Yesterday Was a Trip
Been a while since an update, but so much happened yesterday that I feel it is needed just to talk some of it out.
I feel so busy lately. I started a side hustle that could be quite lucrative. My dad months ago had sent me a Facebook video, as he often does, basically pointing out things that could be useful to me. Things like how to get free products on Amazon (distressing--just promising to leave them a 5-star review. Means I can't trust those reviews, but I kind of knew that already) and cheaper airline tickets and such. Well, one of them was basically how to make money off of your voice. They recommended ACX.com and Voices.com. ACX is audiobooks that partners with Audible, and I immediately jumped on that as I had been thinking about that stuff anyway. I also joined Voices, though the free membership was limited to what would be publically shared with everyone, so a lot less opportunities. I wasn't willing to pay $500/year for a membership (though they had a $100 off promo code, so it would "only" be $400), and ACX was free. So I started trying with ACX. I used AJ's equipment and had him show me how to use his programs and such. I submitted a handful of auditions, but none of it every paid off. During this time I had gotten I think three total jobs I could audition for with Voices with my free account. And I ended up landing one of them! It was a radio ad for Wisconsin Democrats, so I was all in. The platform fee for a Voices job is 20%, and with that taken into account I walked away with $200! For a like 15-second audio clip that took me maybe 20 minutes total to do and edit and send!
The more I thought about it, the more I was like... ya know, this could be worth it. If one job netted me half of the cost of a yearly membership, and it was one of three I had auditioned for, what are my chances for making more if I had a lot more opportunites to audition? At the same time, I won a singing competition and got $150 or something and did a Next to Nothing show which got me $220. So I did it. Already had the $400, paid for a premium membership, and got totally addicted to auditioning for stuff on Voices. The excitement I feel when I'm shortlisted for a job is awesome. Since then, I have completed two other jobs ($60 and $250) and am currently working two other jobs ($280 and $300), and I have a few others that might be mine but not sure yet. I am loving it!
So that was part of my excitement from yesterday--I was officially awarded (though I knew I had them) the $280 and $300 jobs, and I got a message on another one. Joy! I left work to run some errands, getting stuff for Kaelen's first baseball practice. As I am getting home, pulling up to the house, I see the two neighbor boys kind of flitting about the doorway of the garage door. As I pull into the driveway, Aiden (older boy) runs down the driveway to meet me. I asked him what was up, and he says, "Kaelen fell and hit his head. He's bleeding." My head is screaming WTF as I get up into the garage, shut off the car, and jump out to meet Kaelen standing crying in the doorway of the garage. I asked him where it hit and had him show me, and thankfully he was NOT bleeding. He had petichiae on the spot where he hit, so he was bleeding a little underneath, but his skin was not split. He was crying, and it hurt really bad. I finally was able to ask what happened, and they were playing basketball when Aiden said he accidentally tripped Kaelen who then fell backwards and hit his head on the concrete. Aiden kept apologizing and felt really bad, and I told him it wasn't his fault. Accidents happen. I was able to get Kaelen inside, and he sat on my lap and cried a little in the bathroom for a while while I held him. He's got a sick goose egg, to be sure... The whole incident happened in the driveway, and it was all captured on the Nest camera, which I watched. Aiden didn't even really trip him. They were near each other with the ball, and Kaelen tripped over his foot and fell backwards. His fucking head bounced... Not good.
We were able to get some food in and then went to baseball practice. I was worried how that would work with him, especially if he needed to wear a helment, but I figured if he didn't feel well there, he could stop. I had AJ and the boys leave ahead of me so I could feed the cats--I needed to leave a little earlier than them anyway to go to play rehearsal (Little Mermaid). As I pull into the parking lot, I see they're just getting out of the car. I park next to them, and then AJ gets in the Subi and backs out and pulls back in. I thought ok, he's adjusting? Thought it looked fine, but whatever. As I get out, I hear a sound. He gets out, looks at the tire, and says, "Yep. There's a huge fucking hole in the tire." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I said, "Oh shit, should I take it to Discount Tire?" Literally less than a mile away as the park they practice at is on 55th St. He goes, "Yeah, and you'd better go soon or you won't make it." I didn't see the hole, but I could hear it very audibly, and AJ said it was big. So I grab my stuff, toss it in the Subi, and head over to Discount Tire.
The guy comes out to look at it to see if it's something that can be patched for us. We could literally hear the hissing from like 30 feet away. (I was watching the PSI drop as I drove over.) He found the hole and was like yeah... that's not on a spot that can be repaired. It needs to be replaced. And what's more, because this is an all-wheel drive system, you want to replace all four. He said speaking from personal experience, he had replaced two tires before on a Subaru (which he loves Subis, too), and eventually he had to fork out $8000 for a new transmission because it fucked the whole thing up. Great..... wasn't planning buying four new fucking tires today!! So we go in and look up tires, and they have them in stock which is nice. I could have gone with cheaper ones, but we plan on keeping this vehicle and it is our main vehicle. We want decent ones. So $230 per tire later.... got them scheduled to be put on that day. Got in 15 minutes before they stop accepting new customers, so skin of our teeth. At least we got a rebate and 5% off with our Discount Tire card... I went and took a picture of the tire maybe 15 minutes after I had gotten there, and the thing was flat as a pancake. Good thing AJ noticed when he did, or we'd be stuck at a fucking park with a flat tire.
So at that point, I needed to contact my mom. I was finally able to get ahold of her in the knick of time for her to come pick me up, bring me back to the car for my script, and bring me to play rehearsal. Play rehearsal is going great, and I like it. But it's definitely keeping me busy. The tires were put on and ready to be picked up by the time rehearsal was done, so I had mom pick me up again and bring me back to Discount Tire with four brand new tires.... Guess that's something we don't need to worry about in a year (they were likely going to need to be replaced next year or soon thereafter). And these new ones have a 60K mile warranty with most averageing 67K. Also got protection on them so if after 3 years something happens, they'll be replaced. Since this happened two years after we got them (new vehicle), I figured it would be a decent investment.
So that was yesterday.... This morning AJ said Kaelen woke up and said he felt sick and his head hurt, so I'm worried he has a concussion. Wouldn't surprise me with the hit he took... I'm leaving early today so I can be there--as early as I can, at least, which is 1.25 hours early (work 7.25 hours, using my 0.75 hours of OT I have this week plus no lunch since I'm not working 8 hours). Even if I'm doing my own thing, recording and such, I'll be there if he needs me.
Yesterday was a rush.... I don't need days that exciting again, please. :P