I knew I would be getting a rent increase. With this disgrace of a White House administration, everything is going up in price except for hot dogs and rotisserie chickens at Costco. I can live with that, I plan to ask my job for a raise, which I don't think I've ever done before. My problem is they won't let me renew it for me than 3 months. It's always been 1 year and now I'm nervous they're going to jack it up again. I can't go back to my job and ask for two raises in 3 months, as stingy as they are. I guess I should just appreciate that while I've had to reduce the amount of money I'm saving, I can still fly find my Roth IRA and put money in another 401k and mutual funds.
And while we're discussing work, we got through the August 29 start. Even though Jim had the nerve to quit in the middle of August, and there are still more people to get packaged, the worst seems to be behind us. We wound up getting 150 starts, and the admissions goal was 141.
But the pressure to get people packaged remains ferocious. Even people starting in January, the powers that be still want them financially packaged in 10 days. It's just a never ending cycle of unrealistic expectations while still trying to deliver great customer service. And some days, it's easier than others.
It's not that I'm spending more really. Well taxes went up. Especially since I have to bail financially irresponsible people who passed their student loans over to me. But what's hard is the income has gone down. The delivery business has been cut in half. I used to make $1,000 a month doing Shipt and that was with gas costing half of what it does now. Now I'm lucky to pull in $500 a month.
Actually let's move on. I'm not going to vent anymore in this post. So obviously, sports can't be a topic.
I'm attending Life Church online now and it's pretty good. Craig Groeschel is a very good speaker. And I like the current Peace of Mind series, which is focusing on anxiety, worry, and depression. The messages are a little more topical as opposed to simply preaching the Bible. But at the end of the day, changing lives is the most important thing and if this series can do that, I'm all in favor of that kind of church.
I wish Adam Cole could go back to WWE.
Raid fly strips are a gift from God. Living in the woods with no hallway between outside and my apartment, it gets filled with flies. Sprays only do so much and the water traps I've used aren't effective. The strips may be sticky and unsightly but they are effective. I've put up 3 throughout the apartment and each one has caught at least 30 in 3 weeks.
I've been running 5 days a week for 3 weeks. I'm not really losing weight but I certainly feel better. Hips, knees, and calves are doing great. The balls of my feet are getting more calloused, but nothing that's inhibiting my training for the 5k in October. I know I'll do the Shamrock 8k in March but I'm not sure about doing anything between now and then. I think I will do the Norfolk Harbor run in November, but I'm not sure if it'll be the 5k, 10k, or both.
I'm proud of my Youtube channel, NY Sports WickerMedia. I've worked my way up to 119 subscribers and it hasn't been easy to get there. But I'm going to keep posting content and grow this thing as much as I can. I'm proud for learning how to edit video, add music, includes subtitles... and I'm only going to get better with time.
And as I write this, I'm traveling on a train from Williamsburg VA to Iselin NJ. I think I'm somewhere around Ashland, 90 minutes into a 7 hour odyssey. It'll be my first time back in Jersey in maybe 5 or 6 years. And I get to meet so many people from YouTube Jets shows, I get to meet some of my subscribers, and meet some people I subscribe to.
There is the sense of youthful wonder and adventure inside of me. Often times, I suppress it. But when I'm doing this kind of traveling, when I'm getting back in touch with a part of my past, I feel closer to that boy who left New Jersey in 1997. And he had to go because his life was going nowhere.
My car battery died Thursday morning. And I'm thankful for it. Why? Because if it happened just one day later, I would have missed my train. My friend Nick was right. Timing really is everything.
