Dear Diary . . . day by day

Thursday, October 4th, 2001 - Big Trash Day!

Today is big trash day, a.k.a. Bulk Waste Pickup Eve. (I call it Big Trash because Bulk Waste sounds like some unpleasant bowel disorder.) Tomorrow morning the garbage men are prepared to pick up and dispose of anything we leave out on the curb. This event has been foreshadowed on the block all week long: on Tuesday I found out which neighbor picked up my old black metal futon frame on big trash day 2 years ago; it's now much more bent than it was when I rejected it, and I think this time it's headed for the dump.
Of course, there's no parking in the neighborhood today because of all the cruisers looking to score some decent used furniture and goods. Vans idle by, the drivers peering at our curbs to determine if anything of interest has been discarded prematurely. Tonight, as we all drag out our unwanted goods, we'll take a walk around the block, see if there's a new coffee table we can claim before someone else sees it.
I've been looking forward to this day for months now. Last year this time we had no sofa to speak of, and we sat on a blanket on the floor in the living room. Today, we have 4 sofas, one of which is arranged in the vertical position for any special-needs alien visitors we might have. One of these is going out tonight (your old one, Mr. Cat, that dumps you on the floor if you sit on it for too long). I'm also getting rid of an old gold velvet armchair that pokes you in the back, two desk chairs (which David has actually already claimed, but tonight is his deadline to come get them) and various other crap I dig up in the next 6 hours or so. Our house will be so much less crowded after tonight, and we can finally have some room to arrange the furniture! Huzzah!
The rest of it is going as it has been lately. Last night Tim and I grocery shopped with a calculator. Today I took back a bunch of unused art supplies I bought at Michaels last month when I thought I'd be working soon and could afford to be artsy-craftsy. I got them to put it back on my ATM Mastercard instead of my credit card, which means I might actually be able to pay a few bills this month. Exciting. My chiropractor referred me to a law firm in San Rafael that always needs good admins. For those of you that don't live around here, San Rafael is probably 45 min to an hour and a half away, depending on traffic. Luckily, it would be a "reverse commute", which means I should be ok. But still, despite lots of driving, I'm calling them today.
My sister's old job is open (she was recently promoted) but when I emailed her to ask if she thought it was a good idea, she gently told me no, she didn't think I should apply. Sigh. She has good enough reasons, but I don't think she gets how fucking desperate I am right now.
Tomorrow, I interview for a high-stress marketing job that I really, truly, do not want. It's another reverse commute, in the opposite direction of San Rafael (near Walnut Creek or Concord). Still, I hope I get it. I hope I get anything at all, and soon. I would be so happy to be working again, bringing in money. It would a huge load off.
Oh, I don't want to end on my own personal downer like that. Okay, this isn't exactly uplifting, but it did make me laugh out loud:
I was listening to KGO and Dr. Dean Adell was reading an email he got from someone who was pondering what we should do with Bin Laden if we did capture him. To kill him would make him a martyr and holding him captive might inspire terrorists to hold Americans hostage in hopes of an exchange. So, this listener suggested the following: capture Bin Laden overtly with special forces, fine. But then fly him to John Hopkins, give him a sex change operation, then fly her back to live in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule.
The poetic justice of that makes me wish it was actually a viable option, my friends.

Exercise log:
Finally went to the gym. Made the mistake of weighing while I'm all bloated, but that's only a partial excuse; amazing how a year of hard work can go poof! in three months of slackerdom. Stretched, did 25 minutes on the precor which equals 2 miles and 300 calories burned.
Writing log:
Wrote the next scene of "A Serious Case of Fairies", a collab I'm writing with Tim.
Current Publications:
In the Shade of You at Speculon.
San Francisco City Guide at EGrad.com. Written by me, edited by someone else.
I'm currently reading:
Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers
In case you're wondering, it's a hard back book that hurts my arms after a few chapters, making this a very slow read for me.
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt
Okay, so I'm just reading the very rough first draft of the chapters fresh off the 'puter, but damn, it's already good!
My PO Box is:
Heather Shaw
P.O. Box 13222
Berkeley, CA 94712-4222

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