cindy's world

There was an article in a local Las Vegas newspaper that gives an in-depth look of how the prostitution “industry” in the area has been impacted by the plummeting economy. Normally during downturned economic times, the porn, gambling, drinking, and prostitution businesses increase as people turn to them as an escape. But THIS time, the porn industry took a 20%-30% decline in sales, AND mid-range prostitutes have had to add sex acts that they’d previously forbidden, AND lower their rates. (What is this world COMING to?!) Based on an interview of a mid-range prostitute, she used to charge $450 per date, and now has had to drop her rates to $300 per date, and make available things she previously would refuse to do for fear of losing more customers to the competition who WOULD do those acts and charge less, too. Despite that, her personal economics have suffered 50%, she claims, because used to make $6K a week and she’d save $1000 a week and spend the rest, but now she’s no longer able to put away the weekly $1K savings.

So at this point I’m going, “I don’t have $5K of expenses a week! If I had her job, I’d be filthy rich in a few months!” And I had to kick myself mentally.

The reporter then interviews a high-level call-girl and it turns out, she says the high-level people haven’t been impacted by the economy at all, because the wealthy clients who pay $2000 an hour STILL have enough money to keep paying $2000 an hour.

And then I wondered, what qualifies a girl into the high-level hooker classification? The interviewee is a former finance director. So I assume she’s smart. Maybe when one’s clientele are dignitaries, they really want an “escort” on their arm who could pull off the upper crust mingling, the political savvy and social refine to appear like, “I’m not a hooker. I’m Mr. Foreign Dignitary’s intelligent, rich and well-connected date and I just so happen to be extremely hot and unfathomably attracted to him.” And I thought, “I can act.” So I had to kick myself again.

The article’s interviews with lower-level prostitutes reveal that the typically substance-addicted bottom-dwellers of the profession’s heirarchy aren’t negatively impacted by the economy, either. They still get their usual $200-$300 a pop (har) rate, and business goes on as usual. It seems that a concern of the writer is that when mid-range prostitutes drop their rates to the area of low-range prostitutes, they also expose themselves to (har) a lower, scummier clientele base. This, coupled with the addition of sex acts that they really don’t want to do, make for an unpleasant career experience. The writer recommends that instead of compromising themselves ( :/ ), mid-range hookers should advertise more broadly and creatively, such as going online, placing internet ads, and starting online blogs.

And here again I think, this time aloud, “I already have a blog. How easy would it be for me to just convert into prostitution?” I received a snort from Mr. W.

I CAN post about my weekend along with photos, but this other thing is weighing more heavily (and uncomfortably), so I’ll blog it and get rid of its pressing nature.

I learned in a college psychology class that the motivation for suicide is commonly, if not mostly, selfish. “I’ll show you. I’m gonna kill myself and THEN you’ll all be sorry.” There’s all these superstitions or etiquette rules that deters one from speaking ill of the dead, but I’m gonna go ahead and spit some stuff out at the risk of sounding insensitive.

A coworker fairly recently, after her only child got married and moved out of the house, started renting out a room in her home to a man. She is a single mom and the extra income helped. Plus I believe she felt pretty alone in her home. I think the man was a stranger to her until she accepted him into her home, but either way, it doesn’t make this more f’ed up.

Last week she returned to her painstakingly put-together and decorated, remodeled home and ended up being barricaded out of her house the entire night as police documented her home as a possible crime scene. Her renter had killed himself in her home.

At first I of course thought, “Oh, no, how tragic!” but immediately after I thought, “He had to leave a mess before he died? For someone else to clean up? Why should this be her problem? And now she’ll have to disclose this suicide in all future real estate sales because it’s required by law and this’ll wreck her home’s value. Who the hell does that?! Why take down another person who’s doing you a favor to let you live in her home?!”

Other information came through that he was a gay man. I think the implication is that he may have been prone to being overdramatic, but I don’t think any official word has come down about his actual “logic” for suicide, if something like this could be logical.

I was just really ticked off for my coworker. She’s had to go through a lot in her life and she’s a genuinely good person; she recently spent a ton of money completely redoing Gym Trainee’s office as a surprise when Gym Trainee was off on vacation last week because she thought it’d be nice for Gym Trainee, who gets pretty screwed by administration around the building and gets kicked out of her offices a lot for someone else with squeakier wheels wanting an office space, to finally have a claimed space of her own, no matter how temporary it may be. Gym Trainee’s first day back is today and she was bowled over at all the personal touches and the amount of labor involved. That office is nicer than my entire house now, and the coworker made an appearance also as we all hung out in the office earlier, and never mentioned her home tragedy. I wanted to ask if she’s okay going into her home living alone now, whether she had to do physical cleanup alone, if there were something I could do, but of course it wasn’t the time or place during this morning’s happy occasion.

This is probably going to be the ugliest statement yet, but even dogs and cats run away into the wild to die, to avoid dying at home around loved ones.

I’m on call for jury duty this week. I haven’t been called in yet, but we’ll see for tomorrow. Meanwhile, in honor of courts and holidays, here are some season’s greetings from the legal site mlaw.org:

“Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.”

“We also wish you a fiscially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that the United States is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.”

Mr. W’s niece and her mom (Gamer Bro’s daughter and wife) are visiting friends in San Diego, and will spend the weekend with us. Yay! Niece was recently married and even more recently preggers! I haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving when we went to Vegas and I’m sure she’ll be softly glowing. 🙂 Or maybe the hormones have made her glinty, we’ll see. She seems to be cheerful so far and has said that pregnancy has been easy on her.

You know what I wish I had? A really cool, artsy, maybe black and white photo of me in some eye-boggling but not gross contortionistic pose. And then I can make it my profile photo everywhere and frame it in a simple thick-edged black wooden frame. Yeah.

I stole this from Flat Coke & Flies’ blog, because I thought it’s a nice way to think back about the past year.

1) Where did you begin 2008? at Mr. W’s house; I was shocked he wanted to stay up and celebrate New Year’s Eve for once, and then he explained that it’s got new meaning because we were now engaged.
2) What was your status by Valentine’s Day? 7 months engaged.
3) How did you earn your money? playing Bejeweled, mostly.
4) Did you have to go to the hospital? just for check-ups.
5) Did you have any encounters with the police? *sideglance*
6) Where did you go on holiday/travel? NorCal for a friend’s wedding; Vegas for a few visits of Mr. W’s family and his niece’s wedding. I think that’s it. 2008 was about saving up for the wedding.
7) What did you purchase that was over $1000? we wrote lots of $1K+ checks for stuff, but the only PURCHASE was this house.
8) Did you know anybody who got married? me (which Flat Coke seems to have forgotten about), Mr. W, my college buddy Jimmy, another college friend “Little Dave”, Mr. W’s niece Jenni, my cousin Diana, an acquaintance (college roommie Diana’s close friend) Sabrina, my cousins’ cousin Wydd. I have 2, POSSIBLY 3 more in 2009 to attend, too. *shrug* We’re at that age.
9) Know anyone that passed away? no one I know personally.
10) Did you move anywhere? Yes. Mr. W and I moved into our new house in August.
11) What concerts/shows did you go to? we hit up some local shows in Vegas with Mr. W’s gamer bro.
12) Are you registered to vote? APPARENT-FRICKEN-LY NAWT. *fume*
13) Where do you live now? near the Lake in the OC.
14) Describe your birthday. pretty quiet and low-key. The day itself was spent running errands in preparation for the wedding. Mr. W took me and his kids out for a joint bday dinner (his son’s bday is 2 days before mine) at an upscale steakhouse the day before my actual bday.
15) What’s one thing you thought you wouldn’t do but did in 2008? almost die of exposure, exhaustion and dehydration with Jordan in the middle of a lake on a pedalboat.
16) What has been your favorite moments? hanging with the NorCal friends when I visited for Jimmy’s wedding, staying up late and chatting with college roommie Diana like we used to 10 years prior; having just about everyone I could possibly want in 1 place with me on August 31; spa day with a sinful lunch and dinner with the girls for my bridal shower organized by MOH Vicky and bridesmaid Diana; Dodo’s cone coming off after 6 years; the process of earning my bartending certification; dancing with my new husband at my cousin Diana’s wedding; realizing last week that EVERY NIGHT is date night living with Mr. W; goofing off with Jordan running amock in Long Beach; my first mani/pedi courtesy Jordanabanana; finding Mr. Englyng and hanging out with him, his wife and Dwaine in Mr. Englyng’s backyard all night; packing with Vicky’s help and finding a planner from high school that totally insulted her; I could go on…
17) What’s something you learned about yourself? I *really* don’t wanna open that can of worms on this post.
18) Any new additions to your family? oh my gosh. Mr. W, his parents, his 4 brothers (one of whom I’ve still not met) and their respective families, my cousin Diana’s new husband Doug, and I acquired my godson this summer.
19) What was your best month? prolly August, my skinniest month.
20) What music will you remember 2008 by? Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be,” “Fascination,” “The Prince of Denmark’s March,” Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This,” Celine Dion’s “I’m Alive,” (specifically, Mr. W’s daughter’s versions of the last 2, which I enjoy more than the original singers’) Kardinal Offishaw/Akon’s “Dangerous” (because of Jordan’s slideshow of us playing)
21) Who has been your best drinking buddy? Gym Trainee, during our bartending “homework assignments.”
22) Made new friends? surprisingly, yeah. I’m also surprised how MUCH I like these girls.
23) Favorite night out? wow, um. there were so many. the nites alone with a days-old new husband drinking wine on the sand, staring out at the lake come to mind.

Did I tell you guys that when Jordan was laying out yesterday in 80-degree sun in Florida, Mr. W had to scrape ice off our windshield with a spatula so that we could see enough to get us through the drive to work in Sunny Southern California?

Since Thanksgiving when we were in Vegas visiting Mr. W’s family, “the brothers” were working on a Christmas Scam to pull on their parents. It started with Gamer Bro asking Mr. W, “Hey, you wanna pitch in and get Mom and Dad a Wii for Christmas?” I wondered aloud if they’d ever play it. Gamer Bro said that his parents have said that they want one, and that a lot of “old folks homes” have them in their recreation room for fun and exercise. Gamer Bro got their Rocker Bro involved, and then said they were going to call their Chicago Bro to join in, too. After the four brothers all gave the thumbs-up, their parents decided to come to us for Christmas. Mr. W called Gamer Bro and asked if we should just buy the Wii here and give it to their parents, but Gamer Bro already bought it, so it’s in Vegas. How to get it to their parents for Christmas?

Gamer Bro boxed up the Wii and the extra accessories he got, wrapped it up, and put a tag on it that made it look like it was a gift to Mr. W from Gamer Bro. And then he got THE PARENTS to transport it themselves! The parents asked what the present was, and Gamer Bro lied, “I got him an XBox Live access card. It’s the size of a credit card but I put wood blocks and bricks in a box to throw him off.” So when the parents got here, they said to Mr. W, “This is for you from [Gamer Bro.] Isn’t it HEAVY?” Mr. W wondered aloud what it was. They kept making a point of, “It’s heavy! Be careful, it’s HEAVY.”

Just now on Christmas morning, Mr. W sat his parents down, put the box in front of them, and said he was gonna open his present. Mr. W’s father warned him again that it’s heavy. Suddenly, Mr. W ripped the tag off and explained that it’s ACTUALLY to THEM from their four sons and their families. I snapped photos of their shocked expressions as they learned they were duped, having lugged and driven their own present here from Vegas. They seemed happy with the Wii, and Mr. W’s mother warned her husband, “I’m gonna be hitting you playing this.” The father’s phone call to Gamer Bro after opening was a simple voice mail, “Hey, thanks for the Wii, you con.”

Mr. W has gotten so many compliments on his new hat that he wants to go back and buy a few more (different colors).

I wish I had photos of me and Jordan playing in the hat shop.

My mom’s xmas wish list (stuff she wants from me) this year includes a new TV, boots, string of pearls (necklace), diamond earrings, and a puppy, but my dad won’t let me get her the last item.

Wrapping presents with a cat around is always a great challenge, as Mr. W found out this year for the first time.

How in the world did we get invited to so many Christmas parties?

The first off-site work xmas party is tomorrow, and altho I half-agreed to step it up a notch and make myself halfway attractive, I’m really too lazy and don’t feel like it.

I’ve been so tired lately, skipping the gym and taking naps at my desk at lunchtime instead.

It was funny today when my judge and court reporter were discussing their reviews of nonfiction books about the Black Panther movement, first-hand accounts of Al-Qaeda from the inside, secret government surveillance of our military, etc., and during a pause in their conversation I offered, “I’m reading an adolescent novel about a teenager’s romance with a vampire,” and my judge had looked at me in horror and exclaimed venomously, “You’re not reading that Twilight crap, are you?! …no thanks, reading about government conspiracies is scary enough.”

That was a very long 1-line sentence.

We worked a bit into lunch today, taking a verdict, so Gym Trainee and I decided to just take a walk instead of going to the gym for what little time there was left of lunch. We were circling the neighborhood and looking around at the wadded-up fast food bags thrown on the sidewalks and at the shady-looking people coming out of pawn shops when I thought, “This is a really bad area.” That was when we approached an intersection where the cars next to us were stopped at a red light. A Hispanic guy was crossing the street toward us, walking in front of the stopped cars. When he stepped onto our sidewalk, he started saying something to three black guys in a car, also stopped at the light, closest to us at the corner. I was wondering if they knew each other, when we got close enough for me to realize he was challenging the three guys to come out in a hostile voice. “C’mon, bring it,” he was saying, along with other slangy stuff I wasn’t picking up on, sprinkling some colorful adjectives in there as well. I couldn’t tell if the three guys in the car were saying anything, but I certainly didn’t hear them. The Hispanic guy reached into his jeans pocket at this point and I briefly wondered if he had a gun. He pulled out something small and colorful, and waved it at the car. A utility pocket knife, it looked like. And then he walked farther down the sidewalk so that he was behind us, still challenging the carload of people. I got PISSED. Get the f out of my WAY when I’m trying to cross the sidewalk, and stop dancing around behind us! Go stab the car or something, their passenger window’s open! The car took off when the light turned green and the Hispanic guy said cockily, “YEAH, thass wot I THOUGHT! Chickenshits.” WEREN’T YOU just bouncing around behind TWO WOMEN, trying to put us in the middle of your idiocy? I almost wish the carload of guys had gotten out and beat the crap out of him. How stupid does a guy have to be to start crap with a car of 3 people to his 1, and all he had on him was a dinky little keychain pocketknife? What if they pulled out a gun? What’s he gonna do, stab his way through a metal car as they ran him over? Idiot. Gym Trainee’s take on the situation was that as the guy was crossing the street, the car may have pulled up a little after he stepped on the sidewalk, so the guy took offense, like the driver was trying to hurry him up or play like he was gonna run him over. She also thought the guy overreacted because he was “trying to look hard” in front of women. Ooh. Score. *eyeroll*

On the way home from work, we pass a huge warehouse-sized Halloween Store. It’s still open every day despite the fact that costume purchases can’t be a regular thing on people’s shopping lists anymore. My head turns, my eyes glued to the store window displays of colorful, skin-tight, skanky costumes every evening as Mr. W drives obliviously by on the freeway.

Recently my desire to add a little something different to my wardrobe returned. I’d thought about this last year, and blogged a little something trying to explain how I feel. I think I go through this annually for some reason. On the way to Vegas, I mused about this aloud. “I think I should get a hat,” I said.
“You don’t wear hats,” Mr. W noted.
“Yeah, but a hat can change my look dramatically. Like…ooh! A cowboy hat! I should get a cowboy hat. But I probably won’t have much of a chance to wear it.”
“You can get one of those puffy hats, like — what do you call those? They’ve got a short brim and they’re puffy on top?”
“A chef’s hat? I KNOW I won’t get much of a chance to wear THAT.”
“Nooo, like a Strawberry Shortcake hat.”
“That’s a giant chef’s hat.”
“Not that big of a puff. It’s kinda flat on top, slants down…it’s made of that nice fabric…”
“I am not gonna wear a cabbie hat,” I said. “I won’t get much use out of that. I want something cool, something bad, like, OOH, a pirate hat!”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be getting a lot of use out of THAT.”
“With a big feather sticking out the back!!” I got really excited.

I didn’t end up getting any hat, and the pirate phase has passed. Maybe a triangular furry red hat with a white furry brim and a white puff ball at the peak will be the practical hat purchase for me. Something I can get a lot of use out of for the next month.