Back in LA now. Got back early Friday morning, about 4:00 AM. Ugh. Long dull drive back from Denver -- 16 hours. But I had Bowie playing in the CD player the whole way. I had my own little retrospective of his recordings on the way to Denver and back -- all 26 studio albums, including his newest, "Reality," released this week.

Caught a nasty cold in Breckenridge (?) that started making my throat sore last Sunday evening. By Monday morning I was in serious discomfort. Cold has lasted all week (it's now Saturday). I'm in the chesty congestion stage at this point. My voice is practically non-existent, which sucks considering I'm teaching seven classes online today! :-(

Oh well, I can relax this evening and tomorrow if I choose. I may have jury duty next week. Gotta call the hotline to find out for sure. In some ways I'd like to experience jury duty, but in other ways I'd rather sleep in and avoid the commute during my week off from classes.

To top it all off, I'm completely and utterly broke! I don't know what the hell happened, but I made a big ol' goof with my checking account and spent the same money two or three times over. I just checked my account statement online and I bounced like 10 checks or something outrageous. Overdraft charges over $200 this month!! Grrrrr.

I can't afford to make those kind of mistakes. I can't afford any mistakes these days. I can barely afford the rent! I guess things are a little more challenging financially than I anticipated. A year ago I was rolling in cash, but that was also while living in a house with two other roommates. My rent was about half what it is now. So my expenses are practically doubled living on my own, and the income is actually not increasing. In fact, this summer has killed me financially. Enrollment at ALC was way down this summer and although I had a full schedule in August and September, June and July were mighty slim and my budget has suffered for it. I'm still catching up on bills from three months ago. I should say "trying to catch up" because I'm not really doing any "catching up" at all. I'm bummed.

I sincerely love teaching ESL. It's great fun and I feel personally rewarded (emotionally, spiritually, etc.). And even though the hourly teaching rate at UCLA is excellent, the number of hours available are limited. And with fall approaching, the enrollment is usually smaller than summer, so teaching hours may be fewer than ever. That's gonna kill me if I can't make some extra money. I've fallen into a bit of a hole and I can't seem to get out of it at the moment. Oh well, what can one do?

I stopped by my old college in Denver to see about completing my degree. I was surprised to realize I have 75 credits completed. I thought it was more like 60. Anyway, I didn't get much information from them. One has to jump through enormous hoops at a public school just to get the simplest of answers. I found the same trouble at CSUN when I went to talk with them. In fact, no one would meet me individually. I went to a group orientation of about 50 people interested in the teacher education major. I filled out the paperwork requesting a private consulation, but they sent me a letter saying they couldn't advise me until I applied to the school -- that's a $65 dollar fee -- and I wasn't even sure CSUN was the right school for me or not! At least I didn't have to pay again at Metro, since I am a former student, but I did have to reapply for admission before the counselor would even consider advising me. Of course I applied again and then they told me they could really give me specific information about my major and that I should contact someone in the major department I was interested in. So I walk over to the English department to talk with someone, but there was no one available to meet me. Typical. I wonder if the service would be any better at a private school? Like they say, "you get what you pay for."