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Afterthoughts : This Past Month
For many of us 2011 was a tough year to live through, and we all hope against hope that 2012 is a better year. I can say that this past year certainly had it's ups and downs. But right around the end of June things turned around. Strangely enough the lowest point of the year was only a week before things started to turn around. "The Incident" marked the lowest point of the year. A week later, when TheGirl came back into my life, is when the year turned around. The last quarter of the year was tough, but I can still look at it as positive. I hope 2012 brings more of the positive, and less negative.
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Dec 3, The huge wind storm tonight was powerful enough to drop quite a few trees and tree limbs. One of them hit Crockett! Thankfully the limb only grazed my new car. It was still enough to cause some minor damage: a few nickel size dents on the passenger side. I got off lucky, however. A whole tree could have killed my car. Then were would I be? Carless again!
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Dec 4, Today marks not the greatest anniversary of my life, the day TheGirl and I were discovered. That day a year ago I was left a voicemail basically stating that we had been found out. It was scary to think what would happen next. But thankfully TheGirl and I got through it. And here we are, nearly 493 days into our relationship. That's not to say we don't have challenges to come. But I Love her and she loves me. Life is what we make of it.
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Dec 6, Second day missed at my San Marino job due to power outage. It's not like I don't like the time off, but it means not getting paid for these hours that I'm missing. I've missed nine hours of work in these two shifts. Thankfully I still have my evening job today, or I'd go broke for sure. The money I didn't make while sick is now showing in my finances. I am counting on not missing any more days to make up for the money I didn't make while I was dying.
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Dec 7, The power has finally been restored to the library in San Marino. But I'm way out in The Valley, Northridge, visiting my old boss Wayne to get some advice about something TheGirl and I have to deal with in the coming weeks or months.. her divorce. Which promises not to be pretty. For safety sake she thinks we should lay low and not see each other all the time. I advocate laying low, but certainly not letting him run our lives. Come what may I love TheGirl. I'm not totally prepared for the shit-storm that's about to come. But I'll always stay by her side.
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Dec 12, day 500 of TheGirl and I being together. After the week of dealing with the details of filing for divorce TheGirl and I finally got some time to ourselves. Suffice to say, our intimate moments continue to get better. We love each other, and know that the fight ahead won't be pretty. But our intimacy is only getting better and more powerful. That's pretty special.
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Free food for all us San Marino employees
Dec 14, Today I went to the San Marino city employee luncheon, where I won a certificate for a box of See's Candy! It's nice to not only be fed, but also be paid for the privilege.
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TheGirl and I at Franklin Canyon
Dec 17, I took TheGirl to Franklin Canyon up in the hills. She thought it was pretty. Duh, that's why I took you there. Franklin Canyon is cool because it's just off Coldwater Canyon drive, which is one of the busiest two lane streets in town. It's because it connects the Valley with the Westside. But right off of that is this beautiful little island of nature that you don't expect. Those are the kind of places that I love in this city. Little places hidden within the big city, known to only a few people. After walking around the Franklin Canyon TheGirl and I were getting hungry. We had talked about visiting a place called the Veggie Grill on the Westside. So we finally went. Now I'm a devout meat eater. I love meat. Burgers are my favorite meal. At the Veggie Grill there is no meat served. But I'm willing to try new things. The food was wonderful. I loved the fact that I ate food that actually had taste. So much food today has zero taste. It's like the processing has taken all the flavor away. The grilled "chicken" that I had was tasty, but it was the cilantro pesto sauce along with the guacamole that gave the sandwich a really nice kick. We topped off our meal by sharing a piece of carrot cake. Once again, the flavor was yummy. It takes some getting used to the subtlety of actually flavors, since I suspect most of our taste buds have been killed by bad food. However, if they aren't totally dead you should go to the Veggie Grill. I know that meat lover me here will certainly go back.
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Winning! calender
Dec 19, I went to the 99 Cent Store today and found the calendar shown above. I tell you, it's crazy what the 99 cent store sells.
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Dec 21, Today work was a piece of crap. The patrons at my San Marino job are driving me insane. Their requests are getting dumber and dumber. But it's also partially the fault of one of my idiot co-workers who can't check in books properly. Because if they did we wouldn't have patron after patron after patron come in saying that all their books haven't been checked in. It's a small epidemic, and one we can't seem to shake. I just don't get it. I suspect it's because of the way we check in books there. We don't do it in the back room like we do at Glendale. We do it right in the open. And that invites people to watch us and to question us, and to demand that we check their books in while they wait. No thank you asshole! I have 10 things to do, and 11th on my list is checking in your books. I don't have time to do it this minute, I have 5 people waiting in line, and my co-worker has taken 20 minutes to get back from her 15 minute break. It just frustrates me because this problem could be solved if we just put some effort into it. But no one there wants to, because they rather keep things the way they are and have the clerks take the brunt of the punishment. Is it any wonder that I'm looking for another job? I love my co-workers. Everyone is a great person. But one of them, and potentially more, are fucking this job up for me. I nearly wanted to throw a fist through the wall the today. Not good.
Oh, and if you want to believe it.. supposedly according to the Mayan calendar a year from now we're all dead. Part of me likes the idea of having a year to get some great stuff done. A bigger part of me knows this deadline isn't a good one.
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Just over 10,000 miles
Dec 23, Reached 10,000 miles with the new car, since I bought it in July. I'm driving a steady 2,000 mile average each month. I guess it's because I have to travel so far to work. But also, since I now have a car that doesn't have any problems I am more apt to drive farther and farther from my home base. I love my little Honda Fit. It has freed me and given me the ability to move. Having been stuck using the bus for three months I can appreciate every mile more than I did in the past. In the past it was a given that I would have a car. But when I didn't, there was the potential that I wouldn't have a car for a very long time. Thankfully that changed and now I'm driving a little rocket. Thanks Crockett, for carrying me these 10,000 miles. Here's to the next million!
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Dec 24, I tricked TheGirl into going to Christmas eve dinner with my family by not telling her that we were going to go over to their place. Thankfully she had a good time, and I got to show off my girl. It was not just a time to show her off to my family, but rather to introduce her to the family as well. And to let her know what she's getting into. LOL
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Dec 26, Christmas day was pretty uneventful. I spent the day at home. But the day after Christmas was a day off for me and TheGirl. We spent the day together, sleeping in late and getting our day started past noon. We went to Old Town Pasadena to return a couple of gifts. After that we went to a place called the Mediterranean Cafe. One of my co-workers suggested I try the food there, because it was really good. She was right. The night ended early since the both of us had to return to work the next day. Too bad.
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Dec 31, Spent New Years Eve with TheGirl at Knott's Berry Farm. The highlight of the night was playing air hockey. Actually the whole night was great because I got to spend it with TheGirl. This coming year we have told each other that we are going to make things happen with my photography, and possibly with another endeavor. I'm going to push this to make it happen. It's time our partnership grew and that we truly invest in each other and help each other through this journey. So bring it on 2012. Happy New Year everyone!
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