All comics by arbi

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by arbi
12-18-15
i was sick again today, dry heaves and depression, not sure what it is but it's gone now, but i stayed in bed most of the day.
i had an invite to am xmas party at the mansion of a rich black lawyer, but i didnt go because we had someone coming over to look at a room and i didnt know if anyone else would be home.
baltimore's screening is monday, not tuesday, so i had to cancel cincinnati. baltimore's screening department makes a lot of mistakes like that
so tomorrow after the serve i'll start driving toward my mom's house and spend a few days there.
still haven't worked on the brief i wanted to get in by 2 days ago. i went to pay my cle bill but they were closed by 4:20, so i have pocket money for the trip.
i washed dishes twice today and straightened the dining room a little but got yelled at for leaving some hairs in the sink.

 

by arbi
12-22-15
it's tuesday and this is my first comic since friday. saturday i did food not bombs mostly by myself and one guy robert came back to the house and washed dishes
sunday i drove to my moms, 600 miles 14 hours. stopped for snack at the inn my ancestor jean bonnet ran circa 1790. had the onion rings. also visted his daughter's grave in ankeny square in somerset.
monday i screened in baltimore but my blood pressure was too high. i'm on hold with them now at a coffee house. internet not hooked up at moms yet.
oh boy! i get to screen again tomorrow for a better study. 10 am baltimore. my next one after that is nebraska on the 29th.
my nephew from hawaii is moving in with my mom, which sounds great for both of them.we are all kinda hanging out with no internet at home yet but working on it.
there was a ton of drama at home as i was leaving, with cops, and deanna ended up moving out that day, a very good deveopment. now if we can get rid of tom and ninetails calms down, we might be ok.

 

by arbi
12-23-15
i'm awake in the middle of the night, a few hoirs left before i have to get up to drive to baltimore
i think i'm stressing over the home situation, worrying about whether we can get more people t move in while tom's there causing problems.
i hope this doesn't make my blood pressure too high again today, that could cost me $5000.
anyway yesterday i vacuumed and cleaned the fridge and did laundry and spent time with family and got internet and made abunch of calls which got me todays screening so it was a good day.
2 hours before i have to get up.
i guess i'll try to sleep a bit more tho i dont expect that will work. ok that main thing changed in the past hour is an email from helen saying she's moving out.
she's been my best friend this past year (i'm not hers tho) and i'll miss her but it's ok, probably a good decision for her and the baby.

 

by arbi
12-27-15
got some emails and phone calls and talked to all 3 roommates so it's been a socialble day.
it's now a few days later, so i'll have to catch up xmas adventures later. yesterday i drove 16 hours and made it home, slept 8 hours, got up and cleaned my room for 5 hours.
house meeting soon if anyone comes. i guess it's me, tom and david living here now, 9tales leaves monday for ohio.
i got another mouse! that's 3 down, are there any more? yes i can hear one.
i'm pretty sure i'm going to blow off my nebraska trip instead of spending tomorrow on the road. baltimore hasn't called back tonight like iwas promised they would but didnt expect.
isis just caught a mouse! and she's back for seconds. it's why i had the door open. that's two down maybe 2 to go.
an hour ago i went through a box of food where the mice were eating my ramen. i sprayed ozium and am generally trying to de-mousify my room. re-set the traps with peanut butter
catching up on online stuff, having a 4 egg old bay omelette, waiting for the meeting, need to call mom, need to make a list, then i could revise a memo.

 

by arbi
12-27-15
meanwhile it's day 9 of the rain. in western MD some guys were building an ark.
on christmas we drove up to bucks county to visit my sister's boyfriend's sister. she's someone i went to school with but dont remember.
very nice, very rich, works in the city for the board of a huge pension fund. we toured her mini-mansion, met the koi in the pond, ate off limoge china that's been in the family forever.
good talks with the boyfriend's two sons. the cute shy one i've met before, took him for vegan chinese once.
the other one was fascinating kind of the russell brand type. he just found out he has major medical issues, so instead of planning to be a doctor he's going tobe focused on survival.
i drove back on fumes with mom in the car but we made it.
he's 6 4 and has that marfan's thing lincoln had, but never knew it till a month ago. i plugged 23+me and ancestry.com.
meanwhile my nephew is moving in with my mom, good for both of them, and my niece Denise is applying to schools like Brown and Reed.

 

by arbi
12-29-15
on day 11 of the rain, i drove northwest all night until it turned to snow.
i'm somewhere east of des moines/ankeny iowa at a rest stop with wifi. this would be a good time to take a break for an hour. only driven 9 hours so far, was tired when i started.
i meant to start at 8 pm but left at 2 am. making good time through a blizzard. my screening isn't till tomorrow morning - i want to be rested this time, not falling asleep at the wheel.
no results from baltimore yet, but this study might be a better one, shorter for the same money.
i havent seen any trumperstickers or anything political here yet. might be under the snow. kc called as i crossed the miussissippi and we had a nice chat.
when i get back i will meet with my landlord and see where we are.

 

by arbi
12-29-15
i'm in a $50 motel in nebraska, getting some sleep before my screening. i probably drove 700 miles today,and also kept up a social life.
calls from kc, polaris, and larry. emails from eric, xander, brian, kc, and helen. iowa has wifi at its rest stops so i'd drive a little, check my emails, drive some more.
and i booked screenings in cincinnati and st charles based on tips from polaris, if i dont get into either of these. he's going to do an $11K study at pfizer, one of the places i cant go.
oh i will email him to check out miya's sushi, my other favorite restaurant at yale, where pfizer is.
i'll be annoyed with myself if i cant sleep after all this.
but wait there's more! you also get the handsome pocket gordon's fisherman...

 

by arbi
12-31-15
this panel censored at the request of counsel
bought a bus ticket from the ER, got a taxi to the hotel, $8 mexican dinner, caught bus at 5 am standing out in the cold hoping it wouldn't be late. $15 for the buses free wifi but it's slow and
blocks nearly any site i want. 1 oz of fritos and half a crumb cake for breakfast, i'm starving, can't sleep but need to sleep. 12 hours to go.
4 am wake up call rang at 11:45 and i didnt get back to sleep. might be bus sick, maybe just the fritos.
possible party with helen tonight or maybe i'll just sleep the rest of the year when i get home.

 

by arbi
12-31-15
so the trip was a bust in several ways. i didnt get into he study because i ran out of minutes and lost the number to call because i grabbed the wrong paperwork from the car.
i'm not sure which feels longer, driving or being on the bus for 700 miles. i'm about half an hour from town, and hour maybe from home. not that it's much of a home any more.
i had a 75 cent bag of chex mix for dinner. i didnt have $2 to buy coffee from the machine. i mean i have $100s but no ones left.
wifi on the bus sucked but i got some letters written and sent and talked tot he claims adjuster and baltimore still doesnt know if i'm in the study.
i want a meal and a bath and a change of clothes and maybe just a good cry to mourn my car. being on the bus, i'm just in endurance mode. there's a party tonight if i go. i could bike over, i guess 54
is runnable too. maybe i'll go to the all night gay diner. been weeks i think since i've had a drink. no one to kiss at midnight. i see tthe lights of my city. any minute now.

 

by arbi
1-02-16
got home new years eve. spent it quietly at home, bath, change clothes, cleaning frenzy, filled up the dumpster
friday, yesterday, i did less. a little cleaning maybe a few emails. couldn't find the key to #53 so i wasn't able to air up the tire and do laundry. i've looked all over i'll have to call a locksmith
test. this comic exploded midstream so i'm rebuilding it as i go. it took 5 tries but i think i got it this time.
so today, saturday, helen came over briefly and had the extra key for #54, so i can try fixing that one. the insurance company is giving me a rental car so i can go to st charles tuesday.
saturday did a little cleaning in the dining room, my room, and the library, and had visits from xander and helen. i'm been posting to various subreddits about being depressed and my attempts to
clean and de-mousify. 10 killed total, 3 today. reset the traps bribed the cat to spend more time here, but there are still mice. today's disaster was that david's moving out our last other member.

 

by arbi
1-02-16
so i started this comic 12 years ago, 2004, after reading "the artists' way" and a book about trauma and recovery, at a time when i was having my second nervous breakdown/ period of acute depression.
sometimes i've let it slide for months, sometimes i do one every day. i think it's helped. i never go back and read all the old ones. i should someday.
so now i'm dealing with depression again. it's not acute, but it's there. little setbacks make me want to cry. I don't but I want to.
the past month was highly stressful, nearly all of it being related to my living situation. while i was gone in hawaii, they voted to ask me to leave. then the Tom situation happened and everyone else
left except me and Tom. I'm trying to respond to their concerns but it's too little too late. and we can't get ahold of the landlord to find out what's happening, and meanwhile i'm the absentee land
lord at my other house, where there's similar amounts of drama going on that i've wanted to stay away from. meanwhile trying to find work, and crashed my car, not helping things.

 

by arbi
1-03-16
today was mostly productive. i turned down one couple who wanted to pay $350 and seemed like gangsters. i put up craigslist ads and got one great response so far and meet her tomorrow at 7, meet with
the landlord at 4. i called mom and did 8 loads of laundry. i picked up my rental car just in the nick of time so i can go to cincinnati tomorrow, the office closed at 1 pm today. insurance company
paid for it. my alarm is set for 5 am so it's bedtime already. got another mouse. managed to gash my hand pretty badly so went to the store for bandages.
david moved out today. he only told us yesterday, so that was a setback, i'm having so many. i need to call baltimore to find out if i got in that study
xander and helen were here today packing up their stuff. neither had much time for me but i guess we did have a good meeting where david turned over the house accounts to me and we gossiped about Tom
a good bit. so i should try to sleep but i'll probably reddit for a while. tomorrow i have to go to the bank and keep three appointments, so that's a full day.

 

by arbi
1-04-16
i got a lot done today. 1. cincinnati and back. 2. met with landlord, paid him $600 to help wind things up. 3, put the rest into escrow til the bills come. 4 bank. 5 paid off credit card. 6 po box. 7
moved a fridge. 8 hung out with former roommates, got a hug from jacob. 9 collected $1100 in rent, yippee. 10. made keys, told them i'm moving in.
11 paid electric bill. 12 negotiated with internet company. 13 talked to junkyard about the car. 14 cancelled meeting with angie. 15 made a comic.
there's still some things i havent done yet. bath. call vince and associates. pay illinois ticket - high priority item! drink more water for screen in missouri tomorrow. drive to missouri.
so today two bad things happened, landlord kicked us out, wasted trip to cincinnati, but i'm coping fine.
everybody's ransacking the house. i'm taking a fridge and some canned goods.

 

by arbi
1-05-16
i went to missouri and back, 500 miles. screening went well.
got aan offer of $2500 from the insurance company, told them i'd think about it. gonna haggle.
i got into the baltimore study, so that's the plan for the next two months. loaded the car to take to the other house but i think i'm going to sleep first. got home on mcdonalds espresso, 52 cents.
emails with kc, brian, texts with tom, hung out with xander and sukie. we are all tired.
took a bath and changed clothes which i had forgotten to do before leaving for missouri so i was kinda gross today. last night was hectic. woke up at midnight to somebody had vandalized us, cutting
the modem cord in 3 places.

 

by arbi
1-07-16
today, thursday, i booked a plane and bus and hostel reservation for baltimore via chicago. i paid the landlord $300 for an electric bill.
i took 3 loads of stuff to my other house. i almost got the room clean, but ran out of steam, so there's still empty boxes mostly. filled the dumpster.
i did not finish sorting the basement, either my pile of stuff of the food pantry, but i did some of that. i wrote a bunch of emails to catch up on stuff with various people.
lindy wrote me so that was nice. moving is hard. my back hurts, and i'm worried baltimore will send me home due to liver enzymes.
tomorrow is busy, internet guy comes 10-noon, the volvo place will have my key, i have to drop off the rental car, i have to do a results call with pharma medica, and try to move one more load of stuf
i don't expect to get any sleep tomorrow night on the bus or the plane or the airport so i will try to sleep tonight instead of packing.

 

by arbi
1-07-16
wednesday was super busy, i had a demanding 6 item list and got them all done except i got the wrong battery for one of the volvos.
1. i printed notarized and faxed a release form so the insurance company could get the volvo. 2, ordered a key for #54. ordered internet, 3. took them the old modem. 4. bought a battery, tested two
batteries, 5 looked up bus train and plane schedules to get to baltimore. what worked is bus to chicago, plane to baltimore. 6. took 2 loads of stuff to the other house, cleaned my room.
this comic was interrupted when we had to go move a fridge. the old one wouldnt come out even after we took the doors off.
11 pm and i'm going to sleep now (reddit). alarm is set for 8 so i can meet the cable guy, pick up the volvo key, call at 3 to try to get into the st charles study in case baltimore falls thru, finish
moving, return the rental car, then catch a bus at 2:30 am. maybe a nap first.

 

by arbi
1-08-16
1 today started off badly when i brought the wrong phone and the cable guy didnt knock, just left when i didnt answer. so that's rescheduled for tuesday.
we cleaned the kitchen at my new place which is my old place that i'm moving back into. threw away years-old food. 2 i got the key to #54 and 3 dropped off the rental car with 1/2 hour to spare.
4 bought a battery with Tom and 5 got #54 started, aired up a tire, moved it. #53 will be next. I called st charles at 3 pm sharp and got into that study if baltimore doesn't work.
tonight/tomorrow i take a bus to chicago, a train to the airport a plane to baltimore a train to the hostel. maybe a cab to the bus stop.
sunday i check into the study. they will probably send me home due to high liver enzymes from how hard i worked today and yesterday, and the back pain issue.
so if that happens monday i just have to get to st charles on tuesday, it's a quicker study at least. both places are way ghetto. buy ear plugs.

 

by arbi
1-10-16
i got sent home day 1, so i am retracing my steps, back at the hostel, flying spirit airlines redeye, then a greyhound to st louis, maybe another hostel tomorrow.
it's expensive and not much sleep. i cant trust the 4 09 light rail so i will take the 2 am bus to the airport. i should be sleeping now but cant.
so i'm not making a full comic yet. made two friends today that i'll never see again, a couple of old guys. we trade old men stories about our aches and pains.
when i make it home to indy i think i will have to start looking for a job. this life on the road is getting harder as it goes.
it's been an 8 year break i really needed, but, as much as i hate the idea, it might be time to grow up and go to work.
when i first moved to indy i opened up the want ads and got a job within two weeks. maybe i could do that again.

 

by arbi
1-11-16
i'm on a bus to st louis. the wifi is actually working, and i have a blanket, so it's an easy ride. i'll stay at a hostel tonight and take a train and two buses tomorrow with a plan to get there by 4.
drinking mango juice so i can check in healthy, maybe. i expect to get sent home.
there's snow and it's cold but i don't have to be outside long.
i paid a bill online but otherwise i'm just wasting time online. can't sleep on a bus but i napped on the flight for an hour or so and will sleep tonight.
http://vark.blogspot.com/2016/01/in-past-week-ive-stayed-at-hostels-in.html
(this space left blank for later hostel adventures. it'll be the first time i've stayed at this one.)
the hostel was fun. i was the only one there, it's off season.

 

by arbi
1-13-16
i passed the piss test and the physical and just squeeked by the blood pressure test on the 3rd try.
so i checked in a few hours early after taking a bunch of buses that only run a few hours a day, passing thru ferguson missouri, which you may have heard of and where most of the subjects come from.
steve is the one staff member i'm always glad to see. i think he's worked here thru the last 4 sets of owners. right now this place is owned by a canadian company that runs its studies as badly as
they do here, from what i've heard. i can't go to canada myself, paperwork hassles. so now it's day 2 and i got in! you -usually- don't get sent home once you've dosed, which i did this morning. 11
people went home without dosing, 25 stayed. the paperwork predicted most of us would have horrible side effects, but it turns out that wasn't true, it's just another routine set of pills, some aids
over the next 3 weeks, watch this aardvark go slowly crazy. stay tuned!
meds, and i'm always happy to do an aids study, for phil and dannon, friends of mine who died.
so i'll be here 3 weeks. 25 people plus staff crowded into 3 rooms. i've commandeered the cafeteria when they arent serving meals, so i have a quiet room away from the tv.

 

by arbi
1-14-16
day 3 has been ridiculously easy so far. the room i hang out in gets hot, 78-82, because it's in the sun, so that makes me a bit tired, but it's way better than the noise of the big room.
i waste all day on reddit instead of working on my brief or doing items on the to do list like order noise-cancelling headphones. our adventures today included a walk outside, well more of a hang out
in the parking lot, and later i'll take a shower and maybe sort some of my files. i downloaded some ebooks to read because there are only 4 physical books here, only one of which is readable and i'm
nearly done. so there's some sensory deprivation problems at the time of day i cant get at my computer, and the other issue is avoiding the drama and noise of the more ghetto study participants.
but all in all it's been a lovely day, warm and quiet and calm.
i could go on a whole rant about how this company intentionally markets in the ghetto so they will get a less educated cadre who will put up with substandard conditions.
i'm starting to notice how the building has a lot of deferred maintenance issues where it's on its 5th set of owners and stuff that falls apart doesnt get fixed.

 

by arbi
1-15-16
this is the study day, it's when we take the experimental pill and they take our blood every half hour or so so been stabbed maybe 17 times already so far.
so i'm not getting much else done, trying to apply for obamacare online, shopping for noisecancelling headphones that i'll pick up from walmart and a power cord on amazon.
http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/ 9781476781228/9781476781228.htm?
i need to call my tenants and find out if the cable guy came back. i need to review my 50 item to do list. i need to open the file with the brief and at least read what i've done so far.
mostly i'm trying to read a science fiction story between stabbings. things here could still go wrong, but it's better than i expected.
http://www.dendarii.com/ebooks.html
so it's the morning of day 5 now and we get a day off tomorrow before we start round two. people here are loud, but there are no bullies or troublemakers,and it's turning out to be a doable study.
the back pain from two weeks ago has settled down to a couple of hot spots instead of being a footlong section of my back, and my finger seems to be healing rather than getting worse.

 

by arbi
1-17-16
i had thought they were letting us go today for a day, but it turns out that's tomorrow. so one more day here, should be no problem. these are easy days, two blood draws, a few blood pressure reads,
but i didnt sleep well, in a bunk room with 16 guys, the guy next to me being noisy at 3 30 am, i just stayed up since we get up at 5 30 anyway. thin blankets in a cold room.
so i cancelled my hotel reservation and maybe just maybe i'll do some work on my brief today. had a nice walk with karen and kathy.
made a new reservation. we are about to be kicked out into 6 degree weather, lots less with the wind chill. it's the next morning, day 7.
so the plan for the day is stop by the hotel, go to walmart, the thrift store if it's open, maybe golden corral to kill time before i can check in at 2 pm.
socks, power cord, laundry detergent, bandaids, maybe see a movie, maybe find an internet cafe, laundry.

 

by arbi
1-18-16
i didn't know there was a stadium background. not sure i'll ever need it. i figured out how the study works out to 20 days. 3 x 6 with 2 days in between.
it was 5 degrees this morning. i went to panera, then a physical therapy place, then a docs office, walgrens, grocery store, hotel, walmart
i bought socks, shoelaces, a bagel, books, a computer. my computer stopped charging right when i got back from not finding the used computer store, so i went to walmert.
it's the blue version of the pink one i broke on maui. i bought the warranty this time, which i need to remember to register.
dinner was veggie lo mein, a squash, rice pudding, a mango, ginger tea.
in the morning i need to do laundry somewhere. enjoyed a hot bath and some quiet.

 

by arbi
1-19-16
woke up early cleaned the hotel room forgot to buy headphones got computer repaired $20, new battery and power cord, did laundry, caught two buses, hung out at mcdonalds a couple hours, walked through
a blizzard to check in, came in at 4:30, checked in a 6 pm, went fine so far, showered, want a nap but no dice.
spent $25 today, $450 yesterday. anyway it was nice to have a real bed and a real bath. i'm hoping the earplugs and new computer and a batch of books make this session bearable.
i should be working on the brief, but i didnt get enough sleep for that.
i just put my earplugs in. we'll see if it helps any.
went to bed early and got maybe 6 or 7 hours sleep. now it's the next morning. so we are back in our one big room with the tv blaring, some guy playing rap on his phone,bathrooms either locked or
crowded. i've learned when the wakeup call comes at 5:30 to jump out of bed and go piss before the 3 bathrooms fill up with guys doing their hair or whatever it is they spend so much time on.

 

by arbi
1-21-16
for a sec i thought we were almost halfway, but it's 3x7, not 3x6+2, so the study is 21 days long. the consent agreement was a bit misleading.
anyway today's been great. new computer, earplugs,and a good book and warm shower and spending time with new friends here, makes a difference.
strangely enough the guy i get along with best on the staff is the vice president, whose family owns the company.
didn't work on the brief, but i feel like i got a few things done today. maybe.
there's a lot of stuff in my life that's a mess to face when i get home to indy, but today relatively my confidence levels and contentment are up from where they were.
i have a lead on a new study end of next month, at a place that's said to be "worse than here."

 

by arbi
1-21-16
i don't know if it's temporary, but i'm feeling happy and cheerful for about the first time in a month. this study is easy compared to past studies i have done here. next month i can either take off
to do stuff at home, or maybe pick up another study somewhere. i set up a couchsurf with a nice lady law professor for our day off monday,
and booked a screening in nebraska that pays $350 just for the screening but will probably be a wild goose chase. i should check trains next, or buses, i dont want to risk driving.
meanwhile we are waiting for a clinic in the middle of nowhere wisconsin that is supposed to have a new study today.
i had the brief open this morning but havent written a word yet. my writer's block is strong.
i actually started this comic 12 years ago i think as a way to work on my writer's block. it's not a cure, but it helps.

 

one of my goals for today is to read through the past year of these comics, to see what i've been up to.
i'd have more to say, but they are calling me to get stabbed for the 16th time today
by arbi, 1-22-16

 

by arbi
1-23-16
i think this might be day 12. another easy day. lost my ride so i cancelled a couchsurf and rebooked the red roof inn.
an important campaign finance case, van hollen v federal election commission, two days ago, cited one of my cases four times. i got a couple paragraphs written on the amicus brief, so maybe i've
started or maybe it's a false start. i worte a letter to a tv show i can try to get on - long shot there. i read through january thru may of 2015 of this comic, reminded myself of adventures i'd
forgotten. made a couple of the friends on the study, a black businessman and the guy who is the cook for the clinic.
what else? today went by quickly and calmly, just two blood draws. watched a bit of "shameless". reading a william gibson novel, party something. wasted time on reddit as usual.
all tomorrow's parties. i think it's the sequel to idoru, otherwise i might have read it before, because i remember rydell. i once dated a waitress based on her reading idoru.

 

by arbi
1-24-16
day 13 of 21. it went fast. it's time for snack then bed. tomorrow we get out for a night. my finger healed. i need to pack and make some plans for shopping and such, buy stamps, envelopes, headphones
watched a bit of shawshank redemption, edited a casting pitch to a cable show,
talked to mom, blizzard on the east coast. its the first time my cousin from hawaii has seen snow since he was 9. just had snack. i should go to bed, it's 9,
and i know the fool next to me will be making phone calls again at 3:30 am. woke me up the last two nights. so its noisy and rowdy here, but i just let it pass.
more later, or not. now it's too noisy in here to try to sleep, and the internet flickers on and off. so i still have my pet pevves although i'm coping well enough.
i read from january to june in this years comics, reminders of adventures i'd had but forgotten until cued.

 

by arbi
1-25-16
got out at 8 am, been having adventures. laundry haircut coffee more coffee blueberry fritter bagel wrote a section of the brief, checked into hotel, hot bath, physical therapy session, dinner from a
can, bought stamps, bought comic books, tomorrow i buy headphones and envelopes. did my taxes, first draft.
midnite walmart run: i bought crayons toothbrush razor ginger ale headphones, not the ones i wanted, and enough other stuff to come to $14.
the luxury of a hotel room to myself. privacy and i get to eat what i want. i've invited my new friend ian to crash tonight but i dont really expect him.
the haircut came with a free beer but i cant drink during a study so i left it as a tip. spent $30? today plus hotel $49 plus physther.
aardvark: "eats, shoots,and leaves"
i probably could have been more social at the comic book shop. there was a back room with gamers.
maybe i should buy crayons or markers at the dollar store so i could draw comics next week.

 

by arbi
1-26-16
we are back in the clinic for the final week. i'll try to stay calm. today i checked out at noon, stopped at steak and shake for decaf and wifi, stopped at my bank and paid my credit card bill,
caught the last bus to the clinic. checked in a few hours early, worked on the brief a bit, it might be coming together.
it's 10 pm so i should be trying to sleep but sleep doesnt seem like any time soon.
It's the next day , but there's not much to report. No progress on the brief. Did my back exercizes, called a few clinics, helped my new friend Evan contact the Institutional Review Board over
a problem that came up at a study. Now it's time for our overcooked steak. A good enough meal aside from not being veggie except we've had it 5 times already.
i did my stretches again and listen to classic music on my headphones, to drown out the tv noise.

 

by arbi
1-27-16
once upon a time i wrote up this story in great detail, but it's lost to the fickleness of the internet by now.
Jeph Jacques is giving a talk at the Halifax library tomorrow. Did I ever tell you guys the story of the time I drove to Halifax and back in a week?
I call it the Moose Story. To tell the whole thing would take about 20 panels, so here's some highlights. Picture it, 1995.
It turns out Halifax is much further away than I thought. I had a paid week off from the produce warehouse,and a trip to visit my friend zorry fell thru, so I rented a car. I set up dates with a trans
girl in ottawa and a cute young guy in halifax and started driving. 4000 miles? 17 hitchhikers. one hash-laced cigarette in maine.
5 regional accents. one moose. two of those indian dumplings - samosas - from a street cart in halifax.
the ottowa date went great, the halifax one was a disappointment. then i visited my sister in new hamster and found out i might have ADHD.

 

by arbi
1-28-16
Another easy day. More progress on the brief. I cut out a big section for space reasons,and the rest of it is coming together.
I made a bunch of calls to set up screenings during my month off in February,and just lined up one in Denver, so I can cancel the omaha screening that had a rectal exam for an extra $150.
I do my stretching excercizes daily,and I have my to do list here to write up again. Worked a bit today on my taxes. So I'm not totally wasting my time here.
Now I need to do some trip planning to get to denver in time for the screening.
we've been doing tax planning and a little consulting on a quit claim deed in texas, so it's been a fun day.
right now andre is scanning a doc for me so i can mail it to a law firm or an insurance company. it's a doc doc actually, a doctor's bill.

 

by arbi
1-29-16
today was a good day. we got stabbed every twenty minutes all morning. they rescheduled my omaha screen.
and i got a screening in a new place in missouri so i'm most likely cancelling my denver trip.
they are having a blizzard out west apparently anyway. i didnt get much done on my brief, but it doesn't need a whole lot more.
it's dinner time now so i might not get in my shower quite yet. crazy ex roommate Tom called, asked me to ask the landlord to let him stay a little longer, i told him no
we get out in a few days. it's ended up being a decent study all in all. maybe come back in april for a $5k short fish oil study.
all day i've been stuck on how to do sort in openoffice to make my table of cases. i figured it out, so the table's done except the page numbers,and i proofread again. next the motion 4 leave to file.

 

by arbi
1-30-16
i think after this study i'll have around $15 in the bank, with a goal of getting it to $20K before i turn 56 later this year.
I got the brief done, I'm pretty sure, all except for uploading it via the court's web thingy. I put monday as the filing date, maybe i'll send it tomorrow. 40% chance of getting rejected for some
technicality. so now i have a little time left over to catch up letters and see how my to do list is doing. i bought stamps and have envelopes, so in theory i could send some snailmail.
that's not a fortune, but it's a decent cash cushion so i don't need to panic about going broke just yet. gives me time to find a job if i need to.
i should try again to get my taxes done,and mail off the texas taxes,and polaris' bonus for getting me this study. it went a lot better than i expected.
i had computers and books and comic books and people to talk to and usually got access to my quiet room, so it was better than some of the times i've been here before.
i made a 33 item to do list during dinner,and now i get to see if i can cross off a few items
i am almost certain that i'm going to blow off the denver trip and just head home, because i have stuff to do there.
that'll give me a week to get a little stuff done at home before i go to omaha or maybe columbia mo.

 

by arbi
2-01-16
we just had our last dinner here, we get out in the morning. i got 4 1/2 items on today's list, 8 things from yesterday's list. so still 29 things from yesterday
's list not done. some easy, some hard.
with help from a friend, i wrote a casting pitch to be on the show "hoarders", but it turns out they turned off their mailbox and might not be doing a next season.
i guess that means don't quit, just find another way to reach them, in case they do do more shows.
i know i brought envelopes here but now i can't find them. maybe they were in the computer box that disappeared. doesn't matter, but it's one more thing i didnt get done, do mail off this letter with
the texas taxes, still in my pocket. but i got done more than usual, as long as i get the brief in one way or another.

 

by arbi
2-01-16
it's the next morning. we've done the piss test, the physical, the blood pressure check, the bag check, in ten minutes i get my blood drawn, get handed a muffin,and i can go.
today we have a road trip to a town i went to school in, then tonight i get on a bus
and tomorrow morning i make it home. this study was bearable and it was nice to make a few friends, but damn it'll be good to choose what i eat and when i sleep, etc.
i will plan to update this from the road somewhere. road trip went great. riding with my friends and they paid us $50 each for an extra test we didnt expect. i killed time at hard rock cafe.
i'm at a shake a snake in indy,and i just realized it's an hour later than i thought because this is eastern time zone, so i can go catch my city bus home.
enjoying my first cup of coffee in 3 weeks. last night had my first drink since christmas - it makes those long bus rides bearable.

 

by arbi
2-02-16
today hasnt been terribly productive side from getting home on the bus. i got in early in the morning and haavent been able to sleep, but am too tired to get up and do stuff.
1) i cleaned for about an hour to clear room to sleep in. the room will take lots more cleaning, the attic too. 2) i was able to get my two computers online, but not steve's. and if i use the other
router to get steve online, mine go off. still working on it. i didnt know he hasn't had internet these three weeks, we don't all communicate well.
3 i made a new to do list, but i'm waiting until tomorrow to get started on it. 4. i met a cute girl panhandling. she lives in a tent at the hobo jungle by the river, where kevin used to. i want to
try to get to be friends with her, a long shot. tomorrow i call to see if i got into a study for march.
5) i wrote to the recruiter in denver saying i'm not coming tomorrow.

 

by arbi
2-03-16
http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79569
today's been a pretty good day so far. warm and rainy. slept, finally, in my new room which was my old room that i've moved back into.
i collected $390 in rent and back rent from one of my tenants, 2 of 3 have paid so far this month. i wrote a blog post about a colorado case that got picked up by the main election law blog.
i got into the study that i screened for monday, so i will spend 8 days in missouri later on, making a month's pay in a week, unless i get sent home which could always happen.
while i was there i got $50 for finding out if i have low testosterone, which 1 out of 4 people they screen for has. if yes, there are some studies i can do, but mainly it could help explain some of
my sexual preferences (i like androgynous people) and also my general lack of get up and go. which is what i should do next; i need to go pick up my car and hit the po box and bank before they close.
i ended up not getting out of bed, except to make some lentil stew, take out the trash,and talk to my neighbor rochester.

 

by arbi
2-04-16
rochester says he'll pay me the $200 he forgot he owed me starting next month, we'll see. he thinks it will cost $1000 to fix the eaves again.
today, thursday, ended up being a good day after all. i did at least 3 important things. i picked up one of my two cars, edited printed and fed-exed the brief.
there's a whole list of things on the car to fix, that i now have the money and time to do. then i need to get the other car, which means going back to walmart get a different battery so i can drive
i'm glad i didnt go to denver. if i had, i would just be getting back,and it would probably have been a wasted trip. now that i'm in a study, i could cancel the nebraska trip next week, maybe.
it to the shop instead of towing. and three, i sent a letter to a clinic that banned me, asked them to reconsider, and sent a copy to a lawyer. emailed my own lawyer back and forth about finding a
local doctor. found out i do have low testosterone, so that'll get me in some studies, but is maybe part of why i have so little energy.
i could have stopped at a club on the way home, but i skipped it. i feel like i have to focus on the to do lists. i've only had drinks one time since before christmas.
i still have to mail the copies of the brief to the 3 lawyers. i should email them as well. i caught to mistakes in the brief before i filed it but also missed two.
roommate number 3 says he might get the rent tomorrow, and starts a minimum wage city job parttime soon. roommate 2's been smoking in the house.

 

by arbi
2-05-16
i'll have to doublecheck, but i might have saved $5-10K last year after all, between my 3 bank accounts. i'd been wondering where all that money went; i didn't buy a house and only bought two cars.
today i went out from 1-6 pm running errands, got some stuff done. my back hurts from carrying groceries and a car battery. the first walmart wouldn't exchange it but the other one, 15 miles away did.
i'm trying to get psyched to get back out there to hit up first friday gallery events, to be social.
png renderer is still down a year later, so how do i save a comic as a file?
i got a deluxe oil change, $75ish, bought car mirror, superglue flashlight and pliers, $11, got a month's mail from the p o box. 3 threatening letters from government agencies, which is what triggers
the acute phase of my depression, so i'll have to pick a good day to open them. picked up a couple boxes groceries. sorted mail into bills, checks, other. mostly tax receipts.
about $1300 coming back, from lost checks over the years.
i mailed the briefs to counsel which was my must do item today. long line at post office, fiasco at walmart, but the oil change went well. and i reprinted a form to get money back from indiana
unclaimed, but i didnt have my driver's license. hope it's in my other pocket, or i'm doomed. found it. last time they rejected my claim before i forgot to photocopy my driver's license.

 

by arbi
2-06-16
saturday did list
1 bank paid $500 on credit card 2 bought stove, washer dryer, $200, 3 fixed window on car 4 paid $200 on electric bill 5 cash count $100 6 did laundry, took bath 7 put away groceries 8 ate 2000 kC.
9 inspected space heater, met 5th roommate 10 met next door neighbor and her mom. 11 researched volvo transmission sensor problem 12 researched dentures issue, need to make dentist appointment. 13
sunday to do list
1 email briefs to counsel 2 modem for steve 3 put away pots and pans 4 mousetraps 5 clean room or porch 20 minutes 6 charge phone call mom 7 go thru mail 8 add up insurance expenses, january expense
well sunday so far i havent gotten out of bed and it'll be dark soon. dammit. this is the first day this week that's been utter failure to even try.
monday to do list
1 pay eric $264. 2, take car to mechanic. 3 call re dumpster 4 xander meeting maybe 5 add up liquid net worth: 20K? 6 same re insurance 7 clean house 20 minutes 8 back excercises 9 make better list 10
10 werle memo. 11 go thru 50 item list.

 

by arbi
2-08-16
my mom told me about a pumpkin mushroom soup,and i have fresh shitakes, and nutmeg i think, yes, now to find the can of pumpkin.
today the main things i didjnt get done was go to the michigan street house, pout in the battery, get my car to the mechanic,and also pay eric $260 to finish up the utilities there.
but i did get the router working so steve has internet now, emailed the brief and motion, called about a dumpster, charged my phone, took out trash.
bath before soup tho, i keep forgetting and the bath gets cold or drains out. get better drain stopper.
blogged a little, sent emails, cleaned the toilet, did a temporary fix on the open attic window, called mom last night.
got a late start because i bingewatched shameless, caught up the last 4 episodes. i'm sneezing now, maybe because i just noticed how much snow there is outside.
more later after i get 3 more things done/.
tomorrow i'll try again with the car, and go to the film series,and pay eric, and take out trash. maybe make soup. nope, tuesday i did not get out of bed. it was cold.

 

by arbi
2-11-16
The reason that I do these comics is that i'm somewhat disabled by depression, and it helps me keep track of what I do and don't get done.
So this has been a tough week. On Sunday my energy level started dropping and I wasn't getting much done.
Monday Tuesday and Wednesday I barely got out of bed. Today's thursday and it went slightly better, but not much.
plus i sneak in the occasional snide comment.
Today I dragged myself out of bed around 2, had decaf and eggs, took a bath, got dressed, took out the trash, got a call back from a nice lady who helped me sign up for Obamacare and a dental plan,
so that's one big item off to the to do list. Did laundry. I want to walk about 8 blocks to the corner store to get toilet paper and laundry detergent., so I'm getting psyched up for that. It's 28 out
took the walk, got detergent, made dinner
Much warmer than it's been. February is why I keep a stock of canned goods; I know I'm not going to want to leave the house when it's like this. I still havent cleaned this room, sorted the mail, all
the things I could be doing without having to go outside. Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. Anyway today I got health insurance. That's something. I can afford the $77 a month.

 

Who killed Abe Vigoda?
http://isabevigodadead.com/
by arbi, 2-11-16

 

by arbi
2-12-16
i've been sleeping badly, waking up at 5, which is not enough sleep so i try to get back to sleep and then get up at noon.
so starting at noon, i sorted the mail, went to the bank, bought phone minutes, paid our final utilities from no limits, checked my other bank balance, took my battery to the old house and tried to
get my car started but no luck. tightened up my battery cable which fixed the stalling problem on the one i'm driving, which also needs repaired. tom changed the locks so i couldnt get inside.
i made it back home, started dinner washed the dishes, counseled my roommate on her tax problem, discussed our messed up lives. my back hurts. dinner, bath, new list.
the mechanic i was going to get it towed to won't work on it, so i left a message for another guy. so that part of the day was frustrating, but i'm coping ok. did i mention the blizzard?
it was really more of a flurry, said the B-lizard.

 

by arbi
2-13-16
who shot j. s.?
This just in!
Justice Antonin Scalia, dead at 79.
this will leave the court split 4-4 on some issues. will obama try to appoint hillary?
His cold lifeless body was found on a ranch in texas. Nearby was a note that read "another one bites the dust!" Agents would like to have a chat with atomiclunch.
This is going to dramaticly ramp up partisanship in 2016 election cycle.
Eulogies to follow. Scalia was a sarcastic writer, a strong defender of some parts of the constitution, the oirginal originalist.
he shaped how we think of the first, second,and 6th amendments, at least.

 

by arbi
2-13-16
dinner turned out pretty well, banana-tomato curry with rice, egg, sesame,and a cup of marmite broth on the side.
Saturday didn't go well. Made a list, went out to start it, car wouldn't start. Panicked a bit and got stressed, but then i let myself slack off a bit.
So instead I cleaned a few feet of floor in my room, fixed the internet for steve, charging the battery, blogged a little, did some laundry, that was about it.
My back hurts when I try to do much more than that. Didn't do my physical therapy exercises yet today. made some rice for dinner. it's almost midnight so i guess that's all for today.
i was going to go to a clinic about my ears, stop by the old house, go to an art gallery thing next door to the old house, but did none of that. i reminded my one tenant he's late with the rent, check
-ed his heater, got him some bug spray. i should probably keep cleaning the floor in my room, bit by bit.
My insurance guy sam says i can't get homeowners until i get the yard cleaned. I need to rent a dumpster.

 

by arbi
2-14-16
i didnt get much done sunday. i got up late, didnt get out of bed. but i worked 4 hours on a memo about a potential case and mailed it off to some lawyers and the potential clients.
i cleaned another foot of floor space in my room. i managed to knock over a bookcase, so i cleaned that up while putting stuff back.i fixed a light bulb. i called mom. i didnt put the battery back
dinner was sauted shitake shrooms with rice, a side of beet juice and gatorade,and a boiled rutabaga. one meal a day is about all i have the energy to fix.
into the car or try to get the car started. it's going to take a long time to get this room clean, much less the rest of the house.
i need to get my bus ticket and pack because later this week i go to missouri, and i wont have the car ready yet. i need to remind myself that it's ok to spend the money to fix the cars. then later to
it's still 20 F out, but supposed to warm up to 40 tomorrow.
fix my eaves better this time and pay for the dumpster so i can clean up the yard and the house.
this panel deleted because i'm not supposed to talk about the accident

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