Coincidences

The Phone Call Coincidence

Posted on by GratuitousRex

So here I am, trying to take a nap during lunch, but I’m not quite falling asleep. My mind wanders. “Did I put my phone alarm on correctly? It feels like it’s been a while since my nap started.”

Then…

“Hey, I wonder if my gf Mona will use her phone as an alarm on her cruise (she’s going on a cruise and her kids and friends this Friday.) Or can you call the “front desk” on a cruise you get a wake up phone call like you can in a hotel?”

And right at that moment, my phone rang.

That was EERIE.

COIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINCIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!!!!!!!

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Coincidences

The Rush Coincidence 

Posted on by GratuitousRex

I was listening the the Mets game on the radio recently. During a station identification, they mention Sean Hannity whose show is syndicated on that radio station. 

So I hear Sean Hannity and I immediately think of his fellow conservative radio personally, Rush Limbaugh, and how a friend used to love him. 

Just as I’m thinking about Rush, the radio commercial that was on the radio for Dodge cars urged people to “rush to Dodge.”

Rush and rush! COIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINCIDEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!

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Relationships

I Was Wrong About Her

Posted on by GratuitousRex

So a few days ago, I wrote She Can’t Even Fake It On Text where my gf Mona said she was “Eh” but didn’t go further about why, and I assumed it was about “us” because if it were about anything else, she’d tell me. 

Well, guess what? It was something else: about her ex husband and pressure with taking care of her kids. See? I was all assumptive for no reason.

We are all meaning making machines, as they say. And we are not always right.

We didn’t have much time together today but Mona made sure to apologize for not being more communicative this week. That was nice of her. 

We were both exhausted (me from walking 15 miles shooting pics in Manhattan the day before) plus we were waiting for Verizon to come fix her set up so we hung around and lazed in her two – person hammock. Got a little nap in there. I needed that since I was up late the night before at a guys dinner. And she needed it because she has young kids who wake her up often in the middle of the night. 

Anyway, NOW here’s the next hurdle: TWO WEEKS WITHOUT SEEING EACH OTHER.

She’s going on a cruise with her kids and her friends this Friday into mid next week. This may be the longest time we’ve not seen each other… also the longest time between oxytocin waves, ifyouknowuimsayin. So we’ll see how she is when she returns. 

Fingers crossed. 

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Relationships

My Debt is 71% Gone

Posted on by GratuitousRex

Oh yeah, baby! You read correctly. 71%… of the original $19,500… gone! I started working on paying it off in October 2016. 

In all honestly, I could eliminate the rest of it right now but my savings would take a hit. 

How have I been pay it off? Well, I used $3k from my savings. And about $2k from my tax return. On top of that, $1k every month from my day job plus most of the $ from my side job taking external pics of real estate on the weekends. 
 

Honestly, I did owe a ton to my therapist, Sheila. She helped put a fire under me, got me on a budget and pushed me to transfer a good chunk of the debt to 0% cards.

AND she pushed me to get my second job.

Now, ok, those are not what I think of when I hear “therapy.” I mean, I knew 0% cards and side jobs exist in theory but… I still wasn’t getting any before seeing her. So would every therapist have made the same suggestions? Possibly. I wouldn’t think the Master’s of Social Work program covers debt consolidation. I’d think this is more Common Sense that I was lacking. Which I guess is a big reason to see a therapist. 

As you may remember, my reason for seeing Sheila in the first place was because my gf Mona mandated it:

A. Because Sheila’s engrained in Mona’s life, especially dealing with her kids. Sheila has power to approve or veto suitors for long term potential.

B. Sheila knows Mona’s life in general and can help me navigate that world. 

C. She’s really good and can give me a kick on the ass when needed. 

D. I’m 44, single, don’t make even close to a lot of money, until 42 years old my longest relationship was 6 months. So yeah. Therapy couldn’t hurt. 

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Relationships

She Can’t Even Fake It On Text? 

Posted on by GratuitousRex

So ok… something’s up with Mona. When I asked her how she was or what’s up she texted “eh” a couple times but didn’t elaborate. If it was about her kids, her ex-husband or whatever, she’d say so. But silence leads me to believe that it’s about “US.” There were no exclamation points to her good night texts like normal. No excessive emojis.

(Cue dramatic organ music) 

I asked her if she wanted to speak. She said no, she wanted to go to bed. 

Ok I won’t push it at 11:30pm. Truth be told, I didn’t want to speak. I had an alcohol-involved company outing this afternoon and picked up a couple more on the way home, so I’m buzzed… but silence and just an “eh” is never good. The thing is…

COULDN’T MONA JUST HOLD IT UNTIL WE COULD DISCUSS WHATEVER SHE HAS ON HER MIND?!

I mean really. I’ve never been in another long term relationship in the age of texting (or in any other age) but do women really drop turds in the middle of rooms and just walk away like that? 

I know my female blog readers are perfect,  but come on….

Opinions? 

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Hair

I Do Not Look Like Bradley Cooper 

Posted on by GratuitousRex

So a new barber shop opened on my block. Just 4 short buildings away. Oh joy of joys! This is it! I can even get haircuts on my lunch break. Booyah!  Young -ish, hip guys working there. Perfect. 

As of 3 days ago, I’ve had already gotten 2 haircuts there. I guess how I’m describing how I want my hair to be cut, they hear “very short.”

So 3 days ago, I googled pictures of haircuts to show him what I mean. Short-ish the sides, more square-ish as it rises from side to top, with enough length on top that I can crumple it a little.

Boom. Bradley Cooper. 

I show my guy, Dirk, the picture, explained it,  he got it and went to work.  Here’s how it compares: 

Ok, it’s still too short and too rounded as it moves from side to top (ok I realize the shape of our skulls might have something to do with that. But whatever, he’s a professional.) Perhaps in two weeks when it grows in a little, it’ll be in the realm of Bradley. 

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Blogging, Cell phones

I Uninstalled Facebook

Posted on by GratuitousRex

So I’ve blogged about my constantly checking my phone or going on Facebook, and how annoying it is but I keep doing it. I work from home so I have a little more freedom throughout the workday and even then I find myself picking up the cell phone and going on FB.

Today, my FB app kept freezing over and over. That could have been a sign from the great beyond you get my shit together. So I did one better and just uninstalled it. See?

That’s where it was. 

Ok, I could still check FB from my computer but I NEVER go on from my work computer and my personal computer only gets turned I after work.

But… I still found myself picking up my phone just to look at it. Strange, right? 

Well, cell phone stimulus is known to cause a spike in dopamine in your system. Dopamine is not necessarily about pleasure anymore, but it keeps us seeking. Here’s an article.  Interesting stuff. 
Either way… Facebook has no place in my workday. It divides my attention and I’m realizing what a precious thing undivided attention is. 

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