It's 4 am. 
I have been up since 2 and for the first time in quite a while I am having one of those sleepless nights I experience every once in a while,normally a by product of some stressful situation.
I have been driving my bus for 10 months now.
The first 9 of those months, I drove in blissful ignorance,honing my skills and growing what started out as a very part time,10 hours a week job,into what has now become a very nice addition to my income averaging over 25 hours a week now.
My blissful ignorance took a slap in the face about a month ago when it came up that "technically" I should have a CDL to drive the bus.
Up until that point I can honestly say that I had no idea that it was an issue.
When I was hired it was never mentioned. I was asked if I had a valid NJ driver's license. They did a background check on me ,which of course came up clean. I believed that I was hired after a thorough screening and after my employers had done their due diligence.
It was sometime late last month, when the discussion first arose that I found out that I should "technically have a CDL.
It came back to me as , not a big deal.
Just be careful.
Yesterday , the decision was made that technically was no longer the reality. The cold hard reality is that without my CDL, I can no longer drive the bus.
This edict came down at 6 pm yesterday,Friday, afternoon.
The phone call went some thing like "David I have some bad news....you can't drive the bus without a CDL." Period.
There it was.
Done. 
My heart sank.
I started to get flush. 
A sick feeling came over me.
The last thing I need at this point is to lose this piece of monthly income.
Once again, another financial set back.
I said to my colleague"wow ...not what I wanted to hear just before Shabbat."
Panic was setting in quickly. How will I replace this income?
I can't do with out it at this point.
She quickly jumped in and assured me that I wasn't being let go. 
It just means that I will have to drive the van.
Whew, I still had my job!
I will lose some hours and some people will be terribly inconvenienced in that without the bus I can't pick up wheel chairs.
It's a mess.
My supervisor then asked if I would consider getting my CDL. I said of course,what ever it takes. She added that of course they would pay for it which while very nice was the least of my concerns in that moment.
So now the process begins.
I Googled as much as I could to see what this entails.
A physical.
 An eye exam.
Fingerprinting.
Applying for a permit.
A written test and eventually a road test.
The process will take a few weeks. For a few weeks, scheduling will be a problem.
For a few weeks, my hours will take a hit. For a few weeks so will my pay check.
In the end, I will have added my CDL to my already glowing list of attributes.
In a few weeks things will be back to normal. In a few weeks this upheaval that I am experiencing will be behind me. Right now, as evidenced by my not being able to sleep, I am stresssed out.
Later today I am attending a half day silent retreat. 
Given the events of the last 24 hours, this should prove to be quite interesting. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow.
It's now just about 5 am, 
I can still grab a little over an hour of shut eye if I can fall back to sleep without much effort. 
I'l give that a try and hope for the best.
Did I mention that this whole thing has made me very sad?
Well it has!
To be continued.........
 Shabbat Shalom