Broken Promises

Hello everyone! I am writing this feeling disappointed in my current writing life. I was not able to keep up with the promises that I had made. The month of October has been hectic for me, and I was unable to get the flash fiction stories going. I came back from Tucson, Arizona, at the beginning of the month and was able to post the recent short about the undead soldiers of WWI straight away.

After that, I was excited because I had come up with a story that I thought would be very spooky, but my focus shifted to what I needed to get done to be ready to close on a new property. Thank the Lord that I now have a house, and thank you to my family for supporting me through this process, but it was chaotic and stressful.

You may not know, but two contracts that I relied on for income did not renew for the next fiscal year. They expired on August 31st. I survived September on just one job that was not paying enough to make that my only source of income. I had plenty saved up for my trip to Tucson, but I knew that when I returned, I would have to get more hours. So in October, I started having more availability in my private practice and began receiving more clients, which is great, but it also left me little to no time for the writing that I wanted to get done.

With the increase in clients I was seeing and the process of closing on a property, I neglected my writing. The closing on the house was a shit show to say the least. I had called my financial advisor to transfer some money to the credit union where I was going to withdraw the funds from. I had called them from October 6th all that week through the 10th, constantly being told.

"She's not in the office right now, but she will call you when she gets back."

I told them that I needed the money in my bank account by the 15th of October, and then I was met with.

"Well, there is no banking on the 13th since it's a holiday."

But I was reassured that the money would be there on the 15th, I told myself, "ok," and trusted that the process would go smoothly. I have no business banking with a credit union that I have had an account with since I was a kid, which is 1 hour away from where I currently live, but the plan was to drive an hour home, get the cashier's check, drive 2 hours to the new town I am moving to, and close in the afternoon.

Well, guess what?! The money from the investment firm was still not in my account on the morning of the 15th. I had to call them first thing in the morning while I was in the lobby of the credit union. I was told that the money had left at 7:22am that morning and should arrive later, but the tellers at the credit union couldn't see it pending. They told me that the transfers happen at 7:01am, 11:01am, and 3:01pm, so I had to wait.

I was tired and stressed because all of this could've been avoided if they had just returned all my phone calls the week prior. I waited till 11:01am, and nothing. No money. I was going to do a final walk-through with my real estate agent at 12:30pm; no way I was going to make it there when I still had to drive 2 hours.

My mom came to the rescue by allowing me to use money from her account, then once my money arrived in my account, I would then transfer it to her own account, since the money was supposed to arrive later that day. So I used my mom's account, got the cashier's check, and drove to go close.

I signed papers, I got keys, everybody was like.

"Congratulations! You're a homeowner."

Then I went to my vehicle and had a telehealth session with a client who had scheduled on Tuesday, the 14th, to see me on the 15th. Now, this money that I used to buy the house was basically all of my savings. I am now living paycheck to paycheck, I am struggling financially, and I need all the hours I can get. That is why I decided not to cancel this client, since I thought everything was going to go smoothly this day, but it didn't. I was using my phone hotspot, meeting with this person in my vehicle (which they were very understanding), and all the while, I was unaware that my phone was blowing up because I had it on silent while I had this session.

After I got done with the meeting, I noticed that I had multiple missed calls and voicemails from the title company, and my real estate agent basically telling me to please contact them back. It turns out that the fucking check I got from the credit union wasn't a fucking cashier's check! That they had given me a regular bank check. It was already 4pm, and I was not able to drive back in time for the bank to be open. So I walk back inside the title company building, and they tell me it needs to be a cashier's check, which I remember stating that's what I needed, but I guess not. Also, the sellers were going to close on a new home themselves with the funds from the house I was buying from them, but now they had to cancel their closing because my check couldn't go through.

I got the bank check, and I had to drive back, stay the night at my parents' house, and cancel the meetings I had for Thursday the 16th.

I'm a 1099 worker, so nobody is paying me PTO or gas mileage for this, but the next day, first thing in the morning, I walk into the credit union, tell the lady working the desk, and she has the fucking audacity to tell me.

"Yes, that is a cashier's check."

"No its not," I responded.

Bitch looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Yes, sir, that is a cashier's check. Do you mean a certified check?"

Fucking hell, man! I called the title company and had them on speaker, THE FUCKING TITLE COMPANY THEN TELLS ME.

"Well, what they gave you is a cashier's check, but it doesn't have cashier's check written on the check."

LIKE BRO!!!

"Yes, a certified check would work; it's the same thing."

I wanted to punch someone, like...I understand why it's easier to just rob a bank. The fucking teller then prints out a new check THAT HAD CASHIER'S CHECK WRITTEN ON IT!! I said that this is what I needed in the first place.

"No, sir, this is a certified check."

Man, fuck that bitch! Anyway, I saw that she had charged me the fee that banks charge when you ask for a check, and I asked if it could be refunded since this is out of my control, and I didn't mean to be requesting check after check. I am then informed that I have to go talk to their secretary, who then calls on some other lady from the fancy offices in the back, and they thought I was stupid or something because the lady stated.

"Mhhm, yes, sir. Every time you request a check, there is a fee."

"Yes, I know," I then proceeded to explain what happened and if I could get a refund from one of the checks. She told me that she will see what she can do. I wait in the lobby. She comes out, gives me a refund, but then proceeds to try to gaslight me that the next time I am purchasing a home, it needs to be a certified check, not a cashier's check.

"The title company said cashier's check, what's the difference?"

She then starts to explain that a cashier's check is like when you pay the bills, a certified check is guaranteed backing from the bank. BRO, THIS LADY WAS CONFUSING THE TERMINOLOGY!

She was explaining exactly what a cashier's check is, but kept calling it a certified check. A cashier's check is a cashier's check, no matter which bank you go to; they knew exactly what I was asking, and the new check literally had cashier's check written on it. Ah yes! Because I'm a real estate mogul and I buy houses all the time, herp derp silly me for not knowing. Literally what I was thinking that whole day, the day that I needed people to do their fucking jobs, somehow they want to make me the idiot for not knowing their backward, stupid terminology.

Forget about it. I had the check, I delivered it to the title company, everything cleared this time, and I vowed I would close my account at the stupid credit union and transfer my remaining 50 bucks to some other account where I will be living now. Now I was officially a homeowner. Yayy!

But it does not end there! I am leaving the country in November, and I am doing everything as well. The planning, booking the tours, still need to pack...then my mom has the audacity to tell me.

"Move in now so you don't have to pay rent for November."

Well, shit, mom! Then you finish the itinerary and pack my suitcase, cause now we have to focus on that. On top of that, as well, my dumbass thought back in September that I would be so productive and get so many things done in writing that I should also join a writing challenge for Halloween. So I signed up for a writing challenge that was going to start on the 17th and end on the 27th.

I was stressed out, man, but yes, I did finish that 2,000-word short story for the Forest & Fawn Writing Challenge, the theme was Vampires and Werewolves. Here are the rules and prompts: https://www.forestandfawnretreats.com/vampsandwolves-faq

It was fun, but I will not post that story till the results come out in three months, hopefully I win a prize and get published in their magazine. I guess you could say I did accomplish a writing feat.

Now I sit here, stressed because I have received more work (which is good), but my time has been dedicated to finishing the itinerary for me and my parents and buying tickets for all the tours of the places we are visiting. While also finishing all the renewals for malpractice insurance and my license that are due in November (which all that is easy).

Coming back in mid-November, I will finish my novel. I need to; I have written some shorts in this blog, I'm glad you have enjoyed them, but now is the time to finish this first novel before I get back into short stories. I did have a friend submit one story for October, but I already spoke with her about editing it and posting it in November, so be on the lookout for that. Her story is excellent!

Thank you, reader! I know you were expecting spooky stories for All Hallows' Eve, and I did not deliver. Perhaps the following October, God willing, things will be better. Of course, I am a horror writer, so flash fiction spooky stories don't always need to be reserved for October; perhaps I will post a few in the coming months. I will also be posting updates on my novel as I push myself to finish the first draft and aim for 500-1000 words a day.

Godspeed!