Afterthoughts : This Past Month

Half a year has flown by and now in the second half of 2021 we start the move back to pre-pandemic normal.  A lot of stuff happened in June, and as always here's the update.

Tuesday, June, 1, I didn't mention it in my journal entry yesterday because that was all about Disneyland.  I didn't want to taint it with the stupidity and informality that is my family.  While I was at Disneyland my aunt was dropped in on by my cousin and her kids.  They didn't tell her they were coming over until moments before they arrived.  Why?  Why even bother at that point?  Thankfully I wasn't there for that bullshit.  I would like to be left alone.

Emma didn't go to work today, and after finding out that she is seeing some guy part of me doesn't want to spend too much more time hanging out with her.  Better to not hang out with any lady.  Not that I get crushes on ladies there days, but it's probably better to just be alone.  I'm not very good at this romance stuff. If Emma had shown up to work today I already had plans to have lunch in the park.  I don't remember the last time I at my lunch in the park, but it's been around two years ago.  That's a long time.  I'm glad I was able to return to the park.  The only thing is that I need to bring my speaker so I can hear my videos during my lunch period.

TheLooker had a cute outfit on today (see above).  I like.

When I got home I was a little tired, but not too much.  But of course my aunt has a way of deflating my balloon almost as soon as I walk in the door.  I really didn't want to drink tonight.  But her statements and the way she acts makes me want to run towards a drink.  Number one, she started out telling me about yesterday and my cousin coming over.  While she came over my neighbor was repairing his car's tire.  I have no knowledge of anything, other than what my aunt tells me.  She goes on to tell me that she thinks my cousin's husband did something to my neighbor's tire because he's "jealous" that he can't store his cars here like we allow our neighbor to do.  He's never said anything to me about this so-called want to park his cars here, but I'll take it that it's true.  But what I don't see him is being petty enough to puncture a tire because he's feeling "jealous."  How would that accomplish anything?  My aunt and her "theories."

Then it was time to eat.  She told me this morning that she cooked up the meat that we bought on Sunday.  When I took it out of the fridge the above picture is what I found.  It was a pile of dried, overcooked, meat that resembled dog food rather than anything I should be eating.  It was fucking bullshit.  I went to the market before coming home tonight and bought some guacamole, some diced onions, and some taco shells.  Well, it was all for nought, since the whole assemblage turned out to be a fucking flavorless mess.

Later on in the night my aunt comes into my room apologizing for some stupid thing we talked about last week.  While she was in the home after being sent from there after her visit to the hospital, she said that the doctors had her sign something that signed away her half of the house.  Now why would they have ANYTHING like that?  Especially since it was not just some random set of papers they were having her sign, but rather a DNR.  They have to have her sign such things, and the funny thing is they had ME sign certain papers because the home acknowledged that she was not in the right state of mind to made decisions for herself.  So anything she did happen to sign at that point would not be valid anyway.  How do I get that through her thick skull?  Fucking everything she did went ahead to ruin my night after I got home.

TheGirl and I haven't been able to go to the Hollywood Bowl for years.  Obviously last year we couldn't go due to the pandemic.  Now the Bowl is reopening and they're selling tickets.  I got an email about the different events and I took the chance to try and get some tickets.  Well, I scored two tickets. 

Wednesday, June, 2, Today was my first day back on the desk while the library is open.  I can boil down my day by saying that I felt like I was spinning my wheels in the sand.  I finally got my sea legs, but almost at the end of my shift.  I will still have to get used to having people in the library.

Becks asked me if I was available to work on weekends.  I told her nope.  Then she asked if I could work in the evenings.  Nope.  I did my better than fair share of working on weekends at San Marino.  I'm done.  I don't want to ever work on weekends ever again.  I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

For dinner tonight TheGirl and I went to a place we have not gone in nearly two years, Ma's.  It's Italian food, and WAY better than that place she used to always wanted to go.  Tonight she mentioned how she went to Ciao and they served her a bad pizza.  Well, that was every meal I ever ate there, bad.  I'm glad she finally tasted what I've been tasting for years.  Anyway, it was a good time.  We talked about the upcoming shows at the Bowl.  We're both excited.  She paid me for the John Williams show in September, but I told her that the one in October is a gift.

Thursday, June, 3, Since my aunt returned home from being in the hospital a few months ago she's been mostly getting up later than me in the mornings.  However, the pattern switched about a month ago, and now she's waking up just before me.  The problem with that is that she's putting my tacos in the oven before I get to do it.  The problem arrises when I forget to turn the oven on, like I did this morning.  And then, she compounds it by NOT checking to see how warm they are, or are not in this case.  She uses thongs to take the tacos out of the oven, so she didn't feel that they were still pretty cold.  Because she was serving them to me just minutes after I got out of the shower.  And that's when I turned the oven on, when I got out of the shower and noticed I forgot to turn on the oven.  ARGH!  I had to microwave the tacos to warm them up.

My coworker Tony and I had a bunch of special deliveries lined up for today.  First on the agenda was moving some things called the "library on wheels."  Basically book shelves with wheels that are taken to schools for kids to get a taste of the library.  Next on the agenda was picking up the old audio/video equipment from GTV (Glendale's local television station).  That was super easy, since the guys there already had the equipment on a cart for us to take to the van.  I dovetailed the pick-up of the service awards with the A/V pick-up.  And with that, Tony and I were done with the special deliveries.

The library is building a "memory lab" with these old VCRs.  I can't wait, because I have a bunch of tapes that use the Super VHS format, and these machines are SVHS machines.  Perfect for me to transfer my stuff.  Nice!

Last week I mentioned to TheNewCute that I was having lunch at the park.  I joked that she should join me, and she thought I was in the park besides the library.  I told her I was down the street, but then we made a "date" to have a picnic out in front of the library.  Well, today was the day.  I brought my little towel and we had our little picnic.  It was super nice.  TheNewCute is pretty damn nice.  She had a pasta salad and I had last night's leftovers.  TheNewCute makes me feel good with her company.  I'll have to invite her to another picnic some time soon.  I noticed that TheNewCute was wearing a really nice dress for our picnic.  At least I think it was for our picnic.  I'm hoping it was for our picnic.

Friday, June, 4, The desk only had one person on it when we opened the door.  Turns out Jade was late for work this morning.  Jade has been acting strange lately.  Yes, even strange for him.  He's been pretty quiet this week.  Maybe he's trying to keep his nose clean.  Maybe someone said something to him.  Who knows.

Krishna asked me to deliver some RFID wands and tablets to two of the branches.  They're doing some sort of "inventory" project.  She told me to go see TheNewCute, which I gladly did.  She was in a conference room with Bundy.  They were trying to figure out the schedule for the "inventory" project.  They were saying that Krishna left it up to them, because she didn't make a schedule.  Dumb.

I was sitting outside in my backyard when I heard a stirring in the plants, and then I saw a pair of raccoons walking around my side walk way.  This little one was pretty interested in coming to see me.  The other raccoon stayed farther away.

Sunday, June, 6, I don't have much to report from this weekend.  It was like all my pandemic weekends... boring.  Which is OK, for now.  I did love the weather today.  I basically spent all day sitting out in my backyard watching YouTube videos.

Monday, June, 7, I went and got my car smogged this morning.  I want to avoid having to wait on pins and needles for my tags to arrive.  I actually should have had it done it last week, but it didn't work out that way.  Oh well.  It's funny how with my old car they had to put it on a dynamo (I think that's what it was called) and then a probe would be shoved into the exhaust pipe.  Also another sensor was used, and then the car had to be "driven" on the dynamo.  Well, these days, they just hook up the car to a computer and the sensors in the car tell them everything.  They basically run the car on idle for five minutes and let the computer tell them what's up.  Of course the car passed.

The new public works manager came into the library today.  She was going on a tour with the head librarian and the adult services librarian.  First impression, she's attractive.  As she walked into the back offices she looked back at me and winked.  Nice.  Now we'll see if she's a good manager.

I don't know if she's going to be the boss here, but at the same time her little tour felt like she was going to be in charge of the library in some way.  Why have the whole tour if not the case?  I guess time will tell.

Wednesday, June, 9, The interviewees for the library assistant job at San Marino were today.  TheNewCute's interview was scheduled for noon, but the first candidate showed up before we opened.  The girl pictured above was not the first candidate.  I was told there were eight candidates for two positions.  I think TheNewCute has a better than even chance at getting the job though.  Both my supervisor and I told the children's librarian that TheNewCute was good at her job and was a good person.  A personal recommendation goes a LONG way towards helping someone like TheNewCute get an edge over her competition.  Anyway, time will tell if they do offer her the job.

Last week the library opened the doors, but this week has been busy with the patter of little feet picking up their summer reading program swag, which consists of a tag and some beads.  On Monday and today a woman with her son has come in and picked up their beads and read quietly in the library.  The mom is really cute.  I can tell despite the fact that her face is covered up by a mask.  But nice body isn't covered up by a mask, I'll tell you that.  I don't like many things about the library being open and me having to deal with patrons now.  But, I do like this mom coming in and prancing around and looking nice.

I worked with Angela about five years ago at San Marino.  She moved to a job at city hall shortly after, and then after that she went to a job in another city.  Through the years we've kept in touch, and have even hung out for lunch.  Today I got to hang out with her for lunch.  It was the first time I've had lunch with anyone for over a year and a half.  Kinda insane.  It was nice to get of the office.  But, it wasn't all rosy.

Back at the library I bolted to get out the door in order drive down to the restaurant to meet my friend and former coworker.  She only gets an hour for lunch, and there was no way I was going to repeat the fiasco that was last week during my lunch.  Last week I waited until 1:30pm to be relieved from the desk.  That's a half hour after my lunch period starts.  The circulation manager is supposed to start his shift at 1pm, but he didn't last week, and he didn't this week.  I wasn't going to make my friend wait, so I bolted out off the desk at 1pm and flew out the door to get to the restaurant.  I have access to the security cameras inside the library, so after I got to the restaurant I checked to see if the circulation manager was on the desk.  Nope.  I checked a few more times during the hour and he never went to the desk.  I did text my supervisor that I was leaving the desk and that no one was there to relieve me from my desk shift.  She said that they would "work something out to have coverage."  Ah, yeah.  Because by 1pm I'm starving and I need to eat.  Also, why is it OK for the circulation manager to just make up his own schedule?  Whatever.  I am not going to be the idiot there any more.  If my shift is over I bounce.

TheGirl and I had burgers for dinner tonight.  It was yummy and good times, as always.  After dinner TheGirl wanted to show me where she now takes Cheyenne to chase the bunnies.  For some reason this neighborhood next to Warner Bros. studios has a lot of bunnies running around the yards.  We saw a bunny and TheGirl let Cheyenne off leash and boom, Cheyenne took of running at full speed.  It was pretty funny to see Cheyenne leap into the air as she chased the bunnies.  Those poor bunnies though.  They're so cute.

The ladies are going to be going to Solvang tomorrow, and coming back on Saturday.  TheGirl said her and I, and of course Cheyenne and Chan, will have to make plans to go to Solvang for a weekend some time soon.  I'm game.  I want to get out.  I want to live.  I don't want to stay home all the time.  I did that for too long.  I did that even before we were told to stay at home because of Covid.  It's time to get out.

Thursday, June, 10, I was going about getting stuff done before we opened this morning and suddenly I see a bunch of dopes gathered around the main desk.  I joked and said, "Are we having a meeting?"  Not knowing that yes, there was supposed to be a meeting.  I wasn't told there was going to be a meeting.  I did attend, as you can see from the picture, but I really didn't listen.  What I did hear was something about the summer reading program.  It was total horse shit.  I tuned them out and stood there until I saw the security guard come in.  I had the key he needed to open up the front door, so I walked away from the meeting and took him the key.  After that I walked back to the circulation office.

I talked to one of the librarians about stuff going on in the library.  She told me that in her informal survey of fellow employees that she found that moral is very low.  I told her that in talking to people I have found the very same thing.  And it continues to go lower because of the actions of the ones in charge.  They don't know, or don't care, what the employees think.  I think it's that they don't really care.  It explains their dismissive nature when it comes to resolving any conflicts.  The stuff with Jade and Tony was never actually resolved, it was just tabled.  Those bad feelings are still there, but they both kinda ignore them in order to continue working.  But really all they're doing is festering under the surface.  I was telling Emma that I'm super glad that I get to do the route, because it insulates me from the every day stupidity of the administrators.

Friday, June, 11, Apparently Mala didn't trust me to keep up with the Pasadena books, or someone mentioned that there were a bunch of book bins with Pasadena books.  I say this because I got a message from Dorian from Pasadena asking if I could deliver their books.  He told me that Mala emailed his supervisor about doing this, and there I was in Pasadena picking up books.  Pasadena only had three bins for Glendale, and I only had four and a half bins for Pasadena.

There was a moment today where I was holding court at one of the circulation work room's computers.  We were talking food and places to go eat.  TheLooker was sitting next to me and she smelled nice and looked great.  Her blouse opened up slightly just as I was turning my head and the smooth skin stopped me in my tracks.  Wearing masks for the better part of two years I don't get to see my coworkers complete face, but with TheLooker all you need is to see those piercing eyes.  I want to bring her close and kiss her.  Alas.

I jumped in my car and asked Siri to tell me how long it would take me to get home.  She answered that it would take about thirty-nine minutes to get home.  Jeez.  Somewhere around the exchange of the 134 and the 5 freeway I noticed a lot of slowing down traffic.  It wasn't bad at first, but then when I got around Forest Lawn drive it really started to slow.  I check on my various apps and they all told me the same thing.  There was an accident ahead with an overturned car.  Jeez, an overturned car, that's not something that happens practically every day now.  But it does, because people are driving like total dopes.  Meaning they are driving with no empathy for others and faster than they should.  Speeding is the number one factor in all the overturned cars I hear about these days.  The CHP closed three of the lanes on the left side of the freeway, so I skirted to the right and was able to get past the accident scene pretty well actually.  Once I passed it I sped off and reached home ten minutes earlier than Siri had predicted.  I think the slow flow of cars from the 134 to the 101 made the traffic on the 101 actually less.  So much so that I was able to get home faster.  Who know, right?

Next week TheNewCute is going to hang out with Emma, Vagabundo, one of Emma's friend and me.  We're going to the Neon museum and then hopefully getting some food.  This week she went to some trendy place in downtown.  She sent me a picture of her drinking a beer (see above).  Pretty nice, huh?

My coworker emailed me to say that he inputed my schedule for the months of August and September.  Well, he must have not published the schedule, because when I checked after work today the August and September calendar was empty (see above).  I don't care about these stupid schedules since I am my own schedule.  Ha.

Ilsa was saying how she is going to Palms Springs soon, and TheGirl mentioned going to Solvang some time soon.  Someone asked me if I had any plans to go to Carmel this year.  I haven't really given it much of a thought, but I guess I have to figure that out fast if I want to book a room.  The price of a room, as you can see above, is nearly $700 for a four night stay.  I wonder.

Saturday, June, 12, Last week I went to Subway to pick up a couple of sandwiches, tuna for my aunt and BMT for me.  I usually go to the Subway in Encino, right by where I used to live in the old apartment building.  I've been going there for years.  Lately they have this one guy that is not a sandwich artist at all, but more of a sandwich hack.  You can tell he doesn't want to be there.  You can also tell he doesn't give a shit.  Last week begrudgingly made our sandwiches and then overcharged us.  I wasn't sure last week why he charged $21 for TWO sandwiches, one being a six inch.  I don't know the prices of these things, so I just let it pass.  However, I also thought that next time I'm not going to come here, because of his attitude and ineptitude making sandwiches, but also in his overcharging me.

Last night my aunt told me that she wanted a Subway sandwich for breakfast, instead of the usual McDonald's stuff.  I was good with that.  She gave me $40 and told me she wanted a foot long tuna this time.  I figured the wanted to eat one half for breakfast and the other half for lunch or dinner.  Solid.  I woke up this morning, showered super fast, and went on my merry way to Subway.  As I promised myself I wasn't going to go to the one in Encino.  Thankfully there's one in Sherman Oaks just as close as the Encino one.  Well, it was like night and say.  The lady behind the counter greeted me as she was topping off some of the items.  She asked me what I wanted and got to work on the pair of sandwiches.  She didn't half-ass throw the ingredients on the sandwich.  On the contrary, she did it quickly but also with care.  At the end I decided I wanted some Cheetos with my sandwich.  So now that's TWO foot long sandwiches and a small bag of Cheetos.  The total came out to $17.17.  Now how the hell did I have to pay four dollars more last time at the Encino Subway, for a smaller order?  Well, that does it.  I'm never going back to the Encino Subway again.  They suck.

I was sitting outside in my backyard this early afternoon when I got a little thirsty.  I went inside to get my cup and my pillow, because I was starting to feel a little sleepy.  My aunt was in the living room (shown above) reading her fairytales (aka her "bible").  At least I think it's a bible.  It's a free colored book.  Whatever.  She says something to me that I can't understand.  I come out of my room and ask her what she said, and she says something about it not being that hot yet.  True, inside the house it's not that hot... yet.  As long as we keep the doors closed I think we're good.  I happen to be sitting OUTSIDE and it is getting warm.  Hence me wanting to get some water.  When I went to the fridge to get some cold water the decanter starts spilling water on the table instead of into the cup I have with ice.  The decanter fell on the floor many years ago, and one side is chipped.  It's a big enough chip that water flows through it instead of the top.  I know not to place the open end on the side that has the chip.  But my aunt doesn't.  For some reason she was messing with it, and I know because I cleaned the top two weeks ago and made sure that it wasn't on the chipped side.  She either didn't see the chip, which is nearly impossible if you're cleaning that decanter.  Or, she just ignored it and placed the top on without thinking.  I think it's that, because she's not known in my book for thinking.  Acting without thought, yes.  I cleaned the mess and went outside.  Hopefully my aunt won't bother me today.

Sunday, June, 13, My aunt does these little things that drive me nuts.  Here is a partial list of things that she did this weekend that made me want to burst.

I was shaving my beard when she came out and reminded me that she could shave the back of head.  I told her that I wasn't cutting my hair, but rather shaving.  Then she asked me, "What time are we leaving tomorrow?"  I told her earlier in the day that we would go when the lawyer opened his office.  Not sure why she had to ask again.  I know she could have forgotten, but it just annoyed me at that moment.

I went to pick up some pizzas and chicken wings this afternoon.  When I arrived at home she unlocked the door but then closed it, and also took the key out of the door lock.  So here I was, balancing two pizzas and a container of chicken wings while having to pee while trying to close the door.  But, because she didn't leave the keys in the lock I had to dig them out of my pocket.  I wouldn't have had them in my pocket, but since she opened the door I figured I didn't need them.  But I did, and having to pee made the whole process that much more difficult.  I'm not sure why she has the habit of taking the fucking keys out of the lock.  ARGH!

It was warm today.  Yesterday I spent nearly the entire day outside, despite the heat.  But today the heat was much worse, so I went to my room and turned on the A/C.  Several times my aunt would check on me to see if I wanted to eat dinner.  Ah, I'll eat when I'm hungry.  I don't know why I have to be on her eating schedule.  Leave me be, I say.

Then, she opened the front and back doors, rendering my A/C useless.  Oh, and before that she turned the fan on, pointing the air into my room, effectively blowing hot air from the other room in my room, which was cool thanks to the A/C being on.  I noticed that and immediately turned the fan off.

In all these instances she BELIEVES she's helping out, but for the most part it's no help.  I see she wants to do right, but her mind is clouded by her stupid thoughts, or having no thoughts.  The fan thing is something that was just plain dumb.  The keys in the door is dumb and thoughtless.  It was meant to be nice, and I appreciate that, but the execution was all wrong.  The checking on me to eat was annoying.

Now tomorrow I'm going to miss a couple of hours at work because she wants to go see the lawyer about having a living will.  She was saying that at the rest home she stayed for a week that she signed away rights to the house.  Of course she didn't.  But, they did ask her if she had a living will, and she answered she didn't.  She has now conflated the house thing with the living will thing.  It's not a bad idea for her to have a living will, but her reasons are wrong.  Either way, it is a good idea that we do this sooner than later.  She hasn't been taking her meds at the proper doses, so I've noticed a slight decline in her.  When she came back from the hospital/rest home she was moving around pretty well.  She didn't look like she was having trouble balancing.  Now a couple of months later she's back to walking gingerly, and she has a cough, and she's back to waking up multiple times to pee at night.  All those things were gone for the first month after she came back home.  She doesn't take her meds correctly and she gets like she is now, a mess.  It drives me crazy, but I'm not going to talk to her about it because she's an adult.

Monday, June, 14, I had a rough time last night.  I felt warm and I wasn't sleepy.  I'm not sure why, but it felt pretty terrible not to be able to get to sleep.  I usually no zero trouble sleeping.  Yet, last night I did.  I went to bed fairly early, but it was already midnight before I kinda fell asleep.  Then I heard my aunt in the other room.  That was around 2am.  ARGH!  Why?!  She was hunting roaches.  More on that in a bit.  Suffice to say I would sleep for a bit and then wake up, still feeling hot and bothered.  I just felt blah, and that's the best way I can describe it.  I remember waking up about 4am and thinking, oh jeez.  But I fell back to sleep until nearly 6am.  I could not get out of bed.  I finally struggled around 6:45am.  I'm usually jumping out of the shower at that time.  But, I knew that I could take a little longer, since I wasn't going straight on to work.

My aunt has this thing with cockroaches.  There seems to be a nest in the dinning area, so I went and bought some spray to kill them.  But that didn't seem to work well enough, so I bought the roach bait.  I'm not sure if that's working better, but last night my aunt said she saw and killed a half dozen roaches.  I saw two of them in the morning.

My aunt got this idea to do a living trust.  I think someone at the hospital said something and she figured she best get it.  I'm OK with her getting it, but of course we can't do anything easy these days.  But at the same time too easy.  I can't just have her go alone, but any time I need to take off is going to mean taking time off work.  We went there and were were in and out in less than eight minutes.  I know this because I put a dollar into the parking meter, which gave me an hour.  I set my timer for fifty minutes, so IF we did take longer I could go out and feed the meter.

After arriving from my appointment with my aunt, and after lunch, I had my reference desk shift.  It was brutal.  At one point someone called to sign up for some program that's happening on the 26th.  But, I could not find the link for the registration.  I had to take down their information and email the teen librarian.  This happened twice.  Then I was dealing with the busted printer, while the circulation people kept on transferring a phone call that they could deal with themselves.  As a matter of fact, they did deal with it, after I didn't answer the phone three times in a row.  I was literally busy with something.  ARGH!  I fucking hate this shit.

I was asking Rebecca about one of the candidates for the SM job and she didn't say anything, but she has a tell and I told her "oh, you don't have to say anything.. that look told me" - one less in competition

Tuesday, June, 15, This morning we at the library had to do a fire/disaster drill this morning at 8am.  It's so useless, but it is what it is.  We have to walk down the street, three blocks, to a parking lot next to a church.  But the thing is, there's a church parking lot right across the street from the library.  But I guess going there would be too logical.  Then again, what do I know about anything.  Maybe it is more logical to walk three blocks to our gathering spot than walking across the street.  As per usual, it was whatever.  Ru looked great though.  My old boss Wayne from my days working at the CSUN library used to talk about one of the librarians having a walk that was like watching a mechanism.  He called that wiggle in that librarian's walk the Mechanism.  After walking behind Ru this morning I had that thought about her walk.

Today is easily the hottest day of the year.  The weather liars said it was going to be over a hundred degrees today.  It didn't feel that hot, until I got home.  When I got home it was much hotter than it was in Glendale.  Still, in the route I made sure to get plenty of water.  I filled my huge thermos to the top, and I still didn't finish the water.

Wednesday, June, 16, There has been a pretty mom that has come in with her son ever since we reopened.  she's been nice from the jump, today she mentioned that her son was all energy and that she brings him to the library to chill a bit.  They started coming in for the summer reading program, but now the kid finished all the leveling up he can do.  He can't earn any more beads from this point forward.  The beads are what takes the place of prizes.  When the children's librarian was setting this all up she had no way of knowing that we would be reopening just in time for the program to start.  I rather have this method of prizes anyway.  It's a little easier for me, that's for sure.  But, now the kid and the mom may not come back.  Dang.

After lunch TheNewCute texted me to say that she was contacted by San Marino HR.  She got the job!  Surprise, surprise.  Her first day is June 28th.  That's pretty quick, but San Marino is desperate to get some people in there as soon as possible.

TheGirl and I went to Don Cuco's in Burbank again tonight.  I mentioned that I needed a drink.  The margaritas there are OK, not great.  I can't say that the food is all that great either.  It's passable.  I really wish that other place in Burbank, El Carpintero, had margaritas, because THAT place has really great food.  Oh well.  TheGirl and I talked about a possible trip to Solvang and the Fess Parker vineyard.  I would like that, but I have no idea about the timing.

Emma texted me to say that Les was retiring.  I checked my work email shortly after Vagabundo texted me to check as well.  Sure enough, there was the announcement that Les is going to retire next month.  Probably means at the end of this month.  I don't know.  Les is a good guy, but at the same time he's kinda a bump on a log.  He doesn't do much.  It's a pretty well known thing that he was just waiting for his time to retire.  Well, now is the time.

Thursday, June, 17, I don't remember if it was last week or not, but Becks asked me if I could work the city's 4th of July event.  Now they're scrambling to get this thing set up and done by the 4th, because of course no one knew if there would even be an opportunity to have regular evens by the 4th.  I told Becks that I wasn't interested.  Later I come to find out that they wanted us to work from 1pm to 9pm that day.  Yeah, which means that I would certainly be working until 10pm.  Like I said, I said pass on it.  Well, I the weekly work email it says, and I quote, "There will be no overtime pay for working the July 4 event in Lacy Park."  Oh yeah, well, suck it!

Today they had a memorial for a fallen firefighter that was killed in a murder suicide situation.  The news didn't say much about the motivation of the killer, Tatone, except the following that was in the L.A. Times.

The Los Angeles Times, citing two sources with knowledge of the situation, reported that there was an ongoing dispute between Carlon and Tatone.

Yes, an, "Ongoing dispute."  FireGirl was watching the memorial and mentioned that one of the ladies she works with used to work for the police department.  they had to go investigate, because they wanted an outside agency to do so.  They found that the firefighter that was killed was cheating on his wife with the wife of the guy who killed him.  The killer, Tatone, not only shot Carlon, but then set his own house on fire and killed himself.  Strange, until you put the pieces together about the guy (Carlon) having an affair with his wife.  He apparently didn't want his wife to the house in the pending divorce.  Of course the news will not have the actual story.  They'll only have this mask of a story that they had an, "Ongoing dispute."  And so the guy dies a hero.  Doesn't mean he wasn't a good firefighter.  Hell, I know about affairs, and I got lucky the husband didn't kill me.

This whole thing has a L.A. Confidential vibe to it.  In that movie one of the police captains is involved in organized crime.  He is shot at the end of the movie by the "good" cop.  At the end the official story of the captains death is that he died a hero.

TheGirl and I talked about her getting vaccinated sooner than later.  I mentioned that the John Williams show may want some sort of proof that she is vaccinated.  You know what she said?  She said, "Can you sell the tickets?"  I told her, "I'll just go with someone else."  She kinda chuckled, but not really.  Hey, why should I not go because of her silly irrational fear (that's the only thing I guess it can be) of getting vaccinated at this point?  There's a point where we do have to get back to our regular lives, and I must say that by September things should be nearly back to normal the way things are going now.  And now tonight she sent me the above messages about how the state may still mandate that we wear masks at work since some people refuse to get vaccinated... like her.  See, now at this point her refusal to get vaccinated puts her in a little box where she's now vulnerable and those who have been vaccinated are having to wear masks to protect people like her who don't want to get vaccinated.  She keeps saying that she'll get vaccinated when the vaccine is approved.  And not emergency approved, like it is now, but approved approved.  Whatever.  From this point forward I'm not even going to bring it up.  If she misses John Williams because of her fear and stubbornness than I can use this opportunity to invite someone else.

Friday, June, 18, Tonight after work I went to the Museum of Neon Art.  It was Emma's idea, and I'm glad she suggested it.  It was nice to finally go out after nearly a year and a half of not going anywhere.  Yes, technically I did go to Disneyland and that might be called my first post Covid hangout, but this was a little different.  I hope to go to more museums.  I know that I have a lot of things lined up for later in the year.  Including Disneyland.  Ilsa bought some tickets for us to go in October.  Woo hoo!  Anyway, here are some pictures from the Museum of Neon Art.

After the neon museum we crossed the street to get some drinks until it was 6:30pm.  That's when our reservation was set for.  Emma and Dee and me went to Frita's restaurant.  They have weak sauce drinks there.  Then it was 6:25pm and we paid up and went to the restaurant.

At the actual restaurant I got to sit next to TheNewCute and Vagabundo.  The food was good, but not great.  There was a whole thing about my drink that kinda soured that place for me.  They have a variation of a Manhattan on the menu, one that has an orange twist rather than cherries.  I told them I wanted a regular Manhattan with the Woodford Reserve.  What showed up was a Manhattan with an orange twist, which makes me wonder if they made it with the Woodford Reserve.  My chicken sliders were good, but not great.  I think the Chick-fil-a right up the street probably has a better chicken sandwich for half the price.  Oh well, it wasn't about the food tonight.  It was about hanging out, especially with TheNewCute.  Mission accomplished with that.

We had a good time.  TheNewCute was wearing a really nice outfit.  I mean va va va voom!  I wish I had taken a picture, but stupid me didn't.  TheNewCute showed me her camera.  She owns an old Canon E-50.  I have to ask her if she wants to go on some sort of a photo mission.  At the end of the night I had to piss like a racehorse, and fart like a cow.  Bastardo, TheNewCute and I were at the parking structure and I just said, "Well, see ya," and bolted.  I wanted to talk to TheNewCute, but I could not do that AND not fart.  When I got back to my car I blasted away.  I drove home and pissed at home.  Such relief.

Saturday, June, 19, I woke up and after fishing out some pens that feel into the backside of my desk I went online and checked my work emails.  I was waiting for an announcement about face coverings.  That email was there, but so was the following email about the new patron computers at San Marino.

Hello Reference Team,

Intelysis has just informed us that they have intentionally disabled all of the USB ports on public computers. Their intention is to lessen the risk of viruses.

Please be advised and prepared to offer patrons work arounds: Email the work to yourself or upload it to Google Drive.

These damn fool patrons aren't sophisticated enough to use Google Drive, or any other online storage.  Hell, many of them still use Flash drives because they, "Don't trust" the cloud based storage.  I mean, at the end of the day if this move keeps certain dummies from coming into the library then more power to this decision.  However, I'll have to endure a lot of moments where the patrons will ask me why this is happening.  I'll just say, who the hell knows.

Sunday, June, 20, I guess today is Father's day.  TheGirl sent me a happy Father's day message for Chan.  Yes, I'm his daddy.  But then I went online and saw that the internet has not forgotten that it's Father's day as well (see above).

Monday, June, 21, So my aunt wanted to go to see her lawyer last week, but forgot.  This week I told her we could go on Monday, today.  Well, we arrived at the lawyer's office and to our bad luck the paperwork was not ready.  He said last Monday that it was going to be ready by Tuesday, the next day.  But here it is a week later and he's saying he doesn't have it.  He said he will have it by tomorrow.  My aunt is going to the doctor's tomorrow, so she won't be able to go.  I'll have to take her or most likely just get an Uber to take her to the location.  The lawyer said that he was busy getting things into boxes.  He's moving locations to Reseda.  Oh well.

When I got home my way home was blocked by a parking enforcement car that had coned off the street.  Right pass that I could see the water flowing out of the street.  Clearly there was a water main break.  I drove around to the other side of the street and they let me into my driveway.  As I write this I can see the crew working from the vantage point of my window.  It's just a little past 10pm and I can hear them working.  The water has been shut down.  I went to the bathroom and couldn't wash my hands.

Tuesday, June, 22, I woke up around 4:20am to find the lights of the DWP trucks were still flashing in the street.  I went to the bathroom and when I came out the trucks had left.  The security cameras facing the streets captured when the trucks left, shortly after I woke up.  They were there all night.  From what I could see this morning as I drove by they did a good job patching it ups.

As I returned to bed I noticed that my throat was feeling a little tickle.  It has been a LONG time since I felt sick, but I knew that I was not well.  I hoped that perhaps I would wake up later in the morning feeling better.  Nope.

When I woke up at my regularly scheduled time I did not feel better than I did at 4:20am.  I felt worse.  I was more achy and my throat felt more of that tickling feeling.  I thought about going into work anyway, but then remembered that they do pay me sick leave now.  And, I told myself that when I would be sick again I would stay home to not contaminate anyone at work with my germs.  Well, today was the day.  As I write this paragraph it's 7:13pm and I'm still not feeling 100%.  I feel a little achy and tired, despite the fact that I've been in bed all day.  The only time I went out was to get some food.  I got a huge Fatburger with a pineapple shake.  The shake was REALLY good.  I hope they keep it for a while, because I want to have it again.

Wednesday, June, 23, The lady pictured above is a former coworker at San Marino that may become a current coworker again if she did well on her interview today.  She went out for one of the two part time librarian positions.  I think I mentioned that one of the two positions has already been slated for Brianna, who is currently a library assistant.  The powers that be want to move her up.  Helen worked with me for many years in processing, which gives her an upper hand on the position.  But, we'll see what happens.  I certainly wished Helen luck.  You know, Helen is pretty cute in her own way.  She certainly has a nice figure.  One of the patrons mentioned that he would like to ask her out, but that her awkward social interactions wonder if she's messed up in the head.  Only one way to find out, I guess.

A girl name Natalie used to come to the library all the time.  She talked with me a lot.  I thought she might have had a crush on me, but then she mentioned something about a girlfriend.  But she meant girlfriend, not friend that's a girl.  That's cool by me.  Today she came by to show me her new car.  She gave me a short drive around the corner.  I like Natalie, she's cool.  A little quirky, but all in all a good person.  I don't think she has a mean bone in her body.  It was great to see her.  I didn't know how much I missed her until I saw her.  I think I just missed everyone.

Pseudo supervisor said that Becks went out for a director job at a library in Colorado.  Things change here all the time.

TheGirl and I went to the Counter for dinner tonight.  I know we go there all the time, but it's perfect for us.  It has good burgers, and is dog friendly.  Not only that, but most nights we have the back patio all to ourselves.  Good times.  The weather tonight was absolutely perfect.  I didn't have to wear my jacket, but it wasn't hot nor cold.  Goldilocks.

Thursday, June, 24, I don't have much to report today.  I did have lunch with Emma at Montrose today, and while at lunch she asked me if I had a crush on TheNewCute.  Surprised I told her I didn't.  She mentioned that last week while at dinner I focused my attention on her and only her, according to Emma.  I know there was a point where I did hyper focus on on TheNewCute, but I did talk to the gang as well.  Oh well, I guess Emma knows.

Saturday, June, 26, Last night an email came in telling me my submission to the Brand library annual show was rejected.  Or, as they said in the email, "Not invited," to participate.  I obviously don't have an idea what they want, because I've never been able to get any of my works into the Brand show.  At this point I'll never get any of my works into any show.

At breakfast this morning, as we were finishing up, my aunt turns to me and tells me that she's really sleepy.  Oh, I wonder why?  Could it be because she sleeps during the day?  Could it be because she can't sleep at night, because she's sleeping during the day?  Could it be that she can't sleep at night because she's going to the bathroom three or four times per night?  Could it be because this is a vicious circle, all started because my aunt won't take her meds properly?  I'm done.  I don't tell her anything about how she needs to take her meds properly.  She won't listen to the doctor or me, so why waste my breath?  I do like that she doesn't get it in her mind that when she got out of the hospital a few months ago she was sleeping well, and not walking around all sideways.  But since she got out she's been steadily getting back to her old pre-hospitalization condition.  Oh well, I can't say anything that will make her do anything, so I don't bother.  Today she also reminded me that someone named "Juan" was calling me on the home phone.  He supposedly left me a message, but when I reviewed them yesterday I didn't hear any messages with that name.  Mind you, there were only five messages on the machine.  I even checked the caller ID and no one with the name "Juan" appeared.

Monday, June, 28, You know, I lead a pretty boring life.  Not that I didn't realize that before, but I'm just saying it here.  Well, writing it.  I'm surprised I have anything to write about in this journal, but here goes.  I lead a boring life.  Ha, I know, I'm repeating myself. I can't spy on my aunt today because the batteries in the kitchen security camera died this morning.  In the middle of one of the recordings the thing just stopped.  It was a short clip, which didn't make sense since it works on movement and my aunt was clearly still moving.  But, the batteries died.  Yesterday she looked really tired.  As I said last time, she isn't taking her meds properly, so of course she's feeling low and without energy.  It's like she wants to be sick.  I think I may put another camera that I have in the other room as a kitchen camera back-up.

When I got home tonight I come to find my aunt in her room.  She told me the story of her bad day.  She was outside about to water the plants when she made a move to get the hose and she fell.  She didn't mention anything about being dizzy, but I do wonder that.  She has not looked good the last couple of days.  Like tonight as she sat in the living room to read her bible, her eyes look sunken in.  I told her that she needs to take her meds properly.  I even mentioned that she should take double the medication.  Will she do it?  I don't know.  Will she be returning to the hospital?  Who knows.

Tuesday, June, 29, My aunt felt better today than yesterday.  Not to say that she's 100%, but she certainly felt better.  I would hope she would continue to take her meds properly, but knowing her she will go back to taking los medication the moment she starts feeling better.  I really hate this bullshit.

It was TheNewCute's first day at work at San Marino.  If it had been yesterday or today it might have been me who would have shown her the ropes.  But, it's OK, because TheNewCute wasn't alone.  The other person that was hired was also there.  So yeah, there's yet another person that is new to the library.  I guess I'll met her in due time.  Anyway, the above picture was sent to me by TheNewCute to see if I approved of her outfit for work.  She texted me in the morning asking if it was OK for her to wear jeans.  I told her it was not a good idea.  She is now part of the reference team, and needs to dress nicer and more "professional" than the clerk grunts.  She took my advice and picked the above outfit.  Those pants still looked to be in the jean family, but they looked nice enough that I approved of the look.  TheNewCute said the first day went well.  I'm sure it was a little overwhelming sine they do throw so much at you all at once.  I'm a quick study and even I took a while to figure things out.  There are still things I haven't figured out.  Anyway, because of that darn HR lady TheNewCute's next day at work won't be until next week.  Tuesday, I think.  Which means I'll see her next Wednesday.  Then again, I will likely see her at Glendale on Thursday.

Wednesday, June, 30, Talia has mentioned that once she gets over the shingles that I come over for some nice fun.  No one else is inviting me over, that's for sure, so I definitely want to go over to her place.  Granted, sometimes in the past it has not gone too well.  But, I'm a glutton and I want to see if Talia will truly sleep with me.  She sure talks a good game on text.  So, today I thought that I may want to buy some condoms.  I hope I don't end up tossing them out in the bin, like the last time I bought condoms.  Wish me luck.

As I write this I haven't ordered the condoms, but I did put it in my wish list.

TheGirl and I went to one of her favorite places to eat tonight.  We went there years ago, but I don't remember if I liked it or not.  Tonight the service was meh, and the food was meh.  Good thing the company is good.  We made plans to go to Downtown Disney next weekend.  I'm good with that.  Anything to be out of the house.