Terrific Tuesday

As most of you know, I have not been having a great month. Finding a job, dealing with a car, and just everything has really been tough for me this time, and draining my energy and enthusiasm. It reached it's low point on Sunday night and Monday morning, ironically the day that I started some work. I have a part time gig doing custodial work at my church. While it was nice to find work, and it is work I don't mind doing and can actually do, the fact that I only had part time hours really seemed to emphasise my needs and it actually made me feel worse. I barely slept Sunday night, and I when I woke up I had trouble breathing and my chest hurt because I felt so stressed about everything that I needed to do and everything that was still not right, and the doubts for what the future would bring. I was right on the edge.
And then during the day, I started thinking things through, and started to put everything in perspective. I switched my viewpoint, and instead of taking every good thing and expecting a bad thing to follow, I decided that for every bad thing that happened, something good came after to even it out. It is amazing what a slight shift in thinking will do. My chest stopped hurting and I felt much better about life in general, even though nothing had actually changed.
And then Tuesday rolled around. Let me tell you about my day.
I woke up with a plan - I would go check out this place about getting car insurance. There was an office downtown a few blocks from where I live, so I walked there and sat down, and within the hour I had insurance for my car. The lady said that if I wanted I could just go around the corner to get licence plates. She did not mean around the corner of the block, but around the corner of the desk. About ten feet away in the same office was the registries place. Getting plates was about five minutes more and I walked out of there legally able to drive my car.
So I went back home and got my brother to give me a ride to where my car was (I live downtown until this weekend, so there was nowhere to store my car while I tried to plate it). We drove for less than a block before I remembered I had forgotten my key. So I get out and run back to the apartment, run up the stairs, grab my key, run down the stairs and go to my brother's parking spot (in the building's parkade), but he is not there. I realise that he would most likely just park outside of the building, so I run back towards where I assume he will be.
Now, on Saturday I had decided to go with koodo mobile for my cell phone. I ordered it all online, and they told me the phone and activation instructions would be sent out in 2-5 business days. At the time my first thought was that it would take longer, and that I would be moved out and I did not know what I would do. But it was too late by then, so I just hoped for the best.
I mention that because as I was heading through the lobby to the side doors where Jeff was parked, I noticed a guy with a box standing in the front, hitting buttons on the buzzer. So I go over and let him in, and he asks what apartment I am in. I tell him and he tells me that he has a package for me. It was my cell phone. Had I not forgotten my key, or had I remembered it five minutes later, I would have missed him completely. It was such good timing.
From there I go with Jeff to where my car is parked. On Monday I had towed it to my mechanic to get it looked at because it would not start and I could not get the hood open. The mechanic (Garland) thought that it was probably a drained battery because it had been sitting for a while. He also showed me how to open my hood (the hood cable is messed up - it still works, but you have to know which part to pull...apparently, not the part on which I had been tugging). So I got Jeff to boost my car and then I was going to drive it around for a little while to charge the battery, and if that didn't work then I would get it back to the mechanic and he would check the battery and alternator and see what was going on. So my car is running and Jeff closes the hood. Or tries to. It won't close. So I try, and I have the same problem. We both try for a while and can't figure it out. So I run into the mechanic and he comes out and shows me what I need to do to close the hood. The cable is kind of goofed, so it won't release properly, so I have to push down on a latch when it is open and then it will close. So pliers to open and screwdriver to close. I can do that.
I drive the car home and sit for a while before I have to leave for an appointment. Earlier that morning, before I had gone to licence my car or anything, I received a call from a paint store where I had dropped my resume last week sometime. They wanted me to come in for an interview around 3 that afternoon. It was now almost that time, and I went out to my car and it...started! It has started every time since, so I guess I had just drained the battery. It had not run much in the past three weeks because I could not drive it without plates...
Anyway, I went to the interview, and within ten minutes he is offering me as much work as I will take. I told him I would discuss what the church needs from me and we would work something out. So basically I now have two jobs (I still have to go back and talk with the paint store and make final arrangements). And if it does not work to keep both part time, then I will end up at the paint store full time. I would like both, though. It would be a little more variety, keep me from getting bored.
After that I stop at Canadian Tire and find a screwdriver set (so I can close my hood) for $18, normal price $60. I figure that is a good deal, so I go for it.
Once I'm home I call the number and go to set up my phone. The person I talk to is very polite, and he tells me that for some reason they have not given me a phone number. Or set up my plan. Or anything. But he is very friendly and optimistic and helpful, so I was not concerned, and with his help we get that all figured out very easily. The lesson in that is that attitude is important - if he had been surly and snooty it would have dimmed my mood and ruined my day. But because he was nice and professional and friendly and helpful, I merely shook my head at the craziness of it all. And then I had it all set up.
So that was my day. I don't know why God decided to let things seem to get so complicated, but in the end He has really taken care of me. It is amazing how one good day can make every other day seem not as bad.