Day 14 - Answering machine.

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I think this comic needs a little bit of explaining.  You see, Lindsey works unusual hours at her job in Manhattan, but we still manage to talk pretty frequently throughout her work day.  Often times, Lindsey and I will start a conversation while she's at work that takes hours to finish due to the many interruptions that happen on both ends.  Sometimes one conversation will span any number of different communication mediums: AIM, telephone, text message, and other less conventional means...

Speaking of Lindsey, she's been planning some kind of BIG surprise for the weekend of October 17th.  I'm excited to know what it is--and she assures me I will be very pleased--but I am also a little worried about the timing, since it falls on the same weekend as The Comeback Tour's last New York show (and possibly our last show ever).  All I know about the surprise is that I need to have my car, and that I need to come down on both October 17th AND October 19th.  That's a LOT of travel and events for one weekend.  Please pray that Steve, my boss at Michaels, is understanding about my taking a whole weekend off from work on my second week back.  If I'm lucky, my name and number will already be in the computer, and I won't even have to talk to him directly about it--otherwise it's gonna be hell telling him I've gotta miss a few days, especially since he's VERY wary of my "time off practices" from the last time I worked there.

Today, I finally got the estimate for car repairs I've been dreading.  It looks like the solenoid in the EVAP system is messed up, which is what we expected--since it happened to my brother's Sentra as well.  That's a $400 fix, but it didn't stop there.  I guess the carbon container is also rotting out, and I gotta get that replaced as well.  That's another $300 fix added on top.   God is good to me, and my dad said he would pay for the carbon container, but $400 is still a big hit.  So, I'm going to have to seriously cut back on my hang-outs and spending for the next few weeks.  I've managed not to spend too much money since I quit The Agency Group back in August, but I also haven't have a car for a while.  Not surprisingly, right after getting a car, I'm tackled by an outrageous amount of new expenses.

It's funny, being unemployed and without a car is a lot like being 16 years old again.  You do a lot of things you wouldn't normally have time for, like playing Super Nintendo, or cleaning out your desk drawers.  Right now, I'm taking a baby step back up to the age of 18--where part-time jobs and car insurance are the primary worries.  Hopefully I'll be back to age 22, and concerned about health benefits and planning my future in just a few more weeks.  Finding a real job is tough as all get out; however, today I did find some SWEET job-listing websites while looking around the Marist College career services site.  It's clear to me that the BEST industry jobs are not listed on Craigslist.  So this works a lot better for me in terms of finding the kind of employment I'm good at.

Watch out music industry, I strike back like the Empire!

Talking with Patrick today about my Bible readings was really refreshing.  I like to catch up with him every few days to talk about my studies in Matthew.  Things are going slow, but I'm already looking forward to moving on to the book of Mark.  Getting another perspective on the life of Jesus will be sweet, and it will be good to clarify and reiterate those truths that I need to hear over and over again.  A life lived for Christ is not an easy life--but it is certainly a life well spent.  I'm praying that God will use me for great things, and that this time in my life will be time well spent preparing for that mission!

I don't usually ask the readers any questions--but what do you guys feel like God is calling you to do for Him these days?  What's your biggest challenge?