Some Pesky Room Remodeling

I went to work the next day and got a new Sweet Leaf Tea bottle cap on my two breaks and my lunch break.  After work I got a Vikings: Their Myths and Legends Events bookazine. The next day I went to work and learned a little more about doing ikebana on-line. Apparently, there are three primary vertical lines I guess each representing the hierarchies of the ancient cosmos: heaven, earth, and man. I also realized that the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group could be a great place for autistic students to tell people about projects and goals of theirs remembering one time in high school when a student told the school at an assembly about his tsumani relief project. I also got a June/July 2013 issue of Saveur magazine after work. The next day while at work I came up with an idea for giving out certain prizes for getting people to sign the Friend of Autism Pledge, one for one person, another for five people, and another for ten people. 

              After work I went to the Pathless Land with my granddad and after I got home, I moved my books from Jamie’s bed into the bedroom in Kate’s old room. The next day I went to art class with Jack and drove back from his house afterwards, realizing I might get use to driving by doing it even when I don’t feel comfortable doing it. After I got home, I went to the bank and deposited my last paycheck, and then I went to Bruce Smith and bought a June/July 2013 issue of Afar magazine, a June/July 2013 issue of National Geographic Traveler, and a July/August 2013 issue of Archaeology magazine. I got home and I emptied my laundry basket and my duffle bag, and I took my pallet paper out of my mom’s car. Then my mom and I went to the airport and picked up Jamie.

              The next day I went to work and on Saturday I was able to see how an episode of Austin and Ally where Austin’s attempt to gain his shy friend Ally recognition by putting her song on the radio backfired and I took it to mean I’m becoming more of a screenwriter. Later I pulled the weeds for my mom for half an hour, and she agreed to pay me $7.50, half an hourly pay for weed-pulling and I worked on my flowers made from straws. I went to work the next day and afterwards I met up with Jamie, Cam, my dad, grandmom, and granddad at BRGR. 

The next Tuesday I got my new THRIVE certificate in the mail and I went to work. During my breaks I took my receipts and turned them into origami hearts in order to recycle them. Afterwards I got Time magazine’s Gettysburg: A Day-to-Day Account of the Greatest Battle of the Civil War. When I got home, I saw some bunnies in our back yard, and I got some pictures of them.  The next day I went to work and made some more origami receipts during my breaks. On my way back I stopped by the library, and I looked at a book on Cape Town and the Garden Route in South Africa where I learned about a museum of South African Jewish history with a section on the Holocaust and several sites associated with slavery. I also checked out the book on Mongolia. When I got home, I read in the book we were reading at the Pathless Land After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Buddhist author Jack Kornfield about how Buddhist teacher Ajahn Chan said if he acted perfect people would make the mistake of looking for enlightenment outside of themselves and it reminded me of Chogyam Trungpa’s drinking and sexual affairs. I also read a quote by Zen Buddhist teacher Shunryu Suzuki about how there are no enlightened people, just enlightened activity.

I went to Barnes and Noble with my granddad and got a June 2013 issue of The New African, a July 2013 issue of Shambhala Sun, and a Summer 2013 issue of Buddhadharma. I realized that my collection of Buddhadharma and Shambhala Sun magazines could help me feel close to the teachings of Shambhala Buddhism and I went to the Pathless Land with my granddad. I did the dedication of merit for them at the end and on the way to Roasterie, I read about a book in Shambhala Sun called No Ordinary Apple: A Story of Mindful Eating which I realized could help me eat slower. We went to Roasterie Coffee. The next day I drove to my art class with Jack adding twenty more minutes to my time and drove back adding another twenty minutes. I drove to an art show where Donna’s work was displayed adding forty more minutes and back adding another forty minutes.

The next day I worked on my travel plans to Mongolia and I packed for my dad’s. I drove my mom to PetCo, a woman’s house, and then Hen House adding twenty more minutes to my driving time. After work I went to my dad’s, and I made some origami hearts from receipts. When I got back, I learned on my Lonely Planet book on Mongolia book about a retreat where people can learn about photography and wildlife poetry. The next day I went to Peanut with my dad and Jamie for brunch, worked on my travel pans to Mongolia, then went to Blue Koi with Jamie, Cam, my dad, my grandmom, and my granddad for dinner where I got some cartoon pictures of them and regular pictures of the inside of the restaurant. 

The next day I went to work again, and I made some more origami hearts from receipts during my first break. Later while I was working a thought occurred to me. People like Tyler and others on disability benefits should be allowed to make as much money as they can because no one should have to pay more to enjoy equal access to society. It would be like rich people having to pay to send their children to public schools and it decrease the amount of tax revenue we have making it harder to provide services to people especially people with disabilities. Later I traded shifts with Keuni from work and agreed to work from 8-4:30 on Tuesday. I worked on my hiking stick after work, and I realized that people with autism may be mistaken for gay or asexual because their interests are not always things people associate with their gender. I also carved a knife and worked on my ikebana flowers made from straws.

On Monday I went to work and afterwards I made some more origami hearts, worked on my flowers made from straws, and carved some more knives from wood. I put my ikebana flowers in a Pringles can vase covered with Tibetan tiger stripe designs and I took the last of my book shelves up to my room then I put my books on it. I rode my bike for about an hour and I decided to make the petals of my straw flowers look better by making them shorter. I also thought my phone’s battery was dead when it wouldn’t charge and my mom and I agreed to go to the Verizon store after work. I was able to see more of how an episode of A.N.T. Farm developed which I took to mean I’m becoming more of a screenwriter. I also put the magazines on the book shelf I first brought in on the bed in Kate’s old room until the new book shelf beneath it. 

The next day I went to work, and I decided for every one person someone gets to sign The Friend of Autism Pledge we would give away a bottle cap pendant, earrings, bracelet, or magnet; for five people we would give away a toilet paper roll cord holder; for ten people we would give away a Pringles can pencil cup or piggy bank all of them with neurodiversity themes. After work my mom and I drove to Einstein’s, then the Verizon store where for four dollars they were able to tell me that my charger had dust in it and that’s why it wouldn’t charge. I let my mom pay me $3.50 for my weed pulling because she paid for the phone service. I drove us home after we went to Target getting twenty more minutes for the ride there and back. Then I went to Winstead’s with my granddad and got a copy the current issues of Mindful and Ancient American. Then we went to the Pathless Land and did the chakra meditation with the others. I told them about my miksang photography and at the end of our session I did the dedication of merit. I also wrote down the name miksang photography for Steve on his phone. After I got home read in my Lonely Planet Mongolia book about a museum for the victims of Stalin’s purge and I saw an article in Mindful about Gettysburg. I remembered a story I read in Wisdom’s Blossoms: Tales of the Saints of India about this Hindu servant who wanted to visit an important pilgrimage site and achieved it through his hard work and that inspired me to really perform well at my job and maybe one day travel to the places I want to go to.

The next day I put my magazines, CDs, journals, coin collection, sword, shells, fossils, and bottle rocket on my book shelf and I rode my bike for about thirty-five minutes but came back when I saw it was starting to rain. Then I made some better flowers for my ikebana arrangement, and I read on-line that ikebana can be made not only from flowers but also dry wood, tree roots and branches, stones, pebbles, straws, seed berries, and even modern plastic and my collection of mani stones is kind of like ikebana. The next day I went to work and while I was there the thought occurred to me that the lack of economic freedom for people with disability benefits probably creates the need for so much paper work, costing our government a lot of money that it could use to provide services for people with disabilities like autism. I drove home adding ten more minutes to my driving time and my night driving time. I went to work the next day, and, on my way, I realized I could get started on my toilet paper roll cable holders for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group by taking apart the legs made from toilet paper rolls, which were crooked and sort of unsightly, I used for the table I made and replace them with legs I made from paper towel rolls I made which were much straighter. I also went to work the next day.