for the past few nights i have been sleeping kinda late. i guess it is due to a couple of reasons. one, i ain’t got a job. i’m kinda stressin’ already on whom/how to ask for next month’s rent and utility payments. another thing is—i ain’t got no money. i really don’t like that idea that much. i want to go out with a couple friends and even the roomies, but it sucks because sometimes i would be reminded that i have holes in my pant-pockets. one particular scenario happened last friday when i was going home from sigep’s bbq at the house.

after waiting for the roomies to meet up at the sigep house, and do a lil chit-chat with the bros, we all left at the same time. they (ces, ros, and G) went to palace park to go to the batting cages, while i just went straight for the apt. i kinda decided that i would take a shorter route than taking jamboree. so i decided to take the 261/241 toll road and exit off irvine blvd. not knowing that there was a toll just for that one exit for about $0.50, i was scrounging my wallet and my car for that amount of change. i found about $0.35 all together from my wallet and car. i was stressin’. the machine doesn’t take any credit/debit cards nor bills—like i have some bills in the first place. then there was the sign for breaking the toll which cost about $30.00 for a $0.50 toll—so no, i wouldn’t even dare passing that line.

remembering that when people throw their change into the toll basket, they would sometimes miss—a light bulb turns on. i decided to look around the area for some change that might be lying on the ground. lucky me…i found $0.05 which makes my total toll change to $0.40; a dime short. thinking to call my roomies, or to just wait it out till the next car to show up behind me…i waitied and pondered.

low and behold, a taxi was exiting and stopped behind my car. so i walked up to the taxi. smiled…and said to the taxi driver, “do you mind if i borrow a dime? i went on the wrong exit” i’m thinking to myself: if i was the driver, i would probably be thinking “what a loser.” so damn it, i got the dime and thanked the taxi driver so much for saving my ass on a $0.50 toll freakin’-road.

so that was like a flashback produced by my so-called “stress”. i guess i need to keep busy while remembering to relax at the same time and enjoy life. but i think that i wouldn’t be doing that just yet till i find that career job, or just ANY job for now so i can pay bills and do stuff with the homies and homegirls.

from my mind to yours… keep your change—it’s really true when they say, “a penny can go a long way”.