Afterthoughts : This Past Month

Wow, one quarter of 2021 has already passed.  Time is flying by, but at least things are getting a little better every day.  I can finally say that.  Now, on to the update.

Monday, March, 1, I seem to get an itch when there is something going on in my Glendale email.  Today I had that itch, and when I checked there was an email from one of the administrators saying that the city wanted to get me vaccinated.  I was thrilled to read that.  Now there is a light at the end of this awful pandemic tunnel.  I had to go online to sign up for it, but I'm all set for Friday at 8am.  Later Emma texted me to say that she was contacted by Mala on the phone telling her that they wanted to vaccinate her as well.  I checked with a couple of other coworkers, and sure enough it would seem that they're going to offer vaccinations to nearly all of us at the library.  Woo hoo!

Work was super busy today.  Yesterday all the books checked out were due.  That meant people returned their books all over the weekend.  That also meant that people were getting fines on their accounts.  The geniuses upstairs never thought to figure that with the quarantine period it would mean that the due books that were returned on Sunday would not be checked in until Thursday.  So I had to field at least a dozen calls dealing with patrons asking about fines, and how they returned their books on time.  ARGH!  I don't need this ever, but especially on a Monday.

Tuesday, March, 2, Along Sepulveda blvd, on my way to the freeway entrance, I have seen this one particular lady that used to live outside the Whole Foods.  But then one day she moved to the East side of the street.  I heard that it was because Whole Foods basically pushed her out.  Anyway, this lady camped herself in front of one of the closed businesses along Sepulveda.  Every time I would drive by she seemed to have more and more stuff.  Today I saw cones on the road and wondered what could be blocking my route to the freeway.  Well, as I drove by I saw a heap of burnt trash on the street (see above).  I can't tell, and I'm pretty sure no one but the lady knows, if the fire was set by someone or by the lady.  I suspect that she tried to keep warm and the fire got out of hand.  I mean it could be that something else happened.  I know that there are people that are sick and have set homeless people's tents on fire.  This person has so little.  I would hate if it was someone that did this to her.  Her doing it to herself is probably a mistake.  I did see her sitting a couple of doors down with just a few things.  My other question is, when is the city going to take this burnt heap and haul it away?

When I arrived at work I saw that there were a bunch of people in front of the library (as shown above).  I came to find out that the senior center next door was vaccinating people today and yesterday and tomorrow.  Good.  I like this.  When Bidden was elected I hoped that there would be vaccination centers all over the place.  I hoped that they would be as plentiful as Starbucks.  We're not there yet, but we're getting there.

Wednesday, March, 3, When I arrived at work today I saw a box in the circulation room that had Pseudo supervisor's name on it.  It also had a piece of tape that read, "Print shop."  I knew from those two clues that the bookmarks had arrived.  I took the box over to the Reference desk and cut the tape and what did my eyes see?  I saw the bookmarks, but there was something immediately off about them.  First thing I noticed was the width.  They looked wider than the previous bookmarks that have been ordered.  Then I grabbed one out of the pack and saw that the back was blank.  Not blank, blank, but just the color of the border blank.  There was supposed to be an image of the contest sponsor.  Instead it was just that orange brown color.  Fuck, I thought, did I forget to send them the two files for the back and the front?  I knew I hadn't, but then I started to doubt myself.  Even still, I took a picture and sent it to Pseudo supervisor, telling her that none of the bookmarks had the sponsors on the back.  While I waited for a response I went to the computer and checked the email I sent out to see if I had attached the two files.  Yes, yes I had.  Whew!  Pseudo supervisor called me, since she was on her way to the library.  I told her that I checked and that I had included both files.  She later told me that the lady at the print shop did see that they screwed up, and were ordering a reprint immediately.

I've started to set the phone at Reference to "do not disturb" while I'm having lunch as a defense mechanism, because those jokers on the circulation desk always send me calls at that time.  I really fucking hate hearing the phone ring while I'm having lunch.  Also, fuck'em.  I shouldn't have to field half of the calls they send my way.  Mind you, I'm not bitching because I don't want to do the work. I'll throw in with them when they need help.  Just don't throw so many questions that they could deal with to me.  Whatever.  I'm going to keep doing this while I'm on the Reference desk.

It was a hectic and busy work, and I really needed dinner tonight.  We went to the Italian place in Burbank called Novo Cafe.  It's OK, and I've had some hit and miss meals there.  Tonight's meal wasn't exactly a hit, but it wasn't a miss either.  I ordered the gnocchi with Alfredo sauce.  It was good, but not great.  Maybe I should have stuck to the regular meat sauce.  But, what was good was the company.  These dinners with TheGirl are always good times.

Thursday, March, 4, The list of coworkers coming into work keeps growing.  What with the curbside growing.  The dummies finally figured out to not have stupid appointments, and rather just tell people to come in at their leisure.  This prevents a whole lot of troubles.  It only took them seven months to figure this out.  Jeez.  And now that many of us are going to get vaccinated in the next few days and weeks, it probably means that we might even be opening the doors pretty soon.  We shall see, I guess.

I was chatting with P from San Marino until 3am last night.  Surprisingly I did wake up on time for work this morning, and I wasn't a zombie.  That is, not initially.  After lunch I got SUPER sleepy.  I expected as much.

Disney started selling tickets to their event that would allow people to enter California Adventure and eat and shop.  I wasn't sure I wanted to go to this, but then I figured I bookmarked the link I might as well check it.  Sure enough, the tickets were sold out.  Is this a sign of things to come when I try to make a reservation once Disneyland is open?  I hope not.

Friday, March, 5, I got vaccinated today!  It's a pretty simple story.  I arrived at around 7:15am at the hospital.  I spotted a couple of my coworker outside and we all went inside as a group.  In the hallway of the hospital there were workers that took our names, checked our names, and moved us along.  Within a few minutes I was in the cafeteria, where they had the vaccination center.  The whole process moved fast.  In less than twenty minutes I was seated getting my first shot (see above).

The story of how I got this picture taken was that when I was getting up from the table where the lady was inputting my information into the computer.  As I got up I heard her say, "Sure, I can take your picture."  I turned around and said, "Oh cool."  She says back, "Oh, I was talking to my coworker, but sure, I'll take your picture."  And that's how I got my picture taken.  Ha ha!

The news came out today that Disneyland, and other amusement parks, could open as soon as April 1st.  Not many details yet as to the actual reopening date, but some of the articles mention that the parks would open at 15% capacity.  I'll have to actually finish reading one of the articles to know exactly what's going on.  Still, things are moving so fast now.  It was just a few months ago, during the holidays that things looked really dark.  But, now I got vaccinated, and will get my second shot by the end of this month.  Same with my aunt.  Soon everyone who wants the vaccination will get it.  And soon I may be able to go to Disneyland!

Saturday, March, 6, Today was another lazy day.  People ask me what I do on my weekends and I tell them that I don't do anything.  But now that I've been vaccinated, and will be fully vaccinated by the end of April, that could mean that I might go do stuff on weekends again.  Emma wants to start recording videos again, and even though it will be hard to get back to Disneyland right away, there are a ton of other places we can go and record.  Not only locations, but restaurants.  During this time at home I've been making lists of places I wanted to go visit.

Monday, March, 8, Mondays are all about answering the phones at San Marino.  I rarely have any time to work on the video project that I was given at the beginning of the year.  Not that anyone is worried about that.  Thankfully Becks is cool with me not turning it in, since I have so much on my plate just manning the reference desk.  I came to find out a couple of weeks back that I'm the only one working on that desk.  On the days I'm not there someone MIGHT work the desk, but mostly they're not.  Which means I'm it.

Oh well, what can I do?  At least I'm working.  Also, I'm not going nuts and working super hard.  I'm taking it as easy as I can.

Tuesday, March, 9, My coworker and fellow driver was out today.  He was out yesterday as well.  He called me soon after I arrived at work to tell me that he was feeling sick.  He suspects that it was due to the vaccine, but I'm not sure about that.  I guess it doesn't matter either way.

The route today was a little more than usual, since no one was around yesterday to pick up the books.  It wasn't super bad, but I did skip one of the branches, because they never have anything.  And, I figured I could just go on Thursday.

I did see Emma while I was at Montrose, since she was working there today.  It's the first time I've seen Emma in weeks.  I just happened to arrive at Montrose when Emma was about to have her lunch, so we had lunch together.  Socially distanced, but together.  It's nice having meals with Emma.  She says we need to hang out.  This, is true.  Before the pandemic hit we were hanging out nearly every weekend.  Then, nothing.

DrDeath sent out an email saying how there are still chances for workers to get vaccinated, and gave a link to sign up.  But, at the end he wrote a little something that my eye missed.  Emma pointed it out to me, and here it is.

"Our hope is by the end of this week all staff who wish to be vaccinated will have received their first dose, this in preparation for us to begin opening in mid-April."

There you have it, the other shoe has dropped.  They want to reopen the library in mid-April.  My buddy and I knew there was something afoot about getting us this vaccine.  Yes, it helps us, but ultimately it may have been just to be able to get us to open sooner than later.  I guess we shall see.

Wednesday, March, 10, When I arrived at work today I noticed that the bookmark banner, that was placed on a small piece of lawn in front of the library, had fallen due to the wind.  I went into work and dropped my things off so I could go outside and see what I could do to fix the situation.  Despite having several stakes around the base, the wind still blew the banner down.  I hammered a couple more stakes into the ground and thought that would hold.

While I was having lunch I noticed that the banner had once again fallen down.  I went outside again determined to make sure that the banner would not fall again.  I took all the stakes available to me and place them along one side of the base.  I also moved it closer to another banner so that it could brace itself against that banner.  I think it did the trick, because I checked on the banner several times, and each time it was still standing.  I asked the city librarian for some sandbags as well.  I won't be able to place them on the base next week, so I'm hoping my efforts will keep it up until then.  Also, this isn't going to be the only banner we have out there, so it's imperative that we figure out a way to keep that banner from falling over.  Granted, it rained today, and it was windy.  I don't think we're run into too much rain after this month.  Wind, on the other hand, we will get later in the year.

After work I needed a drink.  This has been a busy week, to be sure.  TheGirl and I went to the Smoke House, where she had her wine and I ordered up a pair of lemon drops.  They hit the spot.  As always, the company was good.  Maybe it was because of the rain, but we pretty much had a certain area of the tent to ourselves.  The tent because up in the parking lot due to Covid, of course.  The rain came down pretty hard at one point, but we didn't get wet.  I did get nice and sloshed with the two cocktails.  As always, a good time.

Thursday, March, 11, As I drove up Haskell I stopped at the light on Ventura and noticed to my left that the IHOP had people inside.  Seeing an employee inside is not unusual, but in a way it is, since that area of the restaurant isn't being used.  But what I did see was a waitress and a pair of customers.  It was that really cute waitress that I used to see a few years ago when my aunt and I were going to visit my Godmother on Sundays.

Restaurants are opening up again.  Hopefully soon we can look at this pandemic in the rear view mirror and go back to a lifestyle that was more open.  It's almost the one year anniversary of this pandemic starting.  It has felt like such a long time.  I'm not sure how much longer we have to still wear masks on a regular basis, but it will surly still be the majority of this year.  At least things are getting better.

Since my coworker and fellow driver was out yesterday I had a little bit more than my normal load of books on the route today.  Nothing crazy, of course.  But a good amount.  Honestly, I can't even remember many of the route details from today.  It's kinda of a blur.

It might have been the extra work today on the route, or whatever, but I was way tired tonight.  I had dinner and about an hour after I was fighting that drowsy feeling.  I tried to fight it, but around 8pm I was ready for bed.  I quickly got my lunch ready for tomorrow and my clothes.  I brushed my teeth and put on my PJs.  I was in bed by 9:30ish.  I was beat.  I knew that I would probably pass out, and I did.  I woke up at around 10:40pm and that's when I texted TheGirl good night.  She texted me at around 10pm, so by the time I texted her she was already asleep.  I texted her and went right back to sleep.  Again, I'm not sure why I was so tired, but I was.

Friday, March, 12, As per usual on a Friday, today's route was pretty chill.  It rained during the morning, but I didn't get too wet.  I had lunch and after that the rain went away.  I was busy today.  It was a good day.

I got home and my aunt asked if I wanted some chilaquiles.  I can't say no to chilaquiles, even if my aunt doesn't make them anywhere near as good as my aunt.  Honestly, my aunt needs to stop trying to make chilaquiles.  They don't come out that well.  Tonight they came out completely flavorless.  She never seasons anything with salt or anything else.  So of course you get bland food.  The chilaquiles weren't the worst I've ever had, but when my aunt said, "These are delicious," I didn't say anything.  I took some salsa from the restaurant in Burbank and poured some on top.  That made my chilaquiles taste better.

Saturday, March, 13, It was a year ago today that I was told to go to the branches and post a printed sign that effectively closed us for over a year.

The words on the notice were as follows, "Out of an abundance of caution, the City of Glendale has directed that this facility be closed through March 31, 2020."

Yes, at the time we thought that we'd be back in two weeks.  But now we're close to reopening.  Perhaps mid-April, perhaps later.

There is now discussion amongst the grunts that have to work with the public about whether opening up in mid-April is too soon.  I tend to agree that it may be too soon.

Sunday, March, 14, The "guest" house up the street from me, that built was built behind one of my neighbor's main house, needs new tenants.  I noticed today that there was a "For Rent" sign outside the guest house, and the cars that used to be there were gone.  I'm not sure why they left, but they basically were there for about a year.  Maybe they found a less expensive place.  Perhaps they couldn't afford this place any more.  I'm not sure what they rent is for this house, but I'm sure it's not cheap.  I told a friend that it would be nice if a nice lady moved in there.  I guess we'll see.  I never, ever, get some nice lady in my neighborhood.

Ilsa and I were exchanging text messages tonight when she mentioned that I need a vacation.  Not only from my aunt, but from everything.  She's correct.  I really do need a vacation.  I haven't had a trip since before the pandemic started.  Back in 2019 I had a trip to San Francisco planned, but I cancelled it for many reasons.  And then last year no one could do anything due to the pandemic.  Which means my last trip was in 2018.  That's way too long.

I wonder if it's too early to start thinking of going on a vacation during Thanksgiving, like I used to do before all this Covid shit.  Like I said before, it's been about two years since I've been on a trip.  I'm owed one.

Monday, March, 15, Admittedly I stayed up past my bedtime last night.  I wasn't sleepy when it was my usual time for bed.  Because it was actually too early, thanks to daylight savings.  But then, I overdid it.  I stayed up late drinking and jerking off.  Of course this morning I didn't want to wake up.  Also, my stupid smart plug was turning my A/C on every hour.  It woke me up at 2am and then 3am.  I unplugged it after that.  I think the last update, or maybe daylight savings, caused this glitch.  But I noticed that the other day the lamp in the other room turned on by itself.  I saw it on the security camera the other night.  I thought that maybe I made the mistake of turning it on.  Sometimes when I hear the dogs barking outside I'll turn that light on.  I thought that I might have forgotten to turn it off, or set a timer to turn it off.  But, after my A/C unit turned on by itself I'm thinking that it was the devices themselves that are screwing up. Something, I don't know.

Tuesday, March, 16, There isn't much to report today.  I went to work.  I was fairly busy.  I didn't really even get any work started until nearly lunch.  But then after lunch I was busy.  I checked in a bunch of books, and then was asked to go to one of the branches and pick up some items.  The way they made it sound I expected a lot of items.  I took seven bins with me to carry the items back to Central.  But when I arrived I noticed were small, and I only ended up using two bins to carry them back to Central. Nice!  I like it when work turns out to be less than expected.

Jade was there at Central today.  He mentioned how DrDeath and other administrators will call pretending to be patrons in order to check if the full-timers working from home are actually doing their job.  Can you believe that shit?  Meanwhile we also discussed the fact that many full-timers have already said that opening up in mid-April, like DrDeath mentioned in his email, is WAY too early.  I guess we'll see if they rethink opening up in a month's time.  I also think it's too early for that.  While they did get us vaccinated, the public is proportionally not vaccinated.  The unwashed masses are going to want to come into the library.  There are still going to be issues with patrons that won't wear a mask.  Others that might linger too long.  Other's that are just plain crazy.  Honestly, I don't want to deal with any of that.  But, I know it's not up to me.

Wednesday, March, 17, Today's shift on the reference desk felt like an eternity.  I did get the news that they are thinking of opening up the library on April 12.  That's twenty-six days from now, according to Siri.  To me that seems like it's too soon, but they suspect that since many of us will be fully vaccinated by then, that we can open up.  Also, the county has moved into the next tier, which means indoor dining, and many more indoor things can happen.  They even opened movie theaters up this week.

I also wanted to mention that the addition of the sandbags have helped the outdoor bookmark banner remain standing.

A friend from college, Nicole, posted a picture on social media of her getting her vaccine shot.  I've been wanting to reconnect with her before, but I chickened out.  Today I didn't chicken out.  I asked her if the shot hurt.  She said that it didn't, and that opened the door.  I texted her the rest of the day, being careful not to over do it with too many texts.  I didn't want to overwhelm her out of the blue.  I don't remember the last time we texted.  It was good to reconnect.

The story of Nicole is that I met her at CSUN.  I had to select an elective during one semester.  My choices had to be in diversity courses, which included Chicano literature, African American literature, as well as two others that I can't remember.  I picked a fifth choice, because the Chicano and African American classes conflicted with a class I absolutely needed to take that particular semester.  This is how I ended up taking a Lesbian authors class, and that's where I met Nicole.  She picked the class for similar reasons.

I remember how she and I sat close to the window, because all the chairs near the door had been taken.  Yes, there were some lesbians in the class, but Nicole sat on the side with all the guys.  Only two guys sat on the other side, near the door, but they were gay.  I think.  Anyway, that's how I started talking to her.  I thought she was cute, and I used that old, "hey, let's exchange numbers just in case you or I miss a class" move.  I had a feeling she took a bit of a shine to me though.

After graduation we hung out a few times.  She invited me to Franklyn canyon and I took her photo (above).  And then she moved up to the bay area.  I think I might have had a chance with her, but I blew it.  I think we ended up having lunch or dinner about four or five times before she told me she was moving up to the bay area.  I had plans of visiting her, and I told her so.  She mentioned once that if I did she would maybe pose for me.  Maybe even nude.  Wow, I thought!  That would be great.  But that was during a time that I didn't have a lot of money.  I saved for a trip, but I didn't get to go for years, and that was with TheGirl.  Nic had been seeing a guy for a while anyway.  So yeah, there was no chance of anything then.  I did take her a picture collage I made from the time we took picture in Franklyn canyon, but I left the frame at the hotel room.  I still have that picture above my bed.

So, could this be the start of something?  I can't imagine it could be, since I live here and she lives up north.  And I'm sure she's not interested in some long distant relationship.  However, we have always gotten along, and I'm sure we'll have a good time when she comes down here to visit her sister.  She mentioned wanting to hang out then.  Cool.  We'll get some drinks.

TheGirl and I went to our favorite place, the Counter, for dinner tonight.  We had the back patio to ourselves again tonight.  I say that because the bar just up the street, formally Timmy Nolan's, was PACKED.  And so was Forman's, up the opposite way on Riverside.  There we were, right in the middle at the Counter, alone.  Nice.  Just before the food arrives Cheyenne is usually just chilling on her bed.  But, as soon as the burgers come out she wakes up and is looking for some table "scraps."  Here she is sneaking over to see me.

Cheyenne moved in closer, close enough to bring her chin up to my leg.  Not surprisingly her slobber got on my pants.  Ha!  I gave her some bacon, a wee bit, because I know it's not good for her.  And then I gave her a bit of the beef from my burger.

After dinner we retired to TheGirl's place for a little while.  I told Chan we needed to go, but instead he decided to take a seat next to the ladies.

Thursday, March, 18, Not wanting the moment to pass I texted Nicole asking her how she was feeling.  She said she was feeling well.  We continued texting through the day.  I didn't want to bombard her with a ton of texts all of a sudden, but I also didn't want to let the conversation just die.  She mentioned yesterday that we should hang out the next time she comes down to visit her sister.  She didn't give a time table for that, but the good thing is that we will both be vaccinated when we do hang out.

A question in my back of my mind was whether Nic is single.  Well, it's almost as if she could read my mind, because she went ahead and told me that she is single (see above).  Not that this fact helps me out here, since Nic lives up in the bay area.  But, I do like her, and it will be nice to see her again when she comes down for a visit.  And yeah, it's nice that wants to hang out.

The other shoe has dropped in terms of the dummies in administration now telling us the schedule for reopening.  Here are the hours.

Central: Monday-Thursday 9am to 12 pm, 1-4 pm & 5-8 pm & Friday-Saturday, 11am to 2pm & 3pm to 6pm

The reason why Central will be closed from noon to 1pm and 4pm to 5pm is for cleaning.

Brand: Tuesday/Thursday 11am to 6pm & Friday/Saturday 12-5 pm

Montrose: Monday thru Thursday 11am-6pm & Saturday 12-5pm

I feel these hours are a lot of hours.  I also wonder if what their plans are for me.  I wonder if they will want to return me to the main desk at Central.  I don't know if they realize I used to work the desk.  My supervisor is out for the next "few weeks," so it's possible I might skirt by without them moving me off the route on Tuesday onto the desk.  But, I guess time will tell.

I haven't gotten a raise in San Marino in years.  But, something happened where I was given a raise starting in February.  I didn't notice until now, because my last paycheck was smaller due to a holiday.  But this check was without holidays, and I noticed it was a few more dollars than the last full paycheck.  The raise I got was $0.36 an hour.  Better than nothing, that's for sure.  I know, I won't spend it all in one place.

My treadmill arrived today!  I didn't have the energy after work to put it together, but I'll do that tomorrow.

Friday, March, 19, I had a nice surprise on my way to work today.  The city was FINALLY cleaning up the mess left on Sepulveda blvd for the last three weeks.  Thank the maker!  This mess has been an eyesore and a hazard for about three weeks.  I'm glad to know that come next week I can go the regular way to the freeway.

I logged into my Capital One account today to schedule a transfer of money from my other account.  While there I saw that my credit score went up a point.  Not too bad.

After dinner I was pretty tired and I just wanted to rest.  I went to my room and chilled for a little bit, but I also wanted to get my treadmill up and running.  After the short rest, I went ahead and started to assemble it.  It took me about an hour to put it together.  I went ahead and cleaned up the box and tested out the treadmill.  I initially thought I would walk for about twenty minutes.  But, I got tired in about seven minutes.  I pushed myself to make it to at least ten minutes.  After that, I stopped.  I was pooped.

Saturday, March, 20, Today was a gorgeous day.  Apropos for the first day of Spring.  I spent a good part of the day out in my backyard, since it was so nice out.  I didn't do much else, but I want to get started on some little side project aside from walking.

This morning I decided that since I'm making a little more money at San Marino I would save some of that extra money.  I was previously saving $5 a week, drawn out every Friday.  No more.  Now it's $10 every Friday.  Now at the end of the year I'll have that much more money.  Nice!

Monday, March, 22, Work was busy, and because of that the day went by fast.  I like that.  There's continued talk about when the library might reopen.  There is talk that the powers that be will change the date to May, rather than late April.  I'm OK with that.  Ha ha!

But, despite the fact that they might move the reopening date back until May, or later, there will come a day soon where we will open.  Soon we will be sufficiently vaccinated where we can go back to "normal."  And by that I mean being able to go out, still wearing a mask, but going out.  So, I better brace myself for the day when we open our doors again.

TheRose posted a really nice picture on social media today (see above).

Tuesday, March, 23, Today was another busy day at work.  Busy is good, because it means the work day goes fast.  I like that.  I turned around and next thing I knew it was time to go home.  I like that.

Jade was up to his old tricks again.  He left a lot of work for the gang this week to do.  Case in point the above cart-full of books.  If he had time to take catalogs upstairs, he certainly had time to do this cart of books.  OK, maybe not the whole cart, but some part of it.

Jade doesn't like doing his work.  He finds it easy to do anything else.  Jokwin had a theory that Jade must be a snitch.  That's the reason why JoKwin things that they keep Jade around.  Because the dummies upstairs use Jade to get others in trouble.  It's an interesting theory, and there might be some merit to it.  Especially since Jade gets into so much trouble and yet never seems to suffer any consequences.  And, not only that, he openly throws others under the bus.

Wednesday, March, 24, I got my latest stimulus check today.  They deposited it into my account.  I'm not sure how the government knew my account information, because I've never used direct deposit before.  Oh well, as long as I get mine.  Ha ha!  I figure that most of this check will be like the first stimulus check and be used to pay my taxes.  Shame, since it would be nice to be able to spend some of that money on some neat stuff.

Work was super busy today.  Mainly because we were shorthanded.  Old man Zak didn't show up since he got his second Covid vaccine injection yesterday.  Of course the boss didn't think to ask anyone else to get some coverage.  Fucking bullshit!  I REALLY hate that the supervisors here never seem to think ahead.  This is another reason why I don't try 100% here.  Because no one appreciates it.

Anyway, I had to help out with the curbside today.  But, that allowed me to slack off later in the day.  Because fuck these fuckers.  If I have to do my work and also help out with curbside then I'm going to cruise in the last hour of my desk shift.

TheGirl and I went to Morrison for dinner tonight.  I told her I was craving fish & chips, and so that's what I had for dinner.  It was yummy and hit the spot.  The wine hit the spot as well.  You know, eating outside on a patio is nothing new to me.  TheGirl and I go to dinner and nearly always take Cheyenne with us.  She's part of the team, she can't be left home alone.  So I'm used to having dinner on patios.  I like it.  Even after we go back to normal and are able to eat indoors TheGirl and I will still be eating on patios.  So nice.

Thursday, March, 25, I turn on my spy camera in my room every weekday, but lately my aunt has only entered my room in order to drop off my clean clothes.  But, today she went into my room twice looking around my desk and behind my TV.  Of course she's looking for something incriminating.  ARGH!  I fucking hate that she does this.  It really just breaks my heart that she can't just leave me the fuck alone.  I'm not collecting guns.  I'm not selling drugs.  I'm just drinking a little booze.  But, for some reason me being responsible, paying my bills, and just being a good guy isn't good enough.  Drinking booze is like the worst thing I could do.  So be it.  I'll just continue to spy on my aunt spying on me.  She must be feeling well, because when she's not feeling well she doesn't bother spying on me.  I guess that's a good thing.

I picked up my slide film from the store yesterday.  I went through the pictures and in the pictures was two pictures of TheLooker (one shown above).  I figured I would text her with the picture attached.  You know, to see if she would respond to me.  She didn't.  I said this was going to be the last time I tried with her.  I have to be true to my word and not ever try to contact her.  I said a while back that I would try one more time.  Well, today was it.  I can't continue making the same stupid mistake.

Friday, March, 26, Wednesday and Thursday nights I woke up after having a exciting dream each night.  I woke up early each night.  I noticed that my heart was beating fast, like it was last year, only not as bad.  But I figured that I should check to see if it was super fast.  So I got my Apple watch and charged it in order be able to wear it at night.  In the morning I noted the results (shown above).  Not bad, and I didn't wake up in a "cold" sweat.  Ha!  Nice.

I set my alarm this morning for 5am, but I was awake at 3:38am.  It was awful, because I wondered if I would be able to go back to sleep, less I be a zombie today.  Thankfully I did go back to sleep, and fairly quickly.  But, I did wake up just before my alarm went off, and I was super sleepy.  Why is it that if I wake up in the middle of the night I wake up wide awake?  But if I wake up at my regular wake up time I feel like I can't make it out of bed?

I got my ass in gear and got over to Central in order to print out the paperwork they needed for me to get my second dose.  I would have done it yesterday, but I didn't get the email until after I left work.  It didn't show up until 4:40pm.  It was OK, I figured that since there weren't that many people last time that it would be the same this time.  Nope.  The line was long (see above).  Well, despite it being long the line did move fairly quickly.  In about an hour's time I was in and out.  So yes, it was longer than last time, but it wasn't so bad.

On Tuesday a homeless man came up to one of my coworkers asking if he could get a library card.  I was asked to help him.  I told him that he could get one, but that he had to fill out an application.  I brought him an application and a pen.  I told him that I would be around for a little while longer to make the card for him.  He then said something about having to take his things to storage and asked if I was there on Wednesday.  I told him I wasn't there on Wednesdays, but I would return on Thursday.  He said he would give me the application on Thursday.  Well, Thursday rolled around and I didn't see him around.  I figured I just missed him.  Strike one.  Today, after getting my vaccine I went back to the library and I talked to him as I was getting the books out of the bookdrop.  He told me he lost my pen, and said he would get me a set of pens.  I told him to forget it, but did ask him if he had his application.  He told me he hadn't filled it out.  Strike two.  On Tuesday I told him to return the application to me.  Because, I know that making a card for a homeless man isn't kosher.  He doesn't have a verifiable address.  I was willing to forego that in order to get him some books.  I know, an uphill battle.  I did the bookdrop and went to go see him when I noticed that his things were still where I saw them after I took in the books I had, but he was nowhere to be seen.  I walked back to the circulation room because I had forgotten something, and that's when I noticed him at the library's back door talking to one of my coworkers.  ARGH!  I started to walk away when that coworker ran towards me saying my name.  I stopped and turned back around and he told me that the librarian in charge told him we're not making cards now.  OK, I told my coworker, that's fine.  He then handed me the pen I let the homeless man.  In frustration I flung the pen into the circulation room and bolted out to the van before the guy could get a chance to see me.  Strike three.  This was a valuable lesson in not helping dopes.  I saw him sitting in front of the library as I left.  I couldn't even look at him.  Never help dopes.

I wanted to finish up work at 3pm, so I could go home enamors by home by 4pmish.  Not just to head off the possible effects of the vaccine shot, but also to eat dinner early so I could talk to Nic online.  She, however, asked me if we could postpone it until tomorrow or Sunday.  She had to go into work, and was working late, and had a plumber coming over to get her toilet fixed, and and and.  Ha!  I was OK with that, since I really didn't get out of work until nearly 4:30pm.  And I stopped off to drop off some papers to a friend.  So yeah, I would not have had time to eat dinner.  Postponing our chat actually worked out for the better.  As I write this it's 7:02pm, and any time now I might start feeling achy and tired and sick.  She did say that she will likely not drink when we hang out.  Damn.

Saturday, March, 27, I went to bed early last night because I was feeling a little sleepy, but not too much.  I just wanted to rest after a long week.  I lay in bed feeling pretty good, except for my arm feeling a little sore.  Well, this morning I figured I would either be completely well, or feeling something.  I'm happy to report that I'm feeling fine.  No ill effects, so far.

I felt pretty good for most of the day, but after dinner my stomach felt a little on the queasy side.  I had a couple of loose "BMs," but nothing too bad.  All I know is that I didn't suffer the really bad symptoms associated with the vaccine.  Woo hoo!

Sunday, March, 28, I got to chat with Nic tonight.  We talked for a little less than two hours.  She caught me up with the last decade of relationships and work things.  I didn't have much to tell her.  What have I done in the last decade that feels like any kind of accomplishment?  I'm happy, but my art hasn't gone anywhere.  I take a lot of photos, but no one visits my website.  My social media hasn't grown all that much over the last couple of years.  I still don't have more than two hundred fifty followers on my photo page.  But, that's another story.  It was good to catch up with her.  It's been a while since we chatted.  I can't think how long it's been.

My aunt is always curious to listen to what I'm saying in my calls or other conversations.  Tonight was no different.  She went around to the living room through my Grandmother's old room.  She never goes that way.  She can barely walk right, yet she found the strength to get out of bed and go to the living room.  Probably to see if I had visitors, or something.  I fucking hate this shit.  A friend said that my aunt treats me like a teenager.  She's always checking up on me.  I don't know how she does it, but every time I even think of having a drink she will get out of bed.  As if there was a giant bell in the house that rings every time I have that "impure" thought.  I can't win.  I'm a grown man.  I pay my bills.  I dress myself.  I can take care of most situations.  Yet, my aunt still treats me like I'm some sort of fiend.  She spies on me, as I've shown many times.

Monday, March, 29, I have tacos in the morning most days.  For variety I've added chicken nuggets to the morning menu.  I don't have them every morning, but here and there.  Last night I noticed the package of tacos only had three tacos left.  I didn't want to open up the new package just to take out one taco, so I decided to take out some nuggets and place them in the container for tomorrow.  Cool.  Well, my aunt woke up early and decided to "help" me out with my breakfast.  A couple of weeks ago I had nuggets in with the tacos and my aunt insisted that the tacos were ready, but that the nuggets were not.  She cooked them longer, and all the while I'm fuming because she was going to make me late for work.  I had to wolf down my nuggets.  Not fun.  This time when I got out of the shower I placed the tacos in with the nuggets that she already had in the oven.  Predictively the nuggets were nice and warm, and the tacos were just barely warm.  If she had just placed them all in at the same time I wouldn't even be writing about this.  But, here we are.

Work went by fast today.  We were busy.  I had to throw in on the curbside pick up the last hour or so.  But that's OK, it was just warm out.  I like it when Mondays go by fast.  I hate Mondays.

My buddy O came over tonight after work.  We went to get some food and shoot the shit.  He was telling me how his wish is to retire in Morro Bay.  Man, that's a nice dream.  It's super nice up in that part of the state.  Not that I want to start thinking that far in advance, but I know I won't be attached to anyone by that time.  And maybe I could share the costs of things with him up in Morro Bay.  I don't know, it's a thought that passed through my head for a moment.

Tuesday, March, 30, When I got off the elevator at work today I noticed that a piece of the art work hanging from the ceiling had fallen down.  I'm surprised it took this long for it to fall.  Oh well.

Mala asked me and a coworker to follow her because she wanted to talk to us about moving some things out of the side hallway and taking them out of the way of patrons.  See, the library is getting ready to reopen next month, and they are slowly getting things ready.  I was in charge of moving the items that had to do with the curbside service.  While Mala was in the middle of talking to us my phone rang.  A few moments later I checked my watched and the notification that my aunt had called came up.  I was just about to start with the clean up work, but I figured I would call her back.  I called home and found that the answering machine didn't answer.  That means she as on the line.  A few minutes later I called again, this time the answering machine picked up.  I wasn't sure what was going on, but I could see on the security camera that my aunt was indeed close to the phone.  She was in the kitchen, only a few feet from the main phone and the phone in her room.  It would have only been a moment to have her get to the phone.  OK.  I figured I would try later.  I don't know if it was ten or more minutes later, but I tried again.  This time I checked the security camera as I called her.  I could see on the camera that she was sitting at the kitchen table.  Yet, she didn't answer.  I could see her phone, which has a long extension, on the kitchen table RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER.  There was NO excuse for her not answering.  After that I figured she just didn't want to talk to me.  OK, fine.  When I got home she finally told me what was SO pressing she couldn't wait until I got home to ask.  You know what she said?  She asked me when the last time she went to pick up her prescription was.  Wait, what?  THAT's why she's calling me in the middle of the day, at work, for?  She asked me a couple of weeks ago when it was a good time to call me while I was a work.  I told her I generally take lunch at noon, but not always.  She didn't call at noon, she called closer to 11:30am.  And I STILL don't understand why she didn't answer the phone when I called two times.  I was extremely frustrated and mad when she told me the reason why she was calling.  I don't have time to play around while I'm at work.  They expect me to work, not take personal phone calls about inane subjects.

I think I'm going to go back to blocking my home phone on my cell phone.  This to keep me from dealing with my aunt.  I don't need her calling me while I'm at work, unless it's a real emergency.  But that time she was feeling super sick a couple of years ago she didn't call me.  It turned out she had pneumonia and it was my cousin's kids coming home and finding her passed the fuck out in her bed that triggered them into taking her, literally carrying her, to the emergency room.  THAT was a time she should have called me to say she wasn't feeling well.  Instead she tried to "tough it out."  Yeah, no way she would have "toughed it out" with two infections running through her body.  They had to mainline antibiotics into her system in order to flood it with as much as possible.  That's how bad she was.  But did she call that day?  Nope.  She's calling me about bullshit like what day she went to pick up her prescription instead.  Fucking shit!

I hate living like this.

After all that phone drama I put myself to just concentrating on finishing up my task of moving the curbside stuff into the circulation work room.  I think over the next few weeks I need to start moving things around in the circulation office.  Things need to be organized.  But, then now that I think about it... fuck it.  Ain't my job, ain't my responsibility.

What I think I will end up doing a lot more is tossing trash into the trash.  Today I took a bunch of lost and found items that have been in the lost in found since long before the pandemic closed us up.  It was time to toss them. And it's going to be time for a lot of other things to get tossed.

Wednesday, March, 31, When I write these journal entries it can be a couple of days after the facts, or it can be literally moments after.  And, sometimes it's as it happens.  I know I make a lot of mistakes, so you'll have to excuse me for that.

The time is 9:27pm.  I spend about two and a half hours waiting in the ER for news about my aunt.  She fell.  She had her appointment for her second vaccine shot and while crossing the street to get something to eat she fell.  She made the mistake of thinking she had to see the doctor today, but she only needed to go get the vaccine.  She gets confused a lot these days.  That's why she ended up having to cross the street, in order to get some food.  She went to the doctor afterward and that's when she realized she didn't have to go there today.  So she waited outside until the CityRide bus came and picked her up.  But, like I said, she got hungry in the meantime and went to get food.

I got a phone call from my cousin saying that my aunt had fallen.  My aunt called the neighbor, and she called me.  Talk about a game of telephone.  Anyway, I talked to my aunt, and she seemed fine, but our neighbor said that it might be a good idea to call the doctor.  I did, and the nurse there asked my aunt some questions and from that he said that it would be a good idea to take her to the ER to have them perform a MRI.  So, I got on my horse and made it home, dropped Chan off and picked my aunt up from down the street.  My neighbor didn't want to leave her alone, so she took her with her to a class one of her kids attend.  It was right up the street on Ventura.  I picked up my aunt, came home to get her insurance information, and then too her to the ER.

They examined her, and told me to wait in the waiting room.  No visitors due to Covid.  A little over two hours later a nurse came out and told me that my aunt was being admitted due to low sodium levels in her blood.  Not sure how that happens, but it might explain why she fell.  I called TheGirl and she told me her father suffered from that, and that's when he was starting to fall a lot.  So yeah, my aunt will be there overnight.  Hopefully not much longer than that, but who knows.  I wonder how much of this was the vaccine.  I don't think it was much of a factor, because she's been acting slow and sluggish for long time.  And that's one of the symptoms of having low sodium.

I'm glad she's in the hospital.  I was afraid after getting her second shot of the vaccine that she might be really sick.  This way she can be in the care of professionals as the vaccine works its thing on her body.  I hope she's OK.  She has her cell phone with her, but I don't want to call her just yet.  Maybe tomorrow.

Obviously due to this I didn't have dinner with TheGirl.