Afterthoughts : This Past Month

Boy, the months just keep flying by.  Here we are in February already.  Damn.

Sunday, January, 1, Happy New Year!  It rained last night, and because of that the big NYE celebration at Grand Park downtown was washed out (pictured above).  The report on the news said that the security guards said that just a few hundred people showed up.  I mean I get it, it's pouring rain and they banned umbrellas.  Better luck next year.  I wasn't planning on going to any of these NYE celebrations anyway.

My aunt told me yesterday that she wanted to go to Gelson's to buy some pastries at their bakery.  I was happy to take her.  I wanted to check out a couple of things at Gelson's and also drive across the street to the new Amazon Fresh store.

Gelson's did a slight renovation where they moved the Wolfgang Puck kitchen to the deli area, and also added a floral department.  My aunt got her pastries and we drove across to the Amazon Fresh.

The Amazon Fresh store (pictured above) used to be a Ralph's, the same Ralph's I used to work fifteen years ago.  I was surprised at how little stock the store had.  My aunt wanted to get some half and half.  They didn't have any.  She wanted to get some leeks.  They didn't have any.  We ended up just getting some bananas and chicken stock.  That's it.  I did notice that there was a bunch of prepared food, and they had pizza.  I checked online to see where I could get some pizza.  Two options were the Gelson's and the Amazon Fresh.

What I wanted to see at the Amazon Fresh was how big the pizza was.  There are no options for pizza sizes at the Amazon Fresh.  Wolfgang Puck offers large and personal size pizzas.  After leaving Amazon Fresh to go to the Jon's market in Van Nuys to get what we couldn't find at the store we started to get hungry.  I asked my aunt if she wanted pizza.  She said yes, so I took the opportunity to try out the ordering process at Amazon Fresh.  I went on the app and ordered us up a pair of pizzas.  Pepperoni for me and veggie for my aunt.  I can't say that it was a great pizza, but more on that in a bit.

OK, as I said before the pizza from Amazon Fresh wasn't the best pizza I've ever had, but for the price it hit the spot.  Pizza Hut's pizza doesn't taste any better and costs nearly twice as much as the Amazon Fresh pizza did ($10).  I may still try the Wolfgang Puck one in the future, but that thing costs $18.  I suspect that the Puck pizza would likely taste better than the Pizza Hut one, but I'll have to check.  What I did like about Gelson's are some of the dinners they sell.

Monday, January, 2, I woke up some time around 4am.  I took a piss and went back to bed.  When I woke up again it was around 8:30am.  I chilled in bed until I had to piss again.  At that point I just wanted to get some things done.

The first thing I wanted to do was move some of the stuff that I have in my room that are just sitting on the floor.  I bought two books last year that I took to my Grandmother's old room.  Then I wanted to vacuum my car.  But first, I got hungry.  I usually have meals on the weekend with my aunt.  However, she was asleep when I went to check on her.  It was 10:30am and I just couldn't wait for her to wake up.  I was starving.  And I couldn't wait for her to wake up to make the nacho pie she told me about.  So while the pizza warmed up in the toaster oven I prepared the nacho pie.  It was super easy: chips, refried beans, cheese and green pepper.  My aunt woke up just as I was finishing up my breakfast.  She didn't want to have pizza, so that's when I put the nacho pie in the oven.

After breakfast I took my ass and vacuumed my car.  My car was so filled with dust on the driver's side.  After that I noticed some of my files were not back-up to my cloud.  So I went about uploading them up to the cloud.  I still have a few CD-roms to go, but at least I got some on the cloud.

After that I just chilled for the rest of my day.  I did get my lunch ready for tomorrow, as well as my clothes.  Another short week.

Tuesday, January, 3, Viv is a nice lady, but ever since I started working at the Casa Verdugo branch she mentions me working in the back for "off desk" hours.  This would be fine if I had anything to do off desk.  Usually this time is reserved for program preparation.  But I don't do programs.  So today Viv sent me to the back office, and I basically just sat there watching my iPad.  Yeah, great use of my time.  I do appreciate the off desk time though.  Because being on a service desk all day can get to be too much.  Mind you, it's pretty chill at Casa, so I don't really have to worry too much about getting burned out here.  At least that's how I feel.  But, the reality is any desk time can burn a person out if it's frequent.  So yeah, I'm going to take my off desk time and use it to decompress. Thanks Viv.

Wednesday, January, 4, The weather liars said that it would rain pretty much the rest of the week.  They weren't kidding about today.The good thing is that I didn't get too wet on the route.  And really who cares if I got a little wet?  For the most part I'm good.  Yes, the rain can be a pain at times, but really it's pretty chill today.  The good thing is that most of the time when I got to a location it wasn't raining too badly.  This meant I could be quick and yet not get the books wet.  Whew!

It's not that I hate Misa, but I really don't want to pretend around her.  I should be the bigger person, because what Misa did wasn't super bad.  However, I also don't want to put too much of an effort into conversations with her.  In the past conversations with the whole thing was like hitting my head against a wall.  Whenever I would point out another way to do something at work she would say, "Let me do it my own way."  Even if her way was super slow and/or pointless. 

TheGirl and I went to Wood Ranch for dinner tonight due to the weather.  The rain was coming down pretty hard around dinnertime.  Thankfully Wood Ranch has a nice covered patio that keeps us nice and dry despite sitting outside.  I got some sandwich called the Ultimate.  This thing was huge.  I took half of it home.  These days TheGirl and I always seem to always have a second round of drinks.  I'm glad I got that raise.

Last night I got my breakfast tacos ready for me to have this morning.  I also added a chicken patty for tomorrow night when I get home after work.  My aunt saw this and thought to warm the patty tonight.  This despite the fact that she should remember that I go to dinner with TheGirl on Wednesdays.  Anytime she calls me it's for the most trivial thing.  I remember when she was sick a few years ago with walking pneumonia.  Did she call me then?  Nope.  I didn't call her back, so of course she heated the patty and then ate it.  Where is that facepalm emoji?

Thursday, January, 5, The rain came down in buckets on my morning commute.  My aunt told me not to go to work today, because the TV said to avoid driving.  Well that wasn't going to happen.  I never considered what my aunt said.  I'm not going to say that the rain didn't come down hard, but it wasn't that bad.  I guess I could have called out sick, but I don't want to waste my sick time on days when I'm not sick.  It was fine, the weather didn't stay rainy.

By noon the rain had stopped and the sun had come out.  How lovely.

I have security cameras at home that send me notifications on my phone.  When there is some movement I get a notification.  Today I got a notification that said the camera had not connected to the server in X amount of time, I think it said thirty minutes or so.  That was my first clue to the power being out at home.  My second clue was when I checked my home internet app.  The app said that my home router was not connected to power.  I eventually called my aunt and she confirmed it.  I went online to see the DWP website to see if there was any information on the blackout.  The site said that the power was expected to be back by 8:30pm.  I work until 7pm.  That meant that my aunt would be in the dark for at least three hours.  Thankfully the power came back on around 6:30pm.  Whew!

The last patron left the library a few minutes before 6pm.  From that point forward no other patrons came into the library.  TheNewCute had just started reading a book called "I survived the great molasses flood."  So for the last hour it was just us, and the security guard, and zero patrons.  TheNewCute continued reading the book until around 7:30ish.  It was a chill night.

Friday, January, 6, Some time around 3:30am the power went out again.  I know this thanks to my security camera app, because it once again said that it was not connected to the server for about thirty minutes.  That is what I saw when I woke up at 4am to use the restroom.  I lit some candles after going to the bathroom.  Then I went back to bed.  I woke up at 6:30, which is right on the edge of me becoming late.  Thankfully I wasn't.  But when it came to feeding myself this morning I wondered what I could do.  I still have eggs in the fridge, so I guess I could have done that.  But, since I was running late I wanted something fast.  I thought about putting the leftover pizza in a pan and warming it up that way.  Sure enough it worked, and this technique even made the crust nice and crispy.  I should have warmed it longer, but it was pretty good.

When I arrived at work I found a portable A/C in circulation (pictured above).  On Wednesday the temperature in circulation was eighty-four degrees.  It's been over eighty in circulation for days.  I guess the dopes upstairs finally thought that we needed some help, hence the A/C unit being brought in.  Yes, it was a little cooler in circulation, but when I checked it was still eighty degrees.  I just love that this circulation temperature problem has been a thing for about seven years.  Even before the renovation.  They never fix it correctly.

As I walked up to work I noticed that the delivery van was not in its usual spot (parked in front of the library).  The keys were on their hook, but I didn't know where the van was.  I called Tony, who told me that he dropped off the van at the garage to have the tall lights swapped out.  Someone told him that the brake light and turn light was dead.  I'm not sure why he couldn't wait for the garage crew to change the lights, since it would take like five minutes.  Oh well.  Tony told me I should call the garage, and sent me the phone number of the person he left the van with.  But I didn't even try to call.  It's Friday, it's that Friday where no one is around.  ALSO, a lot of people decided to take this week off because they couldn't take off the pervious week.  I didn't even try to call, I just started walking.  Sure enough, when I arrived at the garage there was no one there.

When I came back from the route there was a car parking in my usual spot.  I was livid, because so many dopes always park there.  As a matter of fact I turned into the driveway just before this other dummy almost parked in front of the library.  This other driver is ALWAYS parking in my spot.  Fuck that guy.  I took the books out of the van and as I was closing the door the pretty janitorial lady that worked at Central today came out and walked towards the car.  I saw her this morning.  She is quite pretty.  The other janitorial lady said she was just here today to cover for the other lady.  Damn, I hope she comes back, I think she was cute.

Sunday, January, 8, Years ago I had this idea to take pictures of girls wearing blue jeans.  I never did it, but I'm glad some genius decided to do it.

My health insurance premium is due at the end of each month.  For the last year I've been paying $22 each month for my insurance.  This is thanks to the government subsidizing my payment with $400 plus.  I obviously would not be able to afford that kind of payment.  I paid my premium and saw that I only owed $3.76.  I thought it was a mistake, or that it had been prorated in some way.  But it looks like it really is just $3.76.  I like that.

Monday, January, 9, Once in a while over the last few months I've been waking up at around 4am to use the restroom.  I usually go back to sleep, but this morning I could not go back to sleep.  By 4:45am I thought there was no use in going back to sleep.  I thought about how going to sleep at that time would only make me oversleep and it was not a good idea.  So I just got out of bed.  Womp, womp.

After lunch I was really feeling the sleepies.  When I finished up the route it was feeling really tired.

I've illustrated this already, but I wanted to once again because I really think the weather lady is getting more curvy by the day.  I watch this woman nearly every day in wonder of her beauty.  Sigh.

Tuesday, January, 10, My coworker and fellow route driver, Tony, gets to Casa just before 10am on most mornings.  This morning I wanted to get all the holds and the link plus done before he showed up.  Mission accomplished!  I was able to pull all the holds and get the book drop books checked in and in the routing bins before he showed up.  I don't know why he feels he needs to finish the route as quick as possible.  He does miss a lot of little things that I do.  Like deliver red link plus bins to Brand.  And now, ever since we switched days, I'm the one that goes to the treasury department.  Whatever.  They pay me by the hour.

I got to work most of the day with TheNewCute.  As when I was working with her at San Marino I'm not going to overthink it, I'm just going to enjoy her company.  She makes the hours more bearable, that's for sure.  It is funny that a year later we are still working together despite the fact that it's in a totally different job.  The time with her at San Marino is something I'll never forget.  And now the time at Casa matches those times.  Good times.  But wait.

Wednesday, January, 11, The pretty cleaning lady was at Central again today.  I didn't get much chance to chat her up.  Darn.  She doesn't speak English, which kinda makes her a little hotter.  Ha!  I do wonder what I'm doing showing interest in her.  I mean who knows her situation.  She's probably married with a family and such.  Knowing my luck.

The back of the van has a small collection of stickers pasted on it.  And lately I've been sticking stickers to the outside of the van.  The new teen librarian created a survey that she wants teens to answer.  As a "prize" for doing so she is giving them stickers.  A lot of these stickers look neat, but I have zero idea where they're from, as in their origins.  TheNewCute informed me that the sticker I picked (shown above) is from a show called Attack on Titan.  OK.  I just like the way it looks.

When I got back from the route my coworkers mentioned to me that the safe key was broken.  I was trying to put the money in the safe and that's when they turned to me to tell me that the key had been broken.  The only good thing is that the key was broken when the safe was in the open position.

TheGirl and I went to Don Cuco's in Burbank for dinner tonight.  I had some yummy tacos, and TheGirl had enchiladas, as usual.

Thursday, January, 12, I looked at my fridge last night and the potato soup my aunt and I made this weekend was staring me in the face.  But I didn't want to at soup today.  So I grabbed the "emergency" frozen enchilada in the freezer and took it with me.  I like these enchiladas, but I think I could make better ones.  I'll have to look into that.  Or I should ask TheGirl to get me the enchiladas from Trader Joe's.  Those things are GOOD.

The other night I was about to jerk off when I looked down at my huge belly and wondered how I could let myself go this far.  I'm a fat slob.  It's not like I was skinny last year or so, but my stomach looks like it's twice as big today as even last year.  At least I think so.  So, since I have an hour lunch on Tuesday and Thursday, I figure that I should take some of that time to walk around the neighborhood.  That's what I did today.  I didn't get to walk around too much, but I did have a slight sweat.  If I keep this up I may be able to get a little thinner.  Hopefully.

Friday, January, 13, The cute cleaning lady was at work again today.  Not sure how much longer she'll be there, because I think that she's covering for our regular cleaning lady.  I asked her her name and she told me Luz-something or other.  I should have written it down.  I wonder if she'll be next week.  I'll ask her spell out her name next week.

I went back to having getting the potato soup ready for my lunch today, but I knew I needed to supplement it with something like a burger.  Carl's Jr. has a commercial right now that says they have a mix and match combination of burger and chicken sandwich.  But, Carl's Jr. hasn't been good in a LONG time.  So I went to Jack in the Box and ordered an ultimate cheeseburger.  In the old days, some fifteen years ago, that burger was huge.  These days it's not that huge.  The burger did hit the spot though.  It tasted yummy.

Last week circulation had a temperature of eighty-six degrees.  In a huge contrast the temperature in circulation was sixty-four today.  These dopes just can't get it right.  How does the temperature swing by twenty degrees in a week's time?!  When I came back from the route I went inside and the hallway was fine.  But when I went into circulation it instantly felt like a meat locker.  How the fuck does something like this happen?  What a bunch of dopes.

Saturday, January, 14, It was rainy and cold today, but I really just wanted to spend as much time in my backyard as possible.  So I endured the cold, at least for a little while.  The rain is so nice.  And watching the birds eat and deal with the rain is nice.  Poor little things fluff up their feathers trying to stay warm.

A few weeks ago my aunt commented that the right sink didn't work, because some "red water" came up.  So now she refuses to use the right sink, and exclusively uses the left sink.  Of course this is stupid, because what she doesn't realize is that the left sink is literally connected to the right side.  Where is the rolling eyes emoji?  This is how my aunt operates in everything in her life, through faith, not evidence.  From her religion to thinking that I must be depressed because I drink.  Sure, tell me how I feel.

Sunday, January, 15, Last night I drank up, so today I decided to just chill in my backyard.  Sure, it was raining and cold.  Buuuut, it still felt great to be outside.  Since I have tomorrow off work I decided to go to the market tomorrow instead of today.  There was a moment that I considered going today since I ran out of booze last night.  Then I remembered that I had a bottle of wine that TheGirl gave me for Christmas.  I'll drink that tonight.  :)

My aunt was talking on the phone with a friend and former coworker, Maria.  She was also a friend and coworker to my mother.  My aunt heard me going to the rest room and called me to her room.  She then handed me the phone and told me that Maria wanted to know about how to get a TV antenna.  But we didn't talk about that at all.  Instead she told me about how she recently fell and had to go to the hospital.

Maria told me that I should go out and have as much fun as I can.  She can't leave the house now, because she has had some falls lately.  The last one landed her in the hospital with bleeding in her brain.  Not good.  So yeah, it's good advice to have fun while you still can.  I need to get out of the house.

Monday, January, 16, Today was a mix of lazy day off and me being a busy bee.  I went to the market, made enchiladas for my lunch this weekend, and helped my aunt make some coffee panna cotta dessert.  But I also got to chill in my backyard.  And I do mean chill, since it was so chilly out.  Oh, and I also cut my hair.  See, I was busy... but also lazy.  As I write this I'm lying on my bed watching Zorro on Disney plus.

Tuesday, January, 17, Years ago my family would go up to the Sherman Oaks galleria for breakfast at the food court.  In an area close to the May Company there was a waffle stand where this guy would make a waffle to order and top it with fruit.  It was super yummy.  My Mom would say, "I could do that," and she bought a waffle maker and sure enough we would have waffles topped with fruit at home.  It was almost always peach slices.  It's been a while, but I thought about those days recently.  So when I went to the market yesterday I went and picked up some frozen waffles.  Not exactly how my Mom made them, but with my morning time constraint it will do.  There they are, viola.  I forgot to top them with cinnamon, but next time.  They certainly weren't as tasty as the ones my Mom used to make, but they hit the spot.  I miss her.

My aunt asked me when I went to the market on Monday to pick up some ground chicken.  I don't think she understands that's not a thing.  They have ground turkey, no problem.  But I have rarely seen ground chicken.  If at all.  Well, not to be discouraged I went to the Ralph's right next door to the library to see if they had any.  Sure enough, they didn't.  I don't know where else to go.  Maybe that ranch market, or Jon's.

After lunch I went on another walk around the neighborhood during my lunch hour.  I best take advantage of this and get some steps in.  I'm a fat slob, I feel.  And it's not only unattractive, not that it matters, but I can feel the weight on me.  I don't like that feeling.  I liked the feeling I had when I was skinny.  Yeah, it's been a long time, but if I trim at least a few pounds I'd be happy.  Today was nearly the perfect day for a walk.  The wind was cold, but I had my warm jacket.  The sun was warm, when I was in it.  In the shade it felt cold, but I still broke a little bit of a sweat.  I forgot my hat though.  Gotta remember to put that one when I walk.

TheNewCute was tasked with making a "fire truck" for the upcoming fire fighter story time.  I figured she could use some help.  These are the moments I like and cherish with her and other coworkers.  Her especially.  It's just nice to collaborate on stuff.  All we have are these little moments in time, and the memories of them.  That's why I write about them here.

TheNewCute was wearing a pair of pants that she's worn before.  It really shows off her body.  And it's funny because the pants the way she wears them makes it look like her butt is munching on them.  But yeah, she's cute.

Speaking of TheNewCute, she was talking to me while we were on the desk about her "Los Angeles" friends and how they're terrible.  She planned this whole birthday experience for one of her friends.  But back when it was her birthday these friends didn't lift a finger to make a big deal out of her birthday.  Yeah, I wanted to tell her that in Los Angeles you have your true friends and then these dopey superficial friends.  Not having grown up here she is only going to get superficial friends.  I did mention how I saw something online about how Los Angeles people are nice, but they're not kind.  This is why I don't do anything with anyone.  And why I tend to keep people at arm's length.  I have Chan, he's my friend.

Speaking of Chan, on this day back in 2014 TheGirl and I went to Build a Bear store in Downtown Disney to see if we could get Chan destuffed.  Sure enough they were super nice and did it for free.  Good times.

Wednesday, January, 18, This morning I didn't want to just have a waffle, so I only warmed one waffle and cooked up an egg on toast.  It really hit the spot.  I do like having more time in the morning to make myself something good for breakfast.

When I arrived at Chevy Chase I found the entire parking lot filled with big trucks.  They were there to cut down the trees.  Who has the bright idea of scheduling the trimming of trees on the ONE day the library is open?  There are four other weekdays that they could have picked.  Buuuuuuut, noooooooo.  What a bunch of jokers.

TheGirl and I usually visit a small rotation of restaurants when we go out for dinner on Wednesdays.  When I asked her today where we were going to dinner she suggested going to CPK, aka California Pizza kitchen.  I haven't been to one of those in YEARS.  The time I went I found it to be just meh.  But, I was game to try something new.  So TheGirl drove us to the CPK across the street from the old IKEA store.  TheGirl went inside and tried to get us a seat on their patio.  There were some employees milling around.  After about five minutes TheGirl came out and said we should go somewhere else.  I wasn't going to say boo, but then where would we go?  TheGirl lamented that every time she wants to try something new it falls apart.  I don't know, I really liked that wine bar we went to.  The hostess was really attractive, but still.  We decided to go to somewhere close, which in this case was Wood Ranch.

After leaving Wood Ranch we went on our usual Cheyenne walk.  At one point I had her leash and I started running down the street.  I did that a couple more times.  The last time we were about forty feet from TheGirl and I started running again.  But then I took a tumble and the fun ended.  Well, not quite.  I was laughing as I got up.  That's because I was having fun with Cheyenne.  No one knows how long we have so I'm going to enjoy time with her and TheGirl.

Thursday, January, 19, I had a rough night last night dealing with my pained body.  I don't think I slept for more than an hour at a time.  Showering this morning was rough as well.  The warm water did make me feel better, but my right side was still in pain and weak.  And this is how I went to work, in pain and in weak.

When I first arrived at work I told my coworkers about me falling.  I took off my mask and they immediately felt sympathy towards me after they saw my busted face.  I told them I was in pain, but that I was still going to do my work.  Viv told me that if at some point I wanted to go home Gitmo would understand.  I appreciated that, but I knew in my mind that I was going to stay the entire day.  Unless something really started to hurt bad.  Thankfully it didn't

TheNewCute even acted nice towards me.  Well, she's always nice, but today she said she would do the bookdrop and such.  I had already done the bookdrop.  I appreciated TheNewCute doing that for me, but I still wanted to do as much as I could on my own.  I don't like feeling this way.  It's nice of everyone to have concern.  I tried my best to go about my day as if my body didn't hurt.  But it did hurt.

Friday, January, 20, Today I was going to help Tony buy Les' car by taking him up to Montrose to pick up the car.  Because of that and the body pain I decided to get half the route done and then return to Central.  I did that because I had to pick Tony up at Central.  When I was disembarking the book bins I was told about the fact that someone shot a hole through one of the windows.

The story was that some dopes where shooting guns across the street.  They shot in the direction of the library and obviously shot at least two bullets at the windows.  The other hole isn't as big.  I think I can say that I've now seen it all at the library.

I hadn't seen Stacie for a couple of weeks, but then out of the blue the guy that takes care of the Reflect space at Central texted her and me about moving some pedestals.

When I got up to Brand Stacie was talking to Caley in her office, which is right across from circulation.  So when she came out she saw me and asked how I was doing.  She looked so nice.  She says, "I have your number now I can bug you."  Oh I so wanted to tell her that it would not be bugging me if she texted me.  Now I have to figure out how to text her out of the blue either before Monday or after Monday's delivery of the pedestals.  Hmm.

Tony asked me to help me pick up Thom's car by giving him a ride up to Montrose.  We went up the AAA in Montrose, which is just a few blocks from the library.  Thom's brothers showed up and Tony and them went into the AAA to get the title changed to Tony's name.  After that was all done we went to Thom's house to pick up the car (see above).  I didn't expect to get so emotional while at Thom's house, but I did.  I guess seeing his car made it all the more real that he's gone.

I have to say that being in this much pain sucks dick.  But what is the worst is having to rely on others at times.  TheNewCute was helping me out yesterday, and today people were helping me out.  I had this really heavy box and from graphics today and I could barely put in in the van, let alone get it off.  I somehow did that, but when it came to putting it in the mail truck my coworker had to do it.  I hate that.  I appreciate it, but I hate how weak I am.  I don't like being useless.  I think that's why I didn't take the last couple of days off, to just know that I could get through it despite being in tremendous pain.  And I was in pain.  As I write this it's Friday night and I'm still in pain.

My coworker had the bright idea to ask me if I had that marijuana infused alcohol rub.  I do, and stupid me forgot to use it last night to help me feel better.  When I got home tonight I rubbed it in all the places that hurt.  I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Saturday, January, 21, Back in November Annie asked me to help her get her computer fixed.  After getting the runaround she asked me to just buy her a new computer.  We met last month for me to give it to her, but during that meeting both of us forgot about the money.  So today I had to head out to Arcadia to pick up my check.  Since I was out there I figured I would get some things done while in the area.

The first thing I did was pick up some pastrami sandwiches from the Hat.  I asked my aunt if she wanted one and she said yes.  Perfect.

The other thing I wanted to do is swing by Forest Lawn Glendale to check out the Bob Baker exhibit.  I went up there late September, thinking that the exhibit had opened, but I got the date wrong.  Because of my schedule change it's harder to get up there, unless it's on the weekend.  Most weekends I just sit in my backyard.  As I said, since I was out I figured I could go to see the exhibit.  Mission accomplished.

I wasn't invited to work at Crowell's open house today, but maybe it was a blessing.  Pseudo supervisor texted me to ask my coworker Zehlia about how it went.  I texted Zehlia and the above was the response to me asking, "How was open house?"

Zehlia told me that the whole thing was exhausting.  She also mentioned that she wanted to tie in the upcoming lunar new year with the Crowell celebration.  But, she was shot down, until the last minute.  I know that Pseudo supervisor told me on Monday or Tuesday that she was going to have a meeting with Linda and Cathi about decorations on Wednesday.  WEDNESDAY?!  Shouldn't the decorations be going up on Wednesday, not being thought of?  From what I hear it was just a mess.  I could not take Linda's stupidity which is why I left.  I tried to hang in there, but she made it impossible.  She ruins everything she's involved in, thanks to her insecurities and inexperience.  How sad.  I loved that library so much.

Years ago when the space shuttle would land in California the sonic boom would rattle the house slightly.  That's what today's earthquake was like, more of the sound than any real shaking.  I earth the house rattle a little.  I thought that my aunt had closed the kitchen door hard, that's what it sounded like.  It was a couple of minutes later that my Citizen app showed that it was an earthquake.  Small, but since I was practically right on top of it it was quick.

Sunday, January, 22, I can say that I'm feeling better since my fall on Wednesday.  However, there are some key areas on my body that still hurt.  My right forearm still hurts and is still weak.  I can't make fists, nor can I grasp anything that well with my right hand.  It hurts to try to move it as well.  And then there's the twin pains right above my diaphragm.  Those pains only hurt when I have been lying down and I try to get up.  Then those areas get strained and they hurt.  ARGH!  I have to help moving some stuff tomorrow and I want to be at least 80% well by then.  I don't think I'll be that strong by then.  ARGH!

My aunt told me about some pot pie recipe that she saw on TV the other day.  So I went to the market to pick up some chicken.  The recipe was a little strange, so I also bought some cream of chicken soup to help with the filling.  Anyway, the short version is we cooked it up and it tasted pretty good.  It could have used a little more seasoning.  I didn't want to over do it considering I was adding the soup.  But the soup was "no salt added" and they really mean no salt added.

Monday, January, 23, As I write this sentence I am feeling better than I have since my fall the other night.  My right arm still hurts, and is still weak, but it's not as weak as this morning.  Typing this is not bad.  Last night I was missing a lot of right hand letters.  Today, nope.  I found some bruising today when I was at work (see above).  It's located under my bicep area on my right arm.  I didn't see it until today, because I haven't worn a short sleeve shirt until today.  Because it was cold I wore long sleeve the entire weekend.

I just said that I'm in less pain, and yes I am.  This morning I was a mess.  My aches were bad, and I even wondered if I should call out from work.  I didn't because I wanted to help Stacie with her with the moving of the pedestals from Brand to Central.  Ah, the things I do for a girl I like.  Dope.  But yeah, I feel so much better now than I did this morning.  Moving around helped.  Meds helped.

Of course I'm in pain and there's a lot of bins in delivery today.  ARGH!  I'm nowhere near being 100% yet after my fall.  I'm still in pain and I'm getting pretty sick and tired of being in pain and tired.  Fuck this shit.  The weekend crew had a good time stacking all these books for me.  :(

Last week I was asked to help out in moving some pedestals from Brand down to Central.  Despite being in pain, and thinking that I would probably still be in pain today. I agreed to help.  I wanted to help Stacie.  Yeah, I'm a sucker for a dame.  Thankfully she didn't just rely on me and her doing all the work.  She got the two other installers to come in and help.  They did most of the work, though I helped here and there.  I'm glad, because I was in pain.

I don't have any dress shirts.  I don't use them, so I don't have them in my closet.  On the advice of several people I decided to get a white dress shirt from Old Navy.  There's one around the corner from work, so I just took my stuff and put it in my car and then went over to the store to get a shirt.  They had one shirt that was perfect and I took it.  I almost got an XL, but I ended up getting an XXL.  OMG, that will show you how fat I've become.

Tuesday, January, 24, I show up to work before 9am on Tuesdays.  I'm usually alone in the building, but today TheNewCute was in the back office in a meeting for the so-called teen team.  She looked bored as hell.  Later she said, I didn't need to be in that meeting - it should have been the marking team and Sarah (the new teen librarian).

Despite still not being 100% yet I still wanted to take a walk around the neighborhood.  I think it's too soon though, because I felt really tired after the walk.  And for the rest of my shift I was just barely holding on.  I wouldn't think that my arm hurting would contribute to me being tired from walking around the block, but it did.

There was this whole row with the firemen next door a while back that entailed Vagabundo, pickle ball, and parking spot in the back of the library.  A few months ago the firemen started playing pickle ball, in order to stay in shape.  I haven't heard anything official, but I suspect it was mandated so that they stay in shape.  Well, the firemen next door decided to place their right in front of the parking spots reserved for the library employees.  One morning Vagabudo and the firemen had a whole talk about hi, wanting to park in one of those spots.  The firemen were insisting that he park somewhere else, but he refused.  What followed was probably a bunch of emails, and probably a bunch of phone calls.  I don't know the details of the negotiations but at some point the firemen agreed to do a story time.  Today was the day for that story time.

Wednesday, January, 25, The day we've all been waiting for... interview day!  My coworkers and I were interviewed today for the full time position at Brand.  TheNewCute said she didn't think she did well.  She thankfully gave me a heads up when it came to one of questions.  She told me that one of the questions was about going above and beyond, and having an example of that.  She said when she answered it she couldn't think of a single moment because every day is an above and beyond moment.  I've seen her work, she's right.  Too many to count.

Anyway, as far as me I think I did well.  I had an answer ready for that question, which helped me out a lot.  Every other question after that were pretty easy.  I will know if I made the top three in two weeks.  If I don't then this is all mute.  However, if I get top three then there will be one more interview.

When I was changing for the interview at Central I went though the inside pocket and found the above ticket from WAY back in 2015.  That was the night I went to see Beethoven's Ninth with TheDesire.  It's funny, because we actually hung out a lot back then.  On my way to the interview (I walked over there from the library) I sent TheDesire a voice message telling her about the ticket in my pocket and how I was going to the interview.  On my way home she responded to my voice message with one of her own asking for details about the interview.

Dinner was at the Smokehouse tonight.  I had the beef stroganoff again, but it wasn't as tasty as the first time I had it.  I really wanted to go to that fish & chip place on Riverside, but TheGirl called them to see if they had a heater on the patio.  They do, but they said it was broken.  Nix that.  The booze was flowing, which is why I didn't feel any pain.  Good times.

Thursday, January, 26, For over a week now I wake up in a lot of pain from my arm and my left rib side.  It takes me so long to do anything because of these twin pains.  If I didn't have the rib pain I would be much faster.  I wish that injury would just heal already.  I really hate being in pain.

Today is the fifteenth anniversary of my first day at the San Marino public library.  Fifteen years.  That feels like a lifetime ago.  Sadly I will probably not work another day there.  They didn't even invite me to work the open house this past weekend.  Pretty soon everyone that I worked with there will be gone and I'll just be a vague memory.  Fifteen years.

I was so sleepy today.  During lunch I try to take a walk around the neighborhood, but not today.  Today I went to my car and passed out.  I needed that power nap.

Just before leaving for home I checked my email and the above email was in my inbox.  These emails are always so vague.  What does it mean a "Confidential personnel matter" mean?  Is someone accusing me of something?  Does it have to do with Kvon again?  Waiting really sucks.  I hope it's not about me.  I've already had that fun.  I never want to be involved in drama, but here I am.

Friday, January, 27, This has been a long week, to say the least.  First it was me being in pain, and even as it took so long to subside there was the stress of the upcoming interview, which is now in the rear view mirror.  But now this stupid HR meeting on Monday has me stressed out.  Fuck this week!

Saturday, January, 28, My body hasn't felt good enough for me to jerk off.  Sad.  But last night I finally felt good enough to jerk off.  Oh and I needed it.

Speaking of that, I woke up finally feeling better.  Thursday morning I was in such pain, but today I felt ALMOST normal.  I've been feeling sore for s long now that I wondered if there would come a day when I felt normal.  I'm not there yet, but at least I've turned a corner now.  It's about time.  This is not to say all pains are gone.  My arm still hurts and it's hard to pick things up that are heavy.  Fucking sucks.

Shawnie texted me to ask if I could help her order a telescope through Amazon.  I'm not sure why she needed my help, but I was happy to help. She asked me to meet her at some place called Thai Eagle Rox.  It serves Thai food.  I can't say it was super good.  I had such high hopes for the flavor, but my beef was kinda tough.  Oh well, I wasn't there for lunch.  Anyway, we ordered the telescope for Shawnie's cousin in Mexico.  Done and done.

Sunday, January, 29, Today I wanted to rest.  I did go to the market and got food, but I also wanted to really just chill today.  Thankfully the NFL playoffs were on.  I lay in bed pretty much all day trying to heal up.  I took like two naps as well.

Monday, January, 30, I've mentioned more than once that my aunt works off of beliefs rather than evidence.  I don't like that, because of course she gets so many things wrong.  This morning I went to the bathroom and I checked my phone for anything unusual on the security cameras.  Well, the living room camera caught my aunt walking around at 1:41am messing with a plastic bag.

There's the plastic bag in the morning, sitting on top of this table in the living room.  A few months ago we did have a leak there.  But she called the handyman and he patched up the roof.  It hasn't leaked since.  That was MONTHS ago.  Yet, she still puts out buckets and plastic thinking there's a leak.  THERE'S NO LEAK!  Fucking shit for brains, she is lying in her bed in the middle of the night worrying about a leak that doesn't exist!  ARGH!

Today's big event was my meeting with HR.  It turned out it was about Kvon coming into the library a few weeks ago.  Apparently he wasn't supposed to come into the work during this time.  So they asked me what he was doing that day.  I told them the truth, that he was "visiting" and wanted to show me his new camera.  That's it.  I don't like being in this drama, but I guess I'm always going to be in the thick of it.

I'm sure this isn't going to be a good thing for his appeal about his leave of absence.  For sure they're going to use this visit against him.  This is some BS.

Tuesday, January, 31, Last night was so frustrating.  All I wanted to do is jerk off a little and my stupid computer thwarted me because it's a piece of shit.  I don't know a computer locks up every time I try to copy and paste.  I finally just gave up on jerking off because it was getting late and I didn't want to restart the computer.  Fuck this shit!

After getting home last night I went to my room and the solar lights I ordered were waiting for me.  See, a few days ago I noticed that the solar lights I had in the driveway were gone.  I'm not sure if my aunt threw them away, or someone took them.  Either way, they're gone.  I bought some new ones, and also putty that allowed me to mount them on the pillars of the wall I have around the front of the house.  This will help out with those lights in the future, because the gardeners like to blow them all over the driveway with their blower.  They never put them back to where they were on the floor.  No more of that.

Work was work today.  Nothing special happened, but I guess that's a good thing.  I'm still achy, especially my arm.  Like I said before I'm pretty sick and tired of this pain.

TheNewCute was trying to figure out her academic future.  She's going to graduate with her Associates degree pretty soon and is thinking of transferring and getting her Bachelor's degree.  She has to figure out what will be her major, and how much she wants to commit to going for her library degree.  It's a big moment in her life.

Aside from that not much happened at work today.