TheDarkKnight

Man what a year.

Since the last time I have written a blog my life has changed a lot. The biggest change was being told I was not being invited back to teach at the school that hired me a year ago. While I never found out the reason, I suspect they just did not feel I could improve enough to justify another year. I disagree immensely, as by the end I felt I really had a good handle on the classes that actually tried and just had a couple of problems. But I do, truly, believe that there was shenanigans at the district level involving my job; both my job and another job were filled before they were officially "open" for applications, even from other people in the district. I later found out that the other job was filled by the niece of the superintendent....nothing shady there at all. Still waiting to find out if the person who filled mine has similar connections but in the end, it does not matter. I'm out of a job and I was unable to find another in time for the school year, so it looks like I am subbing for a year. Which is fine; it will pay the bills, and give me an opportunity to try out more classroom management strategies.

At the same time as losing the job, I also lost my car. After a decade of driving it it finally just...died? It was an odd problem, and after dropping 2,000 dollars on it and it STILL having problems, I just decided to get a new car. I managed to find a nice little hatchback that has been customized. It was a bit more than I was looking for, but with a year and a half still on its warranty (this comes up later), less than 25,000 miles, and has good features, I figured why not.

I got a dog! A year ago I was saying goodbye to my step mom at home and bent down to pet my childhood dog. You see, he has mental problems and occasionally snaps. It had not happened in a while, but when I tried to pet him he snarled and came after me. While he did not bite me, it nonetheless gave me a phobia of dogs. I couldn't even pet a little bowl-licking chihuahua without panicking a bit. Never had a phobia like that. But in May a friend of mine found a dog that was neglected and allowed to roam free by its owners. It was tragically skinny, bruised, injuries...the whole works. Realizing that I should at least try, my girlfriend and I decided to adopt it. I wanted to take it slow when I first met him, so I sat down and waited for him to come to me...It took him about three seconds before he was in my lap licking my face. Goddammit...Phobia gone. Sweetest dog in the world and it has been an amazing three months. We have also recently adopted two kittens that were neglected, but more on that soon.

Fast forward to the summer...I have not been able to find a job. I check online and a nearby school district is hiring. I later realize that it is the same school that my supervisor in the credential program worked for. I call him up and he said that he would personally call the principal and talk to her about me. Less than a day later I discover that the position has already been filled...this is pretty much two days after it was posted. More district shenanigans I bet, but whatever. It was depressing that the one legitimate connection I could use in the whole area did not pan out, though.

Two weeks ago, my girlfriend finds out that the school is pulling some ery on her financial aid. We go in and discover that they have basically pulled some strings to make it so that they only have to pay partially for her semester. I drop a $1500 check to cover her tuition...Not a fun day.

Now within the last week: my car breaks down. I thought it was the tires because the problem only happened while it was moving. I walk around town for two hours to nearby shops and they think the tires as well. I walk back, start up the engine, drive about five hundred feet, and...Just stops running. The engine revs, but the wheels won't turn. Get it towed to a nearby dealership where they find the problem...The transmission. They find chunks of metal in the fluid. Right? Like where the hell did that come from? Luckily since it was under warranty they take care of it and I get a brand new transmission. After the long day (the whole ordeal lasted for six hours) I went home, picked up my girlfriend and dog, and we went for a walk around my apartment complex. As my dog goes to a bush to relieve himself, a ing stray jumps out at him and he defends himself. Locked in a scary embrace, my girlfriend and I screamed and yelled for a horrible two minutes trying to separate them. Once we do, my dog sits down and looks at us with a concerned face...we think he was trying to protect us (He's been attacked before and didn't react the same way, just kind of nudged it away). But my girlfriend's hands are torn up from the cat, and we wait while an ambulance arrives to look at her. They treat it as a non-emergency (which means we were not charged) and head out, but then we have to get her shots in case the bites and scratches become infected. That whole ordeal took another four hours or so. By the end of the day I was gone for almost twelve hours and suffering from dehydration and head exhaustion, but luckily we did not have to pay for the shots, the car, or the medicine. Thank god, because with my current job situation that would have wrecked us. We also had to worry for a couple of days as our dog might have been blamed for the attack since the incident was seen by apartment staff. Thank god no one came to take my dog.

But now today...One of our kittens has lost weight, become lethargic, and won't eat much in general. Fearing the worst we take him to the vet...It's not cat cancer or feline AIDS, but it's an unknown infection combined with liver damage. Not wanting to lose the cat, we ask what are his chances if we try treatment and they said decent enough that it was worth a try. So now we have to wait a few days to discover what it is precisely and then (hopefully) be able to treatment. It might be selfish of us...it might be easier to simply put it down. But I can't help but want to try, especially since it's just a baby. In any case, I'm hoping for some good news, because so far the last few months and even the last two years have been pretty . I'm ready for life to stop throwing curveballs at me and hopefully for it to start feeling normal again.