Another forty bucks? Oh well, last week was profitable, and hey, $40 is something, plus I get to make old-timers happy for an hour, and that means I get to make myself happy for an hour too. Feeling pretty good after dance class; my body has been getting a lot of exercise, what with yesterday's brisk walk, then a 27 hole disc golf outing, followed by a Zumba class in the evening. I've been getting on my bicycle also, now that the weather is starting to warm up and I'm feeling the guilty need to get out of the car whenever possible. It is better to ride the bike for so many reasons, exercise, environmental impact, pace of life, sense of peace, saving money, so I'm planning on being on the bike as much as possible, and that means not waiting til the last minute to go somewhere and 'needing' the car because I'm late.
Lots of errand stuff to take care of today, and the most interesting of them is to try and wire $100 to M so she doesn't have all the responsibility of paying for the phone calls she's been making to me. She is living pretty much hand to mouth, and now that the high season is over, her tips are less, and it's more of a struggle for her to put money into her phone. I've been meaning to make a contribution and today is the day.
Yesterday on the phone, she said,'Do you mind if I don't call you for a month or so?' and I said, as long as we're in contact on the email, that's fine. But I like talking to her and when I understood that it was economics that would keep us from talking to one another, well, clearly it's time for me to go to the bank and step up. Which brings up a significant point about her.
M has never asked me once for any money, other than a couple of bucks to buy some food for after her shift or something. The standard modus operandi in the farang/thai relationship dance is that the woman asks the man for like $250/month so she can afford to wait for him and be ready when he comes back. It's the way a lot of women there make their living, and of course, I was keeping a close eye out to see if that would be our pattern. And she has asked me for nothing, which I take as a strong mark of her character and her uniqueness. She's not 'one of those' ladies who is trying to 'play' her boyfriend. I knew that instinctively early on, and she has given me no reason to think otherwise, so it adds to my high opinion of her.
And it's funny that when I told her on the phone that I would send some money there, her first statement was, 'you don't have to, honey, and I know you don't want to because you think I will use it for alcohol' or words to that effect. Actually, I wasn't worried about that, but the fact that she brought it up makes me appreciate her ability to put herself in my shoes, to empathize with what I might be feeling, so I take the statement as a positive. I'll send a little money so that she can call me without having to pay for it, that's all. She's going to drink some while she has the job in the bar, and she is always assuring me that it's under control and she keeps it within limits. I pretty much believe her, but I've still got some 'we're gonna have to deal with this' energy about it. But we don't have to deal with it now, and I'm going to try and get her some cash, because she deserves it. I can make more in one good day than she can make in a month, so it's right to share the wealth, ya know...
I also have to shop around for new car insurance, perhaps in vain, but I'm pissed off at Progressive who has summarily boosted my payment by $140 every six months due to a bullshit 'quota' ticket I got last fall in Woodburn, OR. It was a ridiculous and obvious attempt to fill the coffers of the local municipality, as I drove through a yellow light and got pulled over. The cop said something like 'technically its a violation if you are still in the intersection when the light turns red'. (Once a cop starts an explanation with 'technically', you know it's full of shit). He can pull over someone each and every light, and that's what he was doing, as I saw him do the same thing to another sap, right after he wrote up my ticket. I was angry about it then, but Woodburn is 80 minutes away from Eugene, so I didn't want to waste a day fighting it. So I wrote the letter, got it reduced by $75 or something and figured, oh well, what the fuck. But now I"m hearing from my insurance that they'll raise my rates for the next three years due to the ticket, for a grand total of $740, which added to the ticket itself, makes it about a $900 fine for a crime I didn't commit. I'd have fought it had I realized this was going to happen. So it's time to make that call to Geico and see if fifteen minutes can save me 15 percent. Grrrrrr Fuckers!
OK, dude, off the computer and into the errands. Ready set go!
PS I just got off the phone with Geico, and I got a great quote for the same coverage that I had with Progressive. Since I have a good driving record over the years, they were able to forgive the bullshit ticket, and I'm happy to report that I can now call Progressive and tell them to go and fuck themselves, er I mean I can call Progressive and cancel my insurance. And yeah, please send me a check for the $6 or whatever of pro-rated insurance which you now owe me. You're history, Progressive. I gave you a chance but you pulled the old 'if we do it for you, then we'd have to do it for everyone' line. Adios! And I'm pretty happy that I wouldn't accept that bullshit.
