Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2003
August 19, 2003, posted at 11:59 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Today, I got hired at Ze Mean Bean Cafe. I don't start for a week, but it's a start to getting myself out of my current hardship. I am not sure if I can keep two jobs during the school year - heck, I already put 60-70 hours a week into teaching - but I'm going to try, at least for a bit. I'm feeling a little wishy-washy about the restaurant, which is considered fine dining (not really my style), but I'm going to give it a shot.****
Not too much else is new, at all. Using a bent paper clip, I figured out how to rig my television to work without cable. Network television is so poor, with all the reality TV crap that is being offered, but I did definitely get into a new program last night called O.C.. I think it was a rerun of the premiere last night, as a new episode airs tonight. Initially, when reading about the show, I was turned off because the lead teenager looks like he's 30. This is something that I never was sensitive about when watching, say, Beverly Hills 90210 in my youth, but it made me decide not to watch O.C. But it was the only thing worth watching that was on last night, so I gave it a whirl. Well, the "16 year old" still looks at least as old as I am, but I'm hooked on the show already. It's sort of a soap opera, but not in the campy variety that Melrose Place was (not that there's anything wrong with that). I found it completely engrossing.
Without cable, or DirecTV, the things that miss mostly are The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (perhaps the best news program on television, believe it or not) and, of course, all the great drama and comedy on HBO. And Tigers games, as I see my beloved team march on towards the worst record in the history of baseball. I actually might have to renew my Directv subscription, because I seem to remember a yearlong commitment with it that I haven't fulfilled, but won't worry about that until I could actually pay a bill, which won't be for at least a month. I might just renew it and fulfill the year subscription (only a couple more months), and then end it totally until I can better afford it.
After the show, I ran from all the way from my house near Moravia Road to Northern Parkway and back, which was probably a good five mile run. Holden is so out of shape, and, by the end, I was nearly dragging him. It was good to get out and run, and I really need to get back into it. I'm tossing around the idea this school year, without a gym membership, of stopping off at Lake Montebello on the way into school and doing two laps around it every morning. Maybe three. It's about 1.5 miles around, so if I do three laps, it's nearly a five mile run, which would give me a good workout to start the day. I'm the kind of guy that needs a definite routine to stay in shape, and that might do it for me.
Otherwise, I've just been trying to kill time. Doing a lot of cleaning, and thinking about moving my bedroom from the basement to the middle floor. I can't wait for school to start. I need that regularity in my life again.