Afterthoughts : This Past Month

This is the two hundred fortieth issue of this little "newsletter" journal thing, which marks the twentieth year anniversary.  Although, Elsewhere didn't really become a daily journal until March 2011.  I have been doing this longer than pretty much anything I've done.  As I enter the third decade of this journal thing I think about how I like being able to record these things.  Mainly because I do forget more things these days.  But anyway, on with the update.

Thursday, July, 1, My aunt still doesn't look super good, to say the least.  But, she is moving around and doing things.  It's just that she does them slowly.  The heat certainly doesn't help, but then again when I get home I find her in her room, laying down, with her sheets on top of her.  Not only that, but the room is like a sauna.  I don't know why she likes suffering like that.  It's like this has this idea that she has to suffer.  I still feel that she isn't taking her meds properly, but I don't have any actual evidence since I'm not home all day.

Friday, July, 2, In the early morning the guys from the city came in and took down the art installation that represented the deaths in California due to Covid.  I actually liked having the display up.  It wasn't some grand piece of artwork, but it was nice.  Oh well, time for new stuff to go up, or not.

My aunt hasn't been feeling well this week, and because of that and the heat she has not cooked much food for me to take into work.  Fine by me.  But, of course that means I have to find something to eat while on the route.  I usually go to the Burger King up in Montrose, but lately their burgers have been really dry.  In pandemic times it was a little better.  Therefore, today I notified the route in order for me to be close to this place called Broadway Burger on San Fernando road.  I took it to Adams Square and had my lunch there.  I can't say that the burger was the best, but it was better than Burger King.  I have cold cuts at home, I should have made myself a sandwich.  Oh well.

The Comfort Women statue was moved today.  The new Armenian-American museum is going to have a groundbreaking next week, so the Comfort Women statue had to be moved.  They put her facing the library now.  I'm not sure why they had to move the statue, other than the construction is going to start some time soon.

Saturday, July, 3, TheGirl and I spoke earlier in the week about how it had been a long time since we had gone down to Downtown Disney.  Obviously pre-covid was the last time we visited.  Now that things are opening it we felt it was time.  We originally made plans to go next week, but she was free this week so we decided to head out there today.  It worked out near perfect.  We figured we would go to Trader Sam's first thing.  When we arrived there was an employee telling the people in front of us that the interior bar didn't open up until 4pm.  That meant that we would have to sit outside or go somewhere else.  We decided to stay and wait.  Which was good because we got to sit at the bar and in the shade.  The weather was nice in the shade.  It was warm in the sun, for damn sure.

We started off the first round of our day drinking with some kind of Mai Tai (see above) that must off been on the "secret menu."  The bartender didn't skip on the alcohol, thankfully.  Second round was the same for TheGirl and a Manhattan for me.  It really hit the spot.  It was nice to be back at Trader Sam's.  The last time I went was nearly two years ago when I went with Emma.  Like I said, it was nice to be back.  Of course we never get a chance to go sit inside anymore.  That's part of the fun.  I guess we'll have to arrive super early for that.  But if they open at 4pm, there's no way we can make it.  TheGirl says that her brother can get us into the park for free.  She also wants to stay at the Grand Californian, which is nice and expensive.  But, again, her brother could get us a discount that could make it much more manageable.  Of course I'm down for that.  He arrives in Los Angeles tomorrow, so we'll see.

After drinks at Trader Sam's the two of us were getting hungry.  Our first choice was to try and get into Black Tap burger.  The line there was too long, so we tried to find a plan B.  We walked around to check out a few other places.  We ended up in the hotel to see if there was a seat at the Craftsman bar.  When we got there they were telling a couple that they were only taking people that already had reservations.  We then went to the grill, but TheGirl didn't see anything on the limited menu that she liked.  Our next move was to return to Downtown Disney to see what we could find there.  We checked out Ballast Point Brewing, but once again TheGirl didn't find anything she wanted.  Not that I was overwhelmed with anything either.  Our final destination was the Uva bar, where there was food that was just good enough.  So we sat there and ordered up some booze and food.  TheGirl had a veggie burger and I had fish tacos.  They hit the spot.

After eating we had to head back to TheGirl's house, because she did not have the A/C running and it was getting warm.  Too warm for Cheyenne.

Sunday, July, 4, One of my friends let me a movie to watch.  I feel bad that I haven't watched the other movie we were talking about, because I actually own that movie.  But, I figured I would watch the movie he let me today.  The movie is called "The Narrow Margin."  I watched it outside.  It was pretty good.  I liked it.

In other news, my aunt isn't looking good today.  I went to get some fast food and when I got back I started to eat and she just picked at her food.  She only ate a few pieces of the food.  She also just looks bad, like the room is spinning or something.  I don't know why she's like this.  I keep thinking it's because of her meds, but at this point I don't know anything.

I always like finding little errors in movies.  Tonight I noticed that the detective in the movie checks his gun at one point and there aren't any bullets in the gun.  Ha!

I went up to my roof during the night to see if I could see any fireworks.  No luck.  I could hear the fireworks going off, but as you can see from the picture above, none in sight.  My neighbors were setting off fireworks, but nothing that flew up into the air.

Monday, July, 5, What to say about today?  Today was an extra day off, which I like.  If it wasn't so warm today I would have loved it.  I spent the middle of the day inside my room.  I wanted to do something, but I ended up just laying on my bed and eventually falling asleep at some point.

My aunt is still not looking 100%.  Today she asked me to get some soup from California Chicken Cafe.  She had half, which isn't unusual.  But, she still has half of her chicken bowl from yesterday.  I'm hoping that doubling up her meds will make her feel better.

I'm currently sitting in my backyard, thinking about sleep tonight.  I woke up from the nap today feeling strange.  Like I was tired and my stomach felt like it was burning.  Not good.  I had an antacid, and I felt better.

Hate to say that I'm honestly looking forward to going to work tomorrow.  Having the day off is cool, but not so much having to deal with my aunt.  When she was in the hospital for two weeks it was a bit easier with certain things.  If you take the fact that I was worried about her, my days were pretty chill.  I fed myself.  Had yummy wine during the day.  I cleaned, and was generally productive.  I don't want anything to happen to my aunt, but I do wish she would just stay out of my hair on my days off.

As it is I'm definitely going to be going out on the weekends.  Either to take pictures or to hang out.  I like my time at home, but I also spent this last year and a half cooped up.  I think I've had my fill of being at home for a while.

Tuesday, July, 6, I pulled into the parking structure at work and found that I couldn't drive down to the lower levels where I usually park.  They were directing everyone to the upper levels.  Years ago I would park up there.  But I hated parking there once they redid the exit.  Now I exclusively park in the lower levels.  But, as I said, not today.  I drove up and wondered what the deal was.  Sometimes they're cleaning that area, but today I noticed that there were these 2x4s all over the place, holding up part of the structure.  There were these 2x4s on every floor.  I stopped at the third floor, but they continued to at least the forth floor.  I'm wondering in light of the situation of that condo complex in Florida, if this parking structure is suffering from some structural damage.  And, I'm wondering if it's going to collapse.  Hopefully not with me or my car in it.  But who is to know, right?  No one says anything.  And even if they did, it takes time for these things to work themselves out.  No one is ever in a rush to right such wrongs.  It's always, "Oh, let's take time to figure this out."  Never.  It's always, "We'll figure it out... eventually."  Meanwhile this place might be a death trap.

One of the pages rides his bike to work.  He lives in Burbank and he's young.  Today I was in the dock area when he comes in through the dock doors.  I asked him what he was doing there and he tells me, "They told me I can't park my bike upstairs anymore."  WHAT THE FUCK!?  The place where this page used to park his bike is behind the Cerberus machine.  It is literally away from EVERYONE.  You have to go around the entire machine in order to be where he used to park his bike.  It was in NO ONE's way.  But, the fucking powers that be, Mala and the new temporary circulation manager, told him that he needed to find another place to park his bike.  Now he parks it next to the broken elevator, near some chairs that have been cornered next to said elevator (shown above).  This is some next level micromanaging bullshit.  I hate this kind of penny ante bullshit.

Bundy brought up last week that he bought a print from me about eight years ago.  I honestly don't remember that at all.  Then again, it has been eight years.  Well, today he brought it in so I could sign it.  He told me that he was going to get it framed some time soon.  Well, he did have eight years to get that done already.  Ha ha!  Better late than never.

Becks sent out an email with the reference desk schedule for the month of July at San Marino.  I came out pretty good.  I'm only on the desk five hours a week.  That's seven hours off desk time.  Es bueno, as I like to say.  Of course it does come with a tiny catch.  I have to be a sub for people on the weekends.  I'm allowed to not work a regular weekend shift, but I would have to come in once in a while for coverage.  I guess that can work.

Wednesday, July, 7, Today was the day I got to start working with TheNewCute at San Marino.  It's funny how some people come into your life in a moment and they're in your life so much in that little amount of time.  Now TheNewCute and I will be at the different but same jobs at the same time and more often.  It may give us more time to talk, but at the same time it may not.  I guess we'll see.  But yeah, in such a short time I went from not knowing her to now working with at at both my jobs.

I showed her around the big desk today.  Mostly I showed her how hectic it can get on the desk.  The first crisis of the day was the iPad class not being set up for the participants.  The class is being held at the San Marino center next door, and not the usual spot of the conference room upstairs.  Not sure why they couldn't be in the conference room, but for whatever reason they just weren't allowed there.  The San Marino center has a room called the Fireplace room, where they are holding the class.  When Becks, TheNewCute and the head librarian showed up at the room we found that it wasn't ready for the class.  We had to scramble to get tables and chairs all set up.  Then, after the class was over there was a question about whether the iPads would stay with the people in the class.  Not sure why there was a question since the description of the class said that they would keep them for the duration of the class.  AGHG!

After that I had to help the ladies of the Friends of the Library access their email account.  One of the ladies that created the account had her phone on the account, so we couldn't recover the account without that special access code.  We finally got everything coordinated and all set.  Crisis three, averted.

It was a busy morning, and I got a lot done, but I don't think I showed TheNewCute that much on the desk.  There's still time.  I think she gets to shadow me on the desk next week.  She dressed up nice on my advice of not looking like a bum.  A bum like the clerks look.  They can be more bum-like.  The reference staff has to look a little bit nicer.  I know she'll dress up nice.

TheNewCute is super nice.  I already told her that many of the patrons will likely get a big crush on her.  This might be something new to her on the reference desk, but she's a smart cookie.  She'll figure it out.  Next week I'll show her more of the ropes.  The secret ropes.

TheGirl and I went to the Counter tonight.  It really is our favorite place to go for dinner.  I usually get some yummy food and I don't have to eat bad Italian food.  Overpriced, bad Italian food, like at at Novo, or Reno's, or Ciao.  TheGirl likes all of those, but I only get a good meal from those places less than half of the time.  It's bullshine.  Of course Cheyenne begs for food.  My running joke is that TheGirl doesn't feed poor Cheyenne and that's why she begs so much.  But come on, who wouldn't want to have some bacon?  And just look at that picture above.  She has drooled all over my pants.  Ha ha!  So adorable.

When I got home I noticed on my feed that the L.A. Conservancy had reposted one of my photos that I took while on a walk with TheGirl after dinner (see above).  What a thrill.  I hope this means more people will go to my account and follow me.

Thursday, July, 8, FireGirl mentioned today that she may be getting a promotion, which means she wouldn't be at the window anymore.  She would still be at the fire station, but in a separate building.  In short, I wouldn't see her all the time.  I would have to make the effort to go to the other building.  I wished her good luck, but part of me hopes she doesn't take the other job.  I forgot to mention that they're going to let her "try out" the job for two weeks.  If she likes it the job is hers.  If she doesn't she can just stay where she is now.  I suspect that she will take the other job.  She did say that the new girl that would replace her is cute and, "Single."  OK.  We'll see.

As I was loading up the book bins into the van I noticed a really cute girl, that works at Trader Joe's, walking across the street.  I joked a while back to Vagabundo that I needed to have a calendar featuring the girls from Trader Joe's.  I mean, I don't have any chance with any lady these days.  But it is nice to see these nice ladies everywhere I go.  And really every lady does look super nice to me these days.  I think many took the pandemic to get in really good shape.  Unlike me, who just grew and grew my fat belly more during the pandemic.  Alas, a girlfriend and a calendar featuring the pretty girls that work at the Montrose Trader Joe's are but pipe dreams.

Friday, July, 9, These days I seem to be spending a lot of work time around TheNewCute.  Case in point, today.  I was tasked with picking up some posters from the Perkins building.  I went over there and they had me about four small frames, maybe 11x16 inches, and two really big ones that were about 2'x 4'.  The small ones I didn't need to much help with, but I did ask TheNewCute if there was a book truck near her.  That was enough to have her offer her help with the frames.  She took the small ones up to Admin, and I took the larger ones using a hand cart.  Easy, peasy.  But yeah, it was nice to spend this time around TheNewCute.  Afterward she and I were talking while going through some of the book donations (see above).  I was looking for books for the little free library, and she was just looking in general.

TheNewCute is super nice.

The route was pretty standard today, as it seems to be every day.  I finished up and got out of Dodge.  On my way out I noticed the little notification button on the "Teams" app.  Teams is what is used at Glendale for communication and sharing files.  It's not the only way to contact people, but it does have a chat function that some people prefer to use instead of email.  I used to have it so that I would get a notification on my lock screen for this Teams bullshit.  But, I thought about it and thought it was stupid.  Mainly because I would get random notifications at all times of the night, when I wasn't at work.  No thank you.  But, the little notification button did have me curious.  I had replied to something a coworker posted early in the morning, so I thought that it would in relation to that reply.  Nope.  It was a whole new message that one for the clerks from the children's room sent me.  You can read above what it said, but I'll repeat it here.  It says, "Are you aware that kits 9, 10, 11 are supposed to be delivered to Brand and Montrose today?"  First off, no.  No one told me anything.  Not in Teams, not via email, not verbally.  Nothing.  And the head children's librarian could have told me this fact to my face yesterday during our little meeting about the other boxes that need to go out to the high schools.  Oh well.  As always, we'll figure it out.

My buddy and I had not hung out since, of course, before the pandemic.  It was actually in February of 2020.  Ah, 2020... you were the worst.  2021 has you beat by a country mile.  Anyway, he asked me yesterday if I wanted to go get some food.  Sure, I told him.  It was finally time to get out and have some fun.  We went to Stout burger in Studio City.  We've been there a few times before.  We ordered up some burgers and onion rings and had a good time just shooting the breeze.  It had been a long time.  I know I get to see him at work all the time, but it's good to see people outside of work.  We wrapped things up fairly early since I had work tomorrow, and I also still had to get somethings from the grocery store.

Saturday, July, 10, I told my supervisor at San Marino that I didn't want to work on Sundays anymore.  I was, "Unavailable," I told her.  She appreciated that, but also needs coverage.  She told me that she respected my "Seniority" there and the years of service, so she wasn't going to force me to work on weekends.  But, she wanted me to cover people that may call out.  OK, I said, that's fair.  Of course first week that we're open on the weekends and they needed coverage.  Thankfully it wasn't that bad today.  When I walked up I did get a bit of a fright when I saw who I thought was "Smelly Lady" in the parking lot.  As seen above, she was literally parked in front of the library.  I hoped that she wouldn't go inside the library, but was expecting it throughout the shift.  She never went inside.  She stayed outside in the same spot from the time I arrived to after I left.  The reason why we call her Smelly Lady should be obvious... she smells of urine.  A powerful smell that goes up your nose and into the back of your throat.  Yuck.  Thankfully she didn't come into the library at all.  The circulation supervisor mentioned that he went out to talk to her and sent the police to talk to her.  He said they offered her help, but she refused.  Sad.

Ilsa told me that she saw Marky Mark at the library the other day, and said that he was as annoying as ever.  I spotted him today (pictured above) just as I was in the community room checking on something.  Later, when I finally got on the reference desk, he asked me how I had been.  We chatted a bit.  He told me that he got the "J&J" shot, meaning Johnson and Johnson.  At least he isn't one of these vaccine deniers.  We spoke a little and then he went to use one of the computers.  He mainly talked to the other Mark.  Despite him being annoying, it was good to see that he was OK, that he survived this pandemic.  Deep down he's weird but he's a good guy.  I know some of the ladies don't think so, but I'm not a lady.

Thankfully my shift today wasn't that bad.  I think it was mostly because not too many people came into the library.  They really didn't make a big deal to publicize the opening up on weekends.  Which is good.  They actually didn't have the time because the new hours were something that was last minute.  Now when I cover a shift in two weeks things may be different, but I guess we'll see then.

While on the desk I went online and checked out social media.  On social media there was an entry from the Huntington saying that they were going to open in the evenings.  The Huntington usually closes up before sundown, but they're opening up in the evenings from 4:30pm to 8pm.  Of course during this time of the year it's still super bright out at 4:30pm, and even 8pm.  Still, it should be cool either way.  I ordered some tickets for July 31st and asked TheGirl if she wanted to go.  I wasn't sure who to ask.  But, TheGirl is good for these sort of things.

Sunday, July, 11, I was on social media when the above picture came up.  It was posted by a restaurant named Basil that I visited on a couple of trips up to Carmel.  Good times.  That pizza looks REALLY good.  Makes me think I REALLY need to start thinking of going up there on a trip.  I wonder if I could make plans for Thanksgiving.  Hmmm.

I haven't been up to Carmel and Monterey in... let me think... in many years.  I think it's been since 2018.  Shit, that's too long.  There was a point where I was going there every year, and sometimes multiple times in a year.  Then that one year I was going to go to San Francisco.  Then that was canceled because I worried about my aunt's health.  And then Covid.

Monday, July, 12, I had to return to the lawyer's office this morning with my aunt.  He has new offices in Reseda now, and they are nice.  Only problem is he didn't have the paperwork ready yet.  He said, "They should be ready by tomorrow, after 10am."  I told my aunt that I can't make it tomorrow, and that we'll come back next week.  No way I'm doing this again only to be told once more, "Not today, but tomorrow."  I usually start work at 9:30am, but I wasn't too late since I arrived at 9:45am.  This is despite going to get gasoline and getting booze at the market.  Good times.

A few months ago they said they were going to replace the water fountain with a new water bottle dispensing fountain.  At the time I asked if there would be a combination device that had the traditional fountain along with the bottle dispenser.  No, I was told, just the bottle dispenser.  I told them I thought that was a bad idea, because people will still want to just get a small drink, rather than fill a whole bottle.  Also, not everyone carries a bottle around.  I know I do, but not everyone does.  Sure enough, now that we're reopen the solution has been found for the many complaints that we've gotten about not being able to get a drink (see above).  They simple put out some cups.  Which in a pandemic seems to be a bad idea, but what do I know? 

Tuesday, July, 13, Today Tony and I had to take a "million" boxes over to Glendale high school.  Last week we were told that we were to take half of a bunch of boxes to GHS and the other half to Hoover high school.  Well, those plans changed to only delivering this ton of boxes to Glendale high.  Good.  Today we took half of the full load to the high school.  It wasn't super difficult, but with the heat it was not easy.  We have to do this delivery again next week.  ARGH!

My aunt made lentil soup for me to have for lunch.  That's not a stick to your ribs meal, so I picked up two small burgers and a Coke.  The total come out to $6.66.  I didn't write about it then, but a couple of weeks ago one of the ladies that works there saw that the total was $6.66 and went ahead and gave me a one cent discount, so the total would be $6.65.  Can you believe that?  How funny.

FireGirl will most likely take a promotion.  That means she won't be at the fire house window any more.  She told me that she wanted to introduce me to the new lady, Monica.  Today was the day I got to meet her (see above).  FireGirl said she was "cute" but I can't say she's cute.  I did find her attractive though.  I guess we'll see where this goes.  I say that because FireGirl mentioned that she was single.  Ha ha.  Of course terrible me is, as the kids say, down to fuck.

Wednesday, July, 14, TheNewCute shadowed me on the desk again today.  I don't know if I'm actually showing her any ropes, so to speak, but she's "learning" what it's like to be on the reference desk.  I guess that's good.  She already knew that this job requires you to be a Jack of all trades.  A patron came up to me and asked me if I could turn on the computer.  Of course the computer isn't off, it's just that the screen goes dark to conserve power.  I giggled the mouse and the screen came on.  On a side note, I love how some patrons come in to use the computer every day and NEVER seem to have any accumulated knowledge about the machine they use.  How does this guy not see that all I did was giggle the mouse to wake up the computer and tell himself, "Maybe I should try THAT before I bother asking for help for the umpteenth time."  Nope, that never happens.

Back to the subject... TheNewCute noticed that the computer tables were filthy and went on a quest to find something to clean them with.  We ended up in the janitor's closet finding some lemon scented spray whatever that "cleans" wood surfaces.  The both of us went about cleaning the unattended desks, leaving the ones being used for another day.  TheNewCute brings a nice energy to things in general, but also to my life.  Interacting with people of different aces gives you access to their wisdom and their energy.  TheNewCute certainly has an abundance of energy.  I mean, why not, she's twenty-six.  Boy, when I was that age I lost my Mom to cancer.  I was nothing.  After her death I was even more aimless than before.

She did her best to keep the realties of life from crushing me, like they probably crushed her.  She was a single mother... divorced after a failed marriage.  She would tell me that the best thing that ever happened to her was me.  I grew up fast after she passed away, but really more after my Grandmother passed away.  After my mother my Grandmother became my protector from the world.  When she passed away I had to get a job... a real job... to make ends meet.  Now, I like to think that I'm a responsible adult.  I don't think like an adult, but I have the responsibilities of an adult.  I look at TheNewCute now as someone who has her whole life ahead of her.  I'm past the halfway point, for sure.  That doesn't mean that I don't have some living to do, because I do.  I'm rambling now, mainly because I had a couple of shots of whiskey right after jerking off.  I didn't want to drink tonight, but the whiskey called me.  Anyway... I like TheNewCute.  Being around her brings an energy that I haven't known in a LONG time.

Growing up touching a girl's breast was one of the things I instinctively wanted to do.  Whenever a woman brushed up against me with her chest it did bring some sort of excitement.  Just from the very fact that a girl is touching you.  It isn't anything sexual to them, because I'm sure it happens all the time.  However, to a young man it means the world.  Now that I'm an old man it doesn't mean anything but the fact that the lady got close enough to touch.  But, when you like the girl any little touch does get magnified.  Today TheNewCute was helping me out with a little side project I had.  I've been trying to find out the mystery of the outside speakers at the San Marino library.  I told TheNewCute about this and she said, "Let me see if I can figure it out."  She then said it was beyond her knowledge.  There was a point where I was showing her the iPad that we use to control the system and she leaned in closer.  That's when she brushed up against me.  I reacted in my brain, but I tried not to move either back or forth.  I finally did move away from her body.  Because, as much as I like her I don't want to be thought of as a masher who tries something with her.  It's such a minor thing, but TheNewCute does make me feel alive.  Her energy is infectious.  I do wish I could kiss her, but she's attached.  It's natural to find someone attractive.  However, I've been that guy before that didn't care about cheating as long as I got mine.  Look, I like TheNewCute, but I don't want to be some cad that looks to break up relationships.  If, for some reason, TheNewCute and her fella break up then I would naturally want to be with her.  I just don't want to be the guy that makes a pass at her while she's in love with a good guy that never did me any wrong.  In short, it was just the brush of a body part against one of my body parts.  I feel that I should just focus on being a mentor to TheNewCute.  She doesn't know much about art, and perhaps science.  I love both those things.

DrDeath sent out an email pertaining to the reopening of some of the branch libraries.  Many of us have been waiting for his email since the time that we reopened Central.  Well, now part of the mystery is settled.  Casa Verdugo and the Grandview branches will be opening up on August 2nd.  The other branches will likely open up some time in September.  I'm not sure how they're going to man these locations, they are still short in staff.  But, I guess they don't really care about that.  There are also going to be moves in personnel.  Bundy thought he was going to be going to Central, but it looks like he's going to be staying at Grandview and also splitting his time there and at Casa Verdugo.  The other full timers haven't told me where they're going, but I suspect most of them are going to stand pat as well.  They were asked to answer a survey a couple of weeks ago stating what locations they would like to be sent.  Of course it was used to just dick them around.

TheGirl and I went to a restaurant that I hadn't been to in over a year.  They renamed it since the closure before the pandemic to "Michael's on Riverside."  They added a burger to the menu.  It turned out to be pretty good.  I cleaned my plate.

TheGirl mentioned that she's lonely.  She's mentioned this in the past.  We talked about how she needed a hobby.  She said she isn't interested in anything.  And then gave me a few more excuses for not trying something like painting, for instance.  She says to me, "Where am I supposed to put my painting supplies."  She's always been anal about space and having things in certain places.  Anyway, I shut my mouth after that suggestion, because I knew that it was futile to make any more suggestions.

Thursday, July, 15, I came home tonight and looked into the fridge to see what I could eat for dinner tonight.  There was some rice in the fridge that has been there for a while.  I felt bad, so I took it out and as I opened it a sour smell came up to my nose.  Yeah, it went bad.  My aunt NEVER throws out any of the food in the fridge.  She used to at least sweep the fridge every once in a while.  But ever since she came back from the hospital this last time she doesn't seem interested in checking to see if the food we have has gone bad.  And it goes bad all the time.  This is the same reason why it did before, she makes too much food.  I told her to make smaller batches.  I don't eat as many meals at home as she thinks I do.  On weekends we always eat take-out.  Yet, when she cooks she still cooks as if she's cooking for a large family.  We're two people that don't even always eat the same food.  I feel horrible throwing away food.  I'm lucky that I have food in abundance.  But she insists on making too much of it, and then doesn't throw it out when it's bad.

I came home from work and I went to my aunt's room to announce that I had arrived.  As I walked into her room I noticed that the fan was on, which is unusual.  But the way the fan was facing was more unusual.  She had the fan blowing air away and on to the wall, instead of facing her.  This, totally defeats the purpose of the fan being on.  I guess you can say that it's possible that some circulation is happening.  But, my aunt seems to think the simple act of turning on a fan cools down an area.  This is why she will often put a fan in my room while another fan is already on in my room.  Earlier this week she put a fan facing the fan I already have on in my room.  Not sure what magic is supposed to happen in that situation.  Because no actual cooling is going on.  All that's happening is that the air is moving.

Then, as I was eating dinner, my aunt comes up and tells me that we need to replace the microwave oven because the food that she's reheating in it is coming out "sour" tasting.  Ah, what?  That's not how anything works.  I feel that she's just losing it.  This is assuming she ever had it.  What's probably happening is that she's eating that spoiled food in the fridge.  Yuck!

Friday, July, 16, Friday was pretty much standard for me.  The fucking heat really got to me, of course.  At the end of the day TheNewCute was getting ready to leave while I was checking on my email.  We said our good byes and she left.  A few minutes later she came back, since she had forgotten something.  When she walked behind me she took her fingers and made them into a walking figure, with two fingers representing a person's legs.  She crossed my back with her fingers.  I'm not saying this means anything but general affection.  However, it did feel nice.

Sunday, July, 18, My aunt wanted Pollo Loco for lunch yesterday.  I don't like Pollo Loco, because the chicken is always super dry.  I've never really liked Pollo Loco, but there was a time when they weren't so bad.  That was a long time ago.  Now you order something it's going to be dry.  My aunt ordered a classic burrito, and I ordered up some of their "Street tacos."  While the street tacos aren't the best, they are certainly better than most of what they serve up these days.  I finished my tacos yesterday, but my aunt only ate about a third of the burrito.  Today for breakfast she heated up the rest of her burrito.  Good, I thought.  I reheated the second half of my egg and ham sandwich that I got for breakfast yesterday.  Just as I was finishing up my sandwich my aunt turns and gives me half of the rest of the burrito she had on her plate. When she sat down I noticed that she cut the burrito in half.  Hmm, I thought, if you're going to eat that whole thing why cut it in half.  I should have known she was going to pull this bullshit.  Sure enough, she's placing the piece of the burrito on my plate. Mind you, I'm full, and I'm protesting this move as she's making it.  Doesn't stop her at all.  I was so thoroughly disgusted that I could not go on sitting there.  No means no.  I was so mad at her actions that I got my plate and took it to the kitchen and then went into my room to get my clothes in order to take a shower.  Fucking bullshit!

Monday, July, 19, For what I think is the third week in a row my aunt and I have gone to her lawyer to pick up some paperwork.  And for the third time in as many weeks the lawyer says the paperwork isn't done.  This time he said that he wanted to call my aunt, but that he didn't have her phone number.  Bullshit!  I don't know why my aunt didn't call him last week.  So here I am, the sucker that keeps falling for the same old gag.  The lawyer did tell us to call on Wednesday so we could be sure the paperwork was finished.  That way we don't go again and go away empty handed.  I like that idea.  I'm going to tell my aunt to call him Thursday if he doesn't call on Wednesday.

While on the reference desk today I got an itch to check out the price of rooms for Carmel in November during Thanksgiving.  I REALLY want to go up there.  If only to get away from all the bullshit here.  If I book today the price is $560 for a three night stay.  I have that.  I still worry about my aunt, but at the same time I can't be deferring my life for her.

Chan and I visited TheGirl tonight after work.  She mentioned that she has an appointment to get vaccinated tomorrow.  Woo hoo!  I'm super happy.  The number of cases reached 2,100 per day as of yesterday.  That's insane.  And 99% of those entering the hospital are unvaccinated.  That statistic alone should make anyone unsure about the vaccine immediately sure that it is effective.

When I got home tonight my aunt asked me if the orange chicken I ordered yesterday, but that she didn't get a chance to eat because my cousin came by with food, was actually chicken.  She thought that it, "Didn't taste like chicken."  Ah... it's chicken, I told her.  It certainly doesn't have the texture of texture of beef.  I'm not sure what is going on with her, because she continues to say some crazy shit.

Tuesday, July, 20, Last week my coworker and I had to sweat it out to take some stupid boxes to the school district.  That was only HALF of the amount to be taken.  Actually, a less than half of the boxes that needed to be taken to the district.  Well, today was the day we were going to have to take the rest of that junk to the district.  I got up at 5am in order to get to work an hour earlier than what I usually start.  We packed the second van with boxes and were ready to head out when my coworker suggested that I call the district to tell them we're on our way.  That's when the guy tells me, "Can we reschedule for next week?"  I laughed, but inside I was livid.  I'm already pissed off at having to deliver these damn boxes.  I certainly didn't want to do this at all, but it's my job.  But the idea of now having to disembark all those boxes after just filling the van up was really irking me.  I talked to the children's librarian, who was coordinating this, and told her the news that this guy from the district wanted us to go next week.  She was as surprised as I was.  Today was also livid.  In short, we had no choice but to disembark all the boxes we had in the van.  We figured we could fudge it and not take the boxes out of the van we borrowed, but when we were leaving the guy from the garage said that he needed the van back Wednesday.  Which means Tony will have to disembark those boxes tomorrow.  Fuck all this shit.  When I got home I had the idea that perhaps we should take the boxes to the stupid schools, because it would make things easier for us.  Honestly, I just want to trash them all.  Or burn them.  I was texting TheNewCute about this and she said that maybe we should take them to the river and dump them there.  I like that idea.  Anything to not have to deal with these shit boxes anymore.  The children's librarian is going to see if we can take the boxes on Thursday.  I'm not holding my breath.

I sent TheGirl a text a little after 4pm to see how she did after her first vaccination.  She texts me back saying that she didn't go through with it.  She said that she had concerns about her breast implants interacting with the vaccine.  I went online and found that because the body is fighting off a perceived virus, so the lymph nodes swell up a bit.  If she was to go get a mammogram it may not be clear.  If that's been her concern all this time I think it's silly.  The swelling goes down in a few days after the doses.  So she could have both shots and about a week after that she should be good for a mammogram.  So she could wait a month to get it.  But, she keeps pushing both back.  I think that if she doesn't get one she should get the other.  But, from this point forward I'm not going to say anything to her.  She clearly isn't thinking straight about this.  I wish her doctor, who she called about this, had told her the importance of the vaccine over anything else right now.  Because how are you going to get a mammogram if you're not alive?  Like with so many other things in my life, I'm done caring.

I knew I had to wake up early today, but last night I had a hard time getting to sleep.  At one point I tried to have a nightcap, but I wasn't tired.  I figured a little porn might do the trick.  I didn't want to long session of jerking off for an hour or so.  But, I did want to enjoy it as well.  I knew exactly which porn star I wanted to watch, and that was Dana DeArmond (see above).  She is absolutely wonderful.  She has an incredible body, and body of work.  Honestly, I wish I could met her.

Wednesday, July, 21, TheNewCute was shadowing me on the desk today.  I'm pretty sure that I haven't shown her how to do anything on the reference desk.  I do like her company though.  I was talking to her about the artist Gustav Klimt and how their is a traveling showcase where his images are projected onto walls for an immersive experience.  I was telling her about how I didn't have anyone to go with, and magically she says, "I'll go with you."  Woo hoo!  I went ahead and bought the tickets for February 5th.  Nice!  Wish me luck.

Thursday, July, 22, Well, instead of next Tuesday or the Tuesday after that, the children's librarian negotiated that we could deliver the boxes of trash to the school district today.  So we went on our merry way to Glendale high and was FINALLY able to deliver these damn boxes.  I tell you, we were all ready to burn these boxes.

As a joke I told my coworker to stand in place as if he was holding a flamethrower or shotgun.  I told him I would Photoshop in a flamethrower and flames.  The above photo is the result.

That's it for this year.  I hope never to have a repeat of this stupid stuff again.  I'm too old for this bullshit.

TheLooker was talking to me today about the future... well, her future at the library.  She doesn't want to work there anymore.  But, a job is a job, and no one will hire her.  She was asked to work at the Chevy Chase branch, and she refused.  She told the supervisor that she didn't fell comfortable working there by herself.  They then called her bluff and asked if she was OK working at her old branch, Pacific Park.  She didn't have much of a choice but to say yes.  I don't get to see her much as it is.  Now I may see her even less.  Sucks.  I really want to ask her to hang out, but I'm a chicken.  And I suspect that she would say no.

Friday, July, 23, For a few weeks the big discussion around the library was where would the full timers end up after the administration made their decision.  Obviously this has been in the works for a while, since there aren't enough workers to cover all the branches back to the pre-pandemic levels.  I thought that the news was going to be broken during next week's all staff meeting.  Well, I was wrong.  The dummies upstairs threw us all a curve by emailing the changes this afternoon.

I had just finished lunch when both Vagabundo and TheNewCute texted me to check the work email.  Boom, there it was, an email from the assistant director telling the changes.  Here are some of the highlights.

* Jade is being sent to the Adams and Pacific Park locations.

* Junior is going to return to Central, and will split her time between circulation and the children's room.

* Bundy will be at Casa and Grandview for a bit, but then return to Central later in the year.

* Kerri, who works in administration, is going to move to Montrose.  The side note on this, that I didn't get to write about until now.  Kerri told me that she had been reprimanded for pointing out that several of the administrators that have come to Glendale over the last few years are, to use my word, Carpetbaggers.  She made a flip remark to someone that was checking social media sources showing that some of the people upstairs tend to jump jobs frequently.  She was written up for that remark.  Must have hit a nerve.  Now she's going to Montrose.  She told me yesterday that she had nothing to do in admin.  They were shutting her out, I'm sure.

The moves that are coming are going to have a big impact how the library system runs in the coming years.  Jade moving to a branch means he can't dick around anymore.  His diminished reach might mean he will be worse, but at the same time his influence to mess with people will be smaller.  This is definitely a positive.

Junior moving to Central is a push.  She's much calmer these days than when I started this job.  She has health issues that has slowed her down.  She is still quite vocal, but she doesn't have the influence she used to when she had the ear of the Circulation manager.

Bundy moving back to Central is a happy move for him.  It takes him out of Krishna's influence, and that alone will make him a happier worker.  He's kinda a goofus, but at the same time he does have some skills that can be used at Central.

Kerri moving to Montrose is a move that sadly had to happen since she isn't liked by those upstairs.  She's a good worker, and Montrose is chill.  She'll love it up there.  I certainly enjoyed my time up there, but that's a story for another day.

Overall some of these moves were necessary, but some just seem to be moves made to not have clicks in the system.  Krishna will return to Pacific and still have Adams.  They have put her in charge of the new bookmobile.  That's going to be a fail.  I wonder if she'll ask me to help with that though.  I guess time will tell.  It looks very much like the Casa Verdugo/Grandview branch manager will be someone from the outside.  Vagabundo and I both asked Ru if she was moving, and she said they didn't offer her the job of branch manager.  Gitmo is supposedly on the list, but I don't think they give it to him either.  Though I don't know for sure.  I guess I'll have to ask him next week.  But really it looks like someone from the outside is going to take that job over.  The admin dummies don't move people up from within.  They seem to always want to move someone from the outside to these positions.  Because that way the person will be loyal to them, and not to old alliances.  Oh well, I guess we'll see how the cookie crumbles.

Years ago I stopped eating at Carl's Jr. because they served me up one of their burgers with gross gray meat.  That was over five years ago when I went to one on Glenoaks ave for lunch while working the route.  The burger was so bad that I just threw it away and told myself never to return.  Well, today I didn't bring a lunch with me, because I usually treat myself to something on Fridays.  I don't know why I gave Carl's another shot, but I'm not going to anymore.  What a disappointment.  Oh, before I say anything, I did have their Santa Fe chicken sandwich a few months ago and it was still really good.  But I can't have it all the time because it cost me like $7 or $8.  Just for the sandwich.  Anyway, today I went by the Montrose Carl's Jr. and ordered me up a Super Star.  Fifteen years ago that burger was fucking great.  And it was big.  But, that was a long time ago.  Now they have really awful tasting meat.  I remember my buddy telling me that they were importing really cheap meat.  Yeah, I tasted it today.  Sad, because now all I have is the criss cut fries and the Santa Fe chicken sandwich as possible options if I go there.  I won't be going back.  Last week I treated myself to Chipotle, and the price was about $13 for a burrito, chips and a large drink.  The drink was a super yummy hibiscus lemonade.  I think I'll stick to Chipotle for my future Friday lunches.

Saturday, July, 24, Last night I was going to jerk off, but I had so much booze that I ended up passing out.  I woke up some time around 5am and went to bed at that time.  I know, this is some crazy shit.  I shouldn't mix drinking and jerking off, but the two feel so good together.  Having a little buzz while jerking off does feel amazing.  Now, I've yet to do that with a lady.  Talia wants me to come over, but she's been suffering from shingles.  Can't visit her while she's in pain.  Also, let's just say it, I'm an idiot.  Thinking another go around with Talia is going to be different from the previous times is dumb.  But, no one else is offering me companionship. 

Sunday, July, 25, This morning I had this notion that I may want to buy a pre-lit Christmas tree.  I only checked it out for a few minutes, because I wanted to get showered.  Still, I wonder if I should get a tree.  I say this every year that I want to buy a tree, but I always pass on it.  I guess I'll see if I want to deal with all the consequences of buying the tree.  That means that my aunt might as questions, and I don't want her asking questions.

I bought some condoms from an online store in order to be prepared for when I finally visit Talia.  I'm being optimist, for sure.  I could have just bought a couple of condoms at the store, but here I am buying a box of thirty-six.  At the moment that amount would last me for several lifetimes. 

I spend a lot of time in my backyard these days.  I actually spend more time in my backyard than in my room.  Especially when the weather is super nice, which it has been on many nights lately.  Sure, there are some hot days, but for the most part the backyard is nice and cooler than my room.

Also, and I think I've written about this before, my backyard has really become my sanctuary.  It's not a perfect backyard, to say the least, but I love it.  I wish I had more and nicer plants, but the plants I have are nice.  I wish I could afford to make it look like the entrance to the Enchanted Tiki room at Disneyland, but I have my tiki tumblers.

Monday, July, 26, I got up this morning and was surprised that there was rain on the ground.  I didn't believe it when the weather liars said that it might rain this morning.  Hell, I figured that rain would be out in the boonies, not here in my neighborhood.  But, I was wrong.  It was nice and cool as well.  But, it wasn't like there was a lot of rain.

About an hour before eating lunch I started to feel a little nauseous.  I wasn't sure what it was, but I usually feel this way because of my stomach.  But it wasn't this time.  Eventually I figured out it was that anxiety thing.  I looked in my gum box and saw that I didn't have my pill.  ARGH!  I also didn't have it in my murse.  I had to wait until I got home for me to take the pill.  In the meantime I was trying to champion through it today at work.  My supervisor was up north after getting stuck up there due to to her Tesla car having a blown out tire.  Apparently you can't just go to any tire store to replace those.  Those stupid cars.  Anyway, at first they said she would be back today by 5pm, but then they asked me if I could stay until 9pm.  Oh hell no.  I was feeling awful.  I didn't want to stay until 5pm.  Thankfully the new coworker was able to stay until closing and I was able to head home.  Once I took the pill I started to feel better, if not great.

I narrowed down my problem to once again drinking black tea.  About two months ago I bought a few tea and it was black.  Last week I was drinking black tea exclusively.  No more ginger lemon tea, I thought to myself.  I was tired of that flavor.  But, looks like I'll have to go back to that.  When I got home I dumped out the black tea I had.  I'm going to get some lemons and just put lemons in water as well as cold brew some light tea.

I hate feeling ill.

Tuesday, July, 27, I went to bed early last night, but I didn't have a good night's sleep.  I tossed and turned.  My neighbors from across the street decided to have a party.  I could hear it past 1am.  Normally I wouldn't even hear it, but last night I was not in a comfortable spot.  I was still suffering some ill effects of today's anxiety thing that made my heart race.  It wasn't racing at night, but I could not get comfortable.  I finally passed out at around 4am.  Well, I should clarify that I did pass out several times during the night, but the final time I did was around 4am.  When my alarm went off I just wanted to stay in bed.  I forced myself to get going after my second alarm warning.

I had some tacos for breakfast, which were the first things I ate in about twenty-four hours.  I ate a little bit of my salad yesterday during lunch, but I didn't have much.  Then when I got home I didn't have the appetite to have anything for dinner either.  The breakfast wasn't gourmet but it sure hit the spot.

We had another one of our useless all-staff meetings today.  I don't know how they do it, but each meeting is worse than than the last.  I know I say that all the time, but it really is a knack.

It's hard to see on the photo above, so I decided to transcribe what was on the power point slide.  These are the "goals" that they have for the library.

"Aspire to be an arts and culture destination in the Los Angeles region, reflecting its unique cultural composition, its history, and the influence of technology on its public spaces."

This is already a problem.  These dopes have been hammering this idea for the last few years.  That's why the department was officially changed to "Library, Arts and Culture," a few years ago.  They have a commission that works just on "arts and culture."  Meanwhile, I see nothing related to arts other than having people paint electrical boxes on every corner.  THAT's their BIG innovation, and that wasn't even something original.  That's something they saw other cities doing.  Culture is also a blank slate.  The only thing they can now point to is the new museum being built next to the library.  That does look like it will be a good piece of the culture puzzle.  Will it rise up to being a world class museum?  That remains to be seen.  I think it has a good chance, but that has NOTHING to do with what is going on in the commission.  That's an outside entity doing that.

I'll skip some things due to time, but I wanted to point out that bullet point number three and number six are basically the same thing.  They want to increase library visits and "awareness" of the library and the arts and culture commission.  Like any citizen cares about that shit.  This is just stroking themselves on such good job they're going to do.

"Increase community outreach with a focus on reaching nontraditional library users in South Glendale by expanding partnerships and designing and procuring an outreach vehicle, increasing market penetration in South Glendale census tracts by 15%."

THAT's quite a mouthful.  In short, they want to get a library mobile.  South Glendale is underserved.  I wonder where there are more Latinos in the city?  Could it be SOUTH GLENDALE!?  The one branch that could be said is in the Southern part of the city is the Adams Square branch.  And that is the smallest of the branches, and barely serves anyone.  But, it is rather busy, because that part of the city does want more services like the library.  When the city was first founded that part they're calling South Glendale now was an area called Tropico.  It's funny how in all those years the city didn't expand many of the services like libraries in that area.  There aren't even any fire stations near that area of the city.  There's an area West of the 2 freeway that has no libraries and no fire stations.  Yes, this is an underserved part of the city.  We'll see what happens with this book mobile.  Knowing them, it will be a fail.  They're putting Krishna in charge of it.  Fail.

"Remodel the children and teen areas at Central Library and develop a facilities master plan in order to prioritize future space needs and associated funding."

THIS is going to be the big fail.  I already see it coming from the renderings they made of the new teen and children's room.  The children's room renders show no books.  The books are moved to the corners and the main area is taken up by a play area.  I wish I had the renderings here to show you, it's going to be a shit show.  And typical of these dopes, they toss the books away for a McDonald's play land.  The teen area looks the same way, but there is actually less to fuck up there.  They so-called "Reading Spa" is going to be turned into the new teen area.  It's basically going from one kind of seating area to another kind of seating, and being renamed.  These are the two big projects that DrDeath is taking up.  I would hope he would do a good job, but this looks like a fail from jump.

The last twenty minutes of the meeting was so boring I just tuned it out.  Something about printing services.  ARGH!

The above picture is of the van at the end of the day.  There is a little bit of everything in that picture.  I had stuff from Krishna that needed to get to her new branch.  Then I had a projector and a screen.  And I also had the books coming back to Central, of course.  I also had some of those project bags that they hand out to kids.  And I also had some red bins that also needed to go back to Central.  It was a little bit of everything today, and it was tiring.

My aunt doesn't know what to make for me to eat anymore.  She made me tuna salad last week, and she made more today.  ARGH!  She couldn't open the tuna cans, so when I got home she told me to scoop them into the celery and mayo mixture.  I don't want to eat this much tuna salad.

A flurry of late emails came in from Glendale late into the day.  All of them were requesting boxes for "donations."  There are no donations, they're trash books, plain and simple.  This just means that I'll be having to carry all these books back to Central later in the week, or next week.  Fuck this shit!

Wednesday, July, 28, Mr. Hollywood has been on a crusade to enforce the mask rules inside the library.  He's been doing this for nearly a week.  If he sees someone not wearing a mask he takes it upon himself to call the police to enforce the mask rules.  He apparently has a knack for agitating situations.  He seems to have some sort of motive to just cause problems as a means to an end.  Isla says that he used to go to Pasadena, and that he is looking for confrontations.

He's now been in the library for nearly a week, and in that week he has really changed the dynamic at the library.  Everyone is on pins and needles now, because he's just a chaotic presence.  I don't know what they can do to get rid of this guy, but for now he's a presence that we have to live with.  Perhaps the police will get tired of coming to the library every couple of hours.  Perhaps they can find some clause that will allow the library to ban him.  I guess time will tell.

After dealing with our videographer, I felt the need for some food, booze and good company.  Had that tonight.  Well, I had food, but it wasn't my favorite.  We went to Novo, and the losing streak continues with them.  Oh well, at least I didn't have to pay for my meal tonight.  TheGirl and I talked about future plans to go up to CityWalk and eat, and also take the Warner Bros. studio tour.  All good ideas.

Thursday, July, 29, TheGirl and I have been talking about going on some sort of a trip for some time.  I've been wanting to plan out a trip as well.  TheGirl mentioned going to Solvang in November during Thanksgiving.  Yes!  I jumped at the opportunity to go on a trip.  Solvang will be fun.  Originally it looked like she wanted to go Thursday through Saturday, but I guess me asking if it was going to be Saturday or Sunday that we return made her think to book the room until Sunday.  Nice.  She booked the room at a place she's stayed before, called the Vinland.  It's at the end of the main downtown part of town.  The place looks nice, so I'm looking forward to that.

I was having lunch at Montrose when I got a call from one of the guys in admin asking me to go over to Chevy Chase to relieve my coworker so he could go to lunch.  He had been there since 10am and he wanted to take his lunch.  I ran over there and took over for him.  He was there waiting for some guy from the county and AT&T to come over and do something related to the upcoming election.  They used that location as a voting center, and the way they do it is that the machines take the votes and count them.  That information is sent via internet to the Registrar's office.  About five minutes after Tony left for lunch Mala showed up and ran into the back office to "have a meeting."  Whatever!  Not sure why she can't have it at work in HER OFFICE.  But, whatever.  Five minutes after that the AT&T guy showed up with two of city guys.  I recognized one of them as the guy who deals with the phones all over the city.  They worked on what they were working on and then the city guys left but the AT&T guy stayed.  We talked a bit, and then Tony showed up again.  I left him to deal with the AT&T guy.  Later Tony told me that after I left the guy took another twenty minutes to leave.  That's what he told me when I left.  I love how nothing is very coordinated.

The other day my aunt asked me to get some items from the market for her to cook me up.  I changed the plan and got my own items and told her what I wanted her to make... potatoes in tomato sauce with sliced hot dogs.  I remember my Grandmother making this for me all the time.  I made it super easy for her to make.  I bought the potatoes and the tomato sauce so all she had to do is slice and cook the potatoes.  Sure enough she followed my instructions and cooked up the potatoes, poured the tomato sauce in and then at the end threw in the sliced tomatoes.  Easy, peasy.  They came out good.  I don't know how long it's been since I've had this dish, but it is nostalgia.

Friday, July, 30, Montrose had a bunch of boxes full of books that have been weeded from the shelves.  Every time I go there they ask me if I can take some, and since it's my first stop I usually don't have room for that shit.  There's a perfectly good trash can in the back, but these idiots don't want to throw the books away there.  ARGH!  It's so frustrating.  Today I figured I would make a special run out to pick up all those damn boxes.  As you can see from the photo above, there were quite a bit of boxes.  I wish I could burn them all.  ARGH!  Fucking piece of shits who refuse to just throw these books into their trash cans.  ARGH!

TheNewCute and one of our coworkers were making signs for the guys to display on their desks.  TheNewCute is super nice.  Next week she's going back home for a few days.  She'll be at San Marino on Monday, but I think after that I won't see her for about two weeks.  Sigh.

Saturday, July, 31, TheGirl and I went to the Huntington for what they called Summer Evening Strolls.  The Huntington usually closes before sundown, but for this they allowed people to come in when they are usually telling people to leave.  My ticket was for a 4:30pm entry.  We couldn't stay too late, because Cheyenne has to have her walk.  I'm OK with that.  Here are some of the pictures I took.