Another week

I can't believe it's February already. It's been another crazy week here at Casa Knapp but things are quieting down now. I have spent the past seven days worried about my car and the good news is - it's finally fixed! After an $80 jump, a $85 battery, a $98 tow, and a $48 positive connector cable (yes, in that order), it works! I'm still a bit nervous when I get behind the wheel but so far so good, I've made it to the grocery store and back and didn't need cab fare!

I did try to change the battery myself, with the help of my neighbor Bill. He took me to Auto Zone where the girl assured me I needed a new battery without even testing the old (that's quite a talent I say, knowing if a battery's gone bad without even hooking it up to be charged) and then helped me put the new one in. (And can I just say my engine area has never been cleaner? Apparently it was a bit too dirty for Bill's taste so he made me go get my vacuum cleaner and spruce it up. Angela was not impressed about the vacuuming.) But it still didn't work.

So I got my friend Jim to come over Friday (I spent a large part of the week also pretending my car wasn't dead, this worked okay and I had decided it would work well until 2/14 when Ang and I had to be on separate sides of town at the same time) and he and Bill and I tried again but nothing. So I gave up, called the stupid tow truck company and sent it away. I had no idea where it was going (I had an address, that was it) and at that point I really didn't care. It wasn't even so much the money at this point but the energy I was having to put into the whole mess.

Two hours later, my car was fine. And I was ecstatic. Car Crisis of '09 over!

Other than that, Angela's sick with a bad cold. Which meant I spent Friday cleaning and cooking for her study group Saturday morning. Let's just say the house is spotless and I am hoping it stays that way for a while. Or forever. I would really be okay with having a cleaning person. I would not be one of those people who'd be freaked out by it. Just for the record. (And yes, I even cleaned the bathroom - including the toilet! And I can still see just fine!)

Cleaning all day Friday meant I got to spend some quality time with my iPod and the podcasts I've been downloading and meaning to get around too. I think in total I listened to over eight hours' worth on Friday: mostly screenwriting discussions. (Interesting factoid: Will Smith lives in a gated community - of his own. He bought a street and closed it off and it's his. Yeah. His own street. Wow.)

Oh, and I started my new job Monday - teaching English classes for the University of Phoenix. Right now I have a mentor, and once I complete my first two classes I'll be a full-fledged faculty member. So this week I've been working one-on-one with my mentor doing prep work and tomorrow the class starts (students start checking in today but she told me to take the day off - the only one I'll get for the next nine weeks; yeah, that's right, UoP faculty have to work every single day which was so not in the brochure).

And I'm still plugging away at UCLA three nights a week - and loving my business class. This week Amy Baer, the CEO and President of CBS Films came to our class and can I just say, I want to work for her! Fingers crossed!

Oh yes - and the rats. Still here, in my humble-I-only-freaking-LIVE-HERE opinion. But what do I know? Because they've been skirting the traps and the exterminator's given up on me. He said he'd be in touch. I'm not holding my breath.

Okay, enough. Back to my other day job. Working on my second draft of my script, finishing up the Lenten devotional I thought sounded fun to write, and editing my novel. Ooh - there's also three hours of Lost on the DVR. Hmmm...choices!