Summer

So, I'm sitting here in my empty home in Ocean City. The summer's over and starting last Tuesday, the town started going into ghost town mode. Thats when I like it here the best, because my section of town is almost entirely empty. I haven't left the house much since I left my job. Mostly been doing TR work, and catching up on some gaming and movies. I'm not working as much as I should be though. I gotta refocus myself.

Yes, I haven't written in this all summer. Those of you close to me probably know why. Other than my professional life, this summer didn't go so well. I got laid off from 2 jobs, one that I was at for 8 years, the other I only worked for 4 days until I was let go for a variety of bullshit reasons, including "your hair is too long", and was unemployed for a month, which left me in financial ruins. To make matters worse, the job I went on to a month later was 7 days a week, 10 hours a day (a private contractor job), and I barely made a dime. I made more money at the first job i ever had than at this. The only reason I've been able to keep TR alive with all of is costs, as well, as my own personal bills (i.e. car insurance), is through the generosity of my father, grandfather, and the boss at my third job, who gave me several breaks.

There's many other factors that made this a not-so-great summer, but I don't wanna get into those. Except the kittens... Just before the Candy tour, my cat had 5 kittens. My grandfather doesnt like animals, so I had to find a home for all 6 cats. My father accepted foster care of my cat, and we found homes for 3 of the kittens. However, with the other two, we found several potential takers. But each time, when I followed up, they changed their mind (a couple right when me and the cat were on their front door step). So, it got to the point where I had to take them to Jersey with me. I hid them for the first week, then decided to tell my grandfather about it, leading him to think I already had a home for the (at the time, I kinda thought I did). He didn't hit the roof like I thought he would, but he did say he wanted them out ASAP. Then I started my job, and used that as an excuse as I continued my search for their home.

However, the days and weeks dragged on, and I started to feel more and more like shit. But just having these kittens around cheered me up a bit. I'd find myself coming home from work, opening the front door with a smile on my face, saying "Where's my babies?!" and they'd come hopping up, purring, and rubbing up against my leg. They brought some light to my dim life, and some company as my grandfather only came down 2 or 3 days a week, and would even skip some weeks. And before you know it, I accidentally named them. These guys really kept me alive.

Now the summer's over, my summer job is done, and I need to get back to PA to start a new job ASAP. However, I can't go back until these guys get a home, and I will do that. I'm not putting the in the SPCA. I don't want them to rot in some cage.... and I don't want them to be separated.

If I could, I'd stay down here year round. But my grandfather only keeps the place open to November, and there's no point in getting a job now that I'm just gonna quit in a month and a half when the job market is open now. I need to find a day time job that I can get flexible hours with, and keep it until June. I can do that now. I dunno if I can do that in November... so essentially I need to be out of here in a week to have any hope of getting a decent job, or paying the bills next month.

Besides, I like it down here like this. It's quiet, cool, by the ocean, and I have a house to myself. Yeah, I get lonely once in a while, but more often than not, I enjoy my solitude. My spirits are starting to pick up a bit now that the summer's over.

Never thought I'd say that.

But the only thing left to do is to get these kittens a good home. I've resorted to the last resort of posting bulletins on Myspace. No luck so far. I hope the offer reaches someone who can take good care of them.

But yeah, that's my summer in a nutshell. I avoided writing in here during the entirety of it so I wouldn't sound even more pathetic. But I have high hopes for the future.

Don't worry, as long as I find the kittens a home, I'm not bummed any more.

-Roger