My god, the past couple of weeks have been filled with so many ups and downs, I feel nauseous.

Up.

The externship was going well, and I really liked it there. I was told by the head vet when I had a talk with her that I should come back around when I'm certified. Yaaaaay! Made me feel awesome, that did.

Down.

It took them over a week - four days longer than they said to begin with, and each day afterwards it was "it'll be ready tomorrow" to fix my car. Meantime, I was carpooling. With my mother. 'Nuff said. Grand total to fix car? $1,450.

And up... and down... an'up'n'down.

I got my car back finally, and drove it for all of four days... before it died again. Took it back to the shop. They said a hose on the water pump had busted, fixed it for no charge. Got my car back in only one day this time.

Nearing the top... and soaring.

I landed a job at a vet clinic closer to home and close to school. It's kennel work, but it still pays more than Kmart, even as a part-time employee I get partial benefits, and it works with my school schedule, even if I'll have to see the early end of that time of day I loathe. Morning. *grins* My foot's in the door, though, and hopefully, I'll be able to move up into a more assistant-type position. I start the 3rd. So I had put in my 2 weeks notice at Kmart. Yaaaaay! I also received a World of Warcraft Atlas from the amazing Kishma. Yes, the zebra now has that title. I dub her - The Amazing Kishma. The thing is gorgeous, and chock-full of Stuff Good to Know In Game. Can't wait to use it. Thanks Kishma!

My grandmother... now she's also an amazing person. I cannot begin to tell you how much she has always been there for me and my family. She floored me by handing me an envelope, saying she'd cashed some bonds, and this was to help with my car. Folks, that gracious lady gave me enough to pay off the work, and a little extra, because she wanted me to get my brakes done too.

Just before crashing right back down at the bottom.

I share a storage space with my cousin in San Jose. Forty bucks a month for each of us. Back in May he asked me to pay ahead a bit. I've been tardy a few times, so I didn't mind, and agreed. I paid a couple months ahead. And then did so again the next month. I was basically paid up until August, when I got the phone call last Wednesday. The storage facility had changed hands, and unless they got the $325 we owed them, they were going to auction off our stuff. He had $160. I footed the rest, and told him I needed it back before the end of August. That was part of the money I had set aside for when school starts again, which does so, of course, at the end of August. I am -not- pleased, and I have a fair notion that the money went up in smoke. Time to get my things out of there. I went to San Jose to see a friend on Sunday, the only day off I had, as I go right from working at Kmart to the new gig... and my car dies again. It was jumped, it started, okay, need a new battery. Will get one tomorrow. But then, when leaving his house, it wouldn't start again. No matter how much juice we poured into that heap. My friend thinks it's my ignition switch. I am forced to leave the car there, though he has said he'll try to see if he can fix it. If he can, it will at the least, be a bit cheaper. Also, the computer I use in the house is having conniptions. Trying to get online is an hour - sometimes longer - ordeal, and when I finally do get on, I usually have to surrender the comp to its rightful owner (my stepdad) before I can do more than read a single email, nevermind reply or write one to folks. I had to write this post out in a word program ahead of time, come online, and slap it in before stuff happened. I've been lucky in that I've gotten online at Kmart, who in the remodel, put in an Internet cafe. But, of course, on public machines like that, I can't go to all the sites I normally would. Which I find amusing, since it wouldn't allow me to view some of my comics sites, but allowed DeviantArt and FA galleries to show.

Heading underground now.

So. I'm sharing my mom's car again. Which, by the way, has also chosen this time to start breaking. It's still running, but its problems are terminal - mom will be looking for a new car soon. Now, I'm going to Kmart, see mondo traffic, and decide to take a back road so I get to work on time. I'm not even speeding, and a cop pulls me over. Why? No seat belt. I get a ticket. It's a fine - don't know how much. I was upset at the time - with everything else that's been going on, I lost it a bit. I was frustrated and I was angry. When I get that way, I say as little as possible, my speech gets clipped, and I only respond with as much as is absolutely necessary. So it was only after the ticket had been written, signed, and the spiel the cop had to say gone through before he hesitated, then asked why I was so upset. I told him about my car, that this was my mother's, and as such, the seatbelt didn't fit. Then he said he would've given me a break if I'd just said that ahead of time, but since the ticket was written... so, yeah. Shit. Adjusting things didn't help either, and I showed him. I'm too big, and if the seat is moved further back so the seatbelt could be put on, I can't use the pedals effectively because I'm also effing short. Have I mentioned I hate being short? I do. With a passion. Why do y'all think Kaz is 8 ft tall, and no matter where I play her, if there's a height disparity due to gender, she's the taller height. Hate being short. Hate being short and round. And I checked - though I thought I was losing weight because of the activity and better diet - fruits, no fast food, sandwich lunches - I didn't. I stayed remarkably the same. Fuckin' PCOS.

*Takes a deep breath.* A lot of ranting and raving there, I know. But I'm counting my blessings too, and I'm not making light of them. I'm grateful for the good points, because it would be a much graver position I'd be in without them. Still, it's frustrating too, and I hope you all will forgive me for exposing you to it. Thanks for listening.