aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my dumb adventure for this evening: found a rather interesting-looking job online & was going to apply, but then had to update my paypal cause that's how they do payroll, & on a whim i got into an email folder about financial & work stuff & saw a query i'd sent asking where i could get the status of my teaching credentials, thinking to myself, oh, i have one more year before i have to renew, but i'll go look, anyways... and i went to the site and saw that my two precious teaching credentials... expire... today....
aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
my teaching career flashed before my eyes. the many many years as student & teacher flashed before my eyes!! noooo!!! i haven't taught in several years by choice, but this early retirement is over! i want to work again!! i must work again!! i miss students & meaningful work!!
heart pounding, i calmly slowed my eyeballs down so i could read & noted that my credentials would not expire til midnight. oh, thank godinheavenjesusbuddhaallahjehovahgreatspirituniverse oh thank you!!
then i went thru the application process, trying to not freak out & read things wrong:  ever had a felony, ever been dismissed for this & that, signed the affidavit swearing allegiance to the constitution of the united states, went to pay, entered credit card info, & it said my card was declined.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
went to bank website & it said i had money, so called dad & asked if i could use his credit card & as he started to recite the numbers, the phone call dropped. FOUR TIMES!!!!
finally got the info from dad, who was by then both a bit perturbed & anxious, entered his card info. it said HIS card was declined.
i thought, wait a minute: mine might be fruity... but DAD'S card would NOT be declined!! so i pushed "accept" & it went through & my credentials were renewed with 90 minutes to spare. it was the stupid payment website! i thought with great sympathy of all the teachers across california, trying to renew their credentials tonight, being told their cards were declined due to the payment website glitch. poor teachers!!
earlier i was talking w/dad, who is an atheist, yet someone i consider to be extremely spiritual, just inherently so... he gave me his theory that there is no time because there is only change & time is but a measure of observed change & then we discussed whether inanimate objects & the universe contain "good" & etc & it probably was the closest to an epistemological conversation dad & i've ever had... but after the timing of this evening's coincidences, i must say, dad, there must be a god!!
and because of that, i remain this evening a credentialed teacher of grades k-12 in the state of california. :)