News

I have good news, uncertain news, and not-so-good news. I wonder what it would be like to have only good news to report. I'm willing to find out.

Here’s the best news: I went to both the dentist and the urologist on Tuesday, June 14, and I got heartening reports from both of them. My emergency dental work is finished. Now I just need to get an exam and cleaning and see what else might need to be taken care of before it becomes another emergency. The urologist said that my prostate has shrunken significantly. Apparently the medication I'm taking is working. He also said that there’s research that suggests that this medication also reduces the chances that I'll get prostate cancer. So, I'm feeling great about my physical health.

I'm pleased with the way things are going with my acting career. I keep making progress. I shot a couple of days on the movie “Bordertown” with Jennifer Lopez and Martin Sheen last week. I'm writing a separate newsletter about that for anyone who wants to follow my acting career more closely. See http://mylifeinacting.blogspot.com. If you’d like to receive that newsletter in your email, let me know and I'll put you on the list. By the way, the name I use for my acting career is Michael John Gabriel.

On Tuesday, May 31, I moved into the apartment that I found for the summer. I like it here. I only get to be here for another month and a half or so, but it’s great for now.

I'm renting another car from another friend with the option to buy it within 6 months. I'm relieved that I have a well-functioning car to get to work and wherever else I need to go. Six months of car problems is more than enough for me. All tolled, I lost somewhere in the vicinity of $1000 in income (and maybe more) from not being able to get to jobs that I was offered (or actually had) because I didn’t have a working car. The “maybe more” is because I might have been offered more days in “Into the West” and “Wildfire” if I had been able to make it to the calls I had to miss.

I reported before that I substitute taught at DeVargas Middle School for the end of the school year, replacing a social studies teacher who was out having a baby. That was an adventure. Kids in middle school in the Santa Fe School District aren’t like the kids I went to junior high school with all those years ago in Prairie Village, KS. (For the record and anyone who cares, it was Indian Hills Junior High School.) Most of them really didn’t want to be there. Of course, it was the end of the year, so that explains part of that. But regular teachers have told me that it’s true in general. It makes me question teaching. I really want to teach kids who want to learn, not ones who have no interest. Maybe I should be teaching advanced placement classes or electives like drama. It’s a challenge to even work with the kids who want to learn because the others are being so disruptive. I did get a bit attached to some of the kids after being with them for a couple of weeks, though. I felt sad the last day of school.

Kelly Services, which had the contract to handle substitute teacher assignments, pretty much guaranteed that I'd get summer jobs through them. So far I haven’t gotten one call from them, let alone a job. And I’ve been in to see them 5 or 6 times. This has undermined my impression of Kelly Services. I relied on them, and they didn’t come through. Not only that, they haven’t acknowledged that they haven’t kept their word or even communicated anything about it at all.

In the meantime, I’ve applied for several full and part-time jobs. I was interviewed for one of them, but then the person who was leaving the job decided to stay for a couple more months. At least that’s what they told me. We’ll see if the job is posted again before long or if I'm called for a second interview. I haven’t gotten interviews for any of the rest of them yet. There’s one that I’d particularly like to have. We’ll see what happens. I'm surprised at how many jobs I apply for that they never reply to me at all, not even to tell me they’ve hired someone else. When I was hiring people, I always let people know that I had received their application and that I had hired someone else.

I’ve been considering all kinds of jobs. That means that I'm also considering what’s really important to me. For example, is it really important that I like my work? Which is more important, liking my work or making a lot of money? Should I take a job that I’d be ashamed to tell people I was doing, even if I made a lot of money doing it? I haven’t resolved any of those questions satisfactorily.

I’ve also been considering 3 training programs: the teacher certification program, the film crew training program, and real estate sales classes. I have some interest in all 3 of those, and there are advantages to all of them. But each of them also has disadvantages. I wish I could use the standard of “what would I do if I didn’t need the money?” But I do need the money, so that clouds the issue for me.

I'm also applying to do temporary work with agencies other than Kelly Services. That will give me some income and lots of flexibility. I had an interview with Group Powell One Tuesday, and it went very well. They loved my test scores. We’ll see what comes of it. I had another interview yesterday with Santa Fe Services, and they loved me, too, and said they were immediately putting me into their computer. I had a third interview today with Excel Staffing. 3 for 3. They loved me, too, and want to use my availability in their advertising campaign. “This is the kind of temporary employee we have available.” The woman I talked with said I had the highest score on their computer test of anyone she’s seen. And I’ve learned that I type about 50 wpm with minimal errors. Marcia Owen Associates and Career First haven’t returned my calls yet following up on sending them my resume. That leaves me questioning their professionalism.

So, because I haven’t gotten the jobs through Kelly that I thought I would, money is still a major challenge for me. At the moment I'm writing this, my internet service has been turned off until I can pay my bill, and I don’t have money for rent. I'm eagerly looking forward to the time when money is no longer scarce in my life. That’s the reason making a lot of money is one of the considerations I have for jobs. I'm tired of living on the edge financially. I'm ready and eager to pay back the people who’ve helped me, to pay off all my debts, to contribute more to people and organizations, and to feel prosperous. When that comes about, then I'll just work for the joy and the contribution I make. I'll keep saying it: I have faith that I am naturally a magnet for money and that well-being and abundance are flowing into my life now. I know that all of my financial challenges are just temporary conditions and that I’m getting ready for something wonderful. I expect only the best. Thank You, God, in advance for the resources that I know are flowing to me now. (If you get tired of reading my saying that, you might want to check your own prosperity consciousness.)

I’d like to publicly express my enormous gratitude to Antoinette for all the help and support she has given me all along. She is an angel and deserves (and will receive) magnificent rewards.

As always, I wish all of you abundant happiness, health, love, inner peace, spiritual awakening, success, prosperity, and everything else that you desire.

Swimming in the flow of all abundance (no matter how it may appear in the moment),
Michael