Afterthoughts : This Past Month

We're a quarter of the way through 2022 already.  Hard to believe how time flies.  Here's the update.

Tuesday, March, 1, The city manager at San Marino sent out an email today with a bit of a mea colpa.  Here is part of her email to us all.

Unfortunately, we discovered that there was an additional condition. In order to permit fully vaccinated persons to unmask, we must ALSO confirm that any unvaccinated persons have an approved negative COVID-19 test result - if they do not, they may not be permitted into the building, and the same goes for unvaccinated, untested employees.

Yeah, this is BS.  Of course all of these mandates have had it be proof of being vaccinated or a current test.  Why would she think we wouldn't need to see a test if some dummy comes in and says they're not vaccinated?  Typical.  The city manager's order made us have to sit outside and check people's vaccinated status if they intended to take off their mask when visiting the library.  I thought that was a stupid idea to begin with.  It was just better to say everyone stay masked.

Now that everything is finally understood the library isn't going to be wasting their time checking vaccination cards.  I'm glad, it was a waste of everyone's time.  Of course the dummy city manager screwed up, but she didn't just say, "I screwed up," she said, "We screwed up."  Yeah, right.  Well, now after a few days we're going back to just having people come in with masks on.  No more checking vax status.

When I got home tonight there was hardly anything to eat.  I found some scraps and ate what was left over.  After dinner I checked on the temperature outside and it was still pretty warm.  I then got my things and took off to the outside bench.  I chilled and had a nice time watching some YouTube.  I should really watch more episodic stuff.  Really it was just nice to FINALLY be able to go and sit outside.  I know there will be plenty of days ahead where I can chill outside, but it's nice now.

Wednesday, March, 2, I went to the grocery store this morning and bought what I thought were just normal items.  Among the items I bought were: Ritz, candy bars, beans; rice, marinara sauce, tea, and booze.  Little did I know that I would walk out having spent $92.57.  Check the receipt above for the actual tally.  The booze was $24, but at the same time the rest of the groceries were over $65.  I know I bought some cheese, and each of the cheeses were about $12 together.  Jeez, I can't believe I spent so much.  All I wanted was a little bit of cheese for an afternoon snack.  A few weeks ago I was starting to get that feeling in my stomach of it bubbling up around 2pm.  I had a taco from the morning that I didn't finish and that hit the spot and kept my stomach from blowing up.  Yesterday I had a cookie at around the same time and it also prevented my stomach from bubbling up.  So this cheese and crackers that I bought should help me tomorrow.  I'm planning on having them at around 2pm.

There have been times in my life where there has been a sea change and my life goes from moving in one direction to another.  The passing of my Mother, then the passing of my Grandmother.  Followed closely by me finishing up school (finally) and getting myself the jobs I have now.  Then came the relationship with TheGirl.  But of the last few years things have been kinda steady, and there hasn't been big changes.  I feel that it's time to change up what's goin on now.  I'm in a rut, to say the least.  Waiting for some lady isn't the answer.  Waiting around for anything isn't the answer.  After reading that thing about alcohol affecting the heart I've decided to really cut down my drinking.  I was only drinking on Wednesdays and the weekends.  But now I thin that needs to go down to Wednesdays and sometimes on the weekends.  And certainly not at the volume as before.  This isn't just good for my heart, but good for my body.  My stomach is huge.  However, in the last few weeks that I've already lowered my drinking I've noticed that my waist is a little smaller than before.  This morning I could actually see some of the muscles under all that fat.  It was the side muscles, not the six pack muscles.  I've never seen those on me.  Ha!  Still, I think that eating less and drinking less will be good for me.

TheGirl and I went to the Counter for dinner tonight.  The cute waitress that used to work there is gone, but she was replaced by one of our favorite waiters.  We ordered up some wine and our burgers and had a good time.  They must wonder what is our deal.  The Counter never disappoints.  While other places we go to are hit and miss the Counter always hits.  It's good times.

The above picture is of the ladies after dinner.  TheGirl really loves Cheyenne.  Must admit, I love Cheyenne very much as well.  I know my life will be diminished when she passes away (assuming I out live her).  But for TheGirl it will be devastating.  I'm not sure what she will do after Cheyenne passes.  Her whole life revolves around Cheyenne.  She stays in good shape because she goes out for a walk with her every day.  Actually a couple of times a day.  Cheyenne is like TheGirl's child.  No parent wants to lose a child.  A pet is no different, in my mind.  Ever since I got to be around Cheyenne I understand the emotions you can feel for a pet.  I had pets in the past, but not a dog (at least not for long).  Cheyenne is one of the great things that has happened in my life.  She is as significant as any person I've known.  I don't want to actively think about her passing, because she does have a lot of piss and vinegar for a dog of ten.  But time catches up to all of us.  I know I feel it in my bones, in my body, in my eyes that find it harder to focus.  We all run down.

Thursday, March, 3, We're getting new lockers in circulation.  I'm not sure what caused these dopes to finally install the lockers I had heard about last year, but here they are.  They really are needed since we have so many people that come in and want to have their stuff in a safe place.  The ladies have to put their purses in the back office that used to be the kitchen.  But, there's no secure place there, just a bunch of boxes.  It's not like we have thieves all around, but you never know.  It's best to just be safe and to offer employees a safe place to put their stuff.  Years ago, before the renovation, there used to be a set of lockers downstairs by the old lounge.  It's taken all these years later to finally get some new ones.  The ladies that want their stuff to be safe should appreciate not having to just place their things where anyone can get to them.  There, the library is saved.

The dopes installed a new piece of "art" in the library.  I love how they keep shoving in these dopey projects without a hint of shame.  I don't remember what the name of this stupidity is, but I can find out next week.  All I know is that it's just the latest in a long line of horrific art pieces they have placed in the library in the name of art.  It's more like in the name of stupidity.

The county is set to have new Covid guidelines.  Here is how social media boiled it down.

As of Friday, March 4, LA County strongly recommends but does not require masks in most indoor public settings.

And that pretty much does it.  An email from work expanded on this saying the following.

Starting tomorrow, Friday, 3/4, LA County Department of Public Health will no longer require masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, with exceptions for some high risk environments.  DPH strongly recommends wearing masks indoors.  This means that GLAC will not be requiring the public to wear masks inside our facilities.

There you have it.  I didn't take a survey, but I was told by many of my coworkers that they will continue to wear their mask.  Yeah, that goes for me as well.  But, this does bring up the question as to when my fellow coworkers will start to feel comfortable taking their masks off.  And that question goes for me as me as well.  I'm not sure when I'll feel comfortable taking my mask off at work.  And everywhere else, for that matter.

Friday, March, 4, Just as I was going to sleep last night I heard a thunderclap.  Within a few minutes I could hear the sound of rain.  Not strong though.  This morning I checked the window and saw that the ground was dry.  My car had a few little sprinkles, but nothing major.  I checked the security camera that faces the front of the house and found that it had rained a bit last night (as pictured above).  It's hard to see, but there is a little light area under my car, which is where the rain didn't hit.  I guess that's all we're going to get.  The weather liars on TV keep talking about how February is the wettest month.  However, we didn't get THAT much rain this February.  March is supposed to be the second wettest month, but so far it's not all that wet.

Yesterday I was taking boxes of donations out of the van and putting them into the circulation room.  In one of the boxes there were some CDs.  One of them was a single by a singer named Lindsay Pagano.  From her Wikipedia page:

She is mostly known for her 2001 song "Everything U R," which was originally on an AOL commercial before being the theme song for the WB show Maybe "It's Me."  Pagano stated in a 2004 interview with Vainquer Teens Magazine that she was in the process of recording a new album, but did not release any new material until 2008.

I just remember her from that song and I hadn't thought about her until yesterday when I saw the CD.  I ended up listening to her stuff today while I was putting things in the van.  I also found out online that she was on the show the Voice.  I wonder about people like this who find success early on and then kinda just fade away.  She wasn't a bad singer, but for some reason she didn't break big.  I still remember her.  I went online to find more songs sung by her, but I'm finding it difficult.

Fridays are beginning to be busy days for me.  The good thing is that despite having a lot in the van today I was still able to get a nice lunch in to my day.  As you can see from the picture above the van was full.  Not packed, but pretty damn full.

I've mentioned it before that people tend to park behind me when I'm at the park.  However, it's not just as at the park, it seems like it's everywhere I go.  Today some dope parked behind me as I went to the Burger King to get lunch (see above).  The guy stayed in the car.

And... big AND, when I came back the guy was gone.  Another typical move.  Park behind me and then bolt after a few minutes.

When I went inside the Burger King the biggest change I saw was that the Plexiglas barriers that were up had been taken down.  The employees still wore masks, but the barriers were now down.  I don't remember when the barrier went up, but it's safe to say it was a little over two years ago.  Wow, and just like that things are changing.

The county's mask mandate now isn't forcing people to mask up indoors.  They are, "Strongly encouraged" to mark, but it's not mandatory.  I noticed a few of my coworker were taking off their masks.  Not me.  Not TheNewCute.  Not Vagabundo.  And not a lot of others.  Yeah, I'll keep my mask on for a little while longer.

When I arrived at Casa Verdugo branch there was a delivery truck in the parking lot.  The other day I was shown a picture of some city guys delivering some equipment or something to the fire station.  I figured this was part of that.  Moments after arriving I saw three dopes moving a couch from the street into the parking lot.  They moved straight to the truck and I knew at that moment that they weren't delivering to the fire station, they were delivering to the building next door.  So many dopes park in the library's parking lot and then go to that building.  I wish there was a way to prevent that.  Aside from having a parking attendant there's no way to police that parking lot.

As I said earlier it was cloudy today.  It became more cloudy throughout the day.  Yet, it never rained.  I'm OK with it raining AFTER I finish work.  That way I don't get wet.  Alas, it did not rain today.  I believe that's probably our last good chance of rain for some time.

When I returned to Central to finish up the route I was told by a couple of people that TheLooker came by to pick up her books.  I was supposed to take her books to her.  Guess not.  The security guard told me that TheLooker said that she's been "Busy."  Of course.  I get it, she has been busy getting aquatinted to her new job.  So busy she can't take a few seconds to text me.  Oh well.  I have to say that I haven't had the itch to text her at all.  I figure if she wants to text me she knows where I am.

Veed left Glendale about four months ago, if I remember correctly.  The dummies upstairs did not post the job because they wanted the hire list to expire.  They clearly don't want Ru to be up there, for some reason.  So, while they wait it out they now have Mala in charge.  This explains why I saw her up there yesterday.  Hmmm.  So shady.

Saturday, March, 5, Last night I was talking to my aunt about today's breakfast.  It's usually a struggle to get her to figure out what she wants.  I've told her countless times to think about what she might want for breakfast on the weekends.  She never knows.  She always asks me what I want.  I'm flexible, I'll have anything I can find from wherever she wants food.

So, I was surprises when she actually told me that she wanted some potatoes for breakfast.  That and eggs.  At least that's what I understood her to tell me.  It's so very hard to understand what she says since she is so soft spoken.  That and she mumbles.  But, I searched for a place in the neighborhood where I could find something like what she wanted.  I found that Jinky's had something similar to what she described.  But, when I got back from picking up breakfast I presented my aunt with the meal and right away she says, "That's not what I wanted."  ARGH!  There went that.

I arrived from Jinky's at 11:01am.  By noon my aunt was already on her way back to her room to head to bed.  I checked in on her at around 12:30pm and she was already asleep.  Not good.  She later took a shower and left all her old clothes in the bathroom.  She told me she would pick them up later, but I had already done it.

I can report that in the last few weeks she's had this tired look to her face.  Her eyes seemed sunk in and also look like they're sometimes having a hard time focusing.  Like she has this faraway look.  I asked her why she didn't go see the doctor, and she right away says that the doctor will want to put her in the hospital.  Ah, yeah, if she's that sick.  And she's bordering on that point where she has had to be hospitalized in the past.  She's not well, to say the least.  She eats very little, and sleeps a lot.  And I mean a lot.

I was going to mention this earlier but, I guess I'll do it now.  Her sleep and life pattern has changed over the last few months.  Where she used to wake up with me in the morning and serve me my breakfast, it's been months since she's done that now.  Oh she still wakes up early, but now she's up at like 4am or 5am.  Then she goes back to sleep and sleeps right through my morning routine.  When I get home from work she's already in bed.  On most days I do see that she's active during the day.  That's a positive.  However, she goes to bed super early these days, and then she is up about three to four times in a night.  Hence her sleeping so much during the day.  In short, we live very separate lives these days.

Sunday, March, 6, I don't remember the last time I worked on a Sunday at Glendale, but it's been a while.  At least five years.  And you know what, I never want to work at Glendale on a Sunday again.  For one, the old skeleton crew would be laughing at the staffing we have on Sundays now.  I spent the entire shift on the desk.  I had one break.  This... is bullshit.  Yes, I made some nice money today for basically sitting at a desk.  However, it wasn't just sitting on a desk.  Today was fucking busy.  There were a couple of times where there was a lull, but that was just a few moments.  There was a moment where we had a line of people that was about seven deep.  Not a long line.  Nothing like the old days on the desk when we could have twenty people in line.  Still, I was starting to feel pressure that we had that many people in line waiting.  Then I remembered not to get so worked up.  They can wait.  That was the busiest part of the day.  After that things died down a wee bit until the last hour.  Then things calmed way down.  It was a long shift.  Paul McCartney better be worth this.

Monday, March, 7, My aunt and I went down to Reseda to visit the lawyer again.  He said last week, when my aunt called, that the paperwork was all ready.  I told my aunt that there was no way we were going on Wednesday, so we went today.  Thankfully the guy FINALLY had the paperwork done.  Took long enough.  I don't know how long it took for this stuff to get done, but now it's done.

Wendy's makes something called a Baconator, which is basically a burger with a lot of bacon.  I was watching a video on YouTube where they added bacon to a McDonald's McDouble and a little mayo and viola, McDonald's Baconator.  It was good.

TheGirl is going to Solvang next Wednesday, which means no dinner.  The week after that she's having surgery to have her breast implants taken out.  We usually have dinner on Wednesdays, but next Wednesday I'm on my own.  I was thinking where could I go to have dinner by myself.  And then it hit me.  Next Wednesday is the twenty-fifth anniversary of my mother's passing.

Not sure how that long a period has transpired.  Yet, here I am, just a few years short of her age when she passed away, and twenty-five years older.  It's not a date I celebrate, but I did put it on the calendar this year.  So now what do I do?  Commemorating the day seems appropriate, but how?  Is me having dinner by myself somewhere appropriate?  But if I go home then what?  I just sit at home?  There's no right answer to this.  I guess I'll just take moment to remember her and get some food somewhere that I've wanted to go, but couldn't go on a Wednesday.

Tuesday, March, 8, I nearly forgot about this, but last night I remembered that we had an all staff meeting today at Glendale.  Bullshit.  I arrived at the parking lot at 7:55am, but as I was getting out of my car a guy I know from work that now works in the parking garage said hi to me.  I think I spent like two minutes talking to him, until I realized I was going to be late.  I walked in the door at 8:01am.  Technically late!  I went right to one of the computers and logged in so I could join the meeting.  It's not enough to be in the building, I have to log in in order for the dummies upstairs to see that I attended the meeting.  But, that doesn't meant I have to listen.  I had my new game system with me, which I took out and almost immediately started playing.  I am back to playing a thirty year old game... Sim City.  I'm playing the SNES version, and as of today I have a population of 182,000.  Woo!  I heard almost nothing of the meeting going on just inches from my ears.  I honestly don't care about their stupid meeting.  I'm just stuck having to attend.  But, thanks to Sim City I didn't have to really deal with it.

I was telling TheGirl that up in Montrose they were building little "parklets" for the restaurants to have exterior seating.  Despite the fact that the mask mandate is slowly going away, I'm sure some of these restaurants still had the idea to build these outdoor seats to take advantage of the fact that the mandate will end and the weather is getting warmer.  When I went up to Montrose to have dinner with TheGirl before going to the Descanso Gardens it would have been nice to be able to have more outdoor seating at our disposal.  I like this idea for Montrose.  I like this idea for other areas as well, like Toluca Lake.  It's harder there because the parking isn't the same as in Montrose.  But with the weather getting warmer it would be nice to go to more restaurants and have an outdoor option.

A couple of weeks ago I started getting that stupid feeling in my stomach when it's going to start acting up.  It usually hits me about two hours after I have lunch at work.  Not always, but many times.  What happened a few weeks ago is that I had some tacos from Burger Queen with me that I didn't finish at lunch.  Eating those tacos hit the spot and kept me from having my stomach feel meh at 2pm.  So I figured that I should get a snack to have around that time.  I went to the market last week and bought some cheeses.  Since I pass by TheGirl's on Mondays I took them in with me to put in her fridge.  Well, of course I forgot them.  But I had them this week and I finally got to have some cheese and crackers for my afternoon snack.  It really hit the spot.  It kept my stomach from erupting, and it was yummy.  Mission accomplished.

A few weeks ago I stopped chewing gum after reading that chewing gum makes a person swallow air and that bloats your stomach.  And that was the problem I was facing, a bloated stomach.  Ever since I stopped chewing gum I have experienced just a few times that I felt bloated.  The good thing was even during those occurrences the bloating was nowhere near as bad as when I was chewing gum.  Good news.  I'm definitely feeling better do to that change.  And, a couple of weeks ago, after having my heart race for no reason after dinner, I read that booze can effect your heartbeat.  I told myself to really cut down, and I have.  And I'm happy to report that I feel much better.  Today I was full of energy and ready to take on the work day.  I'm not entirely sure if I can say it's because I'm drinking less, but it certainly could follow that cutting down has helped.  Let's see if his trend towards improvement continues to show the good results I think I'm seeing now.

Wednesday, March, 9, Wednesdays at work are boring.  Boring in the sense that nothing noteworthy happens on Wednesdays.  I'm OK with boring at work though.  Today's main assignment for me was to update the signs in the library to reflect that we are not longer requiring masks.  The signs do say that masks are "recommended."  The thing is that most patrons, I would estimate about 80% are still wearing their masks.  I think many people are still worried about Covid, since no one has said that it's under control.  Officials have just said it's OK to go without a mask.  That's not the same thing.  But, this is the new normal.  I do wonder how long it will be until I can feel it's safe to not wear a mask anymore.

For dinner tonight I suggested we go to the Smokehouse.  It was my week to pay, and despite the fact that my account was a little light because of that discrepancy with my San Marino paycheck last week I still had enough for a good meal tonight.  I wanted to get the burger, but at the last minute I ordered the prime rib sandwich.  It was good, and I finished the entire thing.  However, I think I should have gone with the hamburger.  Next time.

TheGirl was concerned about taking Cheyenne with us to dinner, because TheGirl noticed that she was limping and favoring her right leg.  She couldn't get an appointment with a veterinarian today, so she was worried about how much walking Cheyenne would have to do just to get from the car to the restaurant.  The funny thing is, when I arrived Cheyenne was bouncing off the walls, like she usually is when I come over.  TheGirl mentioned that she wasn't limping as much.  For much of the day Cheyenne had an ice pack on her leg, so that probably helped numb the pain a bit.  Either way, Cheyenne was able to accompany us to the Smokehouse.  Tomorrow she goes to the vet to see if there's anything wrong with her leg.  TheGirl has an idea that Cheyenne hit the doggie door on her way out.  Could be.

Thursday, March, 10, Last night while at dinner I was getting text messages about moving some walls from Brand to Central.  This has been in the works for days, and I don't understand why the gallery people had to contact me directly to tell me that they wanted the walls moved tomorrow.  Especially on off hours.  I don't even work at Glendale on Wednesdays.  The topper was them calling me.  I let the call go to voicemail and told them I was at dinner.  This morning I was set to go to Brand to get those walls first thing.  Thankfully the gallery people postponed it for next week.  I so didn't want to deal with those damn walls today.  Especially after I dropped a hint to my coworker that the gallery people wanted them delivered today.  I didn't mention the texts from last night.  Nor did I mention that my big mouth had already agreed to do the move today.  The gallery people postponing the move was the best thing for me.

As I drove up to the Casa Verdugo branch library I noticed two trucks side by side.  As you can see from the picture above they are practically twins.  I told my buddy Vagabundo about how these dopes that work for the fire department all think alike.  They all have to buy huge trucks.  I'm sure that's hurting their wallet right now.  Why buy a practical car when you can buy a truck that will never haul a single thing in its bed?  And it's telling that the both of these trucks have the firefighter's lives matter flag.  Racist much?  Just typical.

TheLooker's birthday is Monday and I'm debating whether I should text her birthday wishes.  She's not sent a single text since I shut up.  I don't want to be that stupid again and just text her out of the blue hoping for something to emerge from that one text.  If it was going to happen I think it would have already happened.  So I debate if it's worth my time to text her on Monday.  I kinda just want to to be polite.  But I know what you're saying, it's a foolish move.  Perhaps, but I am a fool.

Friday, March, 11, As is now a tradition of mine, I picked up a burger from Burger King for lunch today.  I noticed when I checked online that there was a new burger featured.  They call it the Whopper melt.  It's basically a patty melt.  I bought it today for lunch, and it hit the spot.  The lady behind the counter told me it was a "small" burger when I ordered it.  But you know, it's the perfect size.  I think I'll get it next time, but next time without fries.  I still need to remember that I need to eat smaller meals.

Saturday, March, 12, For years I went to the free tax services at CSUN.  Since I was a student, and poor, I was able to get my taxes done for free.  For a while before my aunt retired we would go to the VITA to have her taxes done as well.  It's nice to be able to get my taxes done for free.  Seeing as I tend to owe money in the last few years.  Thanks to stupid Trump's tax "cut" that turned out to be a Joan Collins special on the little guy, like me.  I've paid more in taxes thanks to that douche than ever before.  Fuck that guy!  Anyway, for the last two years I had a former coworker do my taxes.  She never wanted to charge me for that, but stupid me should have at least gotten her something.  Either way, this year I felt strange asking her to help me again.  So, I went ahead and made an appointment with the VITA service.

I went to the YMCA in Van Nuys, where they were helping people out with their taxes.  I made the appointment a couple of weeks ago.  I know that thanks to dummy's tax hike I tend to owe money.  Last year it was just over $900.  This year was even worse.  Between state and Federal I owe just over $1,500.  $1,562 to be exact.  That amount cleaned out my vacation savings account.  I still have a little money left from my last stimulus check, about $300, and about $200 in another savings account.  I think I need to start saving if I want to go on a vacation to Carmel any time soon.  Also, next week I have to get finance to change my withholding so that they will take more out during the year and I won't be having to pay this kind of money in taxes.

After dinner I went out to my backyard.  The weather is warm enough that I can spend a little time back there.  But, my neighbors had the same thought.  They were talking pretty loud.  That's when I remembered my noise cancelling ear buds.  Boy, did they do the trick.  I didn't hear a thing they said.  After about twenty minutes of being outside I got up to use the restroom and that's when I noticed they weren't even in the backyard anymore.  I didn't hear then at all.  Wonderful.

Sunday, March, 13, I was up late jerking off, and then watching YouTube, followed by playing some Heiankyo Alien until around 5:30am.  I didn't think I would wake up super early this morning, but I got up and hit the ground running.  First thing I did was quietly go outside and cut my hair, and shave.  Once that was done I went ahead and swept up the backyard of seeds and my hair.  Following that I then took a shower.  When I finished up my short shower, due to having less hair, I went ahead and helped my aunt with breakfast.  We reheated the chilaquiles from yesterday and toasted some bread to go with it.  She also ate some of her soup from yesterday.  Then I went to the market.  Then, I made some enchiladas for my lunch tomorrow.

Speaking of the market, I went and bought some enchilada sauce to cook up something for my lunch this week.  My aunt made the rice I bought late last week, and also cooked up some beans.  But, she neglected to have an entree with that.  She's the queen of side dishes.  So, the enchiladas will serve me well for lunch this week.  I have some store bought guacamole that I can put on top of them as well.  While at the market I finally saw the new Starlight Coke I heard about online last week.  I got a little bottle of it and tried it.  It's different, that's for sure.  It kinda taste like candy, but what candy I can't pin point.

When I got home I went right to work on making some enchiladas.  I don't know if I did a good job, but I guess I'll find out when I eat them tomorrow.  I want take over the food making duties because of the fact that my aunt is really slowing down.  I want take some of that burden out of her hands.

And speaking of cooking, I had a thought last night that I should finally buy a slow cooker.  That way I can make some nice stews, or I can also make some soups for my aunt.  She's taken to liking Campbell's soups lately, but doesn't like how salty the regular ones are.  She has liked the reduced sodium ones I've bought her.  But, if I made them at home we could control how much salt we add.  Not only that, I can add other stuff like veggies.  I guess I better figure it out soon.  I had this notion last night, and I was thinking one of the soups I would love to cook up would be a corn chowder.  Aside from that I could try to figure out how to make a turkey stew like the one I had in elementary school.  That stew was so yummy, that I still remember it some forty years later.

I worked last Sunday.  I also got an hour for the pre-training at Glendale this week.  I'm going to work on the 26th and 27th this month as well.  All these extra days are going to help me build my vacation fund again.  Oh, and I have to get finance from both jobs to withhold more during the year so I don't get blindsided with a huge tax due next year.

So many people at the library have started what the kids calls these days a "side hustle."  I don't know what I could do.  My only other skill is photography, but I don't want to be one of these poor dopes that take pictures of couples for their engagement or some bullshit like that.  Nor do I want to do baby pictures, or weddings, or head shots.  So yeah, there goes that idea.

A couple of old pictures came up on my feed today, but the one I'm focusing on is the one above.  It's from two years ago today.  Two years ago today they told us that we needed to close the library for a couple of weeks.  As you can see from the sign insert it says that we were going to be closed until March 31st, 2020.  We all know how THAT turned out.

It's funny how things work out a certain way.  Two years ago we were still at the beginning of this thing.  And almost to the day two years later we're nearly out of it.  I mean we're nearly out of this thing.  The mask mandates are now in essence voluntary now.

Monday, March, 14, I don't get how the scheduling at San Marino is always such a mess.  Case in point.  I checked the email that had the reference desk schedule and I noticed something different.  For the longest time I've been working on the reference desk from 10am until 3pm.  I get a short lunch of a half an hour and that's it.  I'm off desk from 3pm to 4pm, when I leave.  This is both Mondays and Wednesdays.  The new schedule didn't change for Monday, but on Wednesday it said that I was on the desk from 10am to 1pm, the off desk from 1pm to 4pm.  Still have that half hour lunch, but I would be in the back office for the last two and a half hours of my shift.  Hey, I don't mind not being in the public eye for that time, but there isn't really much for me to do right now.  Any Foundation assignments are in the future.  And small.  Nothing that would take a couple of hours every Wednesday.  So now what?  Well, soon after a little talk with the new city library I figured that they wanted me off desk to work on Foundation stuff.  I told the librarian that I would have to check with the Foundation director to see what work she might have for me.  Well, by the time I got home the whole thing was mute.  TheNewCute was going to work from 1pm to 3pm on Wednesdays, but she leaves at noon.  Oops!  So, I'm back to my old schedule.

After a lot of debate in my head, I ended up texting happy birthday to TheLooker today.  No surprise she said she's been "busy" with school.  Could be.

Since TheGirl is going to be in Solvang on Wednesday she suggested that we have dinner tonight.  At first I was hesitant, because it's a change in pattern and I worried that my aunt would wonder where I was on a Monday evening.  But, then I thought about how TheGirl obviously asked me for a reason.  She is going to Solvang this week, and then next week she's going to have surgery to remove her breast implants.  Also on a Wednesday.  That day she has said that I'm free to visit her after the surgery.  But, no dinner.  I'll either have to eat somewhere by myself or go home and have dinner.  I'm still trying to figure that part out.

Anyway, we went to dinner at the Dog Haus, somewhere we haven't been in years.  I think at least two years.  The grub was yummy.  I ordered onion rings with my dog, but they weren't that good.  They didn't look like the pictured onion rings.  That's OK, the dog was good.  TheGirl had a meatless bratwurst, which she said was yummy.  We definitely need to come back here again on our rotation.  After dinner we went on a little walk in the neighborhood to the East of the Warner Bros studio.  It's a super quiet, and pretty, neighborhood.  Cheyenne used to be left off leash in order for her to chase some bunnies that live in that neighborhood.  But, not anymore.  She still had a good time spotting them.  It was a good night for a dinner al fresco and a walk.  The weather was perfect.  These are the kind of nights that really make it nice to live here.

Tuesday, March, 15, Today was the day that my coworker and I went up to the Brand library to pick up those portable walls.  It wasn't easy, but with the two of us it made it much easier.  Once we got back to Central things went well until the guy who wants the walls made some changes.  To make a long story short, we're going to have to bring two more walls from Brand.  Bullshit.  I knew this was far too easy compared to how I imagine this going.  I so hate these special deliveries.

Because of todays special delivery I didn't get to have lunch in my usual spot not he route.  It was just past noon and I was just starting my route.  I was getting hungry, so I didn't even try to to up to Montrose to heat my lunch.  I figured it was better to just warm my food at Pacific and drive around the block to the picnic area.  There were only two other people in the picnic area.  It was good, but it wasn't as nice as Verdugo park.  Later, I'll have lunch at Verdugo park later in the week.

Flash news tonight... the Senate passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent.  Here's an article about it.

Washington - You soon may be able to skip the semiannual switching of your clocks for daylight saving time.

The Senate Tuesday unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would permanently extend daylight saving time (DST) from eight months of the year to the full 12 months. The bill was first introduced in January 2021 and reintroduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and seven other bipartisan members of Congress last March.

Rubio on Tuesday targeted the "ritual of changing the clock back and forth, and the disruption that comes with it."

"And one has to ask themselves after a while, 'Why do we keep doing it? Why are we doing this?'" he said.

The bill would make daylight saving time permanent across the U.S. in 2023. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, who introduced the House bill last year, told USA TODAY Tuesday he would send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, asking for immediate consideration of the bill.

"There are enormous health and economic benefits to making daylight saving time permanent," Buchanan said. "Florida and 17 other states have already moved to adopt (DST) year-round but cannot do so without congressional approval. It's time to end the antiquated practice of changing our clocks twice a year."

Make it happen!

Wednesday, March, 16, Today marks twenty-five years since my mother passed away.  I was talking to someone about the loss of a love one and how the sadness never really goes away.  It's always just below the surface.  There isn't much more I can add to that statement.  I simply can't believe that it's been twenty-five years.  That's half my life.  Another lifetime ago.  I do think about what she would think of me today.  Would she think I did good to finally finish school?  To get these two jobs?  I'll never know.  I guess I can tell myself whatever I want to tell myself about her possible feelings, since there is no wrong answer now.  In six years I'll be the same age that my mother was when she passed away.  I find that to be insane.  There's a line in the movie "No Country for Old Men" (and I say the movie because I never read the book) where the sheriff character says she meets his father as a young man.  He mentions that he is now the older man, because his father died at a younger age than he is now.  I think about that when I count down to that time when I turn fifty-six.  At that point we will be the same age.  If there was a heaven, or some place where she was and stayed the age she was when she died, and I died at my age we would be contemporaries.  It's a strong thought to have since it will never happen.  I won't see her again.  Ever.  All I can do is remember her, which becomes more difficult as the years pass.  I mean I don't forget her, but the every day actions aren't there.  The things she did and said are gone now.  Poof, where memories go.  I can't even remember what her voice sounded like.  Twenty-five years is a long time.

TheGirl went out of town to Solvang today and tomorrow, so I was left to my own devices for dinner tonight.  I didn't want to do the same old thing that we always do, though I did think of maybe going to Big Boy for a yummy burger and shake.  Instead I went to Cole's downtown.  I've been wanting to go there for years.  But, the fact that it opens at 4pm, and that it's downtown, makes it difficult to go.  But, I thought to myself, I will make the effort tonight.  I found a parking lot right by Cole's and drove town there.

I looked online and found this parking lot on Los Angeles street.  A sketchy part of town, to say the least.  I thought about parking in Pershing Square, but if I arrived before 5pm it would cost more, and I also figured why walk that far when this other parking lot is right next door.  Well, I parked my car, and despite the fact that it says $6 all day, that doesn't meant ALL day.  It meant only until 6pm.  I found that odd, but I knew I was going to take longer than than just over an hour.  I went ahead and paid for overnight parking, because it was the only other option.  It came out to $21 with the surcharge.  OK, whatever.  I paid and went on my merry way to Cole's

I arrived and there weren't too many people in the bar, which was fine by me.  I ordered up the famous French dip and a Manhattan.  Both were quite tasty.  I finished up and ordered another Manhattan.  The night was still young.  It was around 5:30ish when I ordered up my second Manhattan.  I set myself a 7pm curfew, because it was downtown and sketchy, and 7pm is sunset.  I knew I didn't want to be around there after dark.  But, I had some time before 7pm.  So I decided to walk around town.

Before I did some walking I needed to go to the bathroom.  I knew from checking online that there was a plaque in the bathroom that stated, "Charles Bukowski pissed here" (see above).

I wasn't sober, so I walked around the area.  I knew the Last Bookstore was in the area, but I was wandering until I realized it was in the opposite direction I was heading.  I doubled back and arrived at the bookstore.  While I sobered up I checked out the rare books.  it was cool.  Feeling reasonably sober, and as it was getting closer to 7pm, I figured I should make my way to the garage.  I walked back, making the mistake of overshooting the street and ending up on the next block.  When I was checking where I could park I remembered seeing a parking garage on Maple St.  But, I had parked on Los Angeles.  My mind forgot that it was Los Angeles, not Maple, but when I reached Maple I realized my mistake.  I walked by to Los Angeles St. and found that the parking garage entrance gate was closed.  I tried the elevator and it didn't work.  I then walked around to the back alley, that I saw was the route out when I was trying to pay for my parking.  That gate was closed as well.  The homeless people by the gate must have thought I was a damn fool.  I was.  I didn't see any way of getting to my car, and the homeless people setting up their stuff to sleep right on the exit ramp to the parking told me that it wasn't going to be opening any time soon.  If it was an active, open all day and night parking lot, there's no way they would feel comfortable placing their stuff for the night there.  So, I went back to the street and back to Cole's.  I figured that was a safe place to be.  I tried calling the number on the email I got for the receipt of my parking pass.  The guy at the other end was nice.  He tried calling the parking lot, but he said no one was answering.  I could have told him that.  He did tell me that they opened at 7am, and that he would refund my $21 parking fee.  Well, that was nice of them.  But, now I needed to get home, and there was no way I was getting to my car until tomorrow.  I asked for an Uber and in a few minutes I was on my way home.

I got home and realized that my lunch pail was in the car.  I knew I had my computer in the car, and my iPad, and my work clothes for San Marino.  I checked online using the Find my app.  The signal didn't move all night, I mean if I couldn't get into the parking area why would anyone else?  Still, I worried.  But, I was home safe and sound.  The trip cost me about $34.  Ouch!  But, as I said, at least I was safe.  I will say that the only good thing I did today was leave Chan at home.  Since we weren't going to go over to TheGirl's tonight I didn't feel the need to bring hims along.  Thank the maker I didn't, because that would make me feel all the worse.  He is priceless.  And you know what else is priceless?  The lesson I learned tonight.  Double check.  I had zero idea that the parking lot closed at 6pm, otherwise I wouldn't have had that second Manhattan, and I wouldn't have gone on a walk.  Or, I would have just parked in Pershing Square, like I originally thought of doing.  That parking lot is 24/7.  Live and learn.  But, tonight's adventure was an expensive outing.  And that's not even adding what my Uber cost will be tomorrow.  You can book a ride in advance, so I booked one for tomorrow at 6:45am.  I figured that way I could get there after 7am, but not too early, because what if they don't really open at 7am?  I booked it and the price was set at $54.  So between tonight's ride and tomorrow's drive I will have spent just about $90, just on Uber.

Thursday, March, 17, I had a restless night last night.  First I had a couple more shots of whiskey to go on top of what I had at the bar.  I was not buzzed when I got home, but the shots sure made me feel a little better.  I went to bed early in order to be able to get up early for my ride.  I figured I would shower, get ready for work, and pick something up on my way into work from downtown.  My restless mind woke me up at 4am.  I didn't think I would fall back to sleep, but I did.  I woke up about an hour later.  Just before my alarm went off.  But, in the few minutes I had before my alarm went off I passed out and went into a deep sleep.  When I was up just a few minutes later I was feeling super tired.  Funny how when I woke up at 4am I didn't feel tired at all.  I was more than ready by the time 6:45am came around.  My driver picked me up and I was on my way.

The Uber ride wasn't so bad into downtown.  It cost me enough, that's for sure.  We arrived at 7:17am.  I jumped out of the car and ran up to the open gate.  Then I ran up the ramp.  I wasn't going to be messing with that elevator.

When I got up to the top of the ramp I thankfully saw my car sitting there in the rays of the sunrise.  I quickly walked to the car and got in quick as a wink. I didn't want to have someone come out and say something to me.  There wasn't anyone in the parking area.  A car pulled into the roof and in the car went to the kiosk that sells the tickets.  He wasn't the attendant.  I drove my car to the exit, but the gate to the exit was closed.  I drove down a bit to see if the car triggered it to open.  No dice.  I decided to just exit through the entrance ramp.  I hoped that no one would drive up while I was driving down.  Thankfully no one did.  I was free, and I quickly made the move to turn on the street as I opened my phone's GPS to give me directions to work.

I made my way to work and made it with ten minutes to spare.  This even after picking up something to eat at McDonald's.  My coworker was nice enough to get the van ready, so I didn't have to deal with that today.  The bosses wanted us to split the rout today, but we talked about it and said it would be easier if I just did the route.  He put the bins in the van in order to make it easier on me to get out on the route after the training.  The training was fine.  Nothing too boring, but certainly nothing we're going to be using any time soon.

After work, when I was chilling in my backyard, I could hear helicopters in the distance.  I saw on the news that there was a police pursuit up the street from me on Havenhurst.  That's right close.  Eventually the guy drove by close to my place, just up the street on Ventura.  He continued driving until he reached the 101 freeway, where he traveled until he got to Woodman.  There he drove into the mall and the mall's parking structure.  After that the news didn't continue the coverage, so I never knew if he was caught.  Crazy times.

Friday, March, 18, There isn't much to say about the work day.  It was a pretty chill route today.  I had time to take an hour lunch in the park.  Good times.  What I want to point out is my neighbor's house from yesterday morning.

I noticed his car was not in the driveway.  Not only that, the nights I spent in the backyard lately have been quiet in that I don't hear the sound of the doggie door opening and closing.  I saw a woman walking the dog, but that's the last I've seen of anyone in days at the house.  I think he found himself a lady friend and is probably spending time with her.  It's nice to have another dog next door, because it's like a barking blanket around my house.  The door alerts me to someone walking around the street and such.  But, I guess he's just not going to be around much for now.  And I guess I mean the man and the dog.  I'll keep an eye out for the neighbor's car.

The city of Glendale sent out an email today saying that we don't have to do our temperature check when we come in to work.  We've been doing that temperature check since 2021 when most of the workers came back to the library on a regular basis.  But, as I said, as of today that's in the past.  I know that despite the fact that we are not forced to wear masks many of my coworkers are still wearing masks.  Especially at Central.  At the branches it's hit and miss.  I would say it's 50/50 for the mask wearing by my coworkers at the branches.  But, the patrons are still wearing the masks.  I'm with them.  I'll be wearing my mask for a little while longer.

Saturday, March, 19, I went out in the backyard to check out the progress of the wild flower seeds and sure enough there were sprouts (see above).  Sprouts!  The librarian at Brand, where I got the seeds, told me that since they are different types of flower seeds it means that each one is going to germinate at a different rate.  I can look forward to different flowers coming up at different times.  Cool beans.

As it happens every weekend, I went to see my aunt in her room to ask what she wanted for breakfast.  She immediately says, "What do you want?"  Of course this defeats the purpose of me asking her what SHE WANTS.  She mentioned that she had a meal with my cousin from Norm's.  It was a fish dish, so I showed her the menu on my iPad and she went right to the fish and chips.  There were other fish items that I think she may have liked more, but she said fish and chips.  I ordered myself a patty melt, and in a little while I was on my way to get the food.  When I came back my aunt was already sitting at the table.  Fine.  But, did she have ANY utensils to eat the food?  Nope.  To be fair we have a pile of plastic utensils from all the times I've gone out during the last two years of the pandemic to get food.  But did she have one of those utensils by her side?  Nope.  I grabbed her some from the kitchen and put them next to her.

While I was eating I noticed that my aunt was more focused on the salad that came with the meal.  She had taken maybe two bites from the fish and she had not touched the fries.  She finished up her salad and basically looked like she was done eating.  I asked her if she liked the fish and she said she didn't want any.  That she didn't find it appetizing, and that she has not been eating well.  This I know.  For lunch I warmed up my leftover patty melt and onion rings and I warmed up some soup.  She asked me to take some of the broccoli that came with the fish and chips and mix it in with her Campbell's soup.  Thankfully she at the entire soup.  I do worry about he eating habits.  I know when people get older they do tend to eat less.  However, my aunt sometimes doesn't eat.  I'm sure of it.  I'm not here all day, but I can see that she doesn't always have full meals.  Sometimes she leaves a lot of food when she makes something.

Case in point the bag of spoiled food that I threw out today.  Some of the food has been in the fridge for more than a couple of weeks.  There was a cup of noodle soup that my aunt left about three weeks ago.  There was some leftover I don't know what that is either two or three weeks old.  I also tossed some enchilada sauce that was over a month old.  I'm glad she was in her room when I went to clean out the fridge.  I'm sure I missed something that's spoiled, but I needed to act fast.

I bought a manual hand drill this week (see above).  I wanted to get this so I could get some things done around the house.  I have an electric drill, but I don't know where it is.  My aunt hid it somewhere.  Also, the drill has a cord, which makes it a little harder to deal with.  I like this little drill because it's quick and easy, and cordless.  I went ahead and used it today in moving one of the security cameras to a new position that will allow me to look through my neighbor's front yard into the street.

Sunday, March, 20, I asked my aunt what she wanted for breakfast and as usually she didn't know.  Ah, I'm hungry, think about it, I thought to myself.  OK, so she mentioned wanting to have something that was like a waffle, but not a waffle.  Like what the fuck that THAT mean?  She finally just said she wanted a waffle.  ARGH!  Why must everything be such a battle?  For myself I ordered up something small.  I have been trying to eat smaller portions, but it's not easy with the portion sizes at restaurants.  So, I went to the senior menu for fifty-five and above.  They had something called the Rise n Shine breakfast.  Which was two eggs, two links or bacon, hash browns and toast.  That sounded good, and it was good.  Just the right size for me this morning.  I ate all of it and I didn't feel like I was stuffed.  A breakfast burrito would have been bigger, and I could have just eaten the other half tomorrow morning, but this hit the spot.

After breakfast I thought about going straight out to my backyard to chill, but I instead went to the kitchen to work on making the pea soup that I bought the other day.  I wanted to make it for my aunt, so she can have something different.  I also wanted to make her potato pancakes, but when I mentioned making them for her she said she wasn't in the mood for that.  Hmm, I would have thought she would want some, but I guess not.  Maybe later in the week.  I don't remember when passover is, but it's coming up soon.  Maybe she'll want them for passover.  She did like the soup though.  Winning!

Monday, March, 21, Last night I was jerking off and I had to have a drink of whiskey.  Well, one shot became five shots.  Oh, I was feeling really great.  But of course this morning I was playing for it.  But the strange thing is when I woke up I felt pretty good.  It wasn't until after I arrived at work that I felt blah.  I even had gumbo for breakfast.  My aunt's meal came with a cup of gumbo, but I didn't even tell her about it.  I knew she wouldn't eat it, so I decided to take it for myself.  It was tasty.

TheGirl's surgery has been postponed until April due to the fact that the surgeon caught Covid.  Crazy.

Tuesday, March, 22, I went to bed last night at 9:30pm.  But really I could have gone to sleep at 8:30pm.  Easily.  I forced myself to stay up a little later, but I was in bed by 9pm.  I just didn't feel very good.  I was tired and sleepy, but mostly sleepy.  I think I was still suffering the effect of drinking a little too much Sunday night.

This morning I was up and at them.  The early sleep helped a ton.  I was feeling mighty low yesterday.  No ill effects today though.  I'm glad.  I told myself that I would only drink a couple of times a week.  Wednesday and either Friday night or Saturday.  But, this weekend I drank Friday, Saturday AND Sunday.  Not good.  I was pretty good last weekend, but this weekend I was bad.  I have to slow it down.

These dopes at the library want to have this narrative that says, "Hey, we're the good guys."  But, they're not.  They want control the history from this point forward.  There are histories of the city that do show that it was a sundown city, and that it did have neo-Nazis and cross burnings.  But they don't want to face the current bullshit.  Like how the renovation was horse shit.  Or how they say they want to do this, but then end up doing the opposite.  But there are citizens that know the truth.  This person filled out a postcard that patrons are invited to fill out with their so-called "Tree stories."  I went up to the mail box for the post cards and opened it.  I didn't think I would find something, but I did.  I found the above postcard that was pretty on point (pictured above).  It's a little hard to read to I'll try to transcribe it here.  I can't quote it, because I'm not exactly sure what some of the words are, because of the handwriting.  Here is my transcription.

Really!  That tree behind Shake Shack had been there for decades.  For Glendale's par, you took it away.  The 3 that were here by the MONA and ARC, gone.  And seriously ya'll have the nerve to talk about trees?  How dare you?  Our friends lived in them, but you all have the audacity to ask?  Please quit the fake.

I think it says fake at the end, but I'm not entirely sure.  On Thursday I plan on checking out the other postcards in the mail box.  They may be just as good as this one.

After a busy morning moving more of those portable walls, I had my lunch at the park.  When I had about ten minutes left in my lunch period I noticed this shirtless dummy was laying by me just over the will.  He wasn't super close, but too close for me.  He looked shady, is all I can say.  When I left I noticed he left as well.  I took this picture of him walking away when I was back in the van (hence the strange color).  As I was driving away I noticed that his stuff was at the end of the block where the entrance of the park is located.  He left his stuff there.  Then why was he laying out besides me, some four hundred feet away?  Like I said, shady.

When I got home I tossed some fries that were in the fridge that had been there since Friday.  On Friday I bought my aunt and I a pair of filet-o-fish, because there were on sale for $2.50 each.  Good deal.  I also ordered some fries to go alone with the sandwich.  Well, I got full, and my aunt just put a little napkin in the box and put it in the fridge.  She didn't eat them these last few days.  I checked their status and found that the fries were hard.  Yeah, time for them to go.

Wednesday, March, 23, I went down to the basement with TheNewCute to help her find some stuff down there.  We had both been on the desk and had been relieved of our desk duty.  While TheNewCute looked through the stuff down there I looked through some of the stuff from the Foundation.  I found several hats.  Check out this one I found (see above).  Sim Sala Bim!

Tonight's dinner wasn't even supposed to happen, because TheGirl was supposed to have her surgery.  However, as I stated before, her surgeon caught Covid.  She's not sure when the surgeon is going to reschedule.

While we walked Cheyenne around the mean streets of Toluca Lake we walked by the old Honeybaked Ham store that closed about a couple of three ago, if I remember correctly.  Either way, they have nearly cleaned out the former restaurant.  So sad I never got to eat another meal there.  I'll be on the lookout for the expected new location.  I hope they're able to come back in a new location.  They had such good food.  You could tell they made everything in house, and fresh.  Sad that the current state of landlords is to raise the rent on everyone that somehow survived the darkest days of the pandemic.  Because now they are not being just being forced out because people can't come to their location, but because the rent has been doubled.  Sad.  I don't know why so many landlords feel the need to deal the final blow to so many businesses after two years of already hard times.

I was talking to TheNewCute about how Chan interacts with Cheyenne, and how Cheyenne seems confused about what Chan is.  She must wonder why Chan is always in her face.  Just look at that pictures of the two of them hanging out together.  TheGirl says that Cheyenne knows that Chan isn't just a toy she can play with.  Probably because I'm always holding hims.  TheGirl also thinks that it's also the fact that Chan smells like me.  Could be.

Thursday, March, 24, When I woke up this morning I saw on the news that there was a horrific traffic accident on the 101/134 transition road.  That's a major transition area for not just me but for thousands of people that take the 101 freeway.  The only details I had this morning was that the car seemingly hit the center of the split highway.  Apparently the car tried to make a correction from going to the 134, which is on the left side of the freeway, to the 101, which is on the right side of the freeway.  I see so many people make the last minute merge to one or the other freeway, because people don't know where they're going.

I normally go to Chevy Chase on Fridays, but since I have a special delivery schedule for Friday I went today.  I couldn't help but check out the coffee vending machine.  Sure enough, it's "out of order" again.  When is it not out of order?  I tell you, it's funny how they thought this was a good idea.  First off, it's a library, not a coffee shop.  For some reason the association of coffee and books has been cemented long ago.  But, if you didn't know to bring your own cup with you as you come to this empty library then you are shit out of luck.  Because, since the city pasted an ordinance that they would not buy single use cups and utensils the vending machine doesn't have cups inside to dispense the coffee.  Smart.

When I came home from work/the market, my aunt got to work on making some rice with the chicken stock that I bought.  Oh goodie.  More food.  I do need to figure this food thing about, because a bored aunt that made bland food is one thing.  A bored aunt that is now trying to find something to do all day is another.  When I finished having dinner I noticed that there was a non-stick pan sitting on top of the toaster oven that had water in it.  My aunt was soaking a pan that is non-stick.  It's FUCKING NON-STICK!  There should be zero reason for her to soak a pan that is non-stick!  ARGH!  I walk away from so much stupidity in life that I wish I could fix but know that I can't.  I can't fix stupid, at all.  Not one bit.  Never, never, never going to fix it.  It's fucking horse shit.  I usually walk away from this stuff, but today I became livid by this and the following.

After that thing with the pan I decided to go out to the backyard and enjoy the nice weather.  When I got out there I noticed that my aunt had taken the hose that I took time to make sure was on the spindle, for lack of a better word for it, and that it didn't have any twists, and just left it on the ground.  I know she's tired, but did she had to take the WHOLE FUCKING HOSE OFF THE THING?  She didn't even have to take any part of the hose out, because I fucking watered a couple of days ago.  Watering in the middle of the day isn't helpful either, because the water is just going to evaporate.  But, she is bored and just wants something to do.  I told her I would water the plants in the back on Mondays, and the ones in the front on Wednesdays.  Clearly I just need to walk away from that and let her do it.  And there is no need to take the entire hose off the spindle.  Fuck this shit.  Fuck me.

When I got home I was chilling and watching TV.  One of the channels I watch on YouTube is a channel that has Disneyland updates.  Today they showed some huge machines taking down the outdoor patio trellis from the Earl of Sandwich location in Downtown Disney.  It's a shame to see it go.  I really like that sandwich place.  I had many a good meal there, with TheGirl and without.  I remember going down there the weekend it opened up with my buddy Dane and finding that there was no way we were going to get anything to eat.  The line was just TOO huge.  But, now they have new ideas for that part of Downtown Disney, since the theaters went belly up.  Hopefully the Earl will return, but I don't have hopes.  I know there are other Earl locations, but this one was special.  And it was a good meal alternative while at Disneyland.  I know TheGirl was shocked that it was completely gone, and so was I.

Friday, March, 25, I went to take my shower today and the towel I used yesterday was hanging by itself in the wash room.  I alternate towels and then at the end of the week wash them.  My aunt decided that the towel that was just washed was ready for another wash.  This is another consequence of her being bored and wanting to find something to do.  I found the purple-ish towel by with the rest of the clean clothes and took it into the shower with me.  When I got out I started to dry myself off.  But I noticed a really bad odor coming from the towel, like the smell of wet dog.  It had not been washed properly.  I had no choice but to use it to dry myself off, but I wondered if the smell had transferred to me in the process.

Here is part of a news article on the crash that happened the other day.

A 20-year-old Pasadena woman died in a freeway collision about 2 a.m. Thursday on the 101 eastbound transition to the southbound 101 Freeway near Tujunga Avenue in North Hollywood.

She was identified as Sera Aintablian by the L.A. County coroner's office.

Aintablian was a UCLA student who had graduated from the AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School in Pasadena.

California Highway Patrol said it received a report of a solo-vehicle crash in which the car was cut in half and the front half of the car was then struck by a second vehicle. Aintablian was pronounced dead at the scene.

The condition of the driver of the second car was not known.

Media reports indicated Aintablian was driving on the 101 Freeway when she may have realized she needed to merge into the eastbound lanes to continue onto the 134 Freeway. She may have been attempting to cross lanes when she lost control of her vehicle and smashed into the center divider near the Tujunga Avenue exit, according to reports attributed to CHP detectives.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happened.  I've driven that stretch of highway all my life, and I don't know how that accident could have happened unless something else was going on.  If she was going to Pasadena why did she suddenly veer to the south bound 101 lanes?  I guess I'll never know the truth.  There are real facts that often never come to light in incidents like this.

Today's major event at work was making a drive to downtown Los Angeles to pick up some artwork.  The other day the gallery curator from Brand texted me asking if I could do it.  I told her Friday.  It was a nice drive down to downtown with the curator in tow in the van.  She's a nice lady, and pretty.  We got downtown and picked up the art and made our way back to Brand.  Then back to Central.  It took most of the morning.  I didn't get to start the route until nearly noon.

I went to city hall to pick up the interdepartmental mail and found this paper that is a copy of the motion for some new artwork.  This is not new.  But now it's official, they're going to spend half a million dollars on that stupid arch.  This is just one of serval "art" works that they are going to spend over a million on.  This is why I say to my coworkers to not let them claim poverty.

I came home and talked to my aunt about what she wanted for breakfast tomorrow, since I was going to go to work Saturday morning.  She said she didn't know what to eat, because she doesn't have an appetite for anything.  This is not a good thing.  She needs to eat something.  She basically doesn't eat very much.  I'm sure there's something going on with her.  But, will she go to the doctor and tell the doctor she hasn't been eating well?  Nope.

Saturday, March, 26, I don't like working at Glendale on the weekends, but when I HAVE to go and work there, like today, I love going to Tacos Villa Corona to get a breakfast burrito.  They have some of the best in town.  I love their chilaquiles burrito, but today I just got the regular old bacon breakfast burrito.  It's so yummy.

Speaking of working today, I went into Glendale today in order to take pictures at a library event.  On Thursday they had my coworkers put out one hundred eighty chairs in the auditorium, and then about forty more in the so-called "reading spa" area.  Because they felt that there would be a ton of people coming to this event.  They put out one hundred eighty chairs, but they said that they were going to cap the amount of people let into the auditorium to one hundred.  Not sure the logic of that.  This is why they wanted this overflow area.  But, predictively no one sat in the overflow area.  There were not a hundred people in the auditorium.  Not to say there wasn't a lot of people, but nowhere near what they expected.  Typical Glendale.

Anyway, today's speaker was a guy named Paul Ignatius, former secretary of the Navy.  I have to say, the talk was really good.  He was born in Glendale back in 1920.  He pointed out that he only lived in Glendale up until the age of twenty.  He had some good stories about the city.  I liked the talk very much.  The other plus was that it was only an hour.  Good times.

It was a year ago today that I received my second vaccine shot.  I can't believe I'm already celebrating that anniversary and yet we're still having to deal with this damn virus.  I hope that next year at this time we can see we've finally moved beyond this Covid shit.  I'm sure that Covid will stick around forever at this point, but that it will likely just be another flu.  An actual flu, not the fake flu dummy President said it was when it first started.  I just hope things get better.

Sunday, March, 27, I really fucking hate working on Sundays.  Today was going super well until it was close to closing time.  This one dummy that was using a chair as a table in the life long learning center was taking her fucking sweet time to gather her things.  This despite the fact that I gave her more time to get going.  At 4:45pm I am usually already closing the center, but since we don't have the right keys I can't lock that area up like I used to be able to do so.  Which means I'm at the mercy of these morons that won't vacate the library.  I don't want to be at the library on a Sunday.  As soon as it's 5pm I want to go home and get some food in my belly and relax.  I don't want to stick around for a single extra moment.  But these dopes have nothing to do but to show up for a couple of hours and then whine about not having enough time.  I see these dopes walk in at 3pm or later.  Why the fuck even go tot he library at that time to study?  Go early, leave early.  Fuck these Sunday shifts.

Mala sent an email to Tony and me, after we had both left for the day, about moving some motherfucking tables BACK to the Adam's Square library.  Tony and I just moved those stupid fucking tables to Central about a month ago.  At the time I told Tony that I predicted that we would be returning them to Adams "soon."  He probably believed me, but didn't think twice about it.  Well, I'll know on Tuesday his opinion about this.  It's not going to be good.  Boy, do I wish I could burn these damn tables out of existence once and for all.

Monday, March, 28, It rained today.  I don't have much else to report from today.  It was nice to be able to come home and spend some time in my backyard as the rain fell.  I think that if I somehow had the money to afford to have a home up in the Carmel area and here that I would make sure that my backyard in Carmel had a place where I could sit outside and enjoy the rain under cover.  Sitting in my backyard has become one of my favorite things to do.  I have this want to fix the backyard so that I could maybe even have company over to enjoy it.  That's in the future, perhaps.  For today I get to enjoy the rain.

The slap seen around the world.  Last night I tried watching the Oscars from my backyard, but the portable TV I have would not tune into channel seven, which is where the Oscars were broadcast.  I went inside the house in time to see the final award of the night.  Right as the news stinger came up at the end of the show I found out what had happened.  I found the clip online and was completely stunned that such a thing happened and that it wasn't a set up.  Will Smith lost his mind and found it OK to go ahead and slap Chris Rock in the face for making a silly throwaway jock at his wife's expense.  Will is a bully and a bastard.  What he did was uncalled for.  It will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions to his actions.  It would be best if Hollywood would shun him and not hire him to do anything.  But, he makes Hollywood money, so they'll just forget that this happened and sweep it under the rug.

Tuesday, March, 29, I don't have much to report from today, other than to say that it was a gorgeous day.  It rained yesterday.  Because of that the air was absolutely clean and fresh today.  Today reminded me of the way being in the Monterey peninsula feels.  The air there is always so clean due to the fact that it rains so often.  One morning on a visit there it rained quite a bit at night, but in the morning the rain was gone.  The air was refreshing, and the promise of a new day was palatable.

The best was being able to get home and chill in my backyard after work.  I was pooped today.  Not entirely sure why, because it wasn't super busy today.  My coworker and I did have to move some tables from Central to one of the branches, and then move a shelving unit from Adams to Pacific.  These tables are the same ones that we moved just over a month ago FROM Adams to Central.

These managers find it easy to just send us to pick up things and move things from there and there back to there.  That's because they're not the ones doing the physical work.  They sit at a desk, making dumb decisions.  I still don't think that this little extra stop on the route tired me out.  But, a little resting time in my backyard and I was good as new.

I did get to eat in the park today.  I wasn't sure if the ground was going to be dry enough, but it was.

When I got home my aunt was talking about her curtains.  She mumbles so much that it's difficult to understand what she was saying about how she put her curtains up.  But, she was foolish enough to get the ladder from outside and attempt to put her curtains up.  This is a recipe for a fall.  She can't continue to do these things.  Her equilibrium is not what it used to be.  It's bad.  She goes sideways when she walks.  I can't imagine what it must have been for her to get up on the ladder.  Dumb.  If she continues to do this I'm going to find her dead from a fall when I get home some day.  Not good.

Wednesday, March, 30, I guess I should be happy that Wednesdays at work are chill and boring.  That means no drama.  And yes, nothing dramatic is happening at work on Wednesdays.  Just another day chugging along.  The library does have a good amount of people coming in the doors, but the majority are here to study.  And the other majority of people are here to get their passports done.  The amount of people coming in to get books has still not bounced back.  I still feel that those people haven't returned to our old numbers.  Now I don't have actual statistics from circulation, but this is what I see.  Oh, and despite masks being completely optional, I still see the majority of people wearing them.

TheGirl and I went to Don Cucos for dinner tonight.  I was pretty sure that she wanted to go somewhere else, but I was fine going to Don's.  There's a 50's style diner around the corner from Don's that I thought she wanted to go to tonight, but that's fine.  Perhaps next week.  The weather these days is perfect for a night out eating and having a little booze.  There wasn't much to report from dinner.  TheGirl said she didn't have much to do at work.  Do you see a trend here?  Wednesdays are just the same for the both of us.  Not much going on.  Still, the company is nice.

The waitress came by to ask if we wanted dessert and TheGiri joked that it was my birthday.  I said no, it's not.  Long story short, I stopped us from getting a free dessert.  However, that we did do is put the idea of getting dessert.  I mentioned getting soft serve from IKEA down the road.  We walked around downtown Burbank a bit for Cheyenne.  Then we drove over to the store.  But, there wasn't any parking close to the entrance.  This was important because having Cheyenne with us meant I would have to run in and get the soft serve.  I then mentioned that we could go to Foster's freeze.  I knew there was one close by, and sure enough it was just about five blocks away.  So we went there instead.  They have good soft serve there.  After our little dessert we went back to TheGirl's place.  I then went home.  It was a good night.

Thursday, March, 31, I don't have much to report about today.  Work was chill.  So I decided to just post a picture of the progress going on at the museum they're building next door.  They already had the foundation work in place.  I thought they said there would be two stories of subterranean parking, but from the looks of it I only see one underground level.  Granted, it looks like it takes up the majority of the structure.  Underground parking ain't cheap, I know that.