February 22, 2006 It's been a long, long time since I've had the chance to publish any musings here. The main reason for that is that my software wouldn't let me publish. Turns out the problem was that I had a bunch of old files floating around out there that had to be deleted. I deleted them, problem solved. Life has been filled with lots of good and not so good situations that have kept things pretty much in balance. Here are a couple of nice things... I am nervous about any bills larger than ones, as I figure if I drop one bill, I'm out a lot of money. So I was not especially pleased when I was paid partly with a $50 bill recently. On Friday the 13th of January I set out to deposit two nights' pay, including that $50 bill, in the credit union. I stopped at the post office to pick up a change of address form for a friend, then continued to the credit union. But lo and behold, as I tried to make the deposit, I was $50 short. I asked the teller to hurry, but it was still at least 15 minutes before I could make it back to the post office. I called my ex husband and asked him to check my desk at home, in case I'd left it there - but couldn't reach him. It was a blustery day so I ran around the post office parking lot, looking under cars. Finally I rushed in and asked the lady behind the counter if I could leave a note, as I thought I'd lost a $50 bill somewhere between my car and the front door. There was a friendly looking older hippie standing at the counter as I spoke, and he turned to walk out. As he opened the lobby door, he turned and said something, which I didn't hear. The postal worker said "He says he sees it." The guy said "Lose a little money, did you? With the number 5 in it?" I said yes and he said "Follow me". We walked out the front door, where he walked into the landscaped area outside the front windows. There, as he reached down, my $50 bill landed neatly on the ground. He picked it up, smiling, and handed it to me. Apparently he'd seen it through the window, blowing around out there. I couldn't thank him enough! He said "Friday the 13th..." I still have no idea how that $50 got out of my purse in the first place! Another nice deed... a stranger in back of me at the food counter at Sam's Club apparently overheard me asking about the "1/4 pound cookies" they had and seeing that I had just the dollar and change to pay for my hotdog, bought me a cookie, gave it to me and wished me a nice day before riding off into the sunset. (or was it the parking lot?) Now for the good news/bad news or bad news/good news... The good news: I got a great new gig that pays well at a very cool place, the first Saturday of every month. The bad news: it's 200 miles round trip. Ouch. Along those same lines...Bad news: Ownership has changed at the place I've been playing twice a week for a while now, and they may not continue the live music, which means I'll be out a gig. The good news: Just a day later, I ran into the owner of another place I used to play, who instead of the usual pleasantries asked if I was free to start playing at his place again. The bad news: I was so busy last month that I actually FORGOT I had a gig until my dearest buddy pointed out my name in that day's paper, 30 minutes after I should have started playing. I got there and played to a packed house the last hour for half the pay. The good news: They were good enough to immediately book me back again for a few weeks later. The bad news: NO ONE came the next time; I played to the staff and my boyfriend all night. The good news: I got my taxes done online, early, and am due to get a nice refund back. The bad news: A couple of days after filing, I got a bill from the IRS for $16,000 for my 2004 taxes. The good news again: It was a typographical error; someone input $675.00 as $67,500.00. The bad news again: I don't get my current refund until the IRS admits they made a mistake. I'm holding my breath. The bad news: My credit card was stolen, and I think it was my own fault. I think I left it in one of those copy machines at FedEx/Kinko's, only I didn't know this until I got a call from the credit card company about some late night charges and discovered the card was missing. The good news: The thief isn't very extravagant. By the time it came to my attention, they'd only bought a tank of gas and a few things at Wal-Mart - the very one I shop at every week. Come to think of it, I do a fair amount of late night shopping myself. So it's possible the thief walked right by me one night, my card in hand. Or it's possible that I've developed a split personality and have no recollection of stealing my own credit card and wandering around in the middle of the night, filling my car with gas and shopping in my sleep. So life goes on as usual. Lots of ups and downs to keep the ride interesting. Now I realize that this was not really a "musing" and not really amusing, but I thought I'd catch up while I had the time. Thanks for sharing the ride.
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