Ditch Digging

I get house projects to do while I am living here in my brother's basement. (I do get paid, but I still need to do them if I plan on continuing to live here) My last big assignment was to paint the fence, that took about 10 hours and I was hoping to know Karate afterwards. Sadly I was disappointed. I don't feel any quicker with my blocking than I did before. If only Pat Morita was here shouting at me while doing it, perhaps I would make sense of it all. Oh, I digress. So now my current house projects are digging a larger window well and painting the garage door. The window well project has been going on for almost a month now without any major progress. We had to remove the metal corrugated wall and then begin removing dirt on all sides then lift them up onto the deck and dump the dirt into a pile in the yard. This has been a MAJOR task. I swear I have moved about 2 tons of dirt with shovels and buckets; over my head or pulling them up a rope (no pulley system). My back aches and I tire easily being in a crouching position only using a shovel the length of my arm and a blade as big as my hand. I wonder how people ever were able to dig graves 6 feet deep, construct trenches in times of war, how prisoners escaped by digging tunnels, or how people use to dig pit latrines in the old days. My whole reason for digging this well is to be able to make part of the basement into a basement with an adequate escape route with a latter and all that. The window itself remains open day and night. This could be an excellent point of entry. To add to the hassle, Todd's kids love to crawl into the dirt and track mud all over my 'bedroom'. My cat, Faye, also thinks the dirt is fun and will walk over me while I sleep in my bed. I find paw prints on my shirts.
I just hope that all this dirt digging and lugging will be completed soon. I think I have just about had it.

Strange Changes

Ok... So where did I leave off. I was at BYU-Idaho and I was in school trying to finish out that Communications degree. Fast forward your VCR tapes and push Pause so I can give you a recap of what you missed out on. I did graduate from college with a degree. My parents drove all they way from Virginia to Idaho to see my graduate and then we celebrated. My brother Todd also drove out from Fort Collins, Colorado with his family to go to Yellowstone. The parents and I joined Todd and crew for a few days in Yellowstone. It was good to get to be with family again. Memories were made, sights were seen, and time just slipped by gracefully.
Now, since I jumped out of the puddle that was Rexburg, Idaho and into the big world of careers, professionals, job experience, and me. I needed a place to land where I wouldn't drown. So Todd offered up his basement in Colorado where I could look for jobs, work on my resume, and enjoy life without rent. So a month has gone by, I haven't gotten a real job. Bill collectors are foaming at the mouth, waiting excitedly for me to get my first paycheck so they can take a bite at it. I have made a few friends here in Colorado and then I made some friends outside of it too. It tough when you even know if you belong where you are currently residing.
The job hunt has been disappointing. I think I have thrown my resume out to 20 different job openings. I only had one interview and only a few contact emails saying "Nice try. We have someone more qualified." What do I do? Is my resume not so pristine? Is my online portfolio trashy? (Yes...) Does college not count as practical experience? So now I see that my net worth is not what those college professors said it was. And I feel like they didn't prepare me for these kind of disappointments. Did I even graduate in the right field? Communications? And now I seen this commercial from Best Buy commercial (couldn't find the video) where they talk about a family sending their son off to college where he wanted to major in communications and I quote, "But they worried." What? Is communications a field that your family will worry about your future? I thought that was Art, Music, Drama, or English majors. Well I guess I didn't get the memo, my family didn't tell me they worried that communications could be a hard field to get into? Why didnt' I do something more useful? Why am I not Dr. Troy Richmond? I couldn't pass chemistry....
So should I go back to school? Grad school would help for sure, right? Or am I fooled
Anyway, I am going back to work in the in the job field I do have experience in and no schooling. That is in Sale/Retail/Creation/Repair of glasses. I do have almost 5 years experience in optical know-how. It will be another week before I can start. It will be another 3 weeks before I get a new paycheck.
Day after day, I sit in a cold, wet, dark, basement of despairs; sending out resumes, sleeping, playing videogames, and listening to life above. I hardly come out to see the light of day. Still, I hope for better times. I want to be self sufficient. I want feel accomplished. I want to get out of debt.
Life is on hold till I can find a job or find a woman that want to be my sugar-momma. (any takers?) Guess I am gonna wait it out. If nothing improves, I will be turn into a monster in the basement. I would never see the light of day, I would grow pale and my eyes would adapt to the darkness. My family that hates me would throw apples and old food at me through a little hole. I would be detested and hated. Eventually I would like to tell him that the monster is me, Troy, but they wouldn't understand or care much either. Kafka could write a story on me.