Truth be told we're both a little shellshocked from the latest turn of events. Don't get me wrong, we're both grateful to be working. It's the first time in three years I've had a steady paycheck. Not to mention insurance. And the first time in I don't know how long we have two reliable incomes.
But... Bakersfield?
From the moment we got here we've been planning to escape. It was just a matter of waiting out the lease. It would only be a year, we kept telling ourselves, we could do a year. It wouldn't be easy, but we'd survive. By the time the lease was up, the recession would be over, the economy would be humming again and there'd be plenty of opportunities for us back in LA.
And exactly none of that came true. Except for the lease expiring in a couple of weeks.
We'd both been hunting for jobs in LA for months, long before the boyfriend was unceremoniously dumped. He had some nibbles, but nothing more. I didn't even have that. The economy, far from getting better, seems actually to be getting worse. There's dark talk of a "double dip" recession.
So I guess we should be thankful, and to a certain point we are.
But still... Bakersfield?
As we sat in front of the TV last night in dead silence, both trying to fully absorb what now appears to be our fate, there was really only one thing that could snap us out of our funk.
The Miss Universe Pageant.
Brought to you by that scumbag Donald Trump. He's turned into the white Don King, bad hair and all.
The boyfriend was thrilled; this is really his milieu. Me, not so much. I found this year's crop of world beauties to be less than inspiring. They all looked as if they had been pressed out of the same mold. Seriously, the women on "RuPaul's Drag Race" were much more beautiful, and they're men.
All the same, you have to work with what you got, a lesson we're now learning dearly. At the end of the day, Miss Mexico won.
I do think Miss Australia was robbed, but I admire how she took the loss with poise and grace, never once letting on that all her hopes and dreams came crashing down last night. Perhaps this something I can learn from, an example for how to soldier on through adversity.
Eh... maybe not.
