2013-08-04 - 1:11 p.m.

Funny I set off this morning and thought of bringing a journal with me, but didn't yet here I am at a library and the first thing I am compelled to do is write.
Not that I have anything profound, insightful or marvelous that I am burning to get down before lost... no my writing is not of that nature. It is more the self indulgent relaxing task of going through the motions with the repetetive tapping of the keys in an almost mermerizing meditative way, the way I imagine Franny in Salinger's novel hoping the chanting of "The Jesus Prayer" would be.

That makes me think of how the ciccadas are still with us here in Northern VA, and delightfully I don't have to roll down my windows when drviving by the expanse of the golf course surrounded by trees which is a half hour away from home to hear them. That is good news as that golf course was near work and I was let go of my job.

Interesting as I did a damn fine job and know it.
Nonetheless I was let go after one of the last tasks I worked on was drafting of a template to be used for a system of automation of some paperwork that I used to manually draft.

So its really just silly on the part of anyone to pretend I was let go for lack of performance. One doesn't keep one in a job for five and a half years if they are truly not capable of doing the work and if the company is not making money on their labor! Clearly the company had a good investment in me.

It was also a good investment of my time to work there so I am grateful for all that I did learn.

Time to move on.

So now, it is really nice that I hear the ciccadas in the trees at home. There is a farm that abuts my house, with my backyard ever so small having a wonderful view of the trees from that farm's apple orchard.

There is occassionally some hellish scream in the middle of the night from an unidentified animal. Other than that it is a lovely peaceful place. One day I will go about the effort to figure out what that animal is with the terrible shriek. There is more exactly TWO animals heard at times, and I am not sure if they are fighting or if it is the sound of exctacy in the animal world but whichever it is WAY more disconcerting than the sound of a screaming cat in heat which are akin to a baby crying.

One neighbor girl swore she saw a monkey in the trees. Not likely but perhaps a flying squirrel as those are in this area.

I have been cleaning the carpet of my basement stairs and the hallway leading to the basement, and need to finish cleaning the rest of it as well as my living room and front foyer. I do want that to be done before I show it to find a new tenant. My last tenant was really lovely and we enjoyed having her for as long as it worked out. She lost her job however so after some months of trying to make it work she moved back in with her mother as she just couldn't afford to maintain her own place. She was a young mom with two little ones that her mom had custody of who was trying to keep it together and maintain her independence in the hope of having the kids move in with her . Cost of child care around here makes it nearly impossible for a single mom without higher education to do that. Its darn hard for one WITH and education, but this girl did not have a college degree and without that the wages she could earn make it just nearly impossible.

I was disappointed she couldn't make it work, even with a basement apartment which is cheaper than the average rent in my area.

I find it fascinating that I ran an ad and as I didn't make any mention of a preference for male or female that the majority of the responses are from men. It is kinda an informal unintended study of the roles of sexes and relationships in this area in this day and age. I got a few " I am looking for a place for my fiance and I" or " I am looking for a place for my wife and I" etc...

But EVERY inquiry from a couple about the basement for rent came from the male.

That just struck me. Seems traditional roles are still the norm here in some ( perhaps in many) respects.

Just a couple of woman responded. I am more comfortable with all my girls renting to a woman! So I didn't contact the gentleman and need to re-write the ad. The thing is the adds say you can no violate law of equal opportunity, but if one has girls in a home of a single mom it is just common sense that to rent to a woman is more prudent! So is that technically a violation to state "Seeking a woman to rent" ?

I don't really know much about that particular question so need to do some research out of curiosity.

For now however I stopped in at the library after church to check directions for a drum circle I am excited to go to. The teacher is a master drummer teaching jembe which is exactly what I have been looking for (for years actually). Its a bit of a drive, but I am looking forward to the class which is at a church east of me.

The teacher also teaches a class at a Unitarian Church which I also look forward to attending. It will be fantastic to have the refresher and drum again!

Djembe!

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