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Hello. First off I'd like to wish you all a Happy Belated Fourth of July, at least those of you who celebrated it. I hope you enjoyed lots of great fireworks and great food! I actually did get to do something rather special yesterday. Last year on the Fourth of July I was asked to ride in my state representative's float in the parade. I had so much fun doing it that I wanted to go again this year. This state representative is exactly the kind of legislator that one should find anywhere, in my opinion. She has been very supportive of people with disabilities for quite some time, and in particular she has been very supportive of Center for Independent Futures. Not only that, but she is a very nice person and very approachable. She gets to know her constituents and what they want out of her, which is something lacking in most politicians these days it seems. After the ride she treated us to ice cream and then she personally drove us home. On the ride home a neighbor friend and I got to meet this rep's husband, who happens to be a judge. Last night I enjoyed a cookout and some fireworks back at the apartment. And now...to some exciting news. I got the job I talked about in earlier entries! I sort of knew I would get it though, because a lot of help is needed in the CIF office. An orientation is taking place next week and I will know more then.>

Yes folks that's right, I am moving onward and upward. I just returned from a retreat of sorts. Actually the idea for this was conceived awhile back by my parents and by a few people who work at Center for Independent Futures. I met with the Community Life Coordinator here at CIF and she presented the idea to me, and I thought it was a very good one and ran with it. She suggested I talk it over with my folks which I did, and they too liked the idea. So on Saturday of last week I went over to some friends' apartment who are also involved with CIF, and I spent a few days there. The goal here was to get me out of my apartment and doing more things, and that is exactly what happened. Both of these CIF residences plus a third one which I will talk about, have community builders. These are people who act as emergency contacts and who also take an active role in the development of the communities. The community builders at my friends' apartments are a married couple. Incidentally, I helped to hire them. The community builders in my building are a mother and her sons. Actually the oldest son lives with her year round, and another son lives elsewhere. The youngest son is currently attending college but is home during breaks.

I got side-tracked during today's entry, so I am picking up where I left off earlier. I had a blast on my retreat. I stayed in the guys' apartment, which normally has two guys but I was number three. There used to be some other guys living there too. But one ended up qualifying for Section 8 housing and subsequently moving out on his own. Actually I do believe this was also the case with one of the other guys. Another one had to move back with his parents. The second floor of that residence is taken up by an apartment currently housing three very nice young women. The two community builders, a husband and wife, live on the third floor. Like I mentioned earlier, I played a big role in hiring this couple. Last summer one day I got a call from the CIF office, asking if I would like to help interview two people for the position of community builder. (The previous community builders for that residence left.) I agreed and the interview went very well. At the time these two people weren't married. So they ended up getting the position, and they are doing a very nice job. There is also a third CIF residence which has a community builder. Oddly enough I have an outside connection to this person as well. (Those who know me well know that I seem to know just about everyone, or seem to have at least heard their names somewhere, somehow. Did I just use the word "know" three times? Oops maybe four. I guess I am a spy and should be put on America's Most Wanted or some such criminal watchdog list!) Anyway, my contract is soon up for grabs again, and I might move to either of those two buildings or elsewhere in this building, as there is now a vacancy. I am indeed very excited about this potential move, as it will enhance my productivity as an independent person. I am also starting this job real soon and that should be cool. I'm going to be working with a job coach at least for part of the time. What really pisses me off, though, is that as hard as I or anyone else has tried, noone has heard a thing from VR. But maybe that's a good thing after all. As I've mentioned before on these pages, the minds of so-called VR counselors/supervisors/whatever are just one big mess that shouldn't be reckoned with even by a mental-health professional. At least the majority of them are like this, and the thing that really irks me is that the ones who don't have a clue as to what they're doing always seem to stick around in one capacity or another. At least that seems to be the case here in Illinois. There are those exceptions, as with anything I suppose. I kind of need some formal orientation&mobility instruction, or at the very least an assessment as to where my skills are. But according to some of my unnamed VR counselors, that won't happen unless I get a good paying job. Please refer to an earlier entry of mine, those of you who may be a bit confused about my take on VR services. You can do this by choosing the link that says "Older 5 entries," which appears near the bottom of every journal page. Having said that, I guess it's better to be pissed off than to be pissed on. Or, maybe some people like it better the other way around. Cheers for now.