4:32 pm - Tues 7/11/06
I'm Just Trying To Be A Good Person. My Name Is Jim

Sun 7/9/06 (2:59 p.m.)

Good Things I�ve Done Today:

1. Had a healthy lunch (Turkey and Swiss cheese and spinach sandwich with mustard, on whole wheat, with a banana, yogurt, and a glass of water).
2. Worked on my 401K application (Filled some stuff out, called Cary for info I needed to make him and Kay �primary beneficiaries�, emailed Jane for the same info in order to make her and Mark �contingent beneficiaries�).
3. Did a load of laundry.
4. Got two gallons of water (I don�t trust L.A. tap water, not to mention the ancient pipes in our building, so I get my water at a water vending machine about a block down the street from my apartment).

Things That Have Made Me Happy In The Past Day Or Two:

1. As of this writing, I�m feeling a bit better in the abdominal region than I have been the past couple days.
2. Kevin called me today (I missed the call, cause my cell was in �silent� mode, but I called him back, and we had a nice conversation. And you know what I realized while we were talking? I really like that guy).
3. Got my latest disability check yesterday. And unlike the previous two checks, which were for three days and five days of eligibility respectively, and thus pretty small, this check is for a week-and-a-half (Woo-hoo!).
4. Calling Cary about the 401K stuff meant I got to talk to Cary for a bit. And since Kay answered the phone, I got the chance to chat with her for a bit too (And you know what I realized while we were talking? I really like those guys!).
5. While I was ambivalent�to say the least�about returning to work Thursday, it was nice to be �the center of attention� on the occasion of my triumphant return (It seems a lot of people at the ArcLight really like this guy. Who knew?).

Work has been fine these past couple days. I did retail on Thursday, and Dome box office yesterday (Which was a real cakewalk; you get some people off the street, but most ArcLight regulars just go to the main box office, so it�s a pretty mellow shift. I spent a good chunk of the night chatting with Casey�who was usher greeter in the Dome�and drinking �Arnold Palmers�, which for the uninitiated, is a concoction of half iced-tea & half lemonade).

Mon 7/10/06 (11:00 p.m.)

I don�t think I�ve done this before�I�m journaling as I�m �on hold� (with Fidelity Net Benefits, who handle the ArcLight�s 401K plan). I�m hoping it will lessen the frustration factor as I wait.

A short time ago, I called Evelyn Moody at QueensCare (I had spoken to her on Thursday about my emergency room bill).

She said she had not heard back from the billing person, but that if I wanted, I could drop the bill off to her, and she�d �pass it along�. So that seems positive; if she�s actually taking possession of the bill, it will literally be �out of my hands�, which I presume means it will get taken care of (Or is that too �presuming� too much...?).

(I wanted to get a �pin number�, so I could check out the website. And I wanted to talk to someone who could give me an idea of what investments were appropriate for my situation, since I know diddly-squat about such matters.)

But on to my car insurance bill...

And done ( That was easy enough, which is something I really appreciate�the convenience of paying my bills online or on the phone).

Now it�s on to the last thing on today�s �To Do� list that I can do at home, which are the dishes (I started them a couple days ago, but I don�t know�I guess it was just too daunting to do them all at once).

And that�s done (Here�s a �Household Hint From Hoffmaster�: If the dishes in your sink have gotten moldy, you probably need to do dishes a little more often).

I seem to learn the wrong lesson when I finally rouse myself to do dishes, and it�s really disgusting cause I�ve waited so long; instead of thinking �Gee, this probably wouldn�t be so disgusting if I didn�t wait so long to do it�, I think �Yuck! This is disgusting, so I obviously need to put off doing this again for as long as possible�.

(I actually have the little coffemaker Jane bought me soaking in bleach, cause I couldn�t get at the alien spores that are now growing inside. Gross...)

Well, now I�m off to the bank, and then to QueensCare.

(�Later that same day...�)

It�s almost time to head off to the Metro...

Got to the bank without incident, to deposit what I assume was my last disability check (There may be another small one, for a few days. But anyway...). Then I swung over to the QueensCare clinic on 8th street--An easy walk from my apartment--where I gave the receptionist my emergency room bill (in an envelope addressed to Evelyn M., the person I�ve been speaking to on the phone).

As I walked back home, I had a feeling I want to remember and hang on to�It felt good to have �gotten things done�, to have put five things on my �to do� list the night before, and to have crossed them off.

Tues 7/11/06 (2:10 p.m.)

As I begin, I�m waiting for a trailer from Rocky Balboa to download (The �Rocky� movies got worse and worse, movie after movie, though I hung on through Rocky IV, seeing each one in the theater, before finally jumping ship on the dismal Rocky V). Another sequel at this point�Stallone is sixty years old�seems doomed to suck, and suck hard; it�s an obvious, pathetic money-grab (And worse than that, it�s kind of sad to see Stallone desperately trying to hang on when his time is long, long gone).

But as �Milhouse� on The Simpsons once said, �I fear to look, yet I cannot turn away...�.

Good Things I�ve Done Today:

1. Submitted to Dava Waite Peaslee Casting (They�re the My Name Is Earl casting office. They put out a call for �interesting� character faces as shooting begins on season two of the show. So since I�ve lost count of how many times people have referred to my face as �interesting�, I assume I�ll be getting called in within the next few weeks).
2. Got the Broken Trail video out to Mark and Jane (I�d told Jane I was going to do it a couple days ago, so this falls under �better late than never�).
3. Gotten groceries (I count that as a �good thing�, even though you kind of have to do it, because when I hold off on buying groceries, I eat more junk, and spend more money).

Things That Have Made Me Happy In The Past Day Or Two:

1. It�s my �Friday�.
2. Weighed myself today, and according to my scale, I�m at 233 lbs, down from a career high of 260 (Until I get a new scale, I�m going to assume that my current one is at least relatively accurate, and that I have undoubtedly lost a substantial amount of weight, thanks to my hospital stay and improved eating and drinking habits).
3. Talked to Phil yesterday (One of the �schedulers� at ArcLight). He told me that due to a couple different factors�people�s availability/conflicts, the fact that some of the current usher greeters suck and they don�t want to schedule them for it anymore, etc.�I�m �usher greeting� all week next week. Sweet...!

Earlier this afternoon, got a call from Molly at ACG (Molly is Brett�s new assistant).

She double-checked to make sure I was interested in the �A-list membership�, and when I hesitatingly said I was, she said, �In that case, there�s an opening for Paul Weber on Wednesday, if you�re still interested�.

That, in a nutshell, is why I don�t like this new �A-list membership� thing. The fact that I wouldn�t have gotten in otherwise kinda bugs me.

The other thing that bothers me is that, at $100 a pop, there�s no way I�ll at least sometimes be able to write a check for workshops; I�ll have to put $100 on a credit card, that I won�t be able to pay down, month after month after month, on into infinity.

That just doesn�t seem �fiscally responsible� to me...

And on that note, I have to start getting ready for work.

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