Afterthoughts: This Past Month

This was an interesting month, but also kinda middle of the road.  One big thing happened, but that was it.  On to the update.

Saturday, August, 1, I picked up an early shift at Central today, because I need the money.  The good thing is my hours this week almost match a formally normal week before the budget cuts.  I am covering Saturdays two weeks from today.  And next week I'm driving the bookmobile.  This is going to save me, for now.  Not sure what happens in September.  Maybe by then some of the jobs I applied to will get back to me.  Yeah, right.

I bought this soda last week called Tepache.  To quote Wikipedia about Tepache, "Tepache is a fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples, and is sweetened either with piloncillo or brown sugar.  It is sometimes seasoned with chili powder and served cold."  This soda is a take on that drink.  To quote the Tepache soda website, "A modern Mexican soda with an origin story from the streets of Mexico, tepache combines pineapple, turbinado sugar, spices, and carbonated water to make a refreshingly delicious, lower sugar soda."

I have to say, this soda was quite good.  I think it might also mix well with some booze.

Today is what I've been waiting for since Jacklyn told me about it.  Bob Baker at the bookmobile's second anniversary!  What can I say, it was a great show.  Enchanting, amazing, in a way only Bob Baker can me.  As an added bonus, one of the artists, Sofi, was right pretty.

I made tomato sauce from the backyard tomatoes last night.  I finally got to try it today.  It's pretty bland.  Mainly because I didn't have onions or garlic to add.  My aunt used all of both.  ARGH!

When a picture like the one above comes up it does make me miss this version of Talia.  2006 Talia was a little nuts, but she would get naked for me in a second.  She was always down to have sex.  Now, Talia is nuts, but she still gets naked at the drop of a hat.

Sunday, August, 2, I went to the market and in trying to find some pancake mix when I ran into a bunch of Betty Crocker items.  The thought came to me, who buys these things?

I got an email that was answering my supervisor's email about training day tomorrow.  The guy I'm supposed to train said he had a family issue.  Already we have issues.  I wonder if this guy will go through it.  Soft.

TheGirl and I have walked by Slice House in Burbank since it opened.  I don't know how long ago that was, but it's been a minute.  Well, I had the craving for pizza today, so I drove all the way out to Burbank to get this thing.  I should have just gone to Pizzana.  Would have cost me less, and I know it would have tasted better.  Slice House is not a hit, it's a definite miss.  I won't be back.  Enough said.

After fixing my lunch for the week I went to chill in my backyard, but in less than five minutes I was in my room.  It was too damn hot.  It wasn't until after dinner that I was able to chill in my backyard.  I really don't like the weather these days.  It's hot, and humid.  The sun feels like a heat lamp turned up to high.  Still have to live through this month, September and the first two weeks of October.  Then it will finally turn cool.

Monday, August, 3, The new normal on Mondays is to have a ton of book bins to deliver.  Because of course I would after no delivery on Fridays.  Fucking assholes.  They're just piling more work on me, but I'm not going to kill myself for this place.

There's a hallway that I use to get to the graphics department. I guess they gave Nora a new desk, because she was there the other day and today.  Part of me wants to reach out and talk to her.  But part of me just thinks it's futile to think those thoughts.  Because, to what end am I trying to talk to her?  Her sitting on my face, clearly.  Thousand percent that's not going to happen.  I can sit here wishing it wasn't true, but that won't change reality.  Nora is as lovely as any of these women that I've liked over the years.  But she's never going to choose me.  I don't bring much to the table.  And it's a shame, because I'm horny.  Ha!

When I was leaving work I was not feeling well.  I was quite tired.  After my visit with TheGirl I was feeling better, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to eat when I got home.  But, I ate a slice of pizza and some tuna salad for dinner and retired to my backyard.  I was feeling much better.  Today beat me up pretty good, and I think I didn't have enough water.  I think I was suffering from the start of heat exhaustion.

Tuesday, August, 4, I didn't have a lot of time this morning, so I only walked just over a mile.  The last time I was at the mall I walked close to the time they open the stores.  There was one of the kiosks that had a really pretty lady setting up the thing for the day.  I didn't see her today.  Oh well.

There's a new MILF that came in a couple of weeks ago to get a library card.  Now she's a Tuesday regular.  Today I checked her out and she kinda caught me.  Just as I was checking out her books, and her body, she left with a little bit of a smirk on her face.  She knows she's attractive.

I don't like working one less hour at Casa on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because I lose out on the money.  I do like leaving for home an hour earlier though.  I don't have to have dinner at 8pm.  There are some good things about losing that hour.  Mostly being able to just chill in my backyard longer.

Speaking of my backyard, I went outside after dinner and surprise, surprise, my aunt moved the fan again.  I don't actively check to see if the backyard fan I use to keep my neighbor's smoke out of my face was moved.  The plug is on a remote, so I can turn it on from the bench.  But for some reason my aunt likes to move it to the side a bit.  I feel it's enough to cause the smoke to get to me.  So every night I move it pointing more towards my neighbor's yard.  I don't know what her motivation is in always moving it at an angle.

Wednesday, August, 5, I was ten minutes early to work, so I decided to just walk into work.  When I got up to the side door I found it propped open.  When I was walking up to the library I noticed a sign that said something about a health something or other.  I didn't pay much attention.  I figured the reason why the door was open was due to that.  I didn't know anything about it, because why would they include me in any information.  So, I just went into circulation and shrugged.  A few minutes later Grimace is asking me who left the door open.  Don't know, I told her.  She then goes to eleven on the drama meter, and we both went upstairs to investigate.  We come to find about a dozen people all wearing black.  They had lanyards so they looked official.  Grimace went on to question how they got in.  I didn't hear their answer, I was walking away.  But then one of the ladies asked if I could do something about the lights being out in the auditorium.  Sure, I know the stupid fuses have tripped.  I turned them on and viola we had light.

After finishing the route my supervisor asked me about the door being left open this morning.  I told her how I got in early and found the door open.  I put my things down and after that Grimace showed up.  They wanted to pin something on Grimace, but right is right, and I backed her up.  We still don't know who let this group in the building early.

No one drove delivery yesterday, because they don't want Grigor driving on Tuesdays.  Make that make sense.  ARGH!  So now my Wednesdays are just like my Mondays... full of book bins.  This is getting to be re-god-damn-diculous.  As I stated before, I'm not going to kill myself for this delivery.  I'm happy just kicking the can down the road.  Since I'm the one that has to carry the load anyway.  These morons really know how to fuck things up.

It was announced today that Marcel K. died.  Who?  Marcel was a regular to the library when I started working there.  One day I see him at the Perkins building, which is water and power's headquarters.  Turns out he got a job there.  Sadly he has now passed.  I don't know the details, but the next time I go up there I'll have to give his coworkers my condolences.  What's with all these city employees dying?  I asked Ani, who worked in the same building what he died of, and she answered it was cancer.  Apparently progressed quickly.  Sad, he always came off as a good man.

TheGirl and I had Phoenix in tow tonight, so we decided to go to Don Cuco in Toluca Lake.  It's a nice spot there.  And it's almost like old times with Cheyenne.  Phoenix is different, but a good guy.  He doesn't beg as much as Cheyenne used to.  She would put her paw on our legs.  After dinner we went walking in Toluca Lake.  The weather was SUPER nice.  TheGirl and I were making plans to do so many things.  We get that way when we are tipsy.

Thursday, August, 6, One of the regular moms that come to storytime, Cynthia, came in looking a little bigger.  Sure enough, during stay and play I saw her in profile... she's pregnant.

In their infinite wisdom, those in charge decided that Grigor would only do a partial route today... just Brand and Montrose.  Which means I'm going to get slammed on Monday.  At least I'll have help, supposedly.  I mean, no guarantee Adam doesn't bail on the training.  I think there's a better than even chance he bails.

Krishna sent me an email with information about Saturday's bookmobile event, and it had incorrect information.  The map shown in the email is on of 223 North Jackson street.  I don't know where it is, but it's not the school district office.  These dopes can never get anything right.  This is why I just go with the flow when it comes to the bookmobile events.

I finally got Chan's hat in the mail yesterday.  Hims tried it on this morning, before I left for work.  Hims looks good.  What a cute monkey.

Friday, August, 7, Today felt like a clip show.  TheGirl and I were supposed to do something, but she had a doctor's appointment so she couldn't go.  So, I started off my day by walking three miles at the mall.  With the heat I don't get to walk as much, but the mall is always a good option.  And I get to listen to my audiobook.  After the walk, I thought about going out to East LA to El Mercadito to check it out.  Never been, thought I would check it out.  But, I think I didn't want to drive all the way out there.  I ended up just going to Forest Lawn and visiting my people there.

Of course I visited the Silmarillion and Tony.  But then I didn't have anything I really wanted to do.  Especially in this heat.  I ended up at the library, where I took their seam cutter and took apart the logo on the hat I bought a few months ago.  It wasn't important, it was just something to kill the time.  I hate that, by the way.  Time is so precious, I hate having to just kill it.

Saturday, August, 8, I didn't think today's bookmobile event was going to go the way it did.  Shortly after opening the event the place was flooded with kids and parents.  We got hit with a wave of parents and kids thinking we were giving out books.  I personally saw at least four people put books in their bags and walk away.  I tried stopping people, but I ended up just telling those who were still at the bookmobile that these were library books.  After I said that the mob left, I just closed the entire bookmobile down.  I told the rest of the crew that we were not doing this.  I'm not going to hang out hundreds of dollars of books to dopes who don't know how a library works.  After I closed the bookmobile it was smooth sailing.  I made some library cards, and we gave out the bookmarks Winona made.  And that was that.  No more book drama.  It was a shitshow for those first ten minutes.

Sunday, August, 9, As I drove down Sepulveda I noticed what looked like a bridge in the offing.  Well, as I got closer to the bus line I saw that it was a land bridge.  Metro is building out some bridges to have the bus travel faster across the Valley at busy intersections.  The bus had to wait a long time there, but now it won't have to.  Good job.

After getting a drink, and letting the sun go down, TheGirl and I went around the gardens at the Huntington.  The Japanese garden was nice, but it was lacking color this time of year.  The rose garden was super.  My favorite garden is the desert garden, and it didn't disappoint today.  It was the most active when it came to birds.  There were hummingbirds everywhere.  As well as a variety of other birds.  Cool stuff, I think I got some good pictures.  We were getting tired, and it was getting a bit late.  TheGirl likes to walk Phoenix after 8pm, so that worked out good for us today.

Monday, August, 10, Today was hot, and busy on the route.  That's why it was good that I had a trainee with me, Adam.  I thought he might be soft, too soft for this job.  But I think he might work out.  Also, today was extra busy, because no one does delivery on Fridays, and they had Grigor only go to two locations on Thursday.  How does that work?  It doesn't.

I don't know Adam very well, but we got to know each other a little better.  He's part of a group that wants to unionize the part timers.  It's an uphill job, but I'm willing to help.  And I know people in the city.  I can start talking about it, maybe seed some ideas.

The route today was rough.  When you have three days of items out there you're going to have piles of books, and that's what happened today.  Adam's help was good.  Working on Tuesdays in the future he won't get hit like I do on Mondays.  Maybe from Brand, but not really.  All in all I think Adam will do well, if he lasts.  He didn't get hit with a full load yet.  Driving out in the heat isn't good either.  But, Adam might take a punch, so we'll see how things fall into place.

Tuesday, August, 11, My supervisor asked me if I could drive the route before going to Casa at 2pm.  Of course, I need the hours.  I'll be doing this again next week, and then the new guy takes over the week after that.  The good thing about driving today was that I wasn't slammed like I was last week, or even yesterday.  It's not just because of the hours, but I really think I need to drive on Fridays like I did today.  A shorter shift with limited stops.  Oh well.

I pulled into the parking lot at Grandview, and when I came out I found that the ground was wet and there were sprinkles.  It didn't last very long though.  It made for a beautiful sky, but the temperatures got really hot afterwards.  Terrible.

As I was leaving Central I ran into this unusual moment in the garage.  I usually don't leave work at this time, so I know this happens every day.  What was it?  The sun was directly above the garage, meaning the light from the sun can beam down the open area.  It made the inside of the garage much brighter than usual.  I don't know, I thought it was cool.

After finishing up the shortened route I drove over to Casa Verdugo and ate lunch and changed my pants.  Tonight's shift was super quiet.  I had my fan on the entire time.  It's not cool in there at all.  I don't know what Mickey Mouse A/C unit is on the roof, but it isn't getting the job done.  Bullshine!  Even our regulars didn't come into the library today.  Just one of the regulars that read the paper showed up.  Everyone else stayed away.  I think since school is starting up soon most people are enjoying their time off.  Why show up the library now when you're just going to have to show up later to study.  There weren't even any nice ladies today.

Wednesday, August, 12, There is a bunch of wildlife at the Brand library, because of where it's located next to the wilderness.  I see coyotes all the time, and deer less often.  Today we got to check out a lone deer, that was walking behind the library.  This does happen often that you can't say it's super rare.  It's still nice to see though.

TheGirl got into building Legos a few months ago.  Her latest set is called Magic of Disney.  It was over one thousand one hundred pieces.  She has quite a collection of Legos now.

Chan finally got to wear his hat out.  Hims needs it because of the sun.  It's meant to protect hims when we travel to the restaurant on days like this when the sun is hot and his fur will bleach out.  We were twins today.

TheGirl and I went to Dog Haus for dinner tonight.  They changed their menu a few months ago, so now if I want the love boat tots they have to put it in manually.  Why not leave that on the menu?  Oh well.  They introduced new sliders, and that's what I had tonight.  They were pretty good.  But it was more than I usually eat now, so I had to take the tots home.  That's fine.  We did our usual Toluca Lake walk after dinner.

Thursday, August, 13, Today was Vivian's last storytime.  Her last day at work is going to be September 15th.  She was saying how she felt emotional about it being her last storytime.  But she also said she knew it was time to retire.  Now we face uncertainly when it comes to the children's librarian position at Casa Verdugo.  Aurora has already said she doesn't want to move to Casa.  Could they force her?  I don't know.  Will they hire someone else?  That would take a year.  We shall see what happens.

One of the MILFs that I mentioned last week, Cynthia, came in this morning.  She's getting bigger, but at one point she was sitting in front of the circulation desk and I could see her appeal again.  Oh my gawd Becky... her butt looked really nice.  If she sat on my face I would surely suffocate.  I got to talk to her for the first time in a long time.  Some of the regulars came to say good-bye to Vivian.  But I was surprised by how many of the regulars didn't come today.  Oh well.

Friday, August, 14, I could stay at home on my Fridays off, but I rather not because my aunt will bombard me with questions.  And I would have no peace.  So I go out and do stuff.  I have a long tradition of going to work or school in order not to just stay home.  About twenty-five years ago I would say I was going to school, but I wasn't.  What happened is I was taking classes at Pierce college, but I hated them.  I always felt nauseous when I would go to class.  The only things that helped me was cough drops or gum.  At first I only used cough drops, but sometimes I would run out and I just felt like I was going to vomit at any moment.  So one day I just drove to campus and felt so sick that I just drove right on out of there.  I didn't know what to do, except not go to class.  So I dropped out that semester.  But I still made it look like I was going to class.  I would drive out to Balboa park and sit there in my car for about two hours.  My buddy would call me when I was supposedly at school.  He knew I wasn't going, and that's when he told me I should go to Santa Monica College.  That changed everything.  I loved that campus.  And the rest is history.

I walked up to CVS and found that they have a new system for picking up prescriptions.  There is now a touch screen where you enter your information and then the tech comes by and sees what you have.  Speaking of, there is one tech there that looked really nice today.  Arpi.  Of course she's Armenian.  I do have a type, and it is Armenian.

After picking up my aunt's prescriptions I went over to TheGirl's place to help assemble a display cabinet for her Legos.  I didn't finish it in time for her to go to work, so I'll finish it on Monday.  I'm 90% done.  What's left is final assembly and adding the shelves.

After leaving TheGirl's place I went out to the Nethercutt in Sylmar.  I didn't realize that I was too late for the tour of the collection, but I was able to check out the museum.  Which is normally $5, but they were letting everyone in for free.  The collection is the better cars, the more rare cars.  That costs $20, but like I said I was too late for that.  Maybe next week, I don't know.  One of the coolest cars at the museum was an old VW Bug with the split back window from 1946.  So cool

Since I was out in Sylmar I figured I would get a stamp from one of the libraries I would normally not be close to.  Sure enough, I went to the Sylmar branch and got my stamp.  Mission accomplished.

I don't always get social media things right away.  Jessica Williams posted that she was at Don Cuco last week having a birthday dinner there.  She is downright gorgeous.  Look, I don't have a shot with any lady but if I was to wish upon a star for the perfect human it would be her.  She is stunning, but also funny as hell.  What could be better?

Saturday, August, 15, I wanted to order food from IHOP this morning, since I was going to leave early today for work.  But I wasted my time dealing with an app that wouldn't take my payment information.  So I gave up.  I spent so much time with that app that I didn't have time to pick food up for my aunt.  So I made myself breakfast and decided I would get us food after work.  More on that later.

Saturdays at Central can be hectic, but thankfully I was manning the phones most of the time.  Still, none of us want to be here on a Saturday.  Only the patrons want to be there.  Or do they? 

When I got off work I booked it to Burbank to get some sandwiches from this place I've been wanting to try out, Papa's.  When I arrived a sign out front said sandwiches served up until 4pm.  It was almost 5:30pm when I got there.  Dumb.  Mind you, the place is technically open... the butcher shop portion.  I even tried checking on their website.  It was a no go.  I tried El Carpintero and they were closed.  I tried IHOP again, but the app was still having issues.

Sunday, August, 16, A picture of TheBetter showed up on my feed this morning, and it made me wonder whatever happened to her.  Her one social media account has been dormant since May of 2025.  She had such an incredible body when I took the above pictures in 2018.  I LOVED her hips.  A dream girl right out of my dreams.  Shame I don't get to see her anymore.

TheGirl got to ride the new Fast and Furious roller coaster at Universal today.  Her friend, Mary Kay, had special tickets to preview the ride, and she invited TheGirl and her daughter.  They rode the coaster four times.

I got a call from the Huntington library regarding my job application from last week.  They work fast, unlike all the other jobs I've applied for in the last few weeks.  I had a short talk with the visitor services manager, and she liked me well enough to invite me to an interview on Friday.  Can't wait!

I have followed this young lady's journey... path?... online since I first watched her on a Disney blog video.  I even got to meet her three times.  Once was at Disneyland where she was working in the Emporium store.  I said that I was a fan of her work.  I also bumped into her at Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake.  And the third time slips my mind right now.  Well, look at her now.  Working for Disney Imaginering.  Amazing.

Monday, August, 17, I only get to train Adam two days, so it's an accelerated training session.  I let him drive, to get the feel of the route.  He'll going to be on his own next Tuesday.  I'm sure things will come up, but that's because things always come up on the route.  The training went well.  I would have liked him to go out with me a third time, but they want him driving next week.  Fine, this is fine.

I walked in to Grandview and Aurora was on the front desk working on something.  When she turned around I got an eyeful of cleavage.  I know she has a nice chest, but I don't think I've ever seen her wear a dress with any kind of cut.  And it wasn't even that low, but just enough to give me a peek of about an inch worth of cleavage.  Nice.  After I bought in the books in and started to have lunch Aurora came into the kitchen and her dress was up to the point that there was no more cleavage showing.  Damn!

The garage across the street is changing their ticketing system.  Means I have to park upstairs, which I don't like doing.  Also, I'm sure they will connect these cameras to a database that will context to the police.  Because this new system is going to be reading the license plates for entry.  Just great.

Last Friday I started putting together a display cabinet for TheGirl.  I didn't finish in time for her to head out to work.  Tonight it was end time.  I had like 95% of it done.  I just had to stack the parts and connect it to the walls for safety.  Done and done.  I think I'll get her some lights for the thing, because the bottom does look a little dark.

Tuesday, August, 18, As I said in my last entry the garage across from work is installing a new entry system.  They have blocked the south facing entrance, which makes it harder for me to park downstairs.  It's not impossible, but then I have to travel to the second level in order to get in the queue to get out of the parking structure.  So, it's easier to just park upstairs.

Today I only hit the busier branches on the route, because I had a limited time.  There were a good amount of book bins, but nothing too crazy.  This will definitely help me tomorrow.

I found out today why the children's room doors are always open.  They don't work.  I remember someone saying that they were stuck inside the children's room because the doors would not open.  Now I tested it.  They will open, it's just that you have to put a little elbow grease into the endeavor.  But, maybe the lady who tried it didn't tug as hard as I did.  So yeah, not even two years old and the doors are busted.  Just great.  Nothing in this building works.

When I got to Casa there was a MILF already there wearing a really nice top that showed her ladies.  Very nice.  I don't think I've ever seen this lady before.  She can come back anytime she wants.

I was chilling in my backyard tonight when I remembered that I left the pot of water to boil.  I have an electric tea maker that boils the water and then maintains a certain temperature until you turn it off.  It was getting late, so I decided to go inside and brew some tea.  When I was standing in front of the tea pot thingie I felt something along my right elbow.  I looked down and was a praying mantis.  Most dopes would shoo it away, but I didn't panic.  I hate when people panic and kill a bug.  I carefully took off my shirt and then took it outside.

Wednesday, August, 19, One of the many things Tony used to do was go up to the Sparr Heights community center to drop off some books.  What I didn't realize is just how nice their library is, thanks to Tony.  The more things come out the more messed up it is that he has passed.

I finished the route early, so I wandered into the children's room, because I wanted to ask Grigor a question.  He was on his break, but my other coworker had a dilemma.  A power cord for a fan was somehow stuck under part of the furniture.  It didn't want to come out.  She asked me for help, so Johnny on the spot I went forward to see what I could figure out.  Well, it turned out there was something stuck under the furniture keeping the cord from moving out.  After my coworker gave me a tongue depressor to lodge the thing out the cord was free.  I looked over to my coworker and Grigor and told them, You can now call me The Solution.

TheGirl declared it too hot to take Phoenix out with us, because we would have to sit on a patio and it was too hot for that tonight.  So we went to Yard House for dinner tonight.  We didn't get to sit in our favorite server's area, because it was a busy night.  I had some jalapeno burger thing that was so good.  Chain restaurants usually don't have amazing food, but the Yard House has not disappointed.

After dinner we returned to TheGirl's place to pick Phoenix and have a nice walk into Toluca Lake.  We didn't go all the way into Toluca Lake proper, just to Toluca Woods.  When we got back Phoenix rested his head on my legs.  TheGirl says he wouldn't do that unless he trusted me.  He's come a long way in a short amount of time, thanks to TheGirl.  She pours love all over the little guy.  That's what a dog needs.  To know that you are going to love them, and never hurt them.  Then they will be loyal like no one else could be.

Thursday, August, 20, A picture of my former friend Jennifer came up on my feed and it made me want to continue reading her husband's book.  It's a memoir about his infidelity.  She gifted the book to me like fifteen years ago.  I never read it, but now I do want to read it.  So far it's meh.  I get that it's a memoir, but it's still a story that should be entertaining.  Oh well.  I wonder how she's doing.  I still wonder if the gifting of the book was her way of saying she would be interested in sleeping with me.  When I first met Jennifer I thought she was really cute.  Even though through the years she gained some weight, I was still attracted to her.  When I met her she used to come into the San Marino library, and she was thin and cute.  She wasn't thin when she left for Oregon, but she was still cute.  Oh well, I'll never see her again.

I was told that the new Teen librarian already had a moment with a patron that made him cry.  Oh boy, this is not going to end well.  I don't have any other details.

Because I have Fridays off I forget that I have to pretend to go to work, to avoid my aunt.  But it feels like a Friday on Thursdays now.  ARGH!  If I get this job with the Huntington I'm probably going to work weekends again.  Slowly the weekends are going from a solid time out to I have to work now.  Gotta remember that there is a choice here.  I want to pay off my credit cards as fast as possible.  With my hours cut at Glendale a thing that would have been a year to finish now turned into three or four.  This money from this job is going to make it a year again.

Friday, August, 21, I didn't want to stay home until noon, because I didn't want to deal with my aunt.  I'm also still pretending to go to work on Fridays.  So I took myself to the library - Casa Verdugo.  I only needed to kill a couple of hours.  And the best thing is that I had to poop.  But the funny thing is, just as I was going to leave, one of my coworkers came in to have lunch there.  Nice.  He figured no one was going to be there.  Then he found me.  Ha ha.

I arrived at the Huntington super early.  I sat outside the front gate until it was 12:51pm.  Then I walked into the member's center and asked to see my contact.  In a few minutes we were walking to what I believe is the administrative offices.  I sat down with my interviewer and answered his questions about going above and beyond, and dealing with trouble with real world answers from my time at the library.  I told him that I made a card for kid that really wanted to check out the star gazer telescope.  And how I dealt with a woman that insisted her phone was hacked because it wouldn't take a charge.  Real world shit.  I think I did well.  Time will tell.  He said he would let me know by Tuesday if I got the job.  Look, not to toot my own horn, but I'm super overqualified for this job.  There's no guarantee that I'll get it though.  I did my best.

After my interview I was allowed to go on the grounds, so I went to visit the Blue Boy.  Maybe it will be an old friend soon.

There was a picture of The Queen Arms restaurant on social media today.  What is Queen Arms?  It was a restaurant that was on Ventura Blvd. in Encino.  My father worked there as a dish washer.  I would see it when I would go to his job at the Terry York Chevrolet dealership next to the Queen Arms.  By the time I was doing that it had closed and became extra storage for the cars from the dealership.  I used to think it was Disneyland.

Saturday, August, 22, I jerk off nearly every night.  The one day I don't for sure are Wednesdays.  Because I go out with TheGirl and I come home so late.  I just want to clean up and go to bed.  Anyway, there are porn stars that are almost always guaranteed to make me nut.  Dana Vespoli is one of those stars.  She did it last night with that amazing behind.  And yes, she can sit on my face.

The Huntington said they would reach out to my references, and they did.  I had to have three, one of them was Kevin and the other was Irene.  Both have already responded.  Last one on the list is my current supervisor Nancy.  Someone told me I shouldn't have put her on.  Oh well, nothing I can do about that now.  It sure seems that I got the job, from the wording in the emails I've received from the Huntington.  Yay!

Nothing works at Central.  The coin machine hasn't worked in a year, maybe more.  No one can print anything to the printer in circulation.  Half the public computers don't work.  I was talking to someone about this and I had a thought.  How can anyone in administration come into the building day after day and not be embarrassed by the fact that nothing works?  You would think the director would be the most embarrassed about this, because it's happening under her watch.

Sunday, August, 23, I finally got to taste the tea that I bought at the Huntington.  It's called Huntington blend and it is amazing!  Where has this tea been all my life?

I went to the market and found that they now carry small cups of Thrifty ice cream.  The problem is that they don't have my favorite flavors.

Monday, August, 24, I went from losing my Fridays in August to working every Saturday in August.  So how is that reducing my salary?  How is the library saving money?  I figured those hours were only for August, and not for September.  That is until I got a text message asking if I could work every Saturday in September, except for labor day weekend.  The library is closed, or I'd be working that too.

Grigor forgot to fill the gasoline tank on the van last week.  That's OK, I took care of it today.  The route is a mess with a new person taking over, and Grigor forgetting simple things.  But, he's still much better than any alternative.

My left arm has been hurting for a while now.  It's slowly getting better, but today my right arm started hurting in the forearm just like my left arm.  ARGH!  This ain't right.  I'm falling apart.

I threw my quesadilla in the oven at Brand and then went and got the delivery done while it warmed.  Well, I left it a little too long, because it got burnt.  Great.

Another ride memory lane is the above picture of Talia from 2003.  Where she would show me her boobs in a second.  I said it in a previous entry, I really miss that version of Talia.

I never heard back from that LAPL job I applied for a couple of months ago.  See, the Huntington don't mess around.

I noticed the security camera mention that my aunt was in the living room.  She went to the corner of the frame and I wondered what she was doing.  I checked that clip and I could see that she was looking through my cousin's mail.  Like why?  What does she care?  ARGH!  My aunt is in everything here.  She was looking though my mail the other day.  Just leave my shit alone.

Last night I loved one of the solar lights in the backyard to a new location where it can get sun.  Viola, the light was nice and strong tonight.  A small win in a world of losses.

Tuesday, August, 25, I brew tea in the evenings using an electric pot that will maintain the water inside it at a certain temperature until I unplug it.  It doesn't have a on and off switch, it just has a plug.  My aunt left me a note on the dining room table telling me that I had left the machine plugged in, but she didn't unplug it.  How does that work?  She could have still left me the note reminding me to unplug it next time.  By the way, this is the FIRST time I've ever left that machine plugged in overnight.  I just forgot.  Probably because she was in the kitchen at that time, and I just wanted to get out of there.  I don't want to be around her.  Anyway, she didn't unplug it in the middle of the night.  Instead she wrote me the note.  You know, maybe it's a good thing I could potentially be working weekends.  I don't want to be here with her around.  This is why I pretend to go to work on Fridays, even though I haven't had a Friday shift in a month.

The people at the mall need to get out of my way.  All the slow dopes like to walk in the middle of the floor.  I stick to the right, but then everyone is all over the place.  Really, just get out of my way.

I got the job at the Huntington!  The biggest pro to this job is not having to spend time with my aunt.  I don't like her.  I don't hate her, but I don't want to spend a second talking with her.  Biggest con has to be losing my weekends.  I tell myself this is only temporary.

Wednesday, August, 26, Adam did the route yesterday, and most people think he did well, but that he was frazzled.  I bet.  I only got to show him the route twice.  There are a lot of little things that go into the route that just have to come up when I train people.  Like I was told that he couldn't get the back door open.  That's because the lock is busted.  I've had it repaired twice.  The last time Tony took it they told him there wasn't anything wrong with it.  I suspect it needs something to prevent it from locking up all the time.  Oh well, they want me to take it next week.  Adam did leave the van a little sloppy, and he went to treasury yesterday.  They told me they didn't have the heart to tell him he came in on the wrong day.  It's OK, it made my treasury run easier.

Marie's boobs from the treasury department are like the Hulk - they just keep getting bigger and bigger.  Or so it seems like it.  I'm not saying this is a bag thing.  I think it's one of the most wonderful things that can happen.  Too bad I'll never see them - never experience them first hand.  I mean, wow!

I asked Grigor if he went out for the Huntington job, but she said he hadn't because his buddy offered him a job as a manager of a trio of flower shops in Burbank.  Oh that's much better.  I congratulated him.  And this illustrates what happens when the dummies upstairs cut hours.  People leave for other jobs, and they prioritize those other jobs.  Then all of a sudden there's an abundance of hours.  Idiots.  I keep saying it, it's like they never learned from history.

TheGirl and I went to a place we haven't been to in a long time... Little Toni's in NoHo.  It was pretty good.  We've had better Italian elsewhere, but it was good and the portions were huge.  The drinks hit the spot as well.

Thursday, August, 27, The birdbath is ready for birds now.  I checked this morning, and the little amount of sun that it gets in the morning was just barely enough to have the fountain work once every second.  Still, that's something.  I hope they like it.

I received an email from my supervisor saying that we are to park the van in the back alley.  I see this as the first step towards the ultimate failure to get the van a parking spot in what is now the driveway on Harvard.  I asked my supervisor to have the city create a special spot just for the van to park while we load and unload the books.  I'm sure that's not going to happen.  They are going to want us using the dock.  Yeah, no.  I told Grigor that I'll park the van back there, but I will just park the van in the red on Harvard after they build the park.  Whatever!

The people at Marketing are good people, but it doesn't show in their work.  Time and time again their work is sloppy.  Unnecessarily sloppy.  Today they had two fails.  One was the bookmark for the seventy-fifth anniversary of Casa Verdugo.  For one, we should have had those a month ago, instead of barely three weeks before the event.  Second, the font on top is justified left, but the font on the bottom is centered.  Also, the same font that says this is your library is WAY too close to the image under it.  Speaking of that image, they used it twice on the same side.  The lettering on the ribbon on the right should match the curve of the ribbon.  It doesn't.  The back of the bookmark is also a mess, but not as much.  Again... fail.

The other fail is the flier that has the branch hours.  There's a line going through part of the yellow that looks like pixelization.  They enlarged the font on the street names to a size that make it stupid close to the lines representing the streets.  Also, why have all those streets?  Major streets only.  The text saying we're in your neighborhood sits too far down, and isn't centered right.  The URL for the library and the screen name for the social media isn't aligned, and makes it look like a total mess.  The social media icons look pixelated too.  Another fail.

Kerri told me today that we might get Aurora on Thursdays the entire day.  She would do storytime and then stay the rest of the day at Casa.  I'm sure she won't like that, but I like it.  Mainly because I'll get to be on the desk with her.  Nice!

Friday, August, 28, I received a call from The Huntington's HR this morning.  They sent me an offer letter for the job.  I signed it and that step is completed.  Next comes a background check, and other stuff.  This shit is getting real.  My first day is going to be September 8th.

After a moment of thought I decided to head out to Claremont, because I'm not sure when I'll be back there.  Mainly because I'll probably be working on weekends.  Anyway, I wanted to check out a pair of the art museums in Claremont.  So after my call with the Huntington I drove out there.  It was hot, but I still love Claremont.  Ilsa just happened to have been playing pickle ball with some coworkers at Pomona college.  I asked her if she wanted to get some drinks.  Sure.  She's always up for a drink.

Ilsa and I went to get a drink at Union on Yale, and there they had old LPs on display.  One of them was familiar to me, it was the cover of the Steve Martin book "Born Standing Up."  I guess it was also the cover for his comedy album Wild and Crazy Guy.  I tried to explain to Ilsa, but she wasn't listening, that that book had turned up just before significant life events were about to occur.  Like I said, she wasn't listening so I dropped the subject.  But I don't have to drop anything here.  For sure this Huntington gig is a significant life event.  A new job.  I haven't had a new job in nearly twenty years.

TheGirl's neighbor passed away a couple of weeks ago.  Tonight was his celebration of life.  Not much to say.  I did get emotional when one of his friends mentioned that most of the people there were friends.  Only family that was there was his sister.  Just reminds you that your time here on Earth is super short.  I'm going to be fifty-five this year.  If I live to eighty, how many years is that?  Twenty-five.  Two thirds of my life has passed and I've yet to see Paris, London, or NYC.  Paying the bills is important, but there needs to be life as well.  There's a saying about life is what happens in between the plans we make.  Or something like that.  I probably butchered the saying.  Sam lived a good life, and it seemed like he was happy.

I had a thought about the job at the Huntington.  What if I run into TheLooker one day?  One of her friends works in the actual library.  And they go there all the time.  OK, let's see when I run into her.

Saturday, August, 29, I worked at Central today.  I'm scheduled for every Saturday in September, but after that I think I'll be working at the Huntington on Saturdays.  I'll miss the A/C, but I'm sure I'll have some good times at the Huntington.

Today's shift was pretty standard.  It was busy, but today I had a shadow.  One of the new hires actually got to shadow me.  I'm sorry I wasn't more helpful to her, because it was so busy when I was on the desk.

Something I was thinking back when I applied for the job was how many pretty ladies I'll see during the day.  Women get dressed up for the Huntington.  Some of them dress to show their wares.  This... is going to be really interesting.

After I get my official schedule from the Huntington I'm going to go online and put that I'm not available on Saturdays.

Sunday, August, 30, This morning I wanted to eat breakfast, but I had to wait for my slow aunt to get moving.  Waiting for her is one thing I won't miss when I start working at the Huntington.  Because I'll have to be at work by 9:30am, way before she gets out of bed on the weekends.  I have been thinking of dinner though.  I figured I could pick up some stuff from IHOP, or some other places close to home.  Pollo loco.  I love that stuff.  Anyway, more thoughts on that after I start work.

I bought gravel and a pump and a copper medallion to have a better birdbath.  At the same time I took a pot bottom and filled that with water for Ziggy to drink.  And then today I witnessed at least four birds using that little plate more than the birdbath.  At least the birds are getting water and having baths.

Monday, August, 31, My coworker couldn't open the back door of the delivery van, so I had to take it in today to the garage.  It's so funny, one of the mechanics says what's this.  I tell him, "Guys, emails have been sent and replied to... so someone knows what's going on... just not us."  I got a loaner Safari van.  Which is bigger than the loaner I had a couple of months ago.  Only problem is that it has bench seats in the back that can't be taken out.  So I did half of the route and then came back and loaded things and did the second half.  It's not perfect, but it gets the job done.  Also, I've said it many times... I'm not killing myself for this job.

The city said the construction of the new park was going to start in April.  Didn't happen.  They said August 31st.  It did happen.  A crew came in and fenced the entire park area.  I don't know when they might actually start work, but at least the fence is up.  This is going to make delivery interesting.

When I went to get the loaner I noticed on a table a bunch of key fobs.  There must have been a couple of dozen, representing new cars.  And the city doesn't have money.  Oh, and they don't have money for a new delivery van.  Bullshine!