Afterthoughts : This Past Month

After over a year and a half of staying home every weekend I finally started to venture out.  It's about time.  And it's about time for the update.

Friday, October, 1, I was checking out social media when If found the above picture and post.  It shows that the state gave Pasadena some more for the library renovation.  Here's part of the story.

Assemblyman Chris Holden presented the city with a check for $4 million to the city to help repair the Pasadena Public Library at the start of Monday's City Council meeting.

The $4 million will be used for the design and drawings to be used on seismic upgrades.

The assessment was conducted in April as part of a $30 million capital improvement project for the Central Library.  The project includes building system upgrades and replacements, including the replacement of the roof, piping systems, and mechanical heating and cooling systems.  Also included are electrical, seismic and structural upgrades, as well as improvements to the building's exterior courtyard.

I heard that the amount for the renovation would be more like $80 million, but perhaps they figured it as bad as they initially thought.

The museum next door is coming along.  It's obviously in the early stages right now, but something is puzzling me.  There's supposed to be a subterranean parking area, but I don't see them digging a big hole.  Perhaps that's coming up, but today I saw them bring some big I-beams.  Perhaps they need those for the digging.  In the past I've seen construction done where they have to reinforce the sides of the hole they are digging so that it doesn't collapse into itself.  I guess I'll check next month for any more progress.

I was reminded three times this week that on Friday I was to park the delivery van in the dock area.  Tony said I didn't have to worry about it, that he was going to be there on Saturday and that he could move the van on Saturday.  However, Mala was in circulation this morning and she reminded me to do it today.  Not only that, but at the end of the day a guy came up to me and asks, "Are you going to move the van?"  I wondered who the hell he was, and then he told me that he was the organizer of the farmers market.  He says to me, "I was just about to leave a note on the van."  That is why we're to move the van to the back alley, to not block the vendors.  I told he that was just about to move the van, and he was happy to hear that.  The guy said they they have a contract with the city to continue the farmers market until December, so I'll be doing this for a while.

Saturday, October, 2, I was on social media tonight when I ran into the above picture of the old circulation gang.  Kvon is on the left, and it would appear that he has gained some weight.  I can't blame the guy.  Look at me, I work and yet I'm still gaining weight.  Imagine how he must be.  The rest of the rouges were there, and according to the caption they were celebrating Les' retirement.  I guess any excuse to hang out.  I sent Kvon some texts a few weeks ago asking if he was going to come back to the library.  He said "Soon, because I'm running out of money."

As I was saying, I was checking social media today.  I came across the above photo of TheDesire and her son.  It seems to me that her son's default mood is annoyed or agitated.  I know she loves him very much, but I do wonder if she's spoiling him.  Then again, who am I to say anything.  I just know that that time we hung out with TheDesire and her son he was acting like a total brat.  I mean he made it completely difficult for us to get any food or anything.  it was a good thing that Emma and I ate before TheDesire showed up.  Showed up late, I may add.

Just a little picture of me while on the route.  I've been filming the drive in order to supplement something I did a couple of years ago for the Reflect Space room.  Good times.

Sunday, October, 3, Last night I was checking out some thing when I did a search online for the movie "My Tutor."  I found that it was streaming on one of the apps that I have on my devices.  So I started watching it, and boy did a lot of memories come back.  I think it's every young man's fantasy to meet a slightly older woman to show him the ways of life, so to speak.  In a way I did have that, only it was later in life with TheGirl.  When I saw the movie I must have been twelve years old.  I seem to remember going to the movie theater at the Sherman Oaks Galleria to see it.  Watching it last night I honestly didn't remember the guy in the movie, I only remembered the tutor, played by Caren Kaye.  So gorgeous (see above).

As a young boy Caren represented the beauty of all females.  She's not just a body in the movie, though clearly they do have her naked in the movie to tantalize the audience.  But she's also smart, since she's a tutor.  I know she doesn't do much tutoring, what with the premise of the movie being her sleeping with the young guy and all.  Anyway, I could write a lot about the movie, but it would all sound silly.  It's really just about a young man's fantasy to have a woman want him and sleep with him whenever he wants to have sex.

Monday, October, 4, I had a rough night last night.  I had no energy and felt really lousy.  I had no idea if I was even going to feel well enough to go into work.  But, after taking a shower I started feeling way better.  By the time I had to go to work I was feeling WAY better.  Not so great that everything was normal, because I still felt sick enough that I didn't eat much. breakfast.

I got on the road and went to the drug store to pick up my aunt's prescription.  While waiting the pharmacist asked if I wanted flu shot, and I said yes.  Within moments I was getting my shot.  Woo woo!  I was having a discussion with someone about whether it was necessary to get the flu shot.  I asked the pharmacist and he said that it is necessary.  He said that it was important.

My aunt heard that it was going to rain soon and she went overboard and put out these buckets in an area that used to have a leak.  These buckets are really big, like a couple of gallons can fit in the big one.  This amount of rain leaking through would be a horrible problem.  She really didn't need to go overboard like this, but of course she did.  Might I add that it didn't rain.

Wednesday, October, 6, The storm the other day blew a bunch of debris from the trees onto the front patio.  I went ahead and swept the most that I could of the debris, but of course I didn't have a lot of time this morning.  Little did I know that the gardeners were coming today.  They made really quick work of the rest of the debris that I didn't sweep up.  As you can see from the photo above there was still a lot of trash left.  The gardeners have blowers that are much quicker and more efficient than me using my broom.

I told TheGirl that we should go to the Smokehouse for dinner tonight.  I got the tri-tip which was super good.  TheGirl got some fancy salad.  We talked a little about the week and about how she's not going to be around next week, because she's taking her daughter up to Solvang.  She goes up to Solvang... a lot.  That's cool, because in about a month we're going up as well.  I told TheGirl the other day that she had to get a Covid test just before going to the Hollywood Bowl again in about two weeks.  The county and the city is mandating that people show a negative test or their vaccination status.  So she's going to take a test three days before the concert.

Every year the residents of Toluca Lake put up some really elaborate Halloween decorations.  There are so many people that work for the studios in that area that it's natural that they have some some of animated robots that say things and move.  Case in point this automated talking plant.  It was so cool to see, TheGirl had to show it to me.  She goes on her walks in Toluca Lake, so she sees all this while walking around with Cheyenne.  Click on the picture to see the short video of the plant talking.  Next week TheGirl is taking another trip up to Solvang.  She's taking up her daughter for her birthday.  So Chan and I will have to fend for ourselves next week.  I'm thinking of where I was considering going to dinner the last time she went out of town.  I know I went to Pink's, but I also had another place in mind.  When the choice came down I picked Pink's, but I have to remember what the other place was.  If not, I guess I can just pick somewhere else that I want to try.

Thursday, October, 7, There was a new bookdrop installed at Chevy this week.  It's a complete waste of $6,000.  Yeah, that's how much those big backdrops cost.  It's just another example of them spending money recklessly.  There is no reason why they needed to install this big bookdrop out in front of Chevy.  Also, they installed it on the wrong side of the driveway.  What a bunch of morons.

Friday, October, 8, The weather this week was super nice.  It was colder than last week.  Still, the workload is getting heavier each week.  Nothing huge, but certainly more every week.  I was way tired after work yesterday, but today I was feeling back to normal.  Still, I was looking forward to the planned hangout with Misa and Vagabundo.  I suggested going to a burger joint called "Burgers never say die."  So we piled into my car after work and went down to Silverlake.  We ordered up the food, but there was nowhere to eat the food except the car.  We all went back to the car and ate the burgers and fries.  Boy, they were good.  The burger was super simple, but it was way yummy.  The fries were perfect.  So good that I didn't even have to put ketchup on them.  I ate every bite of both burger and fries.  Vagabundo said that the burger was based on the old McDonald's cheeseburger, and so were the fries.  And yes, they taste exactly like the old burger and fries.  These days they are different because of the sad size of the burger patty, but these burgers tasted just a little better than McDonald's.  I will try to go there again and have the soft serve ice cream as well.  It all looks so good.  It was a good night.  We called it a night early because we're all old and tired.  Misa suffered from a migraine nearly all this week, and Vagabundo and I saw that she was tired.  She said she still had a slight headache, but she also wanted to go and out and hang.  We didn't want to have another raincheck.

I'm sorry to say that not much is going on.  Last month I talked about how much stuff I had planned for this month, but of course despite that nothing else is going on.  Work is work, and I'm kinda tired of writing about how stupid they are at work.  I will add that we are steady getting busier.  Which is good.  I'm finishing the route with more books each day, even on Fridays.  Busy is good.  I'm going to work on the email asking for my raise this weekend.

And it turns out I'm going to the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences museum tomorrow.  TheNewCute was stood up by her fella and she invited me.  Woo hoo!  I wanted to go, but I wasn't sure when I would get a chance to go to the museum.  Now's the chance.  And with TheNewCute.  Even better.

Saturday, October, 9, TheNewCute asked me if I was busy today, because her boyfriend flaked on her and she wanted to know if I could go to the Academy Museum today.  Sure, I said.  Like I would say anything else.  I met TheNewCute there, and we went into the museum to explore the entire collection.  What this can also be is a bit of an audition.  Not to be her boyfriend, or anything, but rather for future hangs.  I think I passed the "audition."

The museum was pretty cool, and I'm glad that I got to go with TheNewCute rather than just by myself.  I had planned on going some time in the future.  TheNewCute is full of life and fun, so it's nice just hanging with her.  It was cool to show her some things about the movies that she didn't know.  But, it was mostly about just spending time with her.  No pressure, no nothing, just a pair of friends.  That was super cool.  Here are some pictures from the day at the museum.

Here's a picture of TheNewCute that I took while at the museum today.  She posted it on her social media.  One of her friends said that her outfit was cute.  Anything TheNewCute does is automatically cute.

Sunday, October, 10, The last time I went to Disneyland was in May.  Not a long time, but it has been five months.  Emma wanted me to buy my annual pass today, but I didn't.  There is a system now where you have to have a reservation in order to go to the park, annual pass or not.  When I was about to pull the trigger on the new annual pass I saw that all Saturdays and Sundays until January were blocked out.  Effectively forcing me to not get my Magic Key pass, because I would only be able to go on a weekday.  The ONLY reason why I would pay for the expensive pass is to be able to go on a Saturday, the only day I can go.  But, I can't throw that kind of money out on a pass with the idea that I'm going to go on the weekends, but not be able to go any weekends.  That's bullshit.  I almost feel like I want to write the company and tell them they're losing money by these actions.

I distinctly remember talking to Ilsa about arriving at 7am in order to be at the gate when Disneyland opened at 8am.  But she didn't arrive at 7am, but I did.  I was at the parking structure at 6:55am.  Ilsa didn't arrive until nearly 8am.  Oh well, so much for getting a jump on things.  Still, despite the long lines at the front gates we didn't wait too long to get into the park.

Our first stop was going to be the Haunted Mansion no matter how long the wait.  Thankfully the wait was only fifty minutes, or so the sign said.  In reality we were in and out in a little more than a half an hour.

Our second stop was the Pirates of the Caribbean, which was second on Ilsa's list of "must sees."  As I told her later, I've been to the park so many times that I can take or leave any one attraction.  I know I'll be there again, and I know I've been there before.  So this trip was all about what she wanted to see.  In going along for the ride I get to show her what I know about the park and the little secrets.

It was rather early, and our lunch time wasn't until 12:40pm, and after we got of the pirates it was barely 10:30am.  But, one of the foods Ilsa HAD to have was to so-called "Grey stuff."  So we walked over to the Red Rose Tavern and had a whole drama with the mobil ordering app.  I think they still have to work out a lot of the kinks, because the app time to wait was about a half an hour, but the guy at the restaurant said that the stand-by line would be a twenty minute wait.  I told Ilsa I liked the idea of the twenty minute wait, but it was her decision to order through the app.  Still, the grey stuff was delicious, as advertised.

While waiting for the mobil ordering window to open Ilsa and I had a pair of churros.  She also ordered up a special pumpkin dipping sauce that was really yummy.

After eating a churro and the grey stuff Ilsa and I went around and tried to get on the Peter Pan ride, but just as we were getting close the ride broke down and they said that they didn't have a time table for when it would reopen.  After the breakdown we walked around and checked out some of the shops and we killed a little time before lunch.  I checked what rides had short wait times and Small World's wait time was only fifteen minutes.  To It's a Small World we went.  By the time we got out it was nearly time to head out to our lunch location.

We got to the Cafe Orleans right at 12:39pm.  They seated us and we ordered up a Monte Cristo sandwich for the both of us.  They changed it a big, because now they only serve one sandwich, instead of two.  That's a good thing since I could barely eat one.  And, they also added pommes frites (garlic fries) to the order, so you don't have to order them separately.  Also, the portions this way are smaller than before, but they still charge the same as before.

While waiting in line for Small World I was able to put us in the virtual queue for the Rise of the Resistance ride.  I have not had the chance to go on it, but today I got the chance.  After lunch we got our confirmation that we were all set to board.

We arrived at Rise of the Resistance and within a few minutes we were in the queue.  The attraction is super elaborate, with amazing detail in theming.  Ilsa loved the ride, and so did I.  It's another level, for sure.

Ilsa and I both needed a drink and so we went to the hotel for a drink after seeing the lines for DCA.  We had some good booze, and then went back to Disneyland.  I told Ilsa about the little things that's missed over the years, like the shooting gallery.  She loved it.  It was something she didn't remember doing ever.  I love the shooting gallery for the little animations that happen when you shoot the target.  It's a personal favorite of mine.

The lines for the Autopia were short, so we went there to ride the cars.  I've always loved the Autopia.  I remember as a kid there were two Autopias, the Tomorrowland one and the Fantasyland side.  About twenty years ago they combined them into one long version.  I like the new version.  Ilsa mentioned that the cars seem to go slower.  Yes, that's to prevent people from getting hurt.

Our last stop was the Enchanted Tiki Room, one of my absolute favorites.  Right after getting out we picked up some Dole whips and ate them on our way out of the park.  It was a great capper for a great day at the park.  I'm not sure when I'll be back, but honestly I love the park but I don't need to be here every other week now.  Not until the pandemic ends.

Monday, October, 11, A couple of weeks ago I was told by the acting head librarian at San Marino that a few people wanted to get a "refresher" course in working the giant printer in the basement.  The recreation people print out a lot of posters, but they're doing it all wrong.  They don't have the finesse that I have with things like the printer.  So as the "Printer whisperer" I get to show everyone in the city how to work the printer.  If only they made me full time I would be here when they needed to print something.  Oh well.  I showed a couple of people from the recreation department how to print, and then the rest of my off desk time was spent trying to fix the issue of lines being printed on the print jobs.  For some reason the printer is printing darker lines about one inch apart on each print job.  It's hard to see if you're standing about ten fit away from the posters, but as you get closer they really pop out and are quite visible.  It doesn't make our signs look good.  I called the company but they said that the firmware needed to be updated, but I don't have privileges.  That means I had to call the tech guys, but while the firmware update kinda helped, the lines are still there.  I'll have to call the tech guys again on Wednesday.

Pseudo supervisor showed me an ad in the local paper.  It was from the San Marino police officer's association.  The ad is an open letter pointing out all the failures of the city manager.  And boy, they hit them on the head. 

Here is a paraphrased pair of sentences from the ad of just one of the grievances.

A prime example of this is when our City Manager, Dr. Marlowe, recently brought her sick son to receive a rapid Covid test from the San Marino Fire Department.  Dr. Marlowe used city resources, (an issue she expressed concern over in last week's Tribune article) the same resources she said would cost the city too much money to provide to officers on a weekly basis.

They go on to say that she has refused these same tests for officers who do not want to get vaccinated on the basis that it costs too much.  Furthermore, she has said that the reason why the city can't use those tests is because they are unreliable.  The police association asks why is it that the test is good enough for her son but not good enough for the officers.  They make a good point.  From what I understand this is how she operates.  One day during the pandemic, I was on the reference desk and she came in with a bunch of other city people.  Everyone was wearing a mask except her.  She didn't just not have it on her face, she didn't have a mask in sight.

They continue to point out that the city manager also did not pay employees correctly, and on top of that reported days off as quarantine days to the Federal government.  Essentially pocketing that money, because the Federal government is reimbursing the city of overage in sick hours in order to have employees be able to stay home while they quarantine.  For example, the letter goes on to say, "If an employee was off for seven days and was scheduled to work for three days, then the city included four days off as part of their quarantine."  In other words, the city would claim more days off for a person and would then just pocket the difference in money.  At least that's what I think it says, in between the lines.

The letter goes on to say that she's a micro manager, which I heard from many people she is.  At the end they state that the association has voted no confidence in her ability to do the job.  Gotta say, all the stuff that was in the letter were things I have heard from many people who worked with her.  When I first met her I got a bad vibe from her.  Later a coworker that knew her from another city said that I should watch my back with her.  Thankfully she's no where near me.  But, I still kept that thought in my head when dealing with her.

On Friday I noticed that the light on the home phone was blinking.  I went to find out that what that meant in the phone's manual.  It said that a blinking red light means that the line is in use, but if it's not it means that the phone is not connected.  Sure enough, I picked up the headset and found that there was no dial tone.  I thought that the phone issues would fix themselves, but when I found that the phone was still not working this morning I went and called AT&T to have the line repaired.  They said they would work on it.  They were fast, because I was getting a phone call from my aunt within an hour that the technician was at the house.  Sure enough, in less than two hours after I called this morning the phone issue was fixed.  Now that's what I call service.

When I got home tonight my aunt told me that she talked to my cousin about some things, mainly the damage she claims the girls did to a couple of pieces of furniture.  My aunt said that my cousin was a little indignant about the allegations.  To get to the point, my cousin said that perhaps the girls shouldn't come by the house after school.  Hey, that's exactly what my aunt wanted.  Couple that with them not coming in the morning and I'm loving it.  I'm sorry, I just feel that they don't need to come here before or after school.  Before school it's messed up because they disturb my routine.  And in the afternoon they come and disturb my aunt's routine as well.  And they make a mess.  And if my aunt is correct, they are damaging things.  I liked the break we had from the girls for a year and a half.  I'm just not liking their attitude about certain things.  Frankly, I think my cousin has done a good job raising them, but they also need to learn humility.

Tuesday, October, 12, There were more comments about the teen room renovation at the library.  I like the comment.  All I know is this thing is going to be a fail.  Like everything else they've done.  I was talking to the social worker today and she pointed out how the city doesn't even have the money budgeted for the renovation yet.

TheGirl's trips lately have been snakebitten.  I say this because her trip up to Big Bear was postponed by a fire.  Then when she went up she had a so-so time.  That was mainly because her ex-husband was along with the rest of the family.  I think they should leave him at home, but what do I know?  Now her trip to Solvang tomorrow is cancelled due to... yes, you guessed it... a fire.

Wednesday, October, 13, TheGirl took her daughter to Magic Mountain today for her birthday in lieu of them going to Solvang.  I didn't bring Chan to work with me, because on these days that TheGirl takes off to do something on our Wednesday night dinner time I try and go to places I just couldn't go with TheGirl for whatever reason.  Tonight I went to a place that I heard about at least a year ago called Spanglish Kitchen.  It's close to work, and I figured why not try it tonight.  I ordered three different tacos: carne asada, fish taco, and a crispy potato taco.  I ate the fish taco first, and it was OK.  Nothing that good.  The carne asada one was much better, but it also lacked something.  I think I expected more toppings.  Lastly I had the potato, and that one hit the spot.  For me that was the best of the trio.  They also have chilaquiles there, and I'd like to try them some day.  For sure the potato taco is good enough to return to this place.  The other two weren't bad, but they also weren't super good.  I've had MUCH better.

Thursday, October, 14, TheGirl and I were talking about going to one of these light expositions.  I want to go to Enchanted at Descanso Gardens, but TheGirl said that she wanted to go to the one at the Los Angeles Arboretum show this year.  I went ahead and bought tickets to both.  If she doesn't want to go to Enchanted I can find someone else to go with.

Friday, October, 15, A few weeks ago I went over to the city yard and picked up a van full of traffic signs, along with long plank barriers, and took them over to the Brand library.  They needed them for some concert series.  Well, today was the day I had to take them all back to the city lot.

When I got to Brand one of the librarians asked me, "What are you doing here so early?"  I told them I was there to pick up the signs.  He says, "Oh, I thought that public works picked those things up."  Yeah, well, they don't.  I do.  I love how everyone knows nothing about anything, and how things get done at the library.  The grunts do the work, while others just think that someone else does it.  Typical.

Saturday, October, 16, I've been wanting to ask for a raise for the last month or so.  I know that my anniversary isn't until later in the year, but I wanted to get a jump on things.  Because things take so long to kick in.  Here is the email I intend on sending.

2021 started out with all the libraries being closed, and Tony and me still checking bookdrops, pulling holds, and doing every little thing necessary for the running of the library, including curbside.  As the year continued we all transitioned towards opening up all the branches.  Now we're almost back to full strength, you could say.  Over and over again Tony and I have risen up to the challenges of the job.

Over this past year I've been involved with many projects outside of the route.  I helped the summer reading club, the Brand concert series, and with the Reflect Space, to name a few.  Not to mention the Little Free Library and the memory lab project.  All this while running the route, and missing only a minimum of time due to illness.

Flexibility has always been a staple in my work ethic, and it is the same during this last year.  Time and time again I've been able to pivot and change the way I do the route.  Today the route is back to normal, back to the pre-pandemic route.  Though-out the last nearly two years the thing that I can best say describes my work is reliable.  I like to think I'm as steady as a clock and proactive.  When a situation arises I act to resolve it as soon as possible.

I have met the challenges that come with the delivery under pandemic circumstances and now under post-pandemic circumstances.  Therefore, I humbly ask for a merit raise.  Thank you.

I originally asked TheNewCute if she could come with me to Bob Baker's Marionette theater this Sunday.  She told me she was working at Crowell.  I then asked my friend Jennifer, who I just recently reestablished communications with.  She thought it was a ticket for both her and her son.  Nope, just one ticket, not two.  So she flaked.  I thought about asking TheLooker, but I know that's a dead end.  So my plan D was Talia.  She said yes.  Woo hoo!  I figure that I should sleep with her first and then drive over to the show.  I told her via text and she agreed.  I'm to go over at 1pm.  I thought about going to the market and getting her flowers, at the very least.  I hope she doesn't act up during the show.

Sunday, October, 17, I had this plan for today where I would wake up early.  I set my alarm for 8:17am, but my do not disturb feature overrode that alarm and I didn't hear it.  Either that or the booze I drank last night while jerking off knocked me out.  I didn't wake up until nearly 11am, which pushed all my plans back.  As I write this sentence it's 1:12pm and I'm waiting for my aunt to get her ass in gear so we can go to the market.  Which means I won't be getting out of her until past 2pm.  Which means I may get to Talia's place after 3pm.  At that point we'll just be going to the theater for the show.  I wanted to fuck before going to the show, but now that I think about it there's no rule that says we can't afterward.  Hmmm.

I heard about Bob Baker's Marionette theater a while back.  I'm not sure exactly when, but I know that I heard about it recently.  Like during the pandemic last year, because they were on the news saying that they were struggling, and that they hoped to be able to stay open while everything was closed.  Thankfully they did manage to stay open and tonight I got to check it out.  You know what, in a word it was amazing.  In another word, it was fun.  You know, you rarely get to my age and still have moments of pure fun and wonderment.  Tonight was one of those moments.  The performances were delightful.  Except for those moments that Talia took me out of the moment I had a magical time.  I'm SO glad I got tickets to this.  I for sure will be back, just not with Talia.  Here are some more pictures from tonight.

I was down to my last resource when I asked Talia if she wanted to go with me tonight.  I can't ever get that desperate again.  She was pretty good for most of the night, but there were times when she just said the wrong thing.  We were walking from the car to the theater when she starts talking about the difference between Highland Park and her neighborhood of WeHo.  She says, at full breath, as we walked by a cute little park with a bunch of people and kids, "I live with a bunch of faggots."  I told her that was inappropriate talk and that there were kids around.  ARGH!  Then once in the theater, towards the end of the performance thankfully, she starts clapping before the performance is done.  ARGH!  She goes, "Yay!" but the puppeteer was still moments away from ending.  It's like she was three seconds ahead, and if you don't think that's a lot try it.  Count to three right now, and see just how long three seconds really is.  And then she smelled of pee when we got out.  She didn't when we got to the theater, but at one point she went to the bathroom and when she came back she smelled.  ARGH!  And the best part was I told her to take a fucking shower.  I specifically told her to take a shower, and of course she doesn't.  When I got to her place she went ahead and "wiped herself off" with some baby wipes.  During the show she turns to me and says, "My feet still have cement on them."  She was at some construction site earlier today.  I honestly can't take her anywhere.  She lives in a pig sty, and lives like a homeless person.  Just sad.  Oh, and one last thing.  I asked Talia to take a picture of me with the sign for the theater and she goes ahead and takes the picture but cuts off some of the sign.  Like why?

Monday, October, 18, I woke up at 4:54am this morning.  I'm not sure why, but boy it was WAY too early.  But, I had to pee.  When I finally got out and about I noticed that it had rained last night.  It rained only a little during the drive to work.

The picture above is of a friend named Jennifer, circa 2012.  She was a patron that used to come into the library on a regular basis.  We got to be friends, but then a few years back she and I had a falling out.  But she called the library again a few weeks ago and we got to talk through it.  So now we're friends again and she came by the library to gift me some pumpkin bread that she baked the other day.  Not going to lie, back when I first met her I liked her not just as a friend.  I still think she's pretty cute, but she's married.  Of course.  She's in a terrible marriage, but she won't leave the guy.  I guess that's it then.  Long story short, we're planning on having lunch together some time in the near future.

Tuesday, October, 19, I went ahead and emailed Mala about my merit raise today.  She responded later in the day saying she was going to look into it.  As TheNewCute said today, "What's the worst they could say, no?"  Truth.

There isn't much more to talk about what happened today.  Today was just a standard day.  Not bad.  These days seem to be going even faster than in the past.  I know I say that all the time, but it does seem like things are speeding up even more now.  ARGH!

Wednesday, October, 20, Last night I was feeling the bottom of my left foot.  It was super dry.  I started to pick at the dry skin and it came off.  I got a small knife and started to cut the dry skin off my foot.  I should have just waited until tomorrow morning to use the pumice stone on that area.  Now my foot hurts.

TheGirl and I didn't get to have dinner together last week, due to the fact that she went to Magic Mountain with her daughter.  This week we were back to normal.  We went to the Counter in Toluca Lake.  We were supposed to talk about our plans for Sunday.  But we ended up just having a good time and we barely figured out what we were supposed to do.

After dinner TheGirl took us into Toluca Lake to check out the Halloween decorations.  Pictured above is one of the nicer homes.  They always have elaborate decorations for both Halloween and Christmas.  Here are some more pictures of some other the other homes that were decorated.

Lastly, Chan encountered a wolf man and a witch.  Hims wasn't afraid.  It's funny, as I tried to get a picture of the wolf man I noticed the swing set in the front yard of this particular house was moving, despite there not being much wind.  That was a little spooky.  I took the picture and suddenly a guy comes out from behind it and says, "Did I scare you?"  Funny enough, he didn't.  I was more spooked out by the moving swings.  Then I took the picture of Chan and the witch.  Chan is not a scared monkey.  He didn't even flinch at the sight of both the wolf man nor the witch.

Thursday, October, 21, I went upstairs to administration today and to my horror I saw the new shirts they're going to give us for work.  Boy, what a fucking disaster.  Looks like they're satisfied with us wearing the worst designed logo ever (see picture).  It's the same bad logo on the t-shirt that I have on my work shirt now.  ARGH!  I said I was going to get my own t-shirts made, and I think I will now.  This logo is all fucked up, as Vagabundo said, "You think they would improve it in some way, now that they're making new shirts, but no."  He's right.  They could have used this opportunity to fix the mess that is the logo, but they don't see it as a mess.  Bullshine!

Yesterday TheNewCute was visited by the media lady for the city to record a little video promoting her story time next week.  She told me that the lady from the city didn't give her much direction.  From the looks of it the video was done in one take.

Saturday, October, 23, I opened the McDonald's app this morning to order us some food and I notice that they had this ad on the top of the page.  McRib is coming back.  I used to love the McRib many years ago.  Nowadays I'll get one, but it's not as yummy as I remember it in the past.  When it comes back I'll be sure to get one with extra onions, and no pickles.

Last night I emailed the Bowl about the shuttle situation.  The email above led me to a page on the Bowl's website to buy shuttle tickets.  However, it said they were "sold out."  How do you sell out on shuttle tickets?  Anyway, I got the response back that I wanted.  They're selling tickets to the shuttle at the shuttle stop.  Whew!  Otherwise I had a plan B ready for us.  It involved having to go to the subway and taking the shuttle from Hollywood and Vine.  But, we won't have to do that.  But, if things don't work out we do have that as an option.

I was out in my backyard until nearly 9:20pm tonight.  It was cool out, but not cold.  I was just chillin.  Ha ha!  The clip above was taken by the security camera at 8:40pm.  I guess she thought that I was dead, or something.  She's always in my business.

It's my aunt's birthday on Monday, but I think she mentioned that my cousin said something about them coming over this weekend to celebrate.  I'm glad I won't be around for that.  I'll be at the Hollywood Bowl, thank you very much.  I do wonder if them being peeved at my aunt will prevent them from coming over tomorrow.  I don't care either way, and I hate to say that my aunt probably doesn't want to them here anyway.  But, it might happen that they will drop by tomorrow since it is her birthday.  I have my gift for her ready for Monday.  I guess we will see if my cousin will bring the girls by for a birthday celebration.  Like I said, I'm just glad I won't be here.

Sunday, October, 24, Tonight is the Bocelli concert, and I had a lot of things ready for tonight.  But, last night I looked for the tickets in my messenger bag and didn't find them.  I looked all over my bag and even took some stuff out of the bag in order to make sure that I didn't bury it somewhere.  Nope, it was nowhere to be found.  I was frustrated, because I figured I must have never printed it.  I knew that I would have to go get these tickets printed.  ARGH!  I'm a dummy.  I went to the FedEx store and printed the tickets there.

I picked up TheGirl and we went to Vitello's for dinner before the show.  TheGirl ordered up some eggplant and I ordered lasagna.  I thought my lasagna was just meh, nothing that special.  TheGirl said she liked her eggplant.  I'm glad.  This night was all about her.  It's the belated birthday that we didn't get to celebrate in September.  At the end of the meal TheGirl ordered a slice of chocolate cake.  I thought the came was not bad, but not amazing.  Still, TheGirl loved it, which is what's important.

We headed out to the L.A. Zoo to pick up the shuttle.  We got there fairly early, but at the same time it was good that we did go early, because the usual short shuttle drive took longer tonight.  TheGirl mentioned how the traffic around the Bowl seemed to be a lot more congested.  She was right, it was way busier.  It took us longer and by the time we got through the line, and bought some wine, it was 7:30pm when we got to our seats.

I've said that I'm not a big fan of Bocelli, but I will say that he put on a good show.  Strangely enough it was his special guests that made the show really good.  Jennifer Hudson showed up.  She sand amazing.  All in all it was a good show.  I was super happy to see and experience how much fun TheGirl was having.  It was all about her and I know that she had a wonderful night.  Woo hoo!

Monday, October, 25, By the time I got home from the concert last night it was around 11:30pm.  I was wound up from the night that I didn't fall asleep until after 12:30am.  I knew I was going to be paying for it this morning.  But, thankfully I wasn't super sleepy when I woke up.  But, later in the morning I was super sleepy.

It rained last night, and when I woke up the air was nice and crisp.  The weather liars said that there would be more rain today.

The new director of the library told me she had something that she wanted me to print out.  She told me this nearly two weeks ago.  I'm not sure what is taking the people in the city so long to send her the map she wanted me to print out.  But, last week on Friday I was finally sent some files.  The files were of some blueprints, and they were not what she wanted.

The thing that got me is when I went downstairs to print out the poster she allegedly wanted I found that the jokers that used the printer before me left it without any paper.  They didn't even try to replace the paper with more paper.  I mean come on, why?  Why be such assholes about this.  Last week I was trying to figure out why the printer was printing lines on the posters that we were printout out.  While working that out I found that the paper roll had been installed improperly.  That's why the damn printer wasn't working, it couldn't take the paper of the spool properly.  ARGH!  These dopes at the recreation department never know what they're doing.  Fuck those dopes.

My buddy texted me this afternoon asking if I was busy tonight.  I know that means he wants to come over and get something to eat.  That and chew the fat.  He asked if I wanted to get Tommy's or Numero Uno.  I told him I wasn't in the mood for pizza, and neither was he.  So, Tommy's it was.  We talked until around 11pm, when he asked me what time I wake up.  I told him I woke up at 6am and he said it was time for him to go.

Tuesday, October, 26, The royal dopes at Glendale feel the need to have quarterly staff meetings.  Today was the day for yet another useless staff meeting.  Once again the dopes touted their many accomplishments.  There are so many that we can't even count that high.  Yeah, right.  More like they can't stop counting their fails.

There was a moment where the meeting turned to the idea of what would be something that we all need the administration dopes to do to make work better for everyone.  The number one thing on the list was communication.  Yeah, imagine that.  The administration dopes never communicate anything to us.  Not only do they skip the important stuff, but they also skip the small stuff that we need for every day work.  Whatever, I know that the administration idiots won't improve anything.

During the meeting I was texting TheNewCute.  She sent me the above picture.  I didn't know it at the time, but she had called out sick from work.  She wasn't sick, she was just entertaining some house guests.  Good for her.

Wednesday, October, 27, For months the study area in the back of the San Marino library, called the Life Long Learning Center, is finally going to open.  Despite the fact that the rest of the library has been open for months, the Life Long Learning Center has been closed for various reasons.  Mainly because of the fact that they re-keyed the main doors to that room because the police were working out of there.  That was over months ago, but the city can't find the money to key the locks back to the old way.  The old way was a way in which our library keys could open those doors.  But, the new keyed way only allows the police to enter that room.  But since the cops are gone there's no need for that.  But as I said before, the city doesn't think it's that important to re-key the doors to the old way.  But, they are going to open up this area now.  They just won't lock it.  Stupid, I know.  Given all that, and sorry for the long story, I was asked to make a poster with the rules for the room (see above).  I'm pretty sure that the majority of the dopes that are going to enter the room won't even read this new poster.  However, with the help of TheNewCute I created it with the direction of P.  I think it looks pretty good.

Last week TheGirl and I went to the Counter to get burgers.  When we went we agreed that we would get Mexican this week.  TheGirl likes going to a place in Burbank called Don Cucos.  It's usually OK, but nothing super special.  Tonight I ordered some sopes, but they weren't all that good.  Not awful, but they were missing something.  At least the company is always nice.

We talked about our upcoming trip to Solvang in November.  TheGirl says she'll call the restaurant on Friday to see if we can book a reservation for Thanksgiving dinner.  Despite the fact that I've known TheGirl for over a decade she and I have never really spent Thanksgiving together.  The first year we were dating she ran away to Solvang on Thanksgiving day because she needed to be alone.  I never understood that move by her.  She never really explained it either.  Strange how some things come full circle.

When we got back to TheGirl's place we chilled for a bit.  Cheyenne got sleepy and snuggled close to me.  I just had to take a picture of her sleeping (see above).  TheGirl mentions many times how in the old days, when Cheyenne was younger, she would still be awake and playing when we would get back from dinner.  These days she is slowing down, but she still has a lot of energy.  Still, we're all getting older.

Thursday, October, 28, My aunt had a collection of random pieces of wood in the backyard.  They are a place where I can't get in to clean and because of that it's a place where mice hide.  I see the mice come out of that area to eat the fallen birdseeds on the patio floor.  I told my aunt that we needed to get rid of that wood, because there's no reason to keep it.  She thinks she's going to save it for repairs around the house.  That wood is leftover wood from repairs.  If we could have used it before it would have been used.  I guess I finally convinced her, because yesterday she told the gardeners that if they wanted it they could take it, or throw it out in the trash for her.  They choose to take it.  So now look at the area (see picture above).  It's finally clean.  There are still a few pieces of wood, but nothing like before.  I think this will help with the mice.  But it's not like I think that this move will remove the mice that visit the backyard.  No way.  But perhaps it will make it more difficult for them to get to the food, since they won't have the cover of that wood pile to hide in.  We shall see.

I haven't worked a service desk at Glendale in almost exactly two years.  They fired LunaTick some time in September 2019, and that's when I got off the desk to drive the route on Tuesdays again.  Yet, despite this fact the dopes upstairs still wanted me to do the credit card training, because reasons.  I don't work a service desk, and I don't see a day in the near future in which I'll go back to working the desk.  The only way I see that possibly happening is if Kvon comes back any time soon.  I had to sit through this dumb training.  Like it was my first rodeo, or something.  I quickly fast forwarded though the vides and answered the questions.  Done!  I downloaded the certificate and sent it to Mala.  Fuck this shit!

Friday, October, 29, While picking up some stuff on the route I noticed this thing on one of the boxes I was delivering (see above).  It said, "Please deliver by Sat(urday)."  The fucking nerve of some dopes.  These dopes always have some artificial deadline that they have to meet.  And then when it's met the stuff sits around for days, and sometimes weeks.  Eat shit, dopes.

Talia texted me today to say that she got her diploma from UCLA today.  She didn't tell me any details, but I assume she went there to pick it up.  I say that because I asked her if they would send it to her, and she told me no.  I'm sure they would, but oh well.  It's crazy, because she graduated and she was going to walk, and she asked me to go be her guest since she didn't have anyone in her life that would be there otherwise.  And then Covid hit and she didn't get to walk.

And now she tells me that once again she can't get the online test for a school cafeteria job to work.  I can't believe she can graduate UCLA and yet she can't get past a simple thing like an online employment test.  Jeez.  The second to last time I went there she was struggling on my computer to get it to work, because she said she had to do it at a certain time, and such.  She'll never get a regular job and keep it for long.

When I got to Grandview TheNewCute was there dressed up as a pumpkin (see above).  She's a character, that's for sure.

Sunday, October, 31, Earlier this week I was speaking to people about getting the booster shot for the vaccine.  I asked work if they were going to arrange getting the booster, but I didn't hear back from them.  The guy in administration said they would check into it.  But, I figured that since one of my coworkers got an appointment on her own I would do the same.  So, tonight I went ahead and made an appointment for this coming Friday.  I figured it would be a good idea to have a day off after the shot.  Just in case it beats me up.  The first two shots didn't effect me that much, but you never know.

Today was super chill.  Actually, the entire weekend was super chill.  I pretty much just spent the day sitting and laying on my backyard bench yesterday.  Today I spent a lot of time sitting around on the bench, but I also went to the market with my aunt.  Nearly every time we go to the market there is some attractive girl walking around.  Not so much today.  Not to say there were no attractive ladies, just that there wasn't that ONE that stands above the rest.  Oh well, there's always next week.

About a week and a half ago I was checking some things online when I found a link to some artists.  I scrolled through the names and found one that drew me, because she was listed as a photographer.  I had never seen this person's work, and I liked it.  The artist was Francesca Woodman.  Here's what Wikipedia says about her.

Francesca Stern Woodman (April 3, 1958 - January 19, 1981) was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models. Many of her photographs show women, naked or clothed, blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured. Her work continues to be the subject of much positive critical attention, years after her death at the age of 22, in 1981.

I came to find out that she actually committed suicide.  The entry continues...

On January 19, 1981, Woodman took her life, aged twenty-two, jumping out of a loft window of a building on the East Side of New York City.  An acquaintance wrote, "things had been bad, there had been therapy, things had gotten better, guard had been let down."  Her father has suggested that Woodman's suicide was related to an unsuccessful application for funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.  A lackluster response to her photography and a failed relationship had pushed her into the deep depression.

I got a book from the library with many of her photographs.  She was talented.