Afterthoughts : This Past September

September is my birthday month, so for the most part it's going to be good no matter what.  Sure, it was a mixed month, but I still think it was a good month.  Check it out.

Friday, September, 1, I didn't get a chance to write this in yesterdays's entry, so I'm writing this now.  An email came out yesterday saying that Kvon had "Separated from the city...." It's a fancy way of saying he's no longer working for the city.  Sucks.  I don't know the details, but I knew this was going to happen.  I sent Kvon a text and he said that he did not quit.  The city is shady.  All I know is I'm pretty sure that Kvon is going to sue the city.  I ran into Dominic and he says he won't find a lawyer to take his case.  Yeah, right.  There is always someone that will take a case.  There are always some ambulance chaser that will take a case.  I certainly don't know how good of a chance he has of winning his case.  But, I can imagine that I'm going to be called in to testify in court.

The news that Ru's mom passed away came out officially yesterday, but Junior told me on Wednesday as I was going home.  I didn't want to send my condolences until they announced it officially.  She said thank you.  It looks like I'll be able to attend the viewing, but the actual funeral is on a Friday.

We have a new pet at Circulation.  It's a pet fish betta fish.  To quote Violeta:

"Jackie gave me a plant the one in fish vase and then I started thinking maybe a fish will be a cool thing to have and well Jackie and Raffy said 'Do it' and that's how the fish came to circ."

There ya go, right from the person who bought the fish.  It sits on her desk.

The above photo came up on my feed.  I don't think I ever mention the photos of the days when I worked at Ralph's.  It was nearly two years, which isn't a lot but it's more than CSUN, and I always write about that.  I guess I underestimate how important that time was, because the CSUN memories are parallel to my time at Ralph's.  But the CSUN memories are good ones, but I tend to think work wasn't as memorable. But, it was significant if not as nostalgic filled. So this is Maro, one of the managers at Ralph's.  She was definitely the hottest.  Although, I do remember a lady named Mar who was way cute too.  I don't think I have a photo of her.  Shame.  I asked Maro out once.  She thought I was nuts, because of our age difference.  I don't think she was much older than me, but I projected young.  I have better pictures, but this is the first that came up on my feed.  Sorry for the quality, the lens must have been dirty.  Also, that first iPhone only had a 2.1 megapixel camera.  I wonder what ever happened to Maro.

Saturday, September, 2, These days people take red lights as suggestions.  Case in point, the two cars above.  I could tell the car on the left was going to run the light.  He actively sped up even as the lights were changing to yellow.  The dude on the right though, surprised me.  Because it looked like they were slowing down.  But nope.  They just sauntered through the red light.  I see this every day now.  People are in such a hurry that they take any street sign or rule as a suggestion, if it slows them down.  Sad.

I have spent so much money to try and keep myself from being bit by these fucking mosquitoes when I sit outside.  Last year I bought a little device that emits some sort of smoke that is supposed to repel these damn mosquitoes.  Well, last year it did a great job protecting me.  But things have changed a little.  This year I'm using a fan, because it's still warm out.  That blows much of the smoke away, so it renders it mute.  The fan is another weapon against the mosquitoes.  I read that the wind is too strong to fly against, and if you get it in the right position you can keep most mosquitoes from getting near you.  That kinda works, but I sometimes don't get the right angel and that's when I get bit.  Now I also bought these sleeves that cover my arms.  They have helped a lot, but my ankles still get hit.  And if I'm in shorts forget it.  Finally I got that spray repellent, which works but then it wears off when I sweat.  So my last line of defense is mosquito netting.  Which I ordered and will arrive tomorrow.

Laurel sent me the above picture, along with two other similar ones.  She told me via text that, "Feeling inspired lately to take pics and be my old self again." That's good, I told her that I was happy to hear that.  Maybe she'll eventually send me some more pin-up style pictures.  Wink!

Sunday, September, 3, The only thing I look forward to on the weekends is jerking off.  I don't have to wake up early on Saturday or Sunday mornings, so I jerk off on Friday night and Saturday night.  Yesterday I was on a site that has pictures of naked ladies, and I found the lady above, Ambra, in of the galleries labeled "Beautiful." In one of the sets she looked a little hard in the face, like she hadn't had a good night's sleep.  But in another set she looked amazing.  Sure enough I looked her up on the porn video sites and found the corresponding video to the photo set I saw yesterday afternoon.

This brings up the idea of relationships and sex.  I watched a video yesterday that asked the question, "Do men and women need each other anymore?"  It made some points about how now each sex is much more independent because of the way society is constructed.  In the past men and women needed each other to survive.  It was ying and yang working together for a greater cause.  But now neither sex needs the other for basic survival.  We apparently don't need each other for companionship nor sex.  I think I've fallen into that category.  In theory I would like to have a girlfriend... Stacie, TheNewCute, Marie are all attractive and cool ladies.  I like who they are as much as I like their physical attributes.  But I obviously didn't pursue Stacie very hard.  TheNewCute, despite broken up with is still more in a limbo with her fella than out of the relationship entirely.  Marie has a fella.  Etcetera, etcetera... etcetera, with every woman I've pursued.  It just ends in a dead end.  Since TheGirl I haven't had a relationship, nor does it look like I ever will.  I don't put myself out there.  I really don't want to do that.  So I search the web for nice looking ladies who have sex on camera.

The mosquito netting arrived today and I immediately deployed it.  So far it's working great.  A couple of mosquitoes managed to get into my enclosure, but I just have to be a little more careful with the opening.  Still, we have a winner.  I may still use the smoke machine and the repellent, and perhaps the sleeves from time to time.  Because I do want to protect myself from that random fly that slips past the defenses.

I thought about going to the market tomorrow, but I figured if I went today I might see the pretty self-checkout lady.  No dice.  I think her schedule changed when she got the promotion.  Anyway, while at the market I noticed that the price of eggs was under $3 per dozen.  Just a few months ago it was $8 for that same dozen.  These ghouls definitely priced gouged us, and they're going to keep doing it.  What a fucking time to be alive.  Yes, this is yet another "Once in a hundred years" thing that I was speaking about a few weeks ago.

Monday, September, 4, I was chillin at home when I got a text from Kvon about going to take some pictures.  I was planning on going to the LA River Center that used to be Lawry's.  The place is kinda run down, which is sad, because the place is nice.  Kvon and I walked around, and talked about the work situation.  There isn't much to report about that.  Kvon is going to probably file a lawsuit against the city.  I even told him that I can imagine that I'll be testifying.

Shannon from Brand's last day is tomorrow.  I don't think I mentioned it here, but she wanted to work until the 15th of September, but they told her that her last day was September 5th.  Supposedly because the new person is starting later in the week.  Ah huh.  Ghouls.  Here is Shannon's farewell email.

Hello everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that am stepping down from the position of Exhibition Supervisor at Brand Library & Art Center.  My last day working for the City of Glendale will be September 5th.

Working at Brand for the past eight years has been a wonderful experience.  I am thoroughly proud of the work that we have done to make Glendale an arts destination in Southern California.

It has been a pleasure to work with so many of you over the years, especially my friends and colleagues at Brand.  Thank you!

Until we meet again...
Shannon

How sad.  I fucking hate how the city treated her.  Well, I shouldn't say the city, the library administration.  They are the ones that didn't give her the job.  They are the ones that treated her like this.  Fuck them!

Tuesday, September, 5, My Tuesday scheduled is still 9am to 3pm.  That makes for a really fast day.  I still don't know why they don't have me work until 4pm at least.  I guess I'll just have to keep going to places to take pictures after work.

Last week there was a lady that came in wearing short shorts and bending over at the waist.  This week she wore pants and there was no bending over at the waist.  Hmm.

After my quick little errand I ran up to Brand to see if I could find Shannon before she left.  My timing was perfect, she was just about to leave.  I told her she was a good people that I needed to see off.  I did.  She told me how she got an overdraft notice today from her bank, and she doesn't have another job.  Fucking sucks how these dopes do people dirty.  I told her about Kvon, and how they fired him.  I told Shannon that she has to go to lunch with me, because it's a free lunch.  It's good to keep people like Shannon in your life.  I'll keep in contact, like I do with so many others.  Tomorrow I will possibly meet the new dope they hired.  How much do you want to bet they're from USC?  Or have some affiliation with DrDeath, or USC, or both.  Ah huh.  Or it turns out they're Brand's manager's friend, some BS like that.  In short, this new person has some sort of connections.  Bullshine!

Wednesday, September, 6, The news had an interesting story that shows me how dumb people really are.  The Target store in Buena Park had a fire in the clothing section.  Patrons were asked what happened by the news.  One idiot said, "I thought it was a Halloween display." Sure, because any store is going to have a raging fire in the middle of their store.  Like that's not a liability if they did.  Someone recorded the fire, and you can see huge flames and smoke coming off the burning clothes.  So how is that part of a "display" I ask you.  I talked to Ilsa about how people are completely clueless, yet somehow they get through life.  I told her that it would seem that some dopes have ONE thing they are good at that makes money.  And that's why they survive.  They have enough money to throw at problems, or they just don't care.  I see a lot of the latter, not caring.  Dummies don't care what they do, and what aftermath they leave.

I saw a video that pointed out a thing called "The Five Basic Laws of Human Stupidity." In it it shows the categories laid out in a paper by Professor Carlo Cipolla in 1976.  The categories he laid out are: helpless people, intelligent people, stupid people, and finally Bandits.  He pointed out that stupid people were the worst of these categories because their actions are a detriment to everyone, including themselves.  I don't know much about the dummies who think this was a display, but I would say they are dumb.

Shannon's last day was yesterday.  I was told the new person was going to be at Brand today.  So I made it a point to go up and introduce myself to her.  She seems nice enough.  And funny enough, I may have met her earlier this year.  I don't remember.  I texted Shannon that I met the new person and she mentioned that she knows her.  She's friends with Stephanie.  Like how?  How does a friend take another friend's job?  I don't get it, but Shannon says she's good people.  This means Shannon already knew who was replacing her.  And the crazy thing is someone upstairs didn't want them mingling, which is why they told Shannon her last day was yesterday.  But they already know each other, so what's the deal with that?  Something doesn't make sense here.  It does look like Stephanie will be a good coworker though.

TheGirl and I didn't have to have a debate about where to have dinner tonight, because she said she was hankering for Smokehouse.  I looked over their menu, because I wanted to try something different.  I ended up having the Reuben.  Which isn't something different, but I was in the mood.  I had thought about getting the chopped Sirloin, or the burger.  But, as I said, I decided on the Reuben.  It really hit the spot tonight.  The steak fries were a wee bit overdone, but that actually made them better, because they had a little crunch and yet were soft and hot inside.

I gave TheGirl her birthday presents, two bottles of wine and a smart plug.  Her old plug didn't work, so I got her a new one.

Thursday, September, 7, Today I started my new gig at the children's room at Central.  I haven't really worked shifts there, I've mainly covered breaks on weekends.  Now this is my new Thursday.  Here's how it went today.  I worked with three of the children's room staff, here is who I worked with in the order I worked with them.

Karen is one of the new hires.  I think she's been at the library for nearly a year.  I don't know much about Karen, but today I got to know her a bit more.  Since she has started I've been friendly with her, and you know what, she's good people.  She and I got along super today.  We talked food, and Disneyland, and more Disneyland.  I'm going to like working with Karen.  If only she was the only one I worked with on the desk upstairs.

Chris has been at the library for a few years.  She is like many people who have been a job so long that they feel perfectly comfortable just doing what they want.  She is full on jaded.  We didn't talk much, instead she was yapping at Karen about Picard and how Karen hasn't watched the latest season.  Like just let the women watch at her own pace.  You could tell that Karen wasn't too thrilled.  As I think about it now, I'll have to keep my mouth shut during the time Chris is on the desk.

Cecile is another one that has been here so long that she just does what she wants, and is also fully jaded.  She at least was bringing down the last children's room display.  She was working on the new one while I was on the desk.  She later gave me some busy work to do.  Fine.  Cecile isn't as bad as Chris, who is just too far gone.  But Cecile is jaded to be sure.  She's also deaf.  I was talking to her in my regular voice and she said that I mumbled.  Lady, I don't mumble.  I have made it a point to talk clearly, especially when we had to wear masks.  I took the time to make sure I would enunciate clearly and loudly to have people understand me through my mask.  That has carried over to today.  And to prove my point, a lady came up to Cecile and asked her a question, one that I heard clearly.  Cecile didn't, and asked the woman to repeat herself.  So what, does everyone mumble?

I was off the desk for three hours today.  I used that time wisely, aka I journaled.  I wasn't assigned anything, so how can I do anything.  TheNewCute said that I should "hide" in circulation, and mentioned that I should "look busy." I did try by opening up the computer and having everything up as if I was working.  Smooth.  By the end of the day Nancy, one of the librarians, and who I think is the frontrunner for Kvon's job, came up to me and a couple of the pages.  She was talking about the "shifting project." I told her I was almost off the clock, but I still went with her to see what this project is all about.  Sure enough, it's pretty straightforward, move these books over here, leaving little space on the shelves.  Easy.  I MIGHT have to do that next week, because my schedule shows that I'm on the children's desk from 1pm to 4pm.  OK.  What about the rest of the time?  Guess I'll "hide" in circulation.  Ha ha!

After lunch I needed to use the restroom, but I didn't want to use the public one because I was going to poop.  Instead I went to admin, and when I was leaving I saw a pair of shovels sitting next to Joe's office.  I asked him what was the deal with the shovels?  He said it was to shovel the "B.S." and nodded his head towards DrDeath's office.  I grinned and nodded my head in affirmation.  Yup.

Friday, September, 8, Jade tells me that the new guy, Albert, is a snitch.  He tells me that some of the gang were talking about the problems with the shifting project.  Basically that the people in charge don't know what they're doing, and that the plan sucks, and so on.  Well, Albert went ahead and told the dummies upstairs what was being said about the project and them.  And of course nothing changes, but admin apparently just said that this is the way it's going to be done.  Typically the wrong way, like we always do at this library.  It's like a sitcom with these dopes.  But, now we know that Albert will not just keep things to himself.  Snitches get stitches.  I've been warned, don't criticize anything around that guy.  Yeah, he's not to be trusted.  And here I said to give him a fair chance.  I think we all did, and he goes ahead and proves he's team DrDeath.

There isn't much else to report from today's work day, so I'll talk about a couple of random things from this week.  Today I got a little hungry early in the morning.  I decided to get a burger from Burger King.  I wanted a small burger and sure enough they gave me the smallest burger.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and they gave me something that resembled a slider, not a burger.  Pretty soon these burgers will be truly be the size of White Castle burgers.  What a shame.

Panda Express has a new dessert item on the menu that's basically a fried apple pie.  I can't wait to try it, because it really looks good in the picture.  Hmm.  It would seem that they just took the regular wrap for an egg roll and put apple pie filling inside.

Saturday, September, 9, I did a little social media digging today on the new lady at Brand, Stephanie.  I saw her walking around at Brand yesterday and I got to check out her figure.  She does have a nice figure.  Of course the Algorithm made it so that she is attached.  That's fine... this is fine... everything is fine.

I got an email from Kanopy, which is an online streaming service that has artsy movies and documentaries.  The email suggests movies I might like to watch, and in today's email there was this Gustav Klimt movie.  I went ahead and checked it out, but boy was it strange.  I wasn't exactly sure what was doing on, because it did this time shifting thing where you couldn't tell the context from moment to moment.  It was not the best movie, but it did throw a bunch of nudity at the screen.  So yeah, that makes it a ten out of ten.  Nudity!

Sunday, September, 10, I was going to the market when I ran into a lady crossing the street.  I put the footage from the dash cam here because she looks nice.  I loved her hips.  But also, she gave me a little bit of a smile half way across the street.  So wonderful.

Monday, September, 11, When I wake up I go to the bathroom and while I'm walking there I will see a bunch of birds eating their breakfast from the bird feeders.  This morning I didn't see any birds.  That was strange.  I'm not sure what was happening, but I did noticed that a lot of birds were on my TV antenna.  I wonder if the kitty was around, or the hawk.  Strange.

I was back in administration today.  There was a point where I got so bored that I started tidying up the place.  The desk was a mess of wires from the Vocera battery charger and the walkie talkies.  Neither of which are used, so it's a waste of time having them here at the desk.  But this place is all about wasting time.  Hell, I'm writing this while I'm sitting at the desk.

The cute girl with the bubble butt is sitting a couple of dozen feet away from me.  I say that I'm not interested, but I guess I should say I'm not interested in a relationship.  Sleeping with this girl is another thing.  Yes, another thing that won't happen.  Ha!  I mean what chance do I have with any woman these days.  Hence me "adopting" this monk-like life.  It's better to say that it was trust upon me.  Oh well.

Because of my having to cover administration phones today Tony had to drive the route.  He wasn't too happy about it.  He asked why we can't just go back to the old schedule where I drive on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays?  Well, simply put, it can't be done.  Right now I'm still locked in on working Tuesdays at Casa Verdugo.  Can't do that if I'm driving.  No, the administrators like it this way, and it will stay this way for a while.

I let Tony know that I MIGHT be considering not driving on Friday October 13th, because that's the day Emma is getting married.  He flat out said he wasn't driving that day for me.  So many times I've covered for him and he can't do me this one solid?  Wow!  All because he doesn't like driving on Fridays.  Jeez, they really should just give me the route to do every day at this point.  Oh, but then I wouldn't be available for all these other coverages.  I think I might just end up running the route fast on that day.  You might wonder why bother.  I drive on Mondays, so that means anything that doesn't get done on Friday will have to get done by me on Monday.  So yeah, I think the decision has been made for me.  Thanks, for nothing.

What I've started doing to make sure that I get all the hair in my ears is that I take a picture of my ear with my cell phone.  It's helped me keep track of any little hairs that could become a problem later.  I really hate that feeling when I can feel a hair but I can't pluck it.  ARGH!  Being able to see it in a picture gives me a better chance of plucking it, because it shows me where it's pointing, and how long it is.  It's a struggle, a real struggle.

For a while I've been getting random hard-ons while on the desk.  I suppose it is natural for that to happen, since that happens at night as well.  To continue a theme in this entry, I don't have much use for a hard-on these days.  Not going to put it down, I like the feeling.  But it's strange that I get it when I'm on a service desk, because unless some MILF is bending over at the waist in front of me.  Though, it would be nice to see the bubble butt girl bend over at the waist.

I had to move some things from one part of the office to the conference room, because the carpet guys might install the new carpet in administration.  I got a nice view of the bubble butt girl from the window in administration.  I ran into her when I was at the desk.  It's so hard trying to talk to her, since she always has her headphones on.  Boo!  I act as if I had a chance in hell to actually talk to her and ask her out.  It's a fantasy, for sure.

On Mondays I usually go to McDonald's after work and get myself a burger, and then I head over to TheGirl's for a quick visit.  Today TheGirl is out in the Santa Ynez valley camping with her family for her birthday.  That meant I was left to my own devices.  On Mondays like this I usually try to go eat something different.  Today I figured I would try Roger's burgers in Burbank.  It's somewhere I've wanted to try for while.  I have it on my list of places to go.  What all the schedule changes, and well as having to call a friend as I left work, I didn't notice that the place had reportedly closed.  When I got there I passed it, because it was under a different name.  It was now a Mexican food place.  I flipped a mental coin and picked this place above going to Chili John's.  I should have gone to Chili John's.  Oh well.  I ended up ordering a torta, which was OK.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing.

Tuesday, September, 12, I was asked to start work at 11am today instead of the usual 9am, because they needed coverage at Casa.  How many times have I said that they need coverage at work?  Too many times.  I didn't want to explain to my aunt why I was leaving late, so I left at the usual time for a Tuesday, and figured I would run some errands.  I first went to the hardware store to buy a couple of things.  Specially a metal rod that I could use to place a camera that usually sits in a tree.  The tree has grown so much that the leaves now cover the view of the camera.  With the rod I could move the camera to a position where it can see the front gate.

My neighbor warmed me that there were reports of people casing the neighborhood trying to find a place to break into.  We were almost broken into a few years ago, and since then I have added security cameras, as well as motion lights.  There must be at least a dozen motion lights all around the house.  There are five cameras outside the house, as well as five cameras inside the house.  So I have the area covered, but I really think the one by the gate is an important part of the network of cameras, because it's the closest to the street.

Having killed some time at the hardware store, I still had some time left over before starting work.  So I went to the market in order to get some booze for this weekend.  I didn't see the pretty self-checkout girl.  I haven't seen her since the day I had a conversation with her about her promotion.  Thanks a lot, Algorithm.

I still had some time left so I decided to go to Brand park and see if I could take some pictures of the Tea House.  TheNewCute mentioned that it wasn't that great, but today it wasn't about great, it was about killing time.  Sure enough, she was right, it was kinda meh.  At least now I know.

Vagabundo sent me a picture of the new books yesterday where one of marketplace books, denoted by the green tape at the top of the book, was mixed in with the new books.  The new books have a totally different colored tape, in this case being red.  Not only that, but they have the word "New" plastered on them.  Pretty easy to spot, even from across the room.  Well, I watched Mary stand right in front of that misplaced marketplace book and miss it.  She even touched it, and didn't notice that it had green tape versus red tape.  For shame.  Vagabundo and I have mentioned that there have been a lot of mistakes lately, and here is just another example of one.  I couldn't help but move the marketplace book off the new book shelf.

When I got home I polished off my dinner in minutes.  I think I was just eager to get some things done.  I went to the hardware store, as I mentioned above, and I bought a metal rod where I planned on placing one of my security cameras.  I went to the front yard and found a good place where the camera could point towards the front gate.  Thankfully there was a little area that was just open enough to have a good view of the gate.  There are some leaves in the shot, but nothing I can't work around.  Then I installed another motion sensor light on the side of the house.  I already had the lights in my room, having bought four of them months ago.  Then I finished off the night with the screw that I bought for my back license plate.  For years I have heard a rattling because the plate holder was missing one of the screws.  Every time I would hit a bump I would hear that thing rattle.  No more!

Wednesday, September, 13, For the last couple of weeks there was this talk of Gitmo and I having an arm wrestling match.  My coworkers thought I would mop the floor with him, but I told them that I was pretty sure I was going to lose.  It is kinda messed up with you know you're going to lose a match, because you can access your skills or strengths verses an opponent.  Sure enough I lost our match.  I wish I had big guns, aka strong arms.

There isn't much I can say about dinner tonight.  TheGirl treated me, because it's going to be my birthday on Sunday.  I ordered a lemon drop and a Buckeye burger.  I love that burger.

There was a really noisy dog a few feet away from us.  We went to Wood Ranch, which is usually pretty good since most people don't sit on the patio like we do.  Tonight was a different story, because the patio was packed.  There was a birthday party with at least a dozen people at the table next to us.  And then a party of three that had the noisy dog.  TheGirl was not pleased, but ever ready in a pinch, I sprung and suggested she move her chair on in and I could take the outer chair and move it away.  That way Cheyenne would be less inclined to be in the walk way.  It worked.  Oh, and Cheyenne knew that I had bacon, because she was slobbering on my clothes at record rates.  I mean, who doesn't like bacon?  I gave her quite a bit.  All in all a good night.

Thursday, September, 14, An email showed up in my work inbox that looked rather funny, until I read it closer.  I thought this said, "Let's Douche," instead of "Let's do lunch." Easy mistake to make.

Since Mala never responded to my email asking about my duties on Thursdays I figured I would do what TheNewCute suggested... hide in circulation pretending to work.  I guess I could have gotten away with that, but that's not me.  So, I asked Violeta what I could help her with and she said I could help with the Link Plus items.  Solid.  I went about processing the Link Plus books.  That took me to around 11am.  I followed that task with pulling the books on hold.  I couldn't find many of the books on hold.  A patron flagged me down because they needed help with a computer issue.  That brought me to lunchtime.

I took an hour lunch, and then it was time to work the children's desk.  I worked the first hour on the desk with the woman that accused Kvon of saying inappropriate things to her.  She was the last one that accused him of that, and was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I have no issues with her, because what do I care?  After that I got to working with Cecile.  During that time I spent my time on the desk shelving books.  That helped the day go by faster.  I always joke that I am the highest paid page.  Nice.

After work I drove over to Forest Lawn to attend Ru's mother's viewing.  There were so many people attending.  Easily over two hundred people by the time I left.  I did not see Ru, but I did see Krishna.  I paid my respects and went home to eat my dinner.

My aunt Facetimed me to tell me that there was a bird in the house.  I was starting to think she was crazy, but I did see that the living room security camera did capture it for a moment (see above).  When I got home I didn't see it at all, but did see a little poop on my TV.  I have no idea where it went.  I looked around the house for it, but didn't hear a peep.  Strange.

Friday, September, 15, The new normal is to come into work and have random people yelling at the top of their lungs outside the library.  Today we had a chorus of people... two really.  A woman was yelling at full breath when I walked up.  When I started loading the van she was "accompanied" by a man across the street also yelling who knows what.  The man didn't stay long, just about another five to ten minutes.  But, the woman continued past 9am.  My coworkers called the police on her.  They talked to her and she walked away.  Like I said, this is the new normal.

I didn't get any fanfare at Central for my birthday, but TheNewCute is too nice to me these days.  She got me a nice cake from Portos, and decorated the kitchen for me (see above).  Stacie gave me a hug, and I had a slice of cake.  I took some for my aunt to have.  It was good times.  TheNewCute is too good to me.

While at Brand I had my lunch.  TheNewCute had just finished lunch when I arrived, so she didn't sit with me.  Boo!  But, the rest of the gang was prancing through the library, including the new girl, Stephanie.  Of course I find her attractive.  I was sitting next to the sink.  In one of her four visits to the kitchen she stood really close to me.  If I had been that pervert that was going around sniffing ladies I could have smelled her like that pervert did.  That's how close she almost got.  Her butt was right at my eye level as she cleaned some dish, or fruit, I honestly can't tell you.  I was too busy trying not to stare at her butt.  Sigh.  I'm a dope.

Saturday, September, 16, One of the librarians at Brand wished me a happy birthday yesterday and told me to go, "Do something fun." In that spirit I took my ass to Solvang.  The Elverhoj museum had an exhibit called "Music is Love - photographs by Henry Dilz" in their gallery that I wanted to check out.  The exhibit was extended until tomorrow, so it was either today or tomorrow that I could have to check it out.  It wasn't a huge exhibit, but I loved it, especially the picture that became the cover for one of the Door's albums.  How cool is that?

The drive to Solvang was about two hours, so naturally I had to take a piss by the time I arrived at the Elverhoj museum.  I went inside looking for the bathroom, but when I found it the door had an out of order sign on it.  I went looking for a restroom, but had zero luck.  I didn't want to ask anyone, so I went out to walk towards the town down area a couple of blocks north.  I found the bathroom and it turns out that the main street was closed to traffic because the town was celebrating Danish days.  About a block down I saw a band on the back of a wagon.  They had just finished playing, so I missed it.  Boo!  I went back to the museum to check out the exhibit that I couldn't really enjoy because I had to pee.  As I walked back to the museum I noticed that the wagon was moving towards me.  I took a picture and continued my walk.  When I got to my car I looked up and the wagon was still heading towards me.  Sure enough the wagon parked right in front of the museum, and in front of my car.  And then I got a nearly private concert right there in front of the museum.  How cool.

I've wanted to try a place in Solvang called Copenhagen sausage company for a while now, because it looks like they have good food.  I walked by that location while walking back to the museum.  The place was packed, which to me means see ya later.  I avoid crowds of dopes.  I've also wanted to go to Pea Soup Andersen's for a long time.  From time to time over the last couple of years I've checked their website to see what I might eat in the future.  I even went online to YouTube to see if anyone had made videos.  There are some old videos, but nothing current.  I've had meals there before, but I wanted to try something different.  I found the Danish sausage sandwich interesting.  I ordered that up with a cup of their famous soup and a meal was had.  I REALLY loved the potato salad they served me.  It was just so good.  It's my new favorite there at Andersen's.

Chan is twelve years old today.  I can't believe that little stuffed monkey has been in my life that long.  He has become such an important character in my life.  He's been my companion though the years on multiple trips to Big Sur, Carmel, and San Francisco to name a few.  He's my ultra ego, and such a fun time.  I love that little monkey.

Sunday, September, 17, TheNewCute posted the above picture on social media sporting a new tattoo.  It's a small sample size, but I've noticed that three people I know that are going through a rough patch in their lives tend to impulsively get a tattoo.  Maybe that's not the case here, but I'm just saying.

Despite it being my birthday I treated today like just another day.  I had my birthday fun yesterday.  I went to the bank to deposit some money I was owed.  Then I went to the gas station where gasoline was $5.47 today.  That's almost a dollar more than about a month ago.  This sucks.

Then I went to the market, and sadly I didn't see the pretty self-checkout lady.  I think since her promotion her scheduled must have changed.  That sucks.  I liked going to the market to see her.  But, there was a good looking lady at the market.  I mean, there's always some pretty lady at the market.  There is one lady that I see all the time.  I didn't see her today.  Oh well.

Monday, September, 18, When I got into work one of the first things I saw was the Morrison Hotel album sitting in the bin for the Brand library.  Obviously the algorithm is working to remind me of the good time I had this weekend.  I told a couple of people about my little trip to Solvang this Saturday.  It was good times.

I was about to go out to the van with the book bins when I saw a coyote walking around the park.  The coyote came up to the planter area right besides the employee entrance.  A patron even tried to scare it away, but the coyote was not scared.  It eventually went back across the street.  Damn.

A couple of weeks ago one of the guys from the city garage asked me to bring in the van for some maintenance.  I kinda forgot, that is until I went to pump gasoline this past Friday and he told me, "Hey, where have you been?"  I apologized and told him that I would bring the van first thing this morning.  Sure enough, I took the van first thing.  He told me that he wasn't sure how long it would take, but that he would give Tony a call when it was ready.  To jump ahead in the story a little bit, the van was ready just as I had returned to Central from delivering items to Brand, Casa and Grandview.  I was starving, so I had my lunch and took off to pick up the van after lunch.  I don't mind the loaner van, because it handles more like a car.  However, I would like it a whole lot more if I didn't have to deal with the bench seats.  They are so in my way.  I wish they would throw them out permanently, but they won't.  Actually, they can't even take them out anymore, because the hooking system is busted.  Sigh.

Stacie asked me last week if I could help out with some heavy items.  The items weren't really heavy, but certainly they needed some dope to help out, and I'm that dope.  There was this one piece that needed to be hanging from the ceiling, and that meant someone had to hold it in place as it was tied.  Thankfully I didn't have to help out for more than an hour.  I have things I have to do on the route.  Anyway, I plan on going to the gallery opening this weekend.

Tuesday, September, 19, I know I bring this up all the time, but I have shown proof here in this journal that the morning weather lady, Maria "Q" is getting curvier and curvier in the hips.  I mean she looks great everywhere, but I've noticed a larger hip to waist ratio, which means she's still thin, but her behind is getting nice and round.  It's so pleasant watching her do the weather.  When they have someone else it's a pain.  Well, there is another lady that is way attractive, but Maria is the one I want to see.  Anyway, click the picture above for today's super curvy weather forecast.

TheGirl warned me that she might be losing her job some time in the future.  A few months back she told me that her division was not doing well, and not busy at all.  She openly wondered if she would have a job at the end of the year.  Well, her prediction was right.  Today her whole department had a meeting where they were told December 1st is going to be her last day with the bank.  Fucking jerks!  You lay people off right before Christmas.  Not that I think these bank dopes are "Christians" or anything.  Because in my book even if they were that doesn't mean that they don't put money before everything else, including their make-believe god.  I'm not sure what TheGirl has far as plans.  I think she has a little bit of savings, but that will go fast via rent.  I only wish I had a big lotto pot to share with her.  I'm not sure what this means for so many things in our lives.  She says she may have to move back in with her daughter, which means no visits from me.  Because her daughter is living in her grandmother's house, where the ex-husband also lives.  So yeah.  But now it's the time to think about that.  I'm going to ask around and see if anyone knows anyone that is hiring.

Here is a picture of the Silmarillion back in 2007.

I found a picture of TheGirl at her job back in 2012.  Here it is eleven years later and she's lost that job.  Fucking messed up.

Wednesday, September, 20, I haven't mentioned Marie in a long time, because circumstances have kept me from going to treasury that often lately.  And even when I have I've only seen Marie sitting at her desk.  Today she came out from behind that desk, and boy did she look abundant.  I mean she's just so much of what I like.  Sigh.

So the gang at Brand wants to install an iPad as a media player to display a video.  The only problem is that they wanted to lock it down, so that no one could mess with it.  Because in the past dummies will come into an exhibit and mess with the iPads used for video purposes.  Because there are a bunch of selfies on these iPads, because people are dumb.  Anyway, the gang couldn't lock the iPad down because they didn't have the password.  They said that the IT department was giving them the runaround.  I figured I would call my guy at IT to see what he could do.  After a couple of calls he tells me that IT won't touch the iPad, because it has a "history." I left them after I gave them the phone number of the head guy at IT.  I hope it works out for them.

Dinner was a little different tonight, what with the looming layoff of TheGirl from her job.  She told me that she's fighting for a larger severance payout.  She's trying to get a job with the same cameras that she just lost the job from.  I wish her the best of luck, because as I said the other day our lives are going to change if she doesn't get a job.  She said tonight that she doesn't want our Wednesday dinners to go away.  We've been doing Wednesday dinners for over a decade.  It can't end now.

Thursday, September, 21, I took one of the iPads that are in Kvon's office to try to unlock it and get kiosk mode to work on it.  I found one that didn't have any login, so I was able to put my own login on it, and by that I was able to put it in kiosk mode.  But, I did it for nothing, because Stacie said she got the Brand iPad to go on kiosk mode.  Hmmm, thanks for telling me.  Oh well, at least now I have an iPad that can go into kiosk mode.

I got to work on the children's desk with Ru today.  We caught up, since she's been gone since her mother passed away.  I won't get into details, but suffice to say it got real.  Ru is one of the nicest people I know, and sexy as hell.  Which is why it's so fucked up how the administration of the library has marginalized her.  She was passed up for a branch manager's position at least three times.  Each time she was the top candidate, but didn't get the job.  Anyway, it looks like I'll be working with her on Thursdays now.  Good, she's good people.

My old iPad has cracked glass.  This happened this past weekend when I was shooing some stupid mosquitoes.  I had the iPad on my lap when I moved my hand to shoo away a mosquito and that's when the iPad slid off my lap and on to the floor.  It didn't look like anything was wrong with it, but I noticed today that it was slightly cracked.  I mean it's still functional, but I have to go get it fixed next week.  Fucking hate those mosquitoes.

Friday, September, 22, My brown fleck blazer I bought for Emma's wedding arrived today.  Sadly it fits tight.  ARGH!  I could try to lose weight before the wedding, but I've been trying and I don't think I've lost a single pound.  I eat less, but I don't do any exercise.  And then I drink like a fiend, which certainly doesn't help.  I bit the bullet and bought a larger size.  I went way more bigger, because this last time I measured and I thought I gave it some slack.  I guess I didn't give enough slack, so I did this time for the second order.  I guess I can gift the other jacket to someone I know that's smaller than me.  Sigh.

Saturday, September, 23, I received an email from Firehouse Subs this past week showing a pulled pork sandwich that will be available for a limited time.  They know me too well, because I HAD to try it.  I went and bought it today and my report is that it's pretty good, but I've had better.  I think of the sandwich I had up in Big Sur.  That was a wonderful sandwich.  I think this sandwich was good, but I can take it or leave it.

I went to the gallery opening tonight at Brand.  I was only there for about an hour.  It was nice to get out, but since there was no booze at the event I wasn't interested in sticking around too long.  Also, TheNewCute was there but she was leaving.  She had to stay later because just as she was getting off work some lady fell in the parking lot.  She was tired from a long day and I just wanted to go home and chill out in my backyard.  So we both left after chatting a bit.

Sunday, September, 24, I haven't seen the pretty self-checkout lady in weeks.  Of course that happens after I had a nice conversation with her.  I haven't mentioned that there is a pretty customer that prances around in tights looking really good.  I don't know her deal, but she has a nice ass and she must know it, because her outfits are nice and tight.  Alas, I have no chance talking to her.  But, here is a short video of her as I drove into the parking lot at the market.

I watched a video of a guy making homemade Sloppy Joe's this week, which made me think I could use that as filling for enchiladas.  I got all the stuff used in the recipe and some fancy tortillas.  So you could call these Sloppy Joe enchiladas, a la Eric.

Monday, September, 25, Every day that I walk up to work I find more homeless around the library.  There seems to be a new wave of homeless people lately.  The economy isn't doing well for some people.  Gasoline has gone up again.  I paid $5.67 this weekend, and as the news says the price is going up.  As I write this the news is saying that the average price in Los Angeles county is $6.16.  ARGH!  Things aren't getting better.

A friend of mine has been having issues getting a job for a couple of years now.  And then about a month ago she told me that she got an interview with a job and that it sounded great.  Sure enough she had her interviews and she was hired.  It sounded like a dream job.  They were going to train her and pick up the tab for getting her equipped for the job from home.  Seemed almost too good to be true.  Well, it is too good to be true.  Turns out the job is a fake.  They're trying to scam her.  We're not entirely sure how the scam works yet, but they do have all her personal information, including her social security number.  Fuck!  I hope they don't mess with her credit.  Actually, she said her credit is shot.  I told her to call the credit agencies and get that credit locked down.  Because even with bad credit these scammers will find a way to get to her credit.  What a shame.

Ilsa said that we should go up to Carmel for a trip during Thanksgiving.  TheGirl wanted to go up to Solvang, but now with her job ending in December she can't afford to spend money on a vacation.  So Ilsa's offer is looking better and better.  But, she doesn't know if she's going to be able to get this Thanksgiving off.  Her new job does a rotation of employees for that particular holiday.  They do a three year rotation.  One group gets a year off, and then works two years, and then gets the third year off in the rotation.  Ilsa doesn't know what team she's on, so she might not get this Thanksgiving.  She may not get a Thanksgiving off for another two years.  So I await her finding out to book the room.  I just hope they have rooms left.

Tuesday, September, 26, I picked up the books from the bookdrop this morning when I found a note within the books (see above).  It was a Yelp-like review of the branch.  Here's what it said:

Gase Verdugo
Good things:
Cool!  Has lots of events! House project?  Looks good but, is on Thursdoy.  Has different language books.  Has homework help too.
Over all, good love it!
Bad:
Has innopropiate books.

I wonder what books they think are inappropriate.  A list would have helped us get rid of those books.  Ha ha!

A bunch of things were moved around last week to accommodate a dance performance at Casa last week.  The self-checkout machine moved from the middle area between the desk and computers to right in front of the service desk.  Which meant my view was blocked (see above).  I didn't like this, because the primary person is blocked from seeing who comes into the library.  Actually, I don't even like having the handouts right by that door, because it blocks our view.  Maybe I can convince Gitmo that the self-checkout machine needs to go back to its regular spot.  He seemed to like where it was now, blocking views.  Perhaps I can get Grimace to say something.  She has more pull than I do.

Wednesday, September, 27, I drove up to Casa and when I got inside Gitmo and Grimace were talking about the self-checkout machine blocking the view of those who sit at the service desk.  He then turns to me, "Can you help move it, you're strong." Sure, I said, let's go.  And off we went to moving the machine to the other side.  I quickly disconnect the catalog computer that never works, because it's all set up wrong.  Well, it's set up to fail is more like it.  The computer resets itself every morning.  Which means it always wants to ask that Microsoft Edge be the registered.  Yeah, no.  No one has time for that.  It's gone, but in its place is now the self-checkout machine.  I think this is a better place for it.  Not only is it out of the way, and won't have to be moved when we have events a the library.  But, it's now in view of the service desk.  I can see better if someone is having an issue with it, and go and help a patron out.  Win, win!

TheGirl was not all there at dinner tonight.  She forgot Cheyenne's bag, which carries her snacks and water.  The water we can do without, because the restaurants we visit will usually give us water.  The snacks are another story.

I get it, TheGirl only has two months left at her job, and she told me tonight that the bank will only pay her two weeks severance for each year she has worked there.  I think she said that she has been there a decade, though I think it's been longer.  Two weeks times ten should equal twenty weeks.  That means they will pay her until May of 2024, I think.  I don't know if she gets that as one lump sum, or something else.  I'm sure she has to pay taxes on that.  I only wish that I ould help her.

The gang at work has been playing the lotto for the last few months.  Ever since that dummy one almost a billion dollars in Altadena.  I know my coworkers think they can handle that kind of money, but perhaps I need to be who I am and help them out with all that money.  I know what I would do with that kind of windfall.  Alas, I don't have to worry about that kind of money falling into my lap.  There is zero chance we are going to win.

Thursday, September, 28, I went for a walk in the library stacks this morning, since I don't have an assignment on Thursday mornings.  Boy, the state of the stacks are awful.  I have heard things here and there this week, but now I see it with my own eyes.  I wonder who the fuck is in charge of this.  No one can tell me, who is responsible for this shit show.  All I know is that the carpet will be done soon, but then the shelf reading project will have to start in earnest to fix the shelves.  Maybe it would be a good time to also run an inventory of items.  Yeah, I'm sure these idiots won't think of that at all.

Oh, just to explain the photo above, for future generations.  I'm sure you caught it, but as you can see there are "oversized" books next to "career" books on one shelf, and under that are "92s," what we call the biographies.  Those books are typically not on the same shelf, together.  They're typically not even on the same column.  Most of the time these books are completely apart.  Who the fuck did this?  You can't see it in my picture above, but the so-called career books extend three columns out to the right of the picture.  Fucking mess.

I got a Teams text from Syco asking me for help with moving some trash to the bin.  Sure, I have nothing to do.  I went ahead and took several trucks full of items that were "trash." Some perfectly good items that I'm sure someone will be asking for in the next few months were tossed.  I felt so bad about it too.  I wanted to save some items, but really what's the use?  What was really bad was throwing away the items that represent the waste this place creates.  We supposed to be "Green" in the city.  We can't have single use cups, or anything made of plastic.  Yes, that's great.  The big sales job that everyone is following about recycling being some magic bullet is condoned by the city.  I get it.  We're "saving the environment." Meanwhile, I was given a box full of the stupid "Be the Change" even fliers to "recycle." I mean, I didn't count, but the box was completely full of fliers for the event.  These boxes typically hold four reams of paper stacked on top of each other.  So that's about two thousand pieces of paper I tossed.  Why the FUCK would they ordered so many fliers?  Mind you, this isn't all that they ordered for the event.  That's just what's leftover.  Fucking idiots.

I've been interrupted during my lunch in the auditorium, so I figured that I would take my lunch today out in the lawn.  You know, I wish there was a picnic bench here.  Alas, I had my handy towel to place on the grass instead.  I had a nice and restful lunch.

I've been buying Tyson chicken nuggets for a while now.  The other day I wanted to get some chicken nuggets, but I saw that the Foster Farms nuggets look pretty good.  I bought them, and sure enough they are "meatier." Yeah, no more Tyson.

Ilsa finally got the word that she will be off this Thanksgiving, so our trip is on.  As soon as she told me I went to work getting the room booked.  Then I got to work on the dinner reservations.  Check and check.  The room is set, and so is dinner.  Nice.

Friday, September, 29, I mentioned that the books in the stacks were a mess, but it turns out that the carpet guys are the ones that moved all the books.  Still, who the fuck is in charge of this project?  No one can ever answer any question I have about anything at the library.

I've chronicled how my silly aunt moves loafs of bread to the exact part of the dinning room table where I place my lunch pail.  Tonight se did it again, even after I had placed my pail there and moved the bread to the side.  She bought this huge piece of bread and it picking at it.  And after I had moved the bread she ate some and put it right in front of my pail.  That's it.  I'm done.  I moved some things on top of my media center and placed my pail there.  Fuck this shit.  I need to do more of this, so she doesn't move my things.

Saturday, September, 30, I'm going to a costume party later in the month of October to celebrate Halloween.  Like how last year I went with Ilsa to the club and I went as a priest.  This year I'm supposed to go as Rhet Butler, or a gambler, I don't know.  Anyway, I needed to pick up the costume from her sooner than later, so make sure it fit.  So I told her I would drive out to her place before she went to work, because Saturday really is the only day we can do this.  Hence me driving out to Fontana today.  Boy, it felt like a far distance.  I drove for just a little bit over an hour.  I mean, it wasn't that bad.  And I got to see her house and meet her parents.  Good times.

On my way back home I decided to try and visit something on my bucket list.  I ended up going to the Hsi Lai temple in Hacienda Heights.  There's another temple I want to visit in Chino Hills, but I couldn't find it on my list.

The Hsi Lai temple is beautiful.  No photograph I took today will do it justice.  I sat and meditated a little, but I was getting hungry so I left after a quick visit.  I'll have to return here again, now that I know how to get to it.