Cafe Hitch-hike

2019-05-04

The un-bio, un-resume

I'm just catching my breath. We had 3 meetings today, the last of which just dragged on and on and on. I had to retreat to the cantina and buy myself a beer and chimichanga. It was the same place where I had a run-in with a fitness model on my birthday (I still laugh), but this time I chatted it up with a waiter who used to live in Amsterdam. It was awesome because he told me some cool things to do while there. I stuck with Corona Lites with lime rather than doing anything that would land me on a website like AbusedByTequila.Com like I had on that same day.

I then had some issues with the condo maintenance fees and tried getting in touch with the property managers (PMSers). Long story short, they are now trying to stick me with the first quarter fees although they were paid by the former owner AND I hadn't even taken possession of the property until January 31. Ok, I left messages and emails and they didn't get back in touch; they only tossed back the fees to me. They are unbelievable. I asked the HOA president to get in touch with me, so hopefully she can give good advice.

I know that HOAs by nature are not particularly well-liked. Part of it is tenants who have unrealistic expectations. When I lived in Gulf Bluff, the residents in my development complained about their kids seeing snakes in the fields. I wasn't even native to the area, but even I knew that hey... snakes were native to our surroundings with its plains, wooded areas, and nearby bayous. I've also heard many stories since I've been here of nightmare HOAs and condo commandos, and knew of at least 2 people who led insurgencies against theirs.

And, I still fight with the internet access, but that's par for the course for Evil Telecom Conglomo. My cousin Daniel up in the hometown posted something the other day where he bitched about the same crappy company and same crappy service.

As I recall, my move to Gulf Bluff was no cakewalk, and I had a lot of difficulties with service. I was polite, but gosh, I frequently got better results when I put my bitch voice to work. I also must remember that I am in Florida where things really are more senseless. Besides that, most big transitions tend to be bumpy. My move to the university was quite turbulent and by my own problem-solving, I was able to steer around problems. My move to the fishing villages definitely had some bumps. It was partly a miracle and luck that I weathered them, thinking on my feet helped. My move to Miami-- oh, Christ... Let's not go there. My mentor assured me that I've made a lot of good decisions, and even managed to rebound (eventually) from bad ones or those that didn't turn out well.

Now I see why many people choose to stay put and deal with the annoyances they know rather than those they don't. They stick with people, places, jobs, and other things because they don't want to trade an annoyance for a royal pain, kinda like trading an allergy for the need of an organ transplant.

I heard about un-bios where people describe what they are not. Earlier this week, I decided to do an un-resume. Rather than describe my accomplishments, I focused on something else related to them:

"College graduate" turned into enterprising, motivated, inquisitive, values education, aspiring. Instead of saying, 'I did this,' I decided to look at the underlying traits or characteristics that fueled it.

"Dog owner" is loves animals, caring, responsible, nurturing, and... doesn't mind dog hair on the sofa. Or bed (bahahahah, but true).

"World traveler" is now adventurous, curious, open, and energetic.

"Level II" in my profession (which is the promotion in rank I recently earned) is hard-working, flexible, plays the long game, focused, and invests in continuing education.

"Lived in various places" (and I can add that I actually stayed in each place for a substantial amount of time) can also be flexible, open, willing to follow opportunity, thinks ahead, willing to take risks.

"Many experiences" can be a combination of the above listed attributes. Now that I think of it, these 'many experiences' have been a very compelling reason I've cooled my heels these past 3 years. I've taken many chances. I've burned bridges. I've pissed off people. I gave myself to the wrong people. I've made myself open but let in things I didn't quite want or need. There's always a price. I trusted and believed, and learned it was sometimes a delusion. I may have let the good times roll, but I'd pay quite the tab.

Then, life goes on. One friend who was always a sucker for get-rich-quick schemes still pursues those, which they were doing well before we met in 2007. One of my friends is dating someone in Asia and they swear they're in love. Another friend is married to a woman who lives on the opposite side of the country from him. I guess the point is... people still take gambles. People still believe in taking shot-in-the-dark chances, which is something I haven't attempted to do much of. My moves lately have been more calculated. I'm doing it to be safe, keep what I have, and not to be such a fuck-up, but damn... I've noticed I lost quite a bit of my spontaneity in the process.

The answer wouldn't be to go back to what I used to do, but I'm not really sure what the answer really is. All I know is I don't want to be cynical and dry, but then again I don't want to be a complete sap.

I guess I did the un-resume so I could dig past the surface and get back to the more enduring parts of myself. I can say the things I did as an adult, both the good and not so good, were guided by the same things that guided me when I was a kid. These will probably be the same things that will guide me through the days to come.

But the weird thing... why don't I do something similar for matters of my heart? Oh damn, that might get twisted, hahahah!!

Too much to think of on this Friday night. I can thank the wonderful fees notice for winding me up worse than a top, but a colleague was watching Extraordinary Tales on a streaming service, and the animation got my attention... I think I can do that instead.

downwind | upstream