Tom spoke to Mary and explained to her how he got fired for being against their having Easter egg hunts and bringing religion into the workplace, and therefore not being seen as a teamster.

He also explained the new job he’ll begin on Monday for what’s now going to be $8 an hour. Still pretty shitty. We really hope he can work his way up fast! He’s still going to need to find a part-time job in the meantime.

He got a computer-made card in the mail today from the company he’ll be working for (Modern Engineering) welcoming him aboard.

He had to have a physical as well as a drug test, but he got the luxury of being allowed to pee in private.

Although the truck runs, it needs more work as does the car which nearly caused us a brush with death the other night. There’s a part underneath that steers the car which had come loose, causing the car to vibrate. Well, had it broken off completely, we would’ve lost control and crashed.

I’m just sick of this car and truck running so much of our lives!

I really hope that the only reason I haven’t heard from Mary is that she’s been broke and not because she thinks we ripped her off. I would not only be insulted to learn if she did think that but unable to continue our friendship as I just couldn’t fathom being friends with anyone who couldn’t trust me and was thinking the worst of me. For her to think that after all I’ve done for her would really be a slap in my face if I ever did find out that that’s what she believes for sure. I hope the poor girl’s just broke and that I find out soon enough whether or not she got my two books and whatever else is going on with her.

I’m surprised I haven’t gotten any letters to her from José. Makes me wonder if they’re still in touch with each other. I don’t see how they could be. They must’ve had a fight which is unfortunate. I went out and bought extra envelopes in case I do get anything to send from her to him.

I still have mixed feelings about our friendship. Yes, it’s nice to have a pen pal like her when I do hear from her, but a part of me is also like, go ahead. Accuse me of being a thief and give me a reason to dump you so I can avoid any potential problems between us in the future. It will be her loss if she does let this Buffy chick come between us by being dumb and naïve enough to believe her over me. The ball’s in her court and it’s strictly up to her at this point. I’m going to send a letter out tomorrow and send no more till and if I hear from her.

It really is weird that she and José haven’t swapped letters. It makes me think that they either got caught or she does think I ripped her off and therefore told him not to send me anything for her.

The good thing about it if our friendship ends, is that for once it’ll be of no loss to me. It’ll certainly be a hell of a loss for her, though! She’ll have a hell of a time getting her book done without me. Without me, she’d have to hand over hand-written, barely legible drafts with one misspelled word after another unless she gets out, gets a computer, and then writes the book.

My nose bled earlier, though only one side. The doctor said the sprays can cause that. This is the first time it has. Before, all I’d get was the post-nasal drip. I’m surprised it bled cuz I’m only using the spray once a week. Maybe I’ll just stop using it and let myself sneeze all the time. I sneeze enough as it is anyway.

Speaking of feeling insulted, boy do I feel insulted by God over this job shit! I mean, here my husband was working his ass off for that damn bank for years, twenty of those weekly hours being for free, and what’s he do to reward him for it? Leads him to a shitty-paying job. That’s his reward for all his hard work.

We just can’t get ahead in life and when we do it’s only temporary.

Tom feels pretty certain that as long as he doesn’t come across as desperate, he can get his mother to give us a lot of money. Like $500, $1,000 or maybe even more. I hope so! I really do. Things may not be too bad right now, but they certainly could end up that way if we don’t either get him a better-paying job, a part-time job, or if his mother doesn’t help out. He hopes to find contract work for part-time work where he can do computer programming from home.