Busy, busy

I could use some down time.  I’m thinking about taking the 4th off from all the stuff I need to do – but not sure if I’ll actually do it.  I headed out on Wednesday with a stop in Denton to pick up a copy of my transcript.  Got it with no problem and then I went to lunch so I wouldn’t get into Austin too early.  Turns out I probably should have done some shopping or something as well because traffic was still horrible when I got there.  I got to Marty’s place around 6:45.  He hadn’t eaten so we headed to Whataburger to get him a burger and I got a salad.  We watched a movie (Hot Tub Time Machine) and I didn’t get to sleep until after midnight.  I didn’t sleep well but still had to get up by 6:45 a.m. to get ready and head for San Antonio by 7:15.  I made it to the HR department on time and did all the paperwork.  I filled out forms but some couldn’t be completed since I don’t know which campus that I will be at.  I gave them my transcripts and brought my SS card for them to make a copy of.  I still need to have my district send the original teacher service records.  I will make that request next week.  I chose my health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance and added some extra life insurance.  The cost for all of this is about 1/2 of what I was paying in my other district.  That should help with the paycheck a little.  Problem is that I’m going to have to pay 350-400 more a month in rent to get a decent place. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon driving around SA looking at some of the rent houses I found online ad just getting familiar with the neighborhoods.  I think I’ve narrowed down the area I should look into – but that means I’m probably going to have to pay $1000-$1100 for rent.  I was hoping to keep it between $850-$950, but if I want a better neighborhood, it comes at a higher cost.  It’s still a bit early to focus on specific houses.  I plan to head back in about two weeks to do some actual house tours and put a deposit down if I find something that works. 

Thursday was Marty’s birthday as well.  I made a stop at a bookstore earlier in the day.  I wanted to get a general book on San Antonio and while there I found a book on WWII for Marty.  He seemed to like the book and was appreciative.  Marty, his sister, her fiance, his brother, cousin, and I all went out to dinner Thursday night.  We ate at Saltgrass which is a steakhouse.  It was a nice time.  Thursday night I took 1/2 an ambien and slept much better. 

On Friday, Marty and I headed back to SA so that we could visit the Alamo.  We did that and then looked around the mall.  Marty found a toy soldier shop that he really liked so we checked that out as well.  We stopped in the Menger Bar for a drink.  Ok, I had a drink (Top Shelf Margarita which is the best) and Marty just had water.  My drink was pretty strong so when we left, I had Marty do the driving.  We checked out a few more houses and that made me decide that I wanted to focus on the NW area of San Antonio as most people have suggested. 

We headed back to Austin around 5:30 and met with our high school friend, Brent, at his house.  He grilled steaks for us.  We had drinks and great conversation.  I have to admit that I drank a bit much.  Don’t worry – I behaved (surprisingly).  We got back to Marty’s place sometime after midnight and I pretty much went straight to bed.  I slept in a little this morning and was on the road back home around 10:30.  It was a long drive and I was pretty tired. 

As I was going through Plainview, TX I witnessed an accident.  About 1/4 of a mile ahead of me, I saw a pickup truck barrel across the median at probably 70 miles an hour and flip over on the opposite side of the highway.  I pulled over along with about 6 other vehicles to see if the guy was ok.  Turns out that he was able to get out of the truck so he didn’t seem to be seriously injured.  He had a cut on top of his head, but it wasn’t bleeding badly.  A lady was there that seemed to have some good first aid training tried to keep his neck still.  The guy didn’t speak English but there was a person there that spoke Spanish and tried to give him instructions from the first aid lady.  They guy said his back hurt so she tried to get him to lie down, but he was insistent on trying to make a phone call to someone.  The police showed up and dealt with traffic and a sheriff deputy showed up as well.  Since a bunch of other people where there helping, I went ahead and left before the ambulance arrived. 

I got home about 6:30 and I’m planning on going to sleep soon.  It has been an exhausting few days.  I’m going to church in the morning and then having lunch with Matthew tomorrow afternoon.  Not sure about my plans for Monday – kind of just going one day at a time right now.  I think I need to get a list going of all the things I have to get done in the next month.