I guess some people simply do not appreciate my finely tuned sense of humor.

There are those blessed few who can drink all night and still feel fine the next day. Unfortunately I am not among them.

Still I was up and presentable the next morning and heading to my boss Beverly’s office trying my best to be bright and chipper. (What exactly is a chipper?) Beverly is only 5’4” but she is a force to be reckoned with. She has a commanding presence and steady gaze. I am now working for her three days a week as an unpaid intern. It gives her free labor and gives me valuable experience plus a mentor pushing me towards what I need to do in life.

I think I am somewhat of a ‘project’ to Beverly. All I can say this morning is “Thank God for coffee.”

Originally I was working two days a week in her office to have something to put on a resume but that has been expanded to three days, sometimes four. She also insisted that I go to school. She is right of course. Unless I want to be a cashier the rest of my life it is up to me to do something about it. The two of us sat down a few months ago to chart out my course schedule. She insisted I take ‘Remedial Courses’ the first semester to get into the swing of things, especially when I told her I had dropped out at 16 and gotten a GED.

Going to school was tough to begin with. I often thought of quitting. But Beverly wouldn’t hear of it. Since all of the course work was online she had me bring my laptop to her office so I could ask her questions when I was stumped. The first month I asked her stuff almost non-stop, but she never got mad or angry or impatient.

Lately I only ask her to review my work occasionally to make certain everything is presented neatly. This semester is the first one where the courses count towards a major and not as electives, they are also a lot tougher. I told her the full time load at this school is three classes. She smiled and told me to take four. She either has a lot of confidence in me, or wants to kill me. Maybe both.

Another problem is paying for all of this. Last year, by methods best left undiscussed, I came into possession of three duplexes. I live in half of one. The others pay a nice amount of rent money every month. I maintain them and the rent is lower than average. I keep the kind of tenants who won’t cause any problems. Especially with folks who carry badges. I also have about $2,000 a month from someone else’s accounts that I tap into every few weeks. That bastard won’t complain about it. Ever.

This gives me what should be a very comfortable living but I know I need to keep moving forward. Also I know that all good things come to an end and want to be prepared, at least as much as possible.