An Update.

Greetings, from the great..uh, brown north?  What I mean is, everything here is currently covered in a thin layer of dirt/dust.  It gets quite windy here.  I mean, that would make sense because there is nothing to stop the wind from just blasting across the plains, but wow.  It gets WINDY.  I've started to notice a pattern.  It will slowly creep up in temperature to nearly 80, then it gets windy as hell for a day or 2, and suddenly its 50 again and the cycle starts all over.  Last nite was quite cold...

Yes.  I'm still in the back of the Dakota.  Yes, that means I'm still stuck working at Walmart.  Yes, I really loathe that place.  I cannot figure out how people work there for years.  Its not that its hard work, its just that its soul sucking work.  Every day is a marathon on my patience.  From unpleasant customers, to complete morons (I try to be patient with most people, but some people are in danger of forgetting to breathe, I swear), to complete pricks.

On a positive note, I did get paid yesterday.  I actually got paid more than I expected, which afforded me the chance to get a few things I wanted as oppose to needed, like new shoes (with built in gel insoles...so niiiice), sandals, and a nice dinner at Applebee's for me and Pete.  I have all my bills paid for the month and I have some money to last until my next check, so I'm in ok shape for now.

Pete seems to be figuring out his place at work, which is good.  He might be getting a work truck, which would make this a little less complicated as far as transportation goes.  No more having to wake up and go into Walmart at 6 am, even though my shift starts at 2 pm.  It frees up mornings to go searching for jobs, and it allows me to get a bit extra sleep, which, anyone that knows me can attest, I really benefit from a bit of extra sleep.

We also have a tenative date setup for our first trip back to IL.  Should be sometime at the beginning of June.  It will be nice to be surrounded by familiar people again.  Part of trying to keep myself distant from the people up here is it can get lonely from time to time.  But, it is what it is.  I'm not up here to make friends.

I've been really up and down, personally, lately.  I'm glad I have a job right now.  I'm glad I'm able to pay my bills and use my "pseudo-homeless" story to entertain people, either at work or on this blog.  A lot of people say they feel sorry for me that I have to sleep in a car.  Please, don't.  Understand, this was my choice.  I am not forced, by any means, to do this.  I could go back to IL or NV and have my own room and TV and computer and all that, but it wouldn't be MINE.  I wouldn't be having this adventure and I wouldn't be happy.  I'm still confident that coming up here was the right move, I'm just waiting for that right situation to kick in now.  I'm a firm believer that things happen certain ways for a reason, I just need to find the reason for this one.

That doesn't change the fact that part of me still worries that I'm failing in finding that reason, but I'm not sure what else to do.  If I find a place hiring, I apply.  Pete tells me the names of places all the time that I can apply to, and I do, but I haven't gotten a bite yet.  It's really incredibly frustrating sometimes.  Some people like to complain that they lose a bunch of money to taxes.  I wish I had that problem.  I'm pretty sure Pete is paying more, per check, in taxes than I make per check.  Kinda puts things into perspective there.

Nothing else has really changed.  Walmart keeps insisting I work later in the afternoon.  I'm not really happy about that, considering I had the discussion about working days with them when they hired me, but if Pete gets this truck to use, then it will be ok, since I won't have to worry about transport.

I have noticed one thing, though.  A LOT of people up here are married at my age.  I guess, that probably applies in most places, but I really notice it here, since I work directly with the public.  I notice a lot of women with wedding rings.  I'm not sure why I notice, but its something to kinda ponder.  Am I starting to get to an age where all the marriageable women are becoming more and more rare?  Eh.  I'm can't really worry about that right now.

I talked to some guys at work that are supposedly supervisors out in the oil fields.  I guess this area (Dickinson) is about to really boom this summer.  They are supposed to be issuing a TON of permits for new wells and most of them are going to be in this area.  So I guess this is the place to be.  It might make finding a job a bit easier in the coming weeks.  One could only hope.  I want to make the big bucks.  I really need a break.

That reminds me of something that happened yesterday.  I was messing around on the laptop and Pete was screwing around across the table from me and he was flipping a pen in the air.

"Whoever gets the point towards them is going to have a great financial event happen to him soon," he said.

"Luck based events never work in my favor, Pete," I told him.

Sure enough, it pointed at him.  We even re did it a couple times, but the point never favored me.  I took a lesson from that, I guess, but it seemed more like common sense.  You can't count on luck to bail you out, you have to keep working hard to get what you want.  Luck be damned.