Afterthoughts: This Past Month

Short months fly by, but this year February felt like a regular month.  On to the update.

Sunday, February, 1, I still have a bit of a sore throat, so I've been sucking on lozenges.  Today I saw the rapper for one of them and it had an affirmation on it... actually many affirmations on it.  I don't know when this became a thing but it's a thing now.

Monday, February, 2, The installation for the Brand gallery is done.  They had their opening this weekend, so I knew that I would have the library all to myself today.  Still, I choose to have my lunch in the park.  The weather was super nice.  Since I got a jump on the start of the route I was able to have some time to walk around the park during my break.  It was a perfect day for a walk.  Not too hot, yet.  It's supposed to warm up tomorrow.  We shall see.

One of the two social workers that worked at the library left a few weeks ago for a new job.  Today I got to meet his replacement, a woman named Tahmina.  She seemed nice enough, but I don't know anything about her.  Here is what they sent us in an email about her.

Tahmina currently works as a Housing Navigation Coordinator with AMAAD and has worked as a Community Liaison with the Community Sponsorship Hub/Welcome Corps, where she supported outreach and engagement with community partners.  In her previous role with Welcome Corps, she focused on community-based outreach and relationship building.  Tahmina also has a background in screenwriting and storytelling, which she has used to support storytelling-based outreach and community education work.  She looks forward to working with the team and supporting Library Community Connect.

Mary later mentioned that Tahmina wants to be an actress.  Oh, OK.  It's the right town for that.  We shall see how she works out.  Mary also said that she doesn't have any experience working with the public.  Oh oh.

After a busy day I went to my car to head home and Chan's little face popped up in front of me as I approached the car.  He comes with me on Mondays and Wednesdays, since that has been a tradition for years now.  Mondays ever since I don't know when.  Wednesdays since TheGirl and I were dating and he would be at dinner.  And of course because of Cheyenne.  Even though she is gone, the tradition goes on.  That little face of his always makes me smile.  I used to bring hims into the library, but one day they moved hims from his perch and I knew I could never trust these dopes with his presence again.

Tuesday, February, 3, A couple of weeks ago I took Riverside drive out to pick up the freeway on the Moorpark entrance, because the 134 was packed.  On my way to the alternate entrance I noticed that the store they promised would be a Gelson's in Toluca Lake was nearly ready to open.  TheGirl told me they opened this past weekend.  Since I had some time this morning I figured I would make a quick visit to the joint.  It's a small location, with an emphasis on take out food, some of it hot and some ready to heat.  They also have a counter where you can get pizza and sandwiches.  Oh, and Thrifty ice cream.  That's the best.  It's a small market, and the company is trying something new.  They couldn't build a big market, so they are trying this thing.  It's almost like a Fresh and Easy concept.  Will it fly?  Time will tell, of course.  I think it's the right neighborhood for this concept of fast sales and take out food.

After my quick visit to Gelson's I went on my Tuesday Adventure for the week... York ave in Highland Park.  I've been there before, but I haven't walked around all that much. 

There's not much to say, I walked up to the El Super market and got a couple of things there.  I took some photos, which hopefully will come out nice.  Then I went to get some food at Tommy's.  Then I went to work.  It was too hot to do much walking, but I did get about two miles in today.  Every little bit helps.  I would have eaten a burger at the Goldburger, but they didn't open up early so I went to Tommy's.

Wednesday, February, 4, The route from the fire department to Grandview is to take Broadway westbound San Fernando road, where I take a right to head north.  When I got to that intersection I found about half a dozen Glendale squad cars along with some heavy equipment trucks.  I didn't know it at the time, but there had been a major accident involving the Metrolink and a car.  A woman apparently tried crossing while the train came by and it smashed her car.  The news had the story later, with video of the woman creeping up onto the tracks.  That is a tricky street on the Los Angeles side, and there is almost no way to see the train coming from either direction.  Still, it appears she was way past the gates.  On the video they are clearly blinking.  We may never know why she did that.

As I walked up to TheGirl's place this evening I had the thought that Cheyenne is gone.  We knew this day would come, but now it's so real that it just hurts to think about it.  I composed myself before getting to the door, but I was sad that our pal wasn't around anymore.  I guess I'll always feel that way, for the rest of my days.

TheGirl and I went to Don Cuco tonight, and it was so nice out that we ate on the patio.  Not our regular table when Cheyenne was alive, but one of the small tables.  The food and company were good.  It's hard to visit our old haunts without Cheyenne, and now it sucks that I can't take out the picture frame with Cheyenne's picture.  However, I have to respect TheGirl's wishes.  This pain is so much more in her face, because she has to live where Cheyenne was all the time.

After dinner we went on a small walk around Toluca Lake on Riverside drive.  I brought Chan along and when we got to Bob's he posed for a picture with Big Boy.

Thursday, February, 5, I've been fighting something off for the last few weeks.  But the strange thing is I haven't been showing any symptoms during the day, it's always at night and when I wake up.  Today I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat and a nose full of snot.  Actually, it was only my left nostril that had snot.  It was a clear green color.  I didn't have to blow my nose the rest of the day.  But I did have a little bit of a tickle in my throat.  Whatever I had only seems to manifest during the night, but I definitely have something like a cold.

I went out to get the books out of the bookdrops shortly after arriving at work only to find that these jokers installed the casters incorrectly.  There is a handle on the bin inside the bookdrop that denotes that's the front of the bookdrop.  The two wheels on that side should be the ones that spin so we can move the box around.  The two casters on the opposite side should be fixed.  The two guys that came by yesterday put one fixed caster on the left side of the front and one caster that spins on the right.  Then also put one caster that spins on the back.  So now the box has to be forcefully pulled if you want to turn it.  ARGH!  How could they get this so wrong?

Kerri attended a meeting held to talk about the library's strategic plan.  You'll be hearing that phrase, "strategic plan," for a while.  The lady that I'll call the survey lady, from the consulting company, was there to talk.  Kerri said she was there more to talk than to listen, apparently.  She talked for forty-five minutes and then got a little peeved that people were leaving.  Ah, they have to go to work dummy.  It sounds just as predicted.  These jokers from the consulting firm will ask us questions assuming things management said about the state of the library are true.  I'm going to tell you, management is clueless.  They think we're all one big happy family.  We're not.  Their mismanagement has turned people cynical and they have burned these folks out.

I walked farther today than I have all these years that I've been walking around the neighborhood.  I made it all the way up to Jackson street.  The total distance I walked was not much more than normal, but I took Mountain street all the way to Jackson, and that's an accomplishment, because it is all uphill.  My legs were hurting a bit afterward, but I'll get used to it.

Friday, February, 6, As seems to be my tradition these days, I had my lunch at Brand.  It was such lovely weather that I decided to eat in the park.  I usually eat in a spot just beyond the carport, because it's shady and I can still get the library's wifi there.  Today some brut parked himself about twenty-five feet in front of me and proceeded to "workout" with the help of his blue-tooth speaker.  I mean, it's a public park.  When I go walking everyone I see has earbuds, as to not disturb everyone else.  This idiot turns on a speaker and starts playing music during his "workout."  And what a workout it was.  He would run up the hill and moments later the music would stop, a notification sound would come up and he would walk back to the phone to respond to the message.  He repeated this over and over.  I'm sure he never got his heart rate up with that kind of start and stop workout routine.  What a supreme dummy.

My junk has lately been getting all bunched up in my underwear for some reason.  And it's not because I have a big one, on the contrary I seem to be suffering from shrinkage.  Just great.  It has become uncomfortable at times.

Saturday, February, 7, I went back to the mall to pick up some beef and chicken teriyaki for breakfast.  The tea shop that was under construction finally opened , so I went to check it out.  It was good tea, but it was $6 for a large cup.  At home I have loose tea and the entire bag of tea cost about $10, but I'm making dozens of cups for that price.  Maybe I can buy their tea loose.

My coworker Teresa said she was working today at Central, and that motivated me to head down there.  I also had a plan to check out some pedestrian walkways.  I couldn't talk to Teresa too much, because she is at work.  Still, I got to enjoy the library for a few hours.  I checked out the time capsule, and even checked out a book.  Oh, and I had drinks at the bar in front of the library.  How much more fun could I expect to have?

I found out about six months ago that those pedestrian walkways that are seemingly centered at the Bonaventure hotel was once part of a planned people mover downtown.  The people mover was never build, but some of the walkways that were meant to serve as connections to people mover stations are still there.  After finding out about these things I had to check them out.  I've been on a couple of them, and didn't know why they were made.  Anyway, I didn't get much time to check the walkways today.  I'll have to come back and explore more.  I only crossed two of the ten walkways.  Blame me getting drinks before heading out to the walkways.  Because after crossing the second walkway I had to go to the bathroom.  Which meant I had to go back to the library.  And then I just stayed.

In order to get my parking validation I had to show my library card, but dummy me left it in the car.  The guy at the information desk needed to look me up, so I gave him my ID.  He turns to me and says, "Are you the same Eric Gomez that calls asking questions five times on Saturdays?"  I don't know if he was fooling, but it sure didn't sound like he was fooling.

Sunday, February, 8, I think I like doing half of my laundry on Saturdays rather than doing all my laundry on Sundays.  For one thing it means my aunt won't mess with it, because she doesn't toil on the sabbath.  I need to use this restriction as a shield somehow.  Not sure how, but I'll figure something out.

Monday, February, 9, Someone left a bunch of coupons on the communal table in circulation for Big Mama's and Papa's pizza joint.  I took them and shredded them, because that place has terrible pizza.  Count my move as saving dopes from bad pizza.  I know some of these people think that Big Mama's has good pizza.  They are what we call dopes.

I flew by the first part of the route today.  Grace wasn't around to talk to, and because of that and other reasons I made it to the Brand library by 11:30am.  That's way early.  I took my time doing the delivery and then having lunch.  Following lunch I got my steps by walking around the park, and had enough time to make it to Casa by 2pm.  I liked having Brand all to myself again.

I finished the route a little earlier than usual, but when I got back I wasn't feeling 100%.  I'm not sure, but I felt like I was not as energetic as I usually am.  I thought that perhaps I was coming down with something.  I just felt that feeling just before you get a bad cold.  Run down.  While I was visiting TheGirl I almost told her I had to go, but I was feeling a little better during the visit.  Maybe I just needed to rest.  By the time I got home I was almost feeling normal.  Maybe it was something I ate.

During my visit with TheGirl she told me that she got rid of all of Cheyenne's toys except one... Cheyenne's favorite.  I mean, I get it.  What is she going to do with those toys?  She can't donate them to anyone.  They were in Cheyenne's mouth.  It's harsh, but that's how life is.  Cheyenne is gone.  I think this is definitely a turning point for TheGirl.  She has processed her loss and is trying to move on.  We both miss Cheyenne so much, but she's not coming back.  It's a hard milestone to bear, but she's doing it.

When I got home tonight one of the lights in the living room was turned off.  This is like the third or fourth time this has happened.  I'm not sure why my aunt turned one light off.  It illustrates how as soon as I walk into the house I find no peace.

I think that my aunt knows that she annoys me.  She's finally taken all the hints, and she mostly leaves me alone these days.  Watch, since I wrote that she will return to form and ask me a bunch of dumb questions.

Tuesday, February, 10, TheGirl quit her job, so I asked her if she wanted to join me on my Tuesday Adventure and walk the walk I did a couple of weeks ago up in Los Feliz.  Sure.  So today we followed pretty much the same route I did last time.  The weather was perfect for a little urban walk.  We walked about four miles in total.  This time I went up both set of stairs.  Last time I only went up one, and down the other.  I was pooped, to say the least.

Before our walk I dropped off the roll of film that I took on Saturday while I was downtown at the library.  The pictures this camera takes are some of the best I've seen.  They just look amazing.  Not all of them are perfect, but a large percentage are usable.  I do love this little camera.

Wednesday, February, 11, It rained overnight, but thankfully didn't rain today.  I would have gotten soaked since I ran the delivery route today.  It was pretty windy as well.  My front yard and car were covered with the dried out pine bristles that normally hang from the trees.  Later my aunt would tell me that she swept a lot of those bristles.

When I went out to drop off my things in the delivery van I noticed some dope had left a bunch of books out next to the bookdrops.  I guess these dopes don't check to see if there is going to be rain, because the books were soaked.  This ruins the books.  So, yeah, good job numb nuts.

I received an email yesterday telling me that I would be delivering donuts to the branches today in celebration of Valentine's day.  OK.  The people in Admin gave me seven boxes of donuts.  OMG, I love donuts so much, I'm sure I could have eaten them all.  But I didn't even have one.

Originally TheGirl said we should go to Dog Haus for dinner tonight, but then today she texts me saying she would rather go to Yardhouse.  She said she was craving their grilled cheese with tomato soup, which is very good.  Especially on a cold night like tonight.  I ordered up a classic cheeseburger, the cheapest on the menu.  I almost always eat only half of my burger, but this was so good and I was hungry that I ate the entire thing.  TheGirl may have picked Yardhouse because she have to watch her spending since she quit her job last week.  Still, it was good eats.  Yardhouse seems to be our new place that we frequent.  We did come here many times with Cheyenne, but not as often as since she passed.

The bad news that the actor James Van Der Beek had died was announced around dinner time.  I texted Adrien, "Dawson died."  WAY back when we were at SMC we would talk about Dawson's Creek all the time.  James was only forty-eight.  Adrien and I were fast friends in my SMC days.  We don't get to talk much these days, but I do need to make it a point to visit her this year.  After all that has happened lately, and 2025, it's a good idea to connect with people.

Thursday, February, 12, One of the cuter MILFs is this woman named Cynthia, who introduced herself to me last year during the event at Fremont Park.  Today she came by and said a nice hello to me.  It means nothing, but it's still nice.

The morning went fast today.  Probably because we were busy.  But then the hour before my lunch went really slow.  And just as it was time for me to go to lunch a patron asked if he could make a library card.  My two coworkers didn't jump in and take over.  So I didn't go to lunch for another ten minutes.  What's up with that BS?

Friday, February, 13, I promised Stephanie that I would move the pedestals on Wednesday, but the donut delivery had to take precedent.  So today I made it my number one priority to take the pedestals to Brand first thing.  I was there so early that Misa was surprised.  We chatted a little bit about this whole survey for the strategic plan these dopes keep asking us about.  I forgot to mention here that Shannon said she attended one of the first in person sessions and that it had devolved into a bad thing.  Shannon said some people were even crying.  Not good.

Because I went to Brand first today I figured I would have lunch at Adams.  I did the delivery and prepared my lunch.  I sat outside, since it was such a nice day.  There's a woman that lives across the street that's attractive.  I almost never see her though.  Today I got to see her for an extended time due to her walking her dog around the library.  Was nice.

I had plans to get my steps at Bicentennial Park, but there were a bunch of dopes there.  So I ended up checking out the little free library and fixing the door.  At least I could do that.

I stopped by Verdugo park to get my steps in.  I walked just over a mile.  On my way back to the van I heard the sound of goats.  I didn't realize that there were goats on the side of the hill.  I had heard on the news that the city had contracted some guy who owns a bunch of goats and uses them to trim down hillsides as fire abatement.  There were a lot of goats.  It was fun and cool to hear them.  It's not something you hear everyday.

Back at Central I was talking to Stephanie and Grigor before disembarking the book bins from the van.  I walked out with Stephanie, she was going home and I was going to unload the delivery van.  We stood by the van talking about how tired she was from the install when she asked me to give her a hug.  Absolutely, you don't have to ask me twice.

Saturday, February, 14, I went to Pollo Loco this morning to pick up some food and I didn't see Abigail there.  The guy in front of me picking up his food asked the lady behind the counter if Abigail was still working there.  I thought I heard her say yes, but I couldn't really make out her response.  Looks like Abigail is popular.  I mean why wouldn't she be, she's super cute and friendly.  I guess we'll see.

I haven't moved from the third notch of my belt in weeks.  I made it to the third notch, and briefly hovered on the fourth notch last month, but I seemed to have plateaued on the third notch.  I've been walking farther distances, but I haven't lost any more weight.  But, at least I haven't reverted to the second notch.

When I was at Pollo Loco the lady behind the counter emphasized, "Do you want more chipotle sauce?"  I'm good, I told her.  Boy, I made a mistake not getting more of that yummy sauce.  It's super good!  I don't know if it's a permanent sauce, but next time I'll be sure to get more.

Sunday, February, 15, I had plans to go to the Pasadena Model Railroad Museum, which is actually in Los Angeles close to East LA.  I arrived at noon, but they stopped me at the door to say that they didn't open until 1pm.  I didn't want to stick around there for another hour.  I'll come back next month.  Stupid me didn't realize that I put 1pm on my calendar because that's what time they open.  Gee, I'm a dope.  Past me got it right.  Present me got it wrong.

I pivoted to going to Heritage Square, because it was close to the train museum.  It was chill, though the girl behind the counter was being a little silly.  I didn't spend much time at Heritage Square.  This is one of those places that you can go today and not come back for another ten years.  Not much has changed since I was last here about ten years ago.

Monday, February, 16, TheGirl had originally said we should go to Downtown Disney today.  I guess the rain made her change her mind, or maybe I just assumed she wanted to do something today.  Then Greg called last night to say that he wanted to stay home due to the rain today.  So no dinner at Bob's Big Boy either.  I just went to bed and started listening to things on my phone.  I didn't get up until 5pm.  At some point I did fall asleep.  Not a very productive day.  I thought about doing something on my own, but I was unmotivated.

Tuesday, February, 17, One of my aunt's prescriptions was down to the last couple of pills, but there was an issue with the pharmacy refilling the prescription.  It's actually an issue with my aunt's specialist not being in the same office as her primary anymore.  So the pharmacy has been calling the clinic and that doctor isn't there to redo the script.  So I went to the office today to ask the office to have her primary send the prescription to the pharmacy.  By the evening I saw that her med was ready for pickup.  Mission accomplished.

After visiting my aunt's doctor I went to the Natural History museum.  They had an exhibit about cats, and tomorrow is the last day.  So my timing worked out great, because that's what I wanted to see.  The exhibit was pretty cool.  I don't know why they charged me an extra $12 just to see that.  I mean, I paid $18 just to get in, and add the $12 and now I dropped $30 and $20 on parking.  This was an expensive Tuesday Adventure.

Random nice looking ladies will show from time to time at the library, only to never come by ever again.  I can't be sure today's girl won't ever return, but I'm thinking there's a good chance she won't.  She's one of the many game sprites that seem to be from an endless well of beautiful ladies.  Call it the Algorithm knowing what I love in a lady, and never making her a regular.  Oh well.

Wednesday, February, 18, I had another pee accident last night, but this time it was partially my aunt's fault.  I woke up having to pee, but my aunt was in the bathroom.  I quickly went back to my room to use my piss jug, but it was nearly full.  I couldn't see that in the dark.  It wasn't until I spilled some urine that I noticed.  ARGH!  I have to keep an eye out for that piss jug being too full.  When will I stop doing this?

Brisket is an emotional support dog that is used by the police in Glendale to help people calm down after traumatic events.  Today, he came by the library to help us with our shared trauma... working at the library.

The other night I was getting my lunch ready for the rest of the week when I ran out of spring mix.  But that's OK, I had enough for today and tomorrow.  One container was a little short, but I figured I could get some more on Thursday.  Well, dummy me took the shortchanged container with me this morning.  Good thing is I have plenty for the rest of the week now.

Last week TheGirl and I had plans to go to the Dog Haus, but we ended up going somewhere else.  But, this week we went to Dog Haus.  I really do like their corn dogs.  TheGirl always gets the veggie brat and onion rings.  We went out for a walk after eating in an area east of the Warner Bros studio, where in the past TheGirl would walk Cheyenne.  It's a super quiet neighborhood, and there are bunnies.  I remember going with them on their walk years ago and Cheyenne looked like a gazelle leaping over the hedges while chasing the bunnies.  Walking there brought up all the memories and of course it turned into crying.  I know this pain will lessen, but in the way it won't.  This will never go away.

Thursday, February, 19, Vivian has a hurt wrist, so she had me help out with storytime this morning.  It wasn't easy, because I don't know Vivian's routine when it comes to the whole storytime thing.  Next week we will have a guest for storytime, because Vivian's uncle passed away.  During the end of the storytime Vivian plays the song Mr Sun and she hands me a tambourine.  I have to say, I killed it with the tambourine.

As I was leaving work tonight I felt something on my lower lip.  I wasn't sure what it was, but it stung as if my lip was cut.  When I checked in the bathroom sure enough I had a bit of a cut on my lower lip.  Not sure how I got that cut.  It wasn't bleeding, and it was more like a scrape than a cut.  I still don't know how I got it.  Today my right molar was also hurting.  I don't have enough money to go to the dentist.  This tooth has been an issue for years.  Years ago I used to have daily headaches on the right side of my face from my chin to the top of my head.

Friday, February, 20, TheNewCute texted me to ask about obituaries, so I went to check the library's databases, while also asking one of the librarians.  I found that the library basically has Ancestry dot-com for obituaries, and the LA Times archive.  I know that if you have to have an obituary the library will charge you to look for it.  I think TheNewCute wanted something free.  While on Ancestry I figured I would check the Silmarillion's information.  Sure enough, they had the whole thing.  Even her old addresses.  I didn't remember what street she lived on when I knew her, but I knew it was near Loyola Marymount.  Well, now I know, thanks to the site.  Am I cyber stalking my dead crush?

Saturday, February, 21, Last night I did a search for breakfast places near me, because I wanted to have something different this morning.  I found a place that's been there for a long time in Encino called More than Waffles.  They had a good price for their food, so I took my shot today.  It was super easy and I was in and out with my order.  I ordered myself a Denver omelet, which comes with a waffle.  I gave the waffle to my aunt.  It was super yummy smelling.  And my omelet was so good.  More than Waffles is definitely in my breakfast rotation.  They have chilaquiles!

The narrative is that the economy is bad.  Well, not in Encino.  More than Waffles was packed.  Maybe it was a fluke.

Sunday, February, 22, My friend Greg wanted to go have dinner at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, so we met each other there tonight.  We had originally planned on going last week, but it rained and Greg didn't want to drive in the rain.  I haven't been to Bob's in about a year and a half now.  Last time I ordered off the nostalgia menu that is populated with items I used to order when I was a kid.  One nostalgia item was the chili and spaghetti, which used to come with a small butter toasted bun.  Well, the modern version was not as good as I remembered it.  So this time I stuck with the tried and true Big Boy hamburger.  It really hit the spot.  I don't know why I ever order anything else.  We really indulged by ordering the hot fudge cake.

Monday, February, 23, I woke up on time for work, but after turning all my alarms off I went back to bed and next thing I know it's nearly 7am.  I jumped out of bed and didn't even shower.  I just ran and got my clothes on, and got my lunch, and I was out the door.  The kicker is that I was fifteen minutes early to work.  Which meant I could have taken a fast shower.  Oh well, I suck.  I have to just get up and not linger.  That's the enemy in the morning... lingering

I quickly did the delivery while my quesadilla warmed up in the oven at Brand.  I had my lunch out by the carport.  It was a gorgeous day out, so I didn't want to just eat in the kitchen.  But what I did do was get my steps inside the library.  I ate too much good food last night, I have to be good this week.

Tuesday, February, 24, For today's Tuesday Adventure I asked TheGirl to pick somewhere close by to walk.  She suggested walking from Barham and Forest Lawn drive to Lake Hollywood.  Sure I said.  When we arrived on Forest Lawn drive we found the entire block where we wanted to park had no parking signs.  I doubled back and parked in front of the Smoke House.  That would mean our walk would be that much longer.

We hot footed it up Barham and made it to the Hollywood Knolls neighborhood in about a half an hour.  We still had a way to go.  We made it up to a trail head that I would later find out is called coyote trail.  From there we got a great view of the lake.  There wasn't enough time to go down to the lake.  Next time.  It was just warm enough to make me huff and puff today, but I was good.  Next time we know to take a left turn on the trailhead.

Wednesday, February, 25, The ginkgo trees in front of the library are completely bare.  It was just a few months when it was full of yellowing leaves.  I looked down at the ground and so many of the old leaves are still on the ground, but they are not a golden yellow color now.  Pretty soon the tree will be full of ginkgo leaves.  I love how the trees look when their leaves turn into a golden yellow color.

The credit card machine at Montrose was supposedly tampered with some time last week.  At least that was the error message that it showed on the screen.  The bank sent the city a new one that was swapped out.  Treasury said they had the power cord for the new device, but they had to get the old cord first before they could swap it out.  So I was given the task of getting the cord to Treasury on Wednesday.  I didn't know why they didn't let me take the cord on Monday rather than send it out in delivery on Tuesday.  Well, this morning I looked for the envelope and it was nowhere to be found.  I asked the dopes in circulation if they had seen it.  I looked everywhere, including the bookmobile bin.  Nothing.  I finally just gave up, because it was getting to be 9:30am, and I have to be at Treasury at that time.  Just as I was going out the door I see an envelope on the table that Tony uses to keep his stuff.  I saw the envelope and when I got close I saw that it was the one for me.  One look inside and I had found it... the power cord.  I don't know what dummy put the envelope there, because that bin is full of recyclables.  Idiots!

It wasn't super warm today, but it was warm enough that I had to run the A/C during delivery today.  It's not even 80 degrees and I'm already too hot.  What will happen during the summer?  I hope it's another mild summer.

We had more Cheyenne moments at dinner tonight.  Thank the two margaritas that TheGirl and I had to shake up those memories.  I broke up after telling TheGirl something she said to me.  "Do you think that Cheyenne misses us as much as we miss her?"  That breaks me up every time.  I don't know how that is possible, because I miss her more than I've missed anyone.  After dinner we walked down California street by Warner bros studio, where TheGirl would often let Cheyenne off leash to chase the bunnies in the neighborhood.  Memories.

Thursday, February, 26, I noticed that my body is firmer while I was taking a shower this morning.  To paraphrase a line from Fight Club, I'm feeling like I'm carved out of wood.  It's funny, as I think about that line I also think of another line from another movie called American Beauty.  In that movie the main character, Lester, asks his neighbors for workout advice.  They ask him what his goals are, and he responds, "I wanna look good naked."  I think I'm on my way, but to what end?  I'm not going to be seeing anyone naked any time soon.  I guess all this work will just be for me to admire.  Though I do like feeling and looking better.

For breakfast I will often have my yogurt with fruit and granola with a waffle on the side.  This morning I placed the waffle in the toaster oven and almost immediately it started smoking.  I don't know what my aunt cooked in that oven lately, but it had some coating in a metal bar right above the heating element.  Like something spilled there.

Vivian left a bunch of instructions for storytime, but our substitute Aurora had other ideas.  Gitmo and I were asking her if she wanted to have the set-up like Vivian.  Then we started talking about the name tags, and how Vivian puts down tape to denote that this one area in the room from another.  She has her reasons.  Rightfully Aurora turned to Gitmo and said, I'm not Vivian.  She was right, we were trying to have Aurora do Vivian's storytime without her.  And that wasn't fair to Aurora, because she does her own thing during storytime.  We later apologized to her.

I don't like logging in to my Google account at work, because reasons.  But it's the best way to write this journal as I sit in the no-man's land that is an afternoon and evening at Casa Verdugo.  Storytime had fifty kids and parents this morning.  Since then a dozen and a half people have come in.  It is particularly slow today.  So, I wanted to catch up on my journaling, but trying to type on a screen is not easy.  Anyway.  I bit the bullet and logged into Google at work.  There has to be a better way for me to do this.

Friday, February, 27, The library is getting new furniture on Monday.  But these jokers couldn't time this better, so they got rid of all the old furniture on Wednesday.  I'm sure the public is going to be asking where they are supposed to sit.  Also, next week the furniture arrives Monday morning, but it will not be fully assembled until Friday, they said.  Jeez.

I had a little bit of an itch in my left ear.  When I checked it out I felt the poke of a hair.  ARGH!  How do these hairs grow so fast overnight?  I know that this hair wasn't there yesterday.  It was so long I just used my fingernails to pluck it.

When I got to Brand Misa was talking to Winona about an old book from 1904 called "How to Sing."  We marveled at how good it was handling the age.  I'm not entirely sure if this book was published way back when, but even still it's an old book.  I sent the media team a picture, suggesting that perhaps it would make for a feel good story online.

Earlier in the week I was told that there was a delivery I had to pick up today.  It was something for the Reflect Space opening tomorrow.  I should have known that the order wouldn't be ready early in the day.  I got the text that the order was ready at 4:10pm.  I left work a little later, but I did put it on my time sheet.  Too bad I can't make it to the opening tomorrow.

A song by Elton John called "I'm Still Standing" came up on my radio on my way home.  The lyrics in the chorus go like this:

Don't you know, I'm still standin' better than I ever did?
Lookin' like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid
And I'm still standin' after all this time
Pickin' up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

Yeah... I'm still standing.

Saturday, February, 28, Ilsa made reservations for Dan Tana's earlier in the week.  The only thing is that dinner was going to be at 8pm.  Which is late for me to have dinner, but it was worth it.  I ordered the lasagna.  It was tremendous.  I can see why this place has been in business for so long, and why there is always a wait to get in.  I can't believe I've waited for so long to have Dan Tana's.