home and I should pick it up. Things are still slow here at work and my boss is also still not including me in communications about ongoing issues. I am not sure how to deal with this situation. I have attempted on several occasions to improve communication with him. I have requested to be included in investigations regardless of my participation as a learning experience if nothing else. It is also difficult to cover him when he is out of town if I don�t know what he is working on. I suppose folks hold things close to themselves in an attempt to protect their position but I hate having to fight all the time to do my job. I particularly hate feeling like an idiot when everyone assumes I know what is happening in my department. Not knowing looks like I am not paying attention or my boss doesn�t trust me. I can only hope that important people see it for what it is my boss�s failure to involve me. It�s time like these when I seriously consider looking elsewhere for employment. The problem with that is I start at step one yet again. I have been working too long to be still standing on the first rung of the ladder. My boss, who is almost ten years younger, is further up the career ladder than me having chosen a field and stuck to it. I will have to stick things out here and hope that it will get better.

I will, however, keep my resume current just in case. I may be forced out of California by cost of living alone. Between the ridiculous rents and explosive gas prices I am forced to live like a person in another state making half what I make. It�s not like the pay scale is significantly higher out here either, folks in my position in other states earn comparable pay so I just receive a diminished lifestyle. They say you get paid in sunshine but frankly I say I can�t eat sunshine, I never go to the beach, and the sun shines in other states as well. Watch for the great California exodus as housing gets more expensive and illegal immigration continues to keep pay artificially low. There is no American dream here, welcome to the American nightmare. Work hard every day as a professional and live like the lower class. *Sigh*. The clock is ticking on my residency in the great state of California.

I wish you Peace

~alison~

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