Afterthoughts : This Past Month

Every month I say it's been a jammed packed month, that's because every month is jammed packed.  This month was dominated by work for the Foundation fundraiser in the middle of the month.  Read all about it, right here in this update.

Saturday, October, 1, Last week the AT&T man was supposed to come to the house to upgrade my internet, but since I was just getting over Covid I postponed the appointment until this week.  Finally the AT&T man came and did what he had to do to give me faster internet.  I didn't get to stay until all the adjustments were done, because I had to go to work.  But, when I got home I tested the speed and it was more than twice the past speed.  Yay!

When the AT&T man said he didn't need to work at the house anymore I was able to get my ass in gear and got to San Marino to work on the fundraiser that's coming up in two weeks.  It was like old times working with Pseudo supervisor.  That is the aspect of the San Marino job that I miss.  We make a good team, and we get things done.  Sadly I'm not sure if she's going to want to do any more fundraisers.  I guess we'll have to see.

On the way back home I swung round The Hat and picked up a couple of sandwiches for my aunt and me.  I was glad to wake up this morning and have more of my sense of smell/taste come back to me.  I'm not yet at 100% however, but it's slowly coming back.  I can smell most things, if the scent is strong.  If it's weak then I really have to get close.  I read an article online that says that it could take about two weeks for my sense of smell/taste to come back.  OK.  I just know that for now I am getting those senses back slowly but surely.

My phone and watch updated recently and I have to say I'm not sure the origins of the latest update but I do love it.  Before I would get a notification on my watch that would say motion detected in front, or backyard and such, depending on which of the security cameras would be triggered.  I would still have to check the phone in order to actually see what was going on.  If the front camera sends a notification I tend to give it more weight than the kitchen camera, just because it means someone is a the front.  With the new update it shows me a preview of the video in the notification (see above), saving me having to check the phone.  Now I can see if there is someone at the front door immediately, and I love it.

I watched the rest of the movie Sideways tonight.  I started watching it a couple of weeks ago, but it was getting late and my iPad battery was running low.  Tonight I watched it and it is yet another example of the Universe saying it's time for a chance.  At least that's what I got out of it.  It really is time for some serious changes.  I hear you, Universe.

Sunday, October, 2, My coworker H.O. from San Marino posted a picture yesterday that I had to notice.  I didn't know that she was so stacked.  She used to work at San Marino, but she moved on to a full time job a few years ago.  We used to see each other every other day.  But yeah, back to the subject... H.O. is stacked these days.

I remember our old boss, Ann, told me I should ask H.O. out on a date, despite the fact that she was fourteen years my junior.  That's not to say I didn't give it a thought after she said it.  But yeah, H.O. didn't go for it.

Monday, October, 3, I have to go into San Marino on Saturday and I'm thinking of swinging by Pioneer chicken in East L.A. for some chicken.  I guess it will depend on how I feel.  But, I do want to go and get some yummy chicken.  As you can see from the map above it would take me about twenty minutes to get there from work.  Of course I looked at that map at night, which will effect the timing.  I guess I'll see on Saturday if it's not too long a drive.

As per usual on Monday I was not assigned to anything today.  I ended up pulling holds, because the page that used to do it left for another job.  So, I guess perhaps next week I'll be doing this again.  It's fine.  I like pulling holds.  It's chill.  I like chill.

After doing my time at Adams I went to Pacific Park in order to cover the desk there as well.  Because Pacific and Adams lost more people they are relying on me to cover that time.  Supposedly they're getting a new full time librarian at Adams, which means my lunch break schedule might go away.  Whew.  I like the money, but I know that Brand would give me the hours now that they are also losing someone.  I guess time will tell.

I took Chan with me to Pacific, because I'm not going to leave hims in the car by himself.  Not in this heat.  He could be monkey-napped.  No thank you.  Chan got to meet the school's children's librarian.  Everyone universally thinks Chan is adorable.  He really is adorable.

This afternoon I got a couple of text message from a pair of coworkers at San Marino telling me that the city manager at San Marino had been "fired."  I went on the city email and sure enough there was an email from the city manager saying farewell.  Here are some excerpts.

Good morning, all,
This is a complicated email, made more complicated by the fact that the rumor has been swirling for several days now. Nonetheless, the City Council agenda is finally published, so I am free to comment. As many of you have already heard, the Council has decided that they would prefer a change in leadership in advance of the election. As a result, they and I have been in discussions and my understanding is that my last day in the office as City Manager will be tomorrow.

It has been my honor and privilege to serve as your City Manager for the last five years. This adventure has been fun, challenging, and very rewarding; I am proud of everything we've done. You are the best group of employees I've ever worked with and the San Marino community is incredibly lucky to have you! I wish you all much success, both here and wherever else your career might take you.

Pseudo supervisor told me on Saturday that this might happen, I just didn't expect it so soon.  But, here we are.  Her crimes finally caught up to her.  Now I don't know the details about what happened that caused her to be tossed out, but I will find out eventually.

All I know is that over the last four years she has created a toxic environment in the city.  I heard stories of her micromanaging, being petty, and overall just not doing her job well.  But mostly her impact was cost cutting.  She cut and cut until the city is now an empty landscape.  Anyone that worked under her at city hall left a long time ago.  Most people didn't last, because they said she was awful to work for and with.  I didn't work under her, but I knew from my few encounters with her that she was not OK.  She had an air of superiority about her, that was not merited.  Well, now she's gone, but the city is still in shambles.  I wish the old city manager would come back, but she also left for greener pastures.

Tuesday, October, 4, As I walked up to work this morning I found this guy in front of the library "working out."  He was doing push-ups and then he got up and picked up the sign left outside last night.  I guess he thought it was a weight that he could do curls with.  What a dope.

I'm happy to report that my sense of taste and smell is almost 100% back.  I would say it's 99% back.  I'm glad it's back.

It took a few days to get this going, but today I finally got my Covid sick time approved in my online timecard.  Now I'll get paid for the time I had to take off because of Covid.  This means I won't be in the poor house.  Whew!

Wednesday, October, 5, Today was Brand day, and one of the guys there announced that tomorrow is his last day.  He has been with the library for over twenty years, but like a lot of people find there is no future at the library.  What does that say about my future?

After leaving Adams I had some time to kill before I went over the TheGirl's place.  I didn't know where to go, so I fell back on one of my favorite places... Travel Town.  I've been there several times in the last few weeks, but today I decided to take a nice ride on the train.

As I rode the train around Travel Town my thoughts went back to my buddy Joe, who passed away in 2008.  When he would come out to visit me we would go to Travel Town and Bob's Big Boy.  I really missed my friend today.  Riding the train was a nice reminder of him.

TheGirl and I have talked about going to this place called the Auld Chip Shop for dinner.  The fish and chips were really good, and so was the wine.  TheGirl ordered some sort of vegetable pot pie, and I ordered the fish and chips.  The host/waitress was really cute as well.

TheGirl and I agreed that we will have to come back soon.  I'm thinking of what I might have next time, although I can get two things because there is a once piece fish and chips order.  Yeah, maybe that's what I'll do.

Thursday, October, 6, I went to Grandview today and I ran into two old pals from the old days of the route (pictured above).  In the old days these two and I would usually have lunch at Grandview.  But, that was a long time ago.  Things aren't the same.

The last few nights that I've gone out to my backyard I've had the smell of cigarette smoke invade my nose.  That smoke is coming from my neighbors to the west of me, who have now discovered their backyard. ARGH!  Why must they sit by my backyard?  They have a big backyard and they can sit on the other side of their yard.  But now they've put the same Edison lights in their backyard that I installed two years ago.  ARGH!  Why must this be happening?  My sanctuary is my backyard, and now the smell of smoke is invading.  Not just from these neighbors, but from a new neighbor that is renting the house two homes down.  They have been smoking meats.  That smell is better than the cigarette smoke I'm getting now.  This is some bullshit!

Saturday, October, 8, Today was about going back to San Marino and getting some printing done for the upcoming fundraiser next week.  I can't believe it's so close.  Pseudo supervisor mentioned today that she needs to find another line of work.  We both spoke about whether it's worth it to fundraise for such a rich community that shouldn't need this kind of fundraiser to help the library.  But otherwise certain things don't get done at the library.

However, Pseudo makes a point that we've reached the end of this road.  It's time for a change.  Where have you heard this before?

Pseudo supervisor said that this is most likely her last fundraiser.  I perfectly understand.

Sunday, October, 9, Let's get this out of the way first... DISNEYLAND!

OK, saying that I can move on to my latest trip to Disneyland.  Ilsa and I had two attractions that we had to go to first.  The Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan's Flight.  We hit the ground running and went right to the mansion, which had the Halloween overlay.  Just like old times.

Years ago the Hungry Bear used to serve a fried green tomato sandwich that was super yummy.  I told Ilsa about it, but I'm afraid I oversold it.  They changed the recipe and made it worse.  They changed the bread to sour dough.  The slaw is gone, and some bad sauce was added.  Not good.  I only finished half of my sandwich.  That's how bad it was.  Sad.

After lunch Ilsa and I went to on the Sailing Ship Columbia.  Ilsa had never been on it.  I wanted to show her the below deck area, because it shows the crew quarters, and the kitchen.  Ilsa was fascinated by the kitchen (see above).

Ilsa made two reservations for the Blue Bayou.  We discussed cancelling one of them, but then thought that we should go since I go like once a decade and she had only been once.  Our first visit we only ordered dessert, and I had wine.  Not enough wine.  Ilsa ordered the creame brulee, which was made without animal byproducts.  This is a good thing in terms of her stomach, but it did make it taste different.  Not bad though.  I had a small sundae, and it was yummy.  I'm pretty sure it had Hershey's chocolate syrup, which I hadn't had in a million years.  Tasting that made me feel nostalgic.

We later went on the Monorail and from there I could see the old Peoplemover's track.  It's so sad.  That attraction has been closed for over twenty years now.  I wish they would just bring it back.  Supposedly there are plans to do something.  Perhaps bring back the attraction, but as with anything it's not that simple.  I guess time will tell.

That stupid fried green tomato sandwich made me so bloated that I just had to find a place to pass gas.  But, I couldn't get anything going when I went to the bathroom, so I suffered.  It wasn't until I found the old fast pass location for the Haunted Mansion that I was a able to have a little bit of privacy to blast off.  My poor stomach hurt so much before I was able to fart freely.

After letting out a little "steam" my stomach felt good enough to actually eat something.  But it was still not 100%, so I went ahead and only ordered the cup of chicken gumbo on our second visit to Blue Bayou.  The gumbo was super yummy, and would help me not starve.  I only wish that there was more variety in the dishes served at the Blue Bayou.  Still, the atmosphere is great, and so was the wine.

Don't believe me, here's a picture of me to prove how excited I was to be at the Blue Bayou.  You know it's not every day I get to eat there.  I hadn't been there in at least twelve years by my rough calculations.  I'm glad the slip-up gave us a chance at two reservations.  Because while we waited outside we saw a lot of dopes trying to get in day of.  Those days are over.  Everything Disneyland is reservation.  I mentioned it before, but I'll mention it here again.  Ilsa woke up before 3am sixty days ago in order to get a reservation.  That's because the system only puts out a certain date sixty days before that date.  And people know that the reservations are live at 3am (how do they find out these things?), and the reservations will be full in a matter of hours.  I'm happy Ilsa wanted to go do badly to Blue Bayou, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't wake up at that time to get reservations.  But, they were worth it.

Both Ilsa and I agreed that we could go home early today.  Sure, we waited and waited for this day, but we were pooped by 7pm, let alone 8pm.  We did what we came here to do.  Mainly eat at the Blue Bayou, and ride mansion and Peter pan.  Anything else above that was gravy.  There we so many people here today.  I think I may have to try to come here for Christmas in the middle of the week.  It would save me a lot of energy to do so.  Until next time Disneyland.

Monday, October, 10, I came home last night and I was super tired.  It was all I could do to get ready for bed.  I didn't think to check if the pilot light on the water heater was on.  It's been working well without any interruption for months now.  It was something I didn't worry about, but with my aunt around I always have to worry.  See, she must have taken a shower yesterday, a nice long hot shower that made the water heater shut off the pilot light.  So this morning I was trying to get going to work and I didn't noticed that the little light that indicates the pilot light is working was not blinking.  I jumped into the shower and when I got in was when I realized I was not going to have a hot shower this morning.  Thankfully the water wasn't freezing.  I decided to just shower with little bursts of water instead of letting it flow.  It wasn't as bad as some days when I've had to just suffer through a cold shower.

I worked an event in the evening today, which is why I didn't bring Chan alone with me to the library.  It must sound funny but I missed Chan today.  He's my Monday and Wednesday companion.  I also know that me not bringing Chan also means I'm not visiting TheGirls.  That sucks.

The so-called turtle boat is being disassembled today and tomorrow, but also the light panels that were in the Reflect Space.  I liked that exhibit, but it was problematic.  Several times it had problems with it drawing too much electricity and blowing the circuit.

The front doors to the library are flawed and busted, because from the way back when the renovation was happening the construction crew fucked up the installation.  From jump those doors have been misaligned.  Nothing they do now, short of totally taking them apart and fixing the underlying problem in the foundation, is going to make these things work.  So we suffer from one set of doors, the right doors as you're walking into the library, always having problems working properly.  But, these dopes upstairs probably think it's a minor problem, when it's not.

I was asked to be the photograph for tonight's AIDS remembrance event happening at the library.  It was a somber and sad event that also brings you hope.  One lady mentioned that she got the virus from a transfusion.  At the time AIDS was thought to be the "gay disease" and being a woman she thought she couldn't get it.  We know better now.  She said that when her doctor told her she had it that she just said, "But I'm a girl."

There was a man that was reading some of his poetry and it just made me cry.  He would get so emotional that he would pause and that made me emotional.  Another man mentioned his husband and how he was fighting cancer.  The first woman mentioned how many people she has lost over the years, and in the early years.  She named a few, and despite me not knowing them just having their names made it all the more poignant, all the more real.  There was a person by that name that lived and died.

The way I think about death these days this really hit home.  It was a sad night, but a good one.  I only hope I took good pictures.

Tuesday, October, 11, Last night I had a nightcap, or two, or three.  I woke up on time this morning, but then I passed out and fell asleep again.  This time I woke up nearly a half hour later.  I was late.  I thought about not showering, but I had to shower really fast and get going.  There was no time to heat up some breakfast, so I went to McDonald's to get some food and eat it on the way to work.

When I arrived at work, thankfully on time, I saw through the window that the carpet cleaning guy was back.  Each week, for I don't know how long, he's been coming in and cleaning the section of the carpet that is in the hallway by the bathrooms.  That section of the carpet is almost black with dirt.  But, at the same time, the new carpet is supposed to be installed any day now.  Then again, they said that in August, and the equipment to replace it has been here all this time.  I'm not sure why the continue to clean the carpet that is soon to be replaced.

When I arrived at Pacific the librarian for the school was engaged with a class.  But when I came back with the book bins we started to talk.  She was telling me a story and while telling me she hit me (it was part of the story).  Her first hit was kinda soft, so she hit me again... harder.  She then said she was sorry, but I didn't mind.  She's cute, and I like our sometimes flirty interactions.

Mala told me yesterday that they needed me to pick up some furniture dollys at Home Depot, but not the one that is closest to the library, but rather the one in North Hollywood.  It was the only one in the area that had these dollys in stock.  So I went there after taking the tables back to Pacific.  It was a long morning, to be sure.  When I got to Home Depot I went to will call to get the dollys.  I presented my email with the receipt and the girl walks away and tells me she's going to get it.  I thought it was going to be on some shopping truck, but she went to a cabinet behind the register and opened a door.  I thought she was getting something else, because that cabinet wasn't that big, but I guess big enough.  She pulled out some dollies that measured about a foot and a half square.  I thought it was a mistake.  But, no, they were the correct items (see photo).

When I got back to Central to deliver the dollys I noticed that the gang from Brand was taking down the turtle ship.  The new girl that I like was there (pictured above in the tan suit.  I think I have a bit of a crush on her.  I know, who says "crush" anymore?

It was late, but when I got to Casa the librarian there wanted me to go to the kitchen.  When I walked in I saw the above scene.  She got me some ice cream for my belated birthday wishes.  Awww, how nice.  I ate some ice cream, but I'll take some home later in the week.  Woo hoo!

The library is having some sort of pumpkin carving contest where the winner of the contest will win a "pie" party.  This is the one by Brand.  Pretty good, huh?

I left last night's event before the food was served.  Today the librarians that were working the function told me to get some food.  I wasn't going to do it, but then I remembered that the food looked really yummy.  I fixed myself a "plate," really a tray.  When I got home I had a little bit of the food, and it was yummy.

Wednesday, October, 12, This week is the first week without Henrick working at Brand.  A few weeks ago I thought that meant I would be working the desk more at Brand.  However, they decided to reach out to one of the new hires and get them to work the desk.  It makes sense.  I'm only there until 1pm, and she can be there much longer.  But, it's fine.  I don't mind pulling the holds and shelving.  That's actually what I liked about working at Brand, not having to work a desk.

After Brand I went to Adams, which is now my typical Wednesday move.  Adams is almost never busy, and that time is easy money.  Today I had to drop off the old outreach van and pick up another one.  The old outreach didn't get a chance to reach out to anyone.  We picked it up about three weeks ago and Krishna didn't like it.  It did smell like turpentine.  Krishna asked me if I could pick up the new van today, and of course I could.  The new van is much better in many ways.  It's certainly cleaner, and it doesn't have some strange hump at the bottom of the steering wheel that I hit my knee on today in the old van.

TheGirl suggested we have dinner at the Smokehouse tonight, since they had special pricing for the fish and chips.  We both ordered that and I had this want to get a baked potato tonight.  Boy, did that baked potato hit the spot.  I now want to have more baked potatoes during the week.  Perhaps with a little bacon on top.  Oh that would be yummy, and easy to make.

After dinner Cheyenne needed to go for a walk.  Tonight she was booking it.  For some reason she felt the need to walk to a quick pace.  Like she was two timing it.  TheGirl and I figured that she needed to pee, bad.  Whatever the reason it was just funny.

Around this time of year the residents of Los Angeles decorate their lawns for Halloween.  Since where I live is close to Toluca Lake, and TheGirl and I go there for dinner once a week, we get to see the decorations in Toluca Lake.  This is a nice neighborhood that has homes that decorate for Halloween and Christmas.  It's nearly the middle of the month, so I figured most of the lawns would be decorated.  Well, I guess we didn't get the memo, because not a lot of houses were decorated this year.  It's October 12th!  Perhaps many of the homes will decorate this for this weekend.  It's strange, because many of the lawn decorations are very elaborate, and I would think take time.  But, this year many of the usual homes did not decorate.  Maybe they will.  Maybe they won't.  Maybe they're just tired, like everyone else.  Maybe the horrors of the real world make decorating with ghosts and werewolves seem trivial.

Thursday, October, 13, A few years back the idea of the so-called "Floating collection" came into our collection library vocabulary.  See, in the past books were assigned to certain branches.  Children's books were in abundance at the Pacific Park branch because it was attached to the school.  Art books were Brand's specialty.  Montrose had a really robust fiction collection.  But, idiots took over the library, and they thought it was a good idea to float books from location to location.  What that means that even if a book was on the shelf at one location, if a patron decided to return it to another location it would not automatically return to that home location.  It would just stay at the new location.  This creates problems that have been talked about in library journals.  Journals that the dummies upstairs never read, apparently.  Because, what happens when float is done wrong is that books pool in more popular branches, and less popular branches are deprived of the collection.  This is where we stand now at Glendale.  The dopes upstairs have thought to fix this problem by having the librarians "redistribute" the collection from time to time.  If float is done write it is cultivated, it is like a garden.  Sadly it's not done right, and we end up with me having to take books from one location to another artificially.  Whatever, I really need to learn to not care about anything in the library anymore.

The dopes up in admin always want to portray us all as one bit happy family.  Well, we're not.  Sure, we have good friends at the library, but not everyone that works there is friendly towards each other.  And no one is pretending that we should be.  However, the dopes upstairs keep insisting that we do things that bring us closer together.  We already do that, when we're in the library trenches hating the decisions that the admin dopes made that put us in a bad situation in the first place.  If it's one thing we can all rally around is that we all hate admin.  This pumpkin decorating pumpkin thing is just another burden that is put upon the grunts.  As someone pointed out, one person at each branch is going to be burdened with coming up with the idea and following it through.  The new girl at Adams and Pacific, Cynthia, was tasked with decorating the Adam's pumpkin.  And you know what, she did a great job.  Brand did a great job.  Central... well, as you can see above, they just gave up.  I could say more, but I think the picture speaks for itself.  They really gave zero fucks.  I will say this, they couldn't even find a picture that didn't have a HUGE watermark on it.  Zero fucks given.

When you have something coming up such as a birthday, or a dinner with friends or family, or say a trip to Disneyland, you tend to make plans in advance.  Am I correct?  Sure, you can wing it, and it could work out at the last minute and turn out great.  But, when it comes to something like an event with the public you want to give yourself the most amount of time to not only prepare for it, but to advertise it.  This is why it's strange when you hear about something just before it's going to happen.  Because you think to yourself, "Why didn't you say something before."  Or something to that effect.  This is why this whole "Makerfest" postcard thing is such a great example of how the administration of the library doesn't get it.  It could also be pointed to as evidence that they don't do their job right.

This weekend they are having something called "Makerfest" at the library.  They mean to tie it in to the fact that we have a so-called "Makerspace."  Whatever that means.  Do you think they had postcards ready to go to the branches say a month ago, or perhaps even two months ago?  Nope.  These dopes were emailing me about picking up the postcards just yesterday.  They wanted me to take the cards to the branches ASAP.  Sure, let me take those postcards two or three days before the event.  I'm sure you're going to get a huge amount of dopes going to the event with that strategy.  This is where we are at the library.  We advertise just days before an event.  I REALLY have to figure out some things.

When I got to Casa Verdugo today the fire truck from the fire station next door was in the driveway, and it made it hard to maneuver the van into the usual spot I park to make deliveries.  But, I managed.  When I got out the truck had moved and basically pinned me into place.  The firemen moved the truck a wee bit so I could turn left into the fire station lot.  They told me, "We're going to be here a while, you'll have to drive through the station."  I was like, "Okay," and that settled it.  Vagabundo wanted to talk, but at that moment I was like, fuck it, and told him this was cool.  So I slowly drove through the station.  The firemen asked me to drive slow because there was plastic on the floor.  I come to find they're painting the interior of the station.  I have to say, for little pleasures that feel so good, this was definitely something that just felt fun and cool.

Gitmo is ramping up for the Dia de los Muertos next month.  Next month, I say that as if it's a month until the event.  More like just over three weeks.  For some reason he got the bright idea to showcase all the Latinos that work at the library by making a collage of us (see above).  The reason my picture is cut off is that in the original picture I'm standing behind someone and their head cuts me off.  You can still see part of the person's head that blocked me in this collage.  I'm not sure the ultimate purpose of this, but I think it would easier if they just had all us Latinos gather at Central or something and take a picture of us there.

My buddy Vagabundo wants to talk on his way home on Thursdays.  This particular Thursday I didn't want to talk.  I'm tired.  In the evening I just want to sit in my backyard and NOT think about work.  He always wants to talk about work, but strangely enough he never wants to talk about himself.  Recently he was asking me for advice on texting and girls.  I knew something was up, but he never just came out and said anything about the situation.  He kept on asking cryptic questions about how long was too long to expect a text back from a girl.  It depends on the situation, I would tell him.  Practically begging for some information to hang my hat on.  But I never got it, so I never got to understand the nature of his situation.  So my generic advice was tainted by the fact that I couldn't tell if it was serious or just casual.  The fact that he brought it up at all made me think it was more than casual, but that was just an assumption.  So yeah, let's talk about something real.  Let's talk about our human connections and such, not about fucking work.  Work sucks.  I actually don't mind talking about work sometimes.  It's a form of therapy to talk about the bullshit that goes on at work.  When we share our stories it's a bit cathartic.  But I wish Vagabundo would open up more, because me trying to carry a conversation while he doesn't contribute something that's real and should be talked about is a bit exhausting.  And all I want to do is rest when I get home.  Rest and decompress.

Friday, October, 14, I almost don't care to write about getting ready for this year's fundraiser, because aside from the details about me printing this or printing that thing, not much really happened today.  Just nose to the grindstone work.

It was not as much work as years past through.  Clearly this event was more easy than in years past.  In years past I would be printing until the last minute.  This year I knocked out most of what we needed today and last week.  I'm sure there will still be things tomorrow that will come up and will have to be printed.  But today was pretty chill for me.  Still tired me out though.

This was fun, working on this project, but I wonder how much longer we can sustain this.  I know Pseudo supervisor is looking for a way out.  That means I'm out automatically.  It was a good run.

Saturday, October, 15, I almost don't care to write about getting ready for this year's fundraiser, because aside from the details about me printing this or printing that thing, not much really happened today.  Just nose to the grindstone work.

It was not as much work as years past through.  Clearly this event was more easy than in years past.  In years past I would be printing until the last minute.  This year I knocked out most of what we needed today and last week.  I'm sure there will still be things tomorrow that will come up and will have to be printed.  But today was pretty chill for me.  Still tired me out though.

It was fun working on this project, but I wonder how much longer we can sustain this.  I know Pseudo supervisor is looking for a way out.  That means I'm out automatically.  It was a good run.

Sunday, October, 16, As I write this paragraph on Sunday at 12:20pm this certain post has had exactly 4,616 views.  This is by far the largest amount of any of my posts.  I'm surprised that a little B roll of a train ride around Travel Town would get so many views.  Now I have to figure out how to duplicate this success.

TheNewCute texted me late last night about having an extra ticket to the Bob Baker theater for a perforce today.  Of course I said yes.  TheNewCute's boyfriend was supposed to go, but he had to go out of town for work, I would assume.  As the last time I was there the show was magical.

Here are a few random things that I wanted to mention, but I couldn't find another place to mention them.  So here goes.

There is a movie called Samurai Cop that's famous for being really terrible.  It's one of the worst movies ever made.  However, there is a couple of really pretty ladies in the movie.  The lady pictured above is one of them.  She plays one of the henchmen's lady friend.  I didn't know she got naked in the movie, until a few days ago when I watched the unadulterated version of the movie.  Wow!

I know I keep bringing this up, but the weather lady in the morning is getting really curvy (pictured above).  I've watched this woman do the weather for about twenty years, and she's always looked pretty.  It's just that these days she looks amazing.  Having a great pair of hips drives me nuts, I have to say.  Just look at her in the picture above.  I swear that her hips are getting a little wider each day, which I love.

Years ago I went to the Dametra Cafe in Carmel with TheGirl.  It was one of the best meals I have ever had in Carmel.  Not only was the food amazing, but we got a show along with the good food.  One of the owners and one of the kitchen staff serenaded us.  Well, a couple of weeks ago I looked that cafe up on social media and found their IG account.  Sadly I came to find out that the gentleman that sang to us that night had passed away (pictured above).

Monday, October, 17, Last night I felt the need to take a few shots and jerk off.  Well, I drank so much that I ended up with whiskey dick.  I stopped jerking off and went to bed.  But, stupid me overslept this morning.  I got up at 7:42am and I had to rush out the door.  I wanted to shower, but I didn't have the time.  So I went to work stinky.

The thing is, even getting out the door at 8am I figured I had plenty of time to get to work.  Stinky, but I would be on time.  Well, not so fast.  Of course today there had to be an accident not the 101.

The entire day I felt that I probably stunk, even though I probably didn't stink that much.  But who knows.

The work day was pretty chill.  I was pretty much on phones all day, which is just what it sounds like.  Nothing big or important happened.

When I got home I had the backyard to myself, but not for the entire night.  I woke up from a small nap where I had a dream about walking down a dark street.  When I woke up I could smell the smoke from my neighbor.  ARGH!  I turned on the fan and the smell dissipated.  Still, I hate having to do these things.  For years I've been enjoying my backyard in peace.  I guess it's just another lever moment.  Awful.

Tuesday, October, 18, I mentioned that Kvon told me he approved my raise, and this was before I formally asked for my raise.  That's great.  When I got home I had to do the math to see how much more I will be making.  Kvon told me that the raise was 5%.  That means that my pay will go from $25.84 to $27.13.  That's not bad.  I'm happy that I'm making that much more, because the way inflation is going I'm just barely holding on.

But, the larger salary is definitely going to help me in the long run.  I'm not sure how much longer I'll be working covering lunches on Wednesdays at Adams Square.  I still need to figure out how to make some money on the side.  But how?

Wednesday, October, 19, Chan's adventures at Brand continue.  Today I figured I would have hims sit down in the sitting room, or the entrance, whatever the area is called.  It's fancy.  Chan is fancy.  People don't ask me "What's the deal with the monkey" at Brand anymore.  Chan is just accepted.  Probably helps that he's adorable.

I mentioned the other day about my buddy Joe and him and I going to Travel Town.  Well, of course that meant that the Universe would bring up pictures of my buddy at Travel Town (see above).  I can't believe he's been gone for so long.  I can't believe that so many of my love ones have been gone or so long.

TheGirl and I don't always know where we are going to go to dinner on Wednesdays.  We have a rotation of places we go that allow us to bring Cheyenne.  There are some places that don't allow her, but we visit those places only once in a while.  Tonight we considered going to Mucho Mas, the Smokehouse, or Dog Haus.  After eating at Mucho Mas tonight I'm sure that Mucho is going to be out of the rotation.  Our food took longer than usual to come out, but aside from that the food was bland.  Actually, I've said that for a long time.  The enchiladas are not so bad, and are usually what I get.  But, tonight I wanted sopes.  They were nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  That's one thing many places get wrong.  But, tonight they got that right.  Sadly most of the rest of the food was bland.  There is only so much salsa you can pour on top that will save it.  My sopes were passable, but TheGirl didn't like her taco at all.

I never thought Mucho Mas was all that good before, so it's not going to effect me not to go there from now on.  TheGirl did say that she will still go on Sundays to drink a margarita, but no more dinners.  I'm good with that.

Thursday, October, 20, Here are the pumpkins that the different departments and branches sent back to be judged by the public for the library's first time ever pumpkin decorating contest.

Overall there were some really good efforts put out there.  The saddest and the one you can tell was given no effort was the one from circulation.  The first pumpkin on this list.  They gave zero fucks.  Most people I talked to think the Brand one is the best, but I do think that there are others that are good as well.  Montrose and LITS being the stand outs in my mind.  The circulation one is trash.

Friday, October, 21, Fridays used to be pretty chill, but lately they have been a little less chill.  Not to say they aren't still chill, because don't get me wrong, they are no where as busy as they used to be pre-pandemic.  But then there are days, like today, where it almost turns back the clock and the route is busy like the old days.

Today I had to move some chairs back from Casa to Grandview.  Surprise to me they wanted to move a fake tree back to Central.  As you can see from the picture above the van was pretty full by the time I put those chairs in the van.  The rest of the route after Grandview was back to being super chill.  Thank the maker.

As is my tradition I didn't bring a lunch from work today.  That meant I had to get some lunch on the road.  I thought I would go to Burger Queen and get the new ghost pepper burger.  But, big but, one of the librarians asked me to take back the chairs I moved over from Grandview.  They wanted them out of the branch by 1pm, because they were going to have another program today at that time.  I figured I would go early so I could maybe go to the Burger Queen up in Montrose.  But, the way things would work out I could not justify going there and then doubling back towards Brand after going to Casa.  So I decided to go to a place that I looked up a few weeks ago when I was doing a search of food around the Grandview library.

I finished up taking the chairs back to Grandview and then drove down a few blocks to a place called TacoNaco.  Yes, the name doesn't have a space between the words.  Maybe it's a typo.  Anyway, I went inside and ordered up the sope plate and a Coke.  The sopes were not the best, but they weren't the worst.  They were somewhere in the middle of taste.  I wish that more places would cook their beans in lard.  It really makes a difference.  Oh, and my aunt from Mexico would make the beans with bacon.  Mmmmm, mmmmm!  I think I'll return to this place in the future.  Perhaps next time I'll get a burrito or some tacos.

Saturday, October, 22, I got the screen for my backyard in the mail today.  I have to assemble it.  After that I'll have some privacy again.

I woke up from a nap today and I was hungry, really hungry.  I told myself that I wanted to try out the new prime rib sandwich at Firehouse Subs.  My aunt likes the pastrami sandwich, so it was win win.  However, I couldn't just order the food, I had to have some sort of adventure today with the online ordering.

I went to my room and tried ordering the food on the phone.  The app said there was a problem.  I tried again, and the same thing happened.  I was getting really hungry so I just gave up and thought about where else I could order food.  I thought about California Chicken Cafe, which is right up the street.  I went on their app and started to pick what I wanted to have.  Just as I was leaving out the door I noticed that I got an email, but it wasn't from the chicken cafe, it was from Firehouse.  They said they received my order.  I thought, damn, now I have two orders.  I drove down to Firehouse and figured I would have enough food for today and tomorrow.  Stupid me.  I got to Firehouse an picked up the food.  Then I went to chicken cafe and waited in their outside line.  They couldn't find my food, and asked me to pull up to the front of the line.  The girl who was helping me out came by two times and apologized for the delay.  I went online and didn't see the email from chicken cafe.  I then saw the app and realized that I never hit the order button.  So I went from having two orders to just one.

I felt like such a dope.

Halloween falls on a Monday this year, which means I'll be working at Central that day.  They want us to dress up on the 31st.  I have never participated in these things, but this year I figured I would.  I went online to a website that I saw one of my coworkers use to buy a costume, and I picked out the above item... a priest outfit.  How funny.  So come Halloween I'm going to be a priest.  How apropos.

Sunday, October, 23, A few years ago I went to this thing called Carved up in Descanso gardens.  I went with TheDesire, and it was pretty dang cool.  TheNewCute told me that she went to Carved last year and it was meh.  Well, I can say that it was good this year, but not as good as it was a few years back.  Here are some pictures.

A few years ago I went to this thing called Carved up in Descanso gardens.  I went with TheDesire, and it was pretty dang cool.  TheNewCute told me that she went to Carved last year and it was meh.  Well, I can say that it was good this year, but not as good as it was a few years back.  Here are some pictures.

Not bad, right?  But, it was strange how few of the pumpkins were actually carved.  Again, years ago every pumpkin was carved, and they were elaborate.  This year it was a collection of individual pumpkins.  In the past they had many carved pumpkins assembled to create bigger items.  Oh well, someone I know joked that perhaps the carvers died from Covid.  Kind of a cruel joke, but who knows.

I still had a great time tonight, but I do remember how many more pumpkins there were the last time I went to this thing.  Oh well.

My aunt and I got our flu shots today.  That is all.

Monday, October, 24, This morning I was kinda out of it, but also just forgetful.  I forgot my key for work, and all day after that I felt like the Green Lantern without his power ring.  As per usual I was unassigned, and found something to do, which was answering the phones and checking in books.  At one point I was thirsty for a Coke.  I took a break and went to the store next door to the library and not only bought a little bottle of whiskey, but also a case of this particular soda made by Dr. Pepper with cream soda.  I remember having this years ago, and it was yummy.  Now I have soda for weeks at Central.

Normally I just get something to eat at a fast food joint on the way go TheGirl's place for a little visit on Mondays.  However, since we're all going to the haunted hayride TheGirl said we should all have dinner together.  I was cool with that.  So I rolled up to TheGirl's and we both went to this place in Burbank that has been serving me bland food for a few years now.  But whatever.  We arrived and TheGirl's daughter and one of her friends is there already.  They ordered for us so we could still get it for the happy hour price.  TheGirl's friend and I are not strangers, but I don't see her that often.  Last time was when TheGirl had her surgery a few months ago.  She's good people, although TheGirl says that she doesn't completely trust her.  Not sure why.  Maybe because she's an actress, and actresses are always nuts.

I bring this all up because of something that her friend, Cathy, said.  In about two weeks TheGirl is going to take a trip to Florida to visit her brother out there.  That means Cathy will be dog sitting Cheyenne.  I was OK with not going over, but Cathy asked if I was still going over two visit.  I said I wasn't sure, but she said that I should and that she could even make us dinner.  I didn't get TheGirl's reaction at that moment, but I did wonder in the back of my head, "Hmmmm, that's this all about?"  Am I going to walk into a, "Mrs Robinson, you're trying to seduce me," situation?  I guess time will tell.  Now, what should my reaction be?  TheGirl and I aren't attached, but of ALL THE WOMAN I could potentially sleep with I'm sure TheGirl would question, "Why her?"  It's a valid question.  But, Cathy does seem like a good egg, and why shouldn't we have some fun?  If we both want that.  I don't know, I guess I should be prepared for that or of course the reality that will play out which is we'll have dinner.  That's it.

After dinner we drove over to Griffith Park to check out this so-called haunted hayride.  I wasn't able to take many pictures, but it was cool.  We went on the hayride and then the scare mazes.  The hayride was short but good.  I was feeling nice and sauced because I had had more than a few shots from a small bottle of whiskey that I had bought while I was at work.

The hayride was short but it was fun.  The mazes were not scary, but they were also fun.

Tuesday, October, 25, So I went on my online schedule and I noticed that I was scheduled to work on November 24th.  Krishna and the others that populate the online schedule often just copy and paste the previous week's schedule.  I thought it was funny.  I ran into her at Adams and she said to me, "You have to come into work."  Of course she was joking.

There's nothing wrong with talking things out.  I do that a lot.  But there is a point in which I'm done talking.  I'm at that point.  I tell people the story of my old boss from CSUN, Wayne, and how when he retired he just wanted to be alone.  He had had enough of humanity, and their bullshit.  Yeah, I'm getting there myself.  I want to come home and just decompress.  I don't want to always rehash the day.  I have wanted to be someone that is about doing, not talking.  I'm trying to convert myself into that sort of person, who does and doesn't just talk about it.  At work the dopes in charge always just want to talk about it, but never take charge.

When I was asked to work during 2020 and 2021 basically independently, because everyone had to stay home, I changed.  I had to get past some of my hang ups, like not wanting to bother people.  But, it's not a bother if you have a goal in mind that is to get something good done.  So I am evolving into someone that takes action.  Couple that with just being tired after work and not wanting to do anything or speak to anyone (including my aunt) and you have this attitude that makes me not want to speak to my friend.  So when he texted me to say if I was busy I just ignored it.  I should have said I was busy.  Because I was... busy doing nothing.  Correction, busy decompressing.  Which is necessary.

Wednesday, October, 26, Here's a picture of Chan at Brand again.  Chan and I are having a good time working at Brand on Wednesdays.  As with all things, we don't know how long this will last, but I'm not thinking of that.  I'm just enjoying it.  Chan too.

I was talking to Misa about random things when the subject of the song "Escape" aka the pina colada song came up.  We checked out the lyrics, talked about them, and then I asked if that singer had had another hit.  Sure enough, he had a minor hit.  I had to go downstairs to the basement to print out some new barcodes for CDs that had broken jewel cases.  On my way there I took out my phone and found this other "hit" online and started playing it.  The open beat reminded me of something else.  I quickly abandoned Rupert Holmes' song and went to find what song was not germinating in my mind.  All I had was a simple beat and the thought that it might be a song by the Doobie Brothers.  I searched their albums and FINALLY found the song I was thinking of, and it's entitled "Real Love," off their One Step Closer album.  I played that song about a dozen times today.  There was just something about it that I became obsessed with.  I know the beat hooked me in, but I also wanted to check out the lyrics.  Here is the fist verse, which is something I don't think I had ever actively heard.  I just liked the song.

Darling, I know
I'm just another head on your pillow
If only just tonight, girl
Let me hear you lie just a little
Tell me I'm the only man
That you ever really loved

Maybe this is why I became obsessed with this song today.  Don't know for sure.

TheGirl and I went to one of our favorite dinner locations... the Counter in Toluca Lake.  We hadn't been there in about a month, or a little longer.  We were having a good time remembering old times.  For some reason some pictures of when we went camping came up.  We also ordered two bottles of wine tonight, and I had had about three shots worth of whiskey (pregame).  We had some good times in the past.  That's why we're still friends.  We still have good times today.  :)

After dinner we went walking through Toluca Lake to check out the Halloween decorations.  Chan came too.  I'm glad, because I didn't want to leave Chan in the car to miss all the decorations.  At one point some lady on the street asked TheGirl, "Is that a monkey?  I thought it was a child in a costume."  How funny.  Here are some more pictures from tonight.

Thursday, October, 27, Laurel was a coworkers that started working with me at San Marino way back in late 2008.  She made it known early on when we were working that she was interested in me.  One night my car died and I needed a ride home.  She could have just left me on the bus stop, I was OK with that.  But on this night she told me she would take me home... all the way home in the Valley.  I invited her in and, if I remember correctly, she kissed me and that led right into sleeping together. 

We had a small run together, and it was great being with Laurel.  But, of course I couldn't make it last.  Oh well, I could say more but I'm not in the mood.

Friday, October, 28, I've been checking my bank account every other day since the state said it was going to start sending our gasoline tax "refund" to us taxpayers.  That means I've been checking my bank account more often than normal.  Today I found an extra $35 deposit from the city of San Marino.  Nothing from the state though.  I wondered what it was, because there was no information in the deposit transaction.  When I got home I checked my online pay website for San Marino and it showed that it was so-called "Retro pay."  I'm not sure for what, but Ilsa also got some money.  In her case it was $19.99.  Hey, I don't know what the money is for, but I certainly won't look this gift horse in the mouth.

During our morning meeting this morning someone mentioned that someone put some stupid notes into every magazine in the magazine area.  The above is part of what they wrote.  Clearly racist dopes are ignorant and also stupid.  Not just because of their beliefs, but also because they can't even write a sentence correctly.  There's more, but I don't need to put that here.

On Tuesday night Vagabundo texted me the usual "Busy?" text that he likes to send me before he calls.  For the last few weeks I haven't been wanting to talk shop with him.  I just want to chill in the evening and not think about work.  But he must not have anything else going on in his life, so he likes to talk about work.  I guess, I don't know.  But, because I didn't reply and basically ignored him he seemed hurt or something.  I say this because yesterday and today he didn't say more than three words to me.  Hey, I'm OK with that.  I'm at a point in my life that I can walk away from most things in an instant.  Certainly anyone not family, with a choice few that I couldn't do that with.  For example TheGirl.  But pretty much everyone else can see me walking away.  So his silence may be temporary or not.  Guess time will tell.  I have to take care of me now.  I don't want go to home and think of stupid work.  This is part of the reason why some of my recent posts have been shorter, because they would talk about work and I just want to decompress.

Saturday, October, 29, A few weeks ago Ilsa invited me to dinner at the Cicada Club downtown.  The club is located in the Oviatt building downtown.  After three years of being stuck inside I have decided to get out more often.  Thankfully Ilsa is someone that likes to go out a lot.  Like I said, Ilsa invited me a few weeks ago to this dinner.  I was a little hesitant, but I figured that I should just enjoy this damn life already.  Everyone I know lives such a boring life, but not Ilsa.  She's out there.  Anyway, here are some pictures from tonight.

It was a great night.  We left a little early, but not so early.  I was home before midnight.  I'm super glad I went.  I participated in a conga line.  There was a really cute girl that was there.  What am I saying, there were a ton of cute girls there.  I focused on one dressed as Marie Antoinette.  I thought she was nice.  Oh well, missed changes.  But tonight's dinner was not a missed chance.  It was great!

There was a moment when the combination of the music, the club, and the booze made me think about how we were in the 2020s, and we were listening to some of the music from a hundred years ago, from the 1920s (duh).  The old roaring 20s and the new roaring 20s.  They are similar in that we are living like this in an era where more people are impoverished.  Just steps away outside the club there are people that are sleeping on the street, and don't have enough to eat.  And here I am, SUPER lucky enough to be able to attend and afford this night.  I'm a luck SOB.  As someone at work said, we have enough to get by, but really I'm lucky that I have a home to come to, a few bucks in my pocket, and the means to have some fun.  I thought about the lines in the book the Great Gatsby again.  My favorite lines in the book, illustrated in the above video by Toby McGwire in the movie based on the book.  "... and I was him too, looking up and wondering.  I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life."  That's how I felt tonight.

Sunday, October, 30, There seems to be a trend online with ladies that post their pictures on social media and are models.  And that trend is pouring wine on themselves.  I don't know why this is happening.  But, I do like it.  Ha!  Though wasting wine is not OK.  Oh, and for some reason the song playing while these ladies pour wine on themselves is George Michael's "Careless Whisper."  No idea where these trends come from, but pretty much all of them are stupid wastes of time.

Monday, October, 31, I didn't grew up doing tricks or treats on Halloween.  I'm not entirely sure why, because I can't ask my mother why she never dressed me up.  Probably didn't believe in Halloween.  But, one of the aspects of Halloween that a lot of adults really lean into is dressing up.  A few weeks ago one of my coworkers mentioned that she was going to dress up at Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast.  I saw that she bought her costume online and I figured why should I participate.  So, I did.  As you can see from earlier entries I dressed up as a priest.  Everyone at Central thought it was a riot that I dressed up as a priest.  Me, a priest?  Ha ha!  Here are some more pictures from today.