Afterthoughts : This Past August

Yeah, this month has been a doozy.  Perhaps a once in a lifetime event.  On to the update.

Tuesday, August, 1, I wasn't able to write about Monday because my buddy O came by for a quick visit.  When he left I had to spend my time getting my lunch ready for today.  But I was super lazy, so I ended up just going to bed.  Which is fine, since on Tuesdays I have some extra time to get things done in the morning.

TheNewCute has me on radio silence.  Why does this always happen to me?  Anyway, I texted her a couple of times during the weekend and yesterday and she didn't responded at all.  OK, as Ilsa reminded me the other day, "No response is a response."  I know she's dealing with a lot and I should just shut up and not make this about me.  I have to admit that I'm always taking the temperature in the room when it comes to TheNewCute, because I do like her.  And not to think that she has considered being with me, but I like to think that perhaps that thought came into her mind.  Once, even.

I went to treasury yesterday and chatted up Marie.  The other girl, Michelle, wasn't there so Marie had to help me with the money.  Which is what I want anyway.  We talked about time, and she said that these days it's just work and school for her.  Nothing else.  For some reason the Huntington Library came up, and I said that she must go.  I sorta invited myself by saying, "If you go let me know."  Ah huh, slick.  Not really, but at least she now knows I'd like go to with her.

My buddy came over and it's funny how we are both on the same track as far as life.  He works, makes his bucks, and that's it.  We were talking about work and how he doesn't care to move up and become a supervisor or anything.  He says he's good where he is.  Me too.  Granted, my hours aren't guaranteed, but it's funny that two full timers talked to me about being trapped by full time hours.  You have to work forty hours a week if you're a full timer.  They are beholden to those hours now, and if they want to take some time off they have to ask for leave hours.  As a part timer all I have to do is say I'm not showing up.

The above is one of Lynelle's pieces for her grad studies final.  I went to her show, which shows the fruits of her effort to get a Masters in Fine Arts, back in October of 2008.  She was showcasing all the work that she had done for her MFA, and in short it was her graduating thesis.

The above is a detailed view of the previous photo by Lynelle.  I think it's supposed to be some dried fruit, like an apricot.  Now I don't know this for a fact, but I don't think it's fruit at all.  I think she took pictures of her vaginal lips and used those as the fruit.  My old boss Wayne went with me to the exhibit where this picture was featured.  It was her graduating show, and Wayne says something to the effect that she must be "Tight."  Even back then I could not help but notice that the fruit wasn't really fruit.  Scandalous.

The friend that I took my aunt to visit last month has passed away from Covid.  My aunt told me that she found out yesterday, but since I was with my buddy she couldn't tell me until today.  Shortly after our visit my aunt's friend Maria got Covid.  Sadly she couldn't fight it off.  She had a bad heart, so I'm sure that contributed to her not surviving.  When we went I internally told myself that I would bring my aunt back for another visit in a couple of months.  But I also had the thought that this might be the last time we saw Maria.  Like I said, she was not well.  The doctors want to put a stint in her heart, but Maria wanted to wait until after her daughter came back from somewhere.  I don't remember where.  I don't know if the outcome would have been different, but now we will never know.

Wednesday, August, 2, I went up to treasury today and during our little banter Marie mentioned her boyfriend.  It's like that joke about how women will say "I have a boyfriend" to keep dopes like me from being interested in them.  And because they do have a boyfriend.  I think the Universe is trying to tell me something... stop being a dope... stop trying with these women, you're not going to succeed.  Yeah, I've been leaning towards that for a while now, and I think it's time to finally throw in the towel.  My buddy O told me he knows he's always going to be single.  Yeah, that's me as well.

TheNewCute showed me a camera her now ex gave her for her birthday, a couple of weeks before her actual birthday.  It must be bitter sweet for her to have been dumped but still be living with her now ex.  At lunch TheNewCute said that she talked to her old boss back at her old library.  That boss is now the director there.  TheNewCute said the director told her that they were hiring.  I have the feeling that these may be the last days of TheNewCute in Los Angeles.  I don't think she sees staying here an option, because of the cost.  Even if she got herself a roommate it would be a difficult proposition.  So most likely she will be going back home.  She mentioned it wouldn't be right away, but it does sound like eventually and soon.

TheGirl and I went to Don Cucos near Toluca Lake tonight, because if we went to the one in Burbank we might run into the ex-husband.  No one wants that.  The booze was flowing and so was talk of the past.  Seems like I'm not the only one that is nostalgic these days.

Thursday, August, 3, Last night I went to dinner with TheGirl and had a good amount of booze.  Then I came home and had a little more.  That killed the pain of my hip hurting from the when I helped Stacie move a bunch of items from Central to Brand.  It wasn't like it was a lot of stuff, or that it was super heavy, but for some reason my hip just wasn't feeling it.  I put a patch on my hip, but it didn't really help all that much.  Pills helped this morning, but during the night I was restless.  I would say that's more because I had to take a piss every couple of hours due to me drinking three cups of water and lemonade when I arrived at home.  Naturally I would need to piss all that out.  Couple that with it being a little warm last night and you have a restless night.

I said in yesterday's entry that it is probably a good idea to throw in the towel when it comes to finding a lady for a relationship.  I've said it countless times in the past, but I REALLY have to stick to it, because it is the reality.  Like my buddy O, I need to commit to that idea to not get my hopes up.  Every time I get my hopes up they get smashed, and I'm tired of it.  I didn't plan on being single for the rest of my life, but now I think I should plan for that.  My energies can go to something more productive, which can literally be anything.  I would have liked sleeping with: Marie, Stacie, etc, etc?  Sure.  But that's just not in the cards for me.  Which means it's time to take my chips and stand up from the table.  Done.

Friday, August, 4, I was drinking and jerking off like a fiend last night, which caused me to oversleep a little today.  I had time to shower, but no time for breakfast.  That's OK, I wasn't that hungry.  I really shouldn't drink on a "school night," but I just felt like having a drink or two.  I really can't do that though.

I'm sure I'm not the only person that has had so much to drink the night before that they still felt a little tipsy the next morning.  Because that was my situation today.  It wasn't until past 11am that I felt "sober."  But that meant I was feeling really good.

The route today was different.  I started late because I was just picking around having fun with my coworkers.  It was past 11am when I finally got out on the road.  TheNewCute told me she was going to lunch at noon.  That meant I could only make one stop before heading to Brand.  I picked going to Montrose and then Chevy.  But, by the time I got to Montrose I only have half an hour to get to Brand.  Well, I didn't make it, because I decided to take the freeway to Brand and got stuck.  The Western Ave. offramp was closed for repair or something.  CalTrans was there.  I had to travel to the next exit, and then double back.  It was a pain.

Sunday, August, 6, My aunt gave me a shopping list to go get some stuff at the Super King.  Since she never talks right I don't know what she says to me more than half the time.  When she talks I am trying to listen, but she speaks in such a way that she swallows her words and I don't hear a thing of what she is saying.  Because of that I just ignore her now.  But, the list is at least written, so gathered up the stuff and went to the Super King.  I dumped all that stuff on the table and went into my room to take a nap.  I figured whatever she was going to make she could do it on her own.  I'm sure it took her three times the amount of time it would have taken me, but what's on her.  When I did wake up she wanted to boil some spaghetti.  She told me to take the entire package and throw it in the water.  I told her it wasn't even at a boil.  So we waited until it was up and boiling and I took HALF of the package and put it in.  It was a mountain of spaghetti that I will only eat a fraction of in the next week.  Also, the amount of sauce she made would not be enough for an entire package.  The dish came out OK, nothing spectacular, but not bad.  I liked it, but I don't think it beats simple spaghetti and store bought red sauce.

In an effort to stay cool at night I bought yet another Disneyland related tank top.  This one is of the old Tomorrowland attraction, Captain EO.  I think it looks good.  I don't look good, I look doughy.

Monday, August, 7, When I jerk off these days I also drink whiskey, because both things feel so good.  Done together the pleasure is off the charts.  The thing is I have to do both under cover of night because my aunt doesn't like me drinking, and I'm sure she would think it's wrong of me to jerk off.  None of her business though.  I overslept this morning because I was jerking it late into the night.  And then after I came I still had more whiskey.  I can't do this on "school nights" anymore, because in the morning I overslept and like today I woke up with just enough time to take a shower and to get going.  I didn't have time for breakfast.  Thankfully I haven't been that hungry in the morning, but it sucks having to rush.  From now on no more late nights on any day where I have to wake up early the next morning.  As for example, Sunday night.  I can't keep getting so drunk that I am late for work.  I haven't been late for work... yet.  I know that my aunt suspects something is going on, because of course she notices that I didn't eat anything for breakfast this morning and last Friday.  And here I have all this yummy food to eat, but I'm snoring instead of waking up and getting my day started.

Just before entering the shower this morning I noticed that a few of my chest hairs were gray.  Not much I can add to that statement except I'm old.  I was actually wondering when this was going to happen.

I open the doors at Central every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I get to see the girls that come to the library to study.  Today I saw a new one with a nice bubble butt.  If I was still interested in pursuing a relationship with ladies I would like to get to know her.  But nah, that's in the past.  I'll just check her out.

TheNewCute had a root canal today.  She sent me the above photo after she was done.  This has been a rough few weeks for her.  First the break up and now a root canal.  Sigh.

Under the advice of my coworker Grigor I am having baked potatoes for lunch.  I bought three of them thinking that I can consider eating something else for the second half of the week.  Perhaps that spaghetti that my aunt made yesterday.  It came out pretty good.  Not super, but if I couple it with some bread and cheese it should be really good.

Tuesday, August, 8, DrDeath sent an update email that had an interesting item among the rest of the weekly updates.  Here's what it said.

Public Records Request Impacting all library employees.  Please be advised that GLAC has been served with a public records request (PRR) for all correspondence received or sent by staff that use particular words.

An anonymous member of the public has requested all correspondence containing any of the following words from May 1, 2023 - present day (I have censored one of the words so as not to offend anyone): "Glendale Out," "GlendaleOut," "Queer," "homophobe," "p**is," "mushroom," "Bible," "pride flag," "progress flag," "pride month," "porn," and "pornography."  Staff do not need to take any action on this request, this is merely a courtesy notice. IT will be pulling emails and these will be reviewed by the City Attorney's office.  Additional direction will be given to staff who have City of Glendale issued cell phones.

So the idiot narrow-minded dopes continue to show their ugly heads.  I'm nearly 100% sure that nothing nefarious will be found in any emails pertaining to this list of words.  It's sad that people will go after us, the library, for celebrating something like Pride month.  Stacie did say something funny the other day, that everyone gets a month now.  I joked that next month will be Sis month and she laughed.  But then I added, that used to be EVERY month.  I'm not worried about this, but I do hate that people like this exist.

My aunt is a colossal asshole.  A couple of weeks ago I bought her a paper shredder.  She didn't like it because she said the pieces were too small.  I got this one particular model because it cuts paper into little confetti sized pieces at a relatively inexpensive price.  I could get her one that cuts the pieces smaller, but it would cost nearly three times as much.  I figured she wouldn't want to spend upwards of $250 on a shredder.  I had some problems printing out the return label.  It's gigantic.  I needed time to reduce it, but I actually forgot to do that at work today.  Tonight my aunt comes up to be and basically says that she doesn't want to nag me (while she's nagging me), but wondered when I was going to return the shredder.  I told her to stop talking to me about it.  And then I got super angry after I saw the fucking idiot summer sausage moved AGAIN to the middle of the table.  I fucking threw it against the back door, where it broke open.  So I threw it away.  Now I won't ever have to see that fucking sausage again.  Fucking aunt.  She fucks with my stuff ALL THE TIME and because I want to keep the peace I don't say anything.  Which only makes her do more shit.  I'm so tired of her.  I think I'm going to just not be around here as much as possible.  I don't like being in her presence.  Everything she does annoys me.  She's always in the bathroom when I want to go.  Today she spilled a bunch of water by the toilet because she saw a couple of ants there.  She has a spray for that, but she's using water?  I cleaned up the mess.  I'm just mentally tired of her stupidity.  I need to find somewhere to go on the weekends.

I know I keep harping on the past, but here is another picture of Talia from way back in 2005.  I do this every year when these pictures come up, so I best just retire this thing.  The above might be the best picture I ever took of Talia.  She looks SO good in this picture.  I wish it was that Talia these days.  Crazy or not I'd be there every opportunity I had to get free if this is what she looked like today.

Wednesday, August, 9, A year ago we were told that the new carpet was going to be installed soon.  Typical for these things it took months for the actual event to happen after we were told about it.  Monday night the installers started the installation of the new carpet at Central.  We were told that the first phase would be the main floor and it would take seven working days.  Sure.  After that the rest of the carpet will take about a month to finish up.  Yeah, sure.  More like three months.  Whatever, at least it's getting done now.

With the humidity being high it was bound to happen that we would get a rain shower.  Sure enough, as we were leaving TheGirl's place to go out for dinner the clouds opened up and I quickly placed my hat on Chan's head.  He looked adorable in the hat.

I don't often clean my plate when it comes to eating at Wood Ranch.  But I must have been starving because I wolfed down the Buckeye burger I ordered.  It was goooood.  It's funny, TheGirl said that she was having out with the ex-husband on Sunday and that I responded to a text and the notification came up while she was about to show him something on the phone.  She went ahead and changed my contact name on the phone to Diego.  That's the name she introduced me to the bartender at Don Cuco's a few weeks ago.  Guess now my nickname is going to be Diego.

What I don't understand is why TheGirl even hangs out with her ex-husband.  One thing is maintaining a friendship.  It's another thing to continually be reminded of the reason why she left him.  That being that he's an asshole of the first quality.

Thursday, August, 10, I got an email from Mala that she sent at 6:56pm last night.  I mean really?  Anyway, here's what the email said.

Very many thanks for covering on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Casa Verdugo. Starting in September, would it be possible for you to go back to working your regular Thursday shift at Central?  I will work with you and Tony to see if we'll need to modify the delivery schedule or if you would be working at the InfoSpace.

I just couldn't take the commercials on YouTube anymore.  I HAD to pay for Premium so I would never have to watch another commercial on YouTube again.  Or at least this year.  I bought the premium package and instantly loved it when I watched that first video without the long commercial delays.  The last commercial I watched on YouTube was one for the store B&H.

Last week there was talk that some of my coworkers got a cost of living increase in their salary.  I checked my pay and sure enough I received a forty cent raise on my last paycheck.  I'm still asking for my merit raise at the end of the year, by the way. 

I was checking out some things because the library was empty tonight and saw that a building I used to frequent is going to be raised.  The location on the corner of Pass Ave and Riverside Dr. is going to get a new building.  It seems like too big of a building for that neighborhood, but these days builders are ghouls.  They don't care about that stuff.  They just care about maximizing their profit.

Friday, August, 11, While attending the morning huddle someone mentioned the ongoing carpet installation.  I told the group that I asked one of the installers if they were going to used the good adhesive.  I told the group that his response was, "We always use the good stuff."  Sure.  That's when one of my coworkers said that the carpet was already coming up.  We all turned around and sure enough I could see one of the carpet tiles coming up, and then I could see another and another.  So much for using the "good stuff."

The Montrose branch manager got married recently.  It isn't widely known around the troops, but I guess the managers know.  She's not making it too much of a secret, since she has a wedding picture on a shelf on her desk.

Pseudo supervisor texted me that she needed someone to record an author event about a month ago.  I told her I could do it, and tonight was the night.  After a long week of work I gave myself more work.  That's OK, it was easy work.  All I had to do was set up my camera and hit record.  Done and done.  But, I had to make it hard on myself by forgetting to bring my tripod.  So I had to borrow what library's.  Dumb.  I couldn't connect my iPad to the camera, so I had to use my iPad to text, instead of using my phone.  I wanted it the other way around.  Oh well.  And then the fun stuff happened.

I was talking back to the tables, I forget why, when I see Cathi, the library director.  She says, "Oh you look so official."  I forget how I phrased it, but I basically said that I had to represent the library.  Anyway, Cathi sees that I have a key on my lanyard and says, "I'm going to need you to turn in your key, and I'm not kidding."  She went on to tell me that HR sent out letters to people who hadn't been scheduled to work in I don't know how long.  I've been gone a year.  So I guess they pink slipped me?  I told Cathi that I didn't get that letter, but that I did get the letter that informed me I got a raise.

At the end of the night I went upstairs and handed Linda my key.  I don't want any drama.  Here's the kicker.  I still have access to my email and the system we use to enter our time, our time sheets.  Sooooo, I don't really think I'm off the books.  I think that Cathi is clueless as always.  That's OK.  If I wanted to I could get a duplicate key made, even if it says no duplication.  But why would I want to do that?  After fourteen years I guess this is the end.  I knew it when I left, but it's unofficial now.  Ha ha!

Saturday, August, 12, This is a picture of the girl with the golden thighs, from back in 2019.  With the events from last night it was funny that this picture came up from the past at San Marino.  This is one of the many pretty girls that passed in front of my eyes at San Marino.  I loved this girl's thighs.  So gorgeous.  I tried talking to a couple of times, but she wouldn't have it.  So, I gave up and just admired her thighs.  It's a lesson I should have learned years ago... I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life.

Sunday, August, 13, It's funny when this meme came up I thought about how I wanted to make some money with Talia by having her sit on different pastries and desserts.  I saw that there was a woman online that was making money by pressing her face into pastries and stuff.  It's SUPER easy, and it's a niche.  I do think there are enough people, men, out there that would find it hot to watch a girl, in this case Talia, sit on different desserts.  I could record it in slow motion and such.  Multiple angles?  Maybe even have her wear a thong and sell that thong.  There are many possibilities.  But, Talia is a dope.

I got to have my longest conversation with the self-checkout lady today.  She told me she got a promotion, and that she is now a supervisor.  Nice.  I congratulated her and she said thank you.  I hope I get to talk to her more often now.  I mean, I know I don't have a chance with her, but I'm just enjoying talking to her.  Oh, and checking her out.

I had a thought last night that I should create self improvement lists, like Gatsby does in the book.  I'm always about improving myself, but to put it on a list would require me to take action.

I went to Chipotle today and my aunt's burrito was a mini burrito (see picture above).  I'm hoping this was because I ordered it without rice.  Still, this is WAY too small for the price of $11.  Rip-off.

Monday, August, 14, I went to look for my ear bud late last night and thought to look in the drawer where I put my booze to hide it from my aunt.  Sure enough, I found my ear bud.  It was in the bottle of whiskey that I drank from last night.  How the fuck did it fit?  I mean come on, it would have to be an absolute perfect drop, perfectly aligned, to have falling from my ear into the bottle.  Unless I put it there on purpose, but I seriously doubt I would do that.  I was drunk, but was I THAT drunk?  Anyway, I put the bud into some rice to get the moisture out of it.  Sure enough, it still works.  I seriously don't know how that ear bud could fall into that bottle.

In my search for my ear bud, I turned half my room over.  In my search I found a check from years ago.  It was a tax refund from back in 2015. Oh well, it wasn't that much, just over $20.  I think I need to go through my desk and clean out a few things.

So Mala finally responded to my email asking for details on my schedule change.  Just like the other email, it's as clear as mud.  But, it contain a possible clue to what I may be doing on Thursday.  She says that my schedule will be the same as when I drive the route.  Which makes me think they are going to have me drive.  Not only that, with the impending children's room renovation coming around the corner, they will need Tony to send a bunch of books to the book buyer.  He has to drive normally on Thursdays, which takes away from the time he needs for book disposal.  Let's see if my logic holds.  Mala said she would tell me next week.  Fingers crossed it's me driving.

With Summer reading club now over I was told to get rid of the photo opportunity cut outs.  I was happy to do so.  I thought those things were pretty dumb because of the images on them.  Perhaps next year they could come up with a better image.

Covid is making a comeback.  I had to pick up some home tests today from HR, for the library.  They only had fifteen, but they said they would send more.  A couple of people have gotten sick lately.  Yeah, it's coming back.

Tuesday, August, 15, The city sent an email about a week ago saying that today was City Hall Selfie day, whatever that means.  I had no intention of going, and it's probably a good idea that I didn't end up going.  I say this because TheLooker is in the picture, and I don't want to run into her.  Not that we had anything big, but I know it would be awkward.  No thanks.  I try to avoid that these days.  I don't need that drama in my life.

TheNewCute was telling me a story of a pervert that was at Brand a few weeks ago, and how he appeared in a social media post by a woman that was perved on in public.  The woman was visiting the Barnes and Nobel in Burbank when a pervert came up on her butt and sniffed her.  This is the same guy that was at Brand a few weeks ago doing the same thing to a woman in the computer lab.  The social media video clearly shows him making moves to sniff the girl's butt.  He does it to another woman in frame but in another aisle.  TheNewCute called the police about this guy last week and now here he is.  The woman in the video recoding her encounter with this fool probably got him arrested.  Sad thing is, he just can't seem to stop his actions.  He was in jail for eight years, for stalking the step-daughter of Laker great Robert Horry.  I mean that's just crazy.  TheNewCute mentioned how Glendale police just seemed to be more interested in hanging up on her rather than get her information.  Thankfully she called Burbank police and the Barnes and Noble store.  Corporate was very invested in what she had to say, she told me.  Good, maybe that will get this case moving and this guy can be put away or given some sort of help.  Because he's not going to stop.  As someone on the news said, he spent eight years in jail and he still does this shit.

I don't want to go straight home after work on Tuesdays, when I get off work at 3pm.  A few weeks ago I wanted to go up to the Observatory, but the parking was a fucking mess.  I just drove away that day.  But I did my research and found out that I could take the DASH bus up from the Greek theater.  Solid.  I thought there would be a few people on the bus, but it was packed with smelly people.  Granted, I'm sure I didn't smell spring time fresh either.  Still, this was better than not going at all.

I finally did get up to the Observatory and I went ahead taking some pictures with my Polaroid camera.  I also took some pictures with my iPhone and my Nikon.  I looked back at the bus stop and noticed a crowd of over forty people.  That made me think that I needed to take my pictures as quickly as possible.  I thought I had licked the problem of the pictures coming out wonky on my Polaroid, but a couple of my pictures didn't come out right.  Oh well.  Most of them came out looking good.

I took my pictures and instead of taking the DASH back to the parking lot I decided to take one of the trails down.  I quickly checked my phone and started my merry way down to the Greek parking lot.  I didn't want to deal with the smelly people on the bus again, that's for sure.  The hike down to the car was just under a mile, but thankfully it was all downhill.  And it was a good hike.  I certainly got my steps in today.  Not only that I got to explore Griffith park a little more.  I would not go up this trail in my current shape, but if I was in good shape this hike would be nice to visit the Observatory.  Near the end of the trail I was walking and I heard little sounds out of the corner of my hearing.  It was little pebbles falling from the side of the rock.  I wasn't sure what was going on until I saw these little birds I later found out are called Bushtits.  They apparently eat insects.  When they catch these insects a little bit of the dirt wall falls down, and that's what I heard.  Pretty cool.

Wednesday, August, 16, The city scheduled a pair of lunch trucks from the Habit to feed us.  I didn't go, but I did see as they drove up to the parking lot behind City Hall.  I considered going to get my free burger, but then there are people I don't want to potentially run into.  Still, a free burger from the Habit would have hit the spot.  I miss the pastrami sandwiches they used to make there.  They were actually pretty good.

Krishna asked me to cover a half hour lunch at Adams Square, which meant that I would not be having lunch with TheNewCute today.  When I finally did arrive at Brand I ate my lunch and after that TheNewCute showed me her new ear buds.  I never got to tell her about my ear buds falling into the whiskey bottle.  Anyway, they do sound good.  She looked a little happy today.  I know she's not doing well though.  She kinda "meh" everything.  I get it.  She's not even combing her hair.  I mean, it still looks cute.  In my opinion.  She's going home for her birthday.

TheGirl and I went to the Smokehouse for dinner.  I had an idea of getting the burger or the prime rib sandwich, but I ended up having the fish and chips.  It was good, but on second thought I should have had the burger.  But it's fine, I'll get it next time.  The good thing was that they allowed us to sit inside with Cheyenne.  Good times.

Thursday, August, 17, I was checking out Playboy online and I found some ladies from the past.  They had the old pictorials of Patricia Ford and Lisa Boyle.  Back in the early 2000's they were in Playboy Lingerie magazine.  I wonder what they look like these days.

This morning my aunt comes to me as I got in my car to go to work and says, "You smell like alcohol."  I didn't, but that's another point.  I don't know if she says this to me to shame me, but it's not going to work.  If anything my interactions with her only make me depressed.  She never has a positive comment about me.  And all I do is go to work and sleep.  I'm a horrible person for staying at home and drinking.  I never miss a work day.  I'm almost NEVER late to work.  So what's the problem?  I wish my aunt would just leave me alone.

I've told my aunt that it's not a good idea to cook on a Thursday.  Well, it's like I told her, "Please, do all your cooking on a Thursday."  She made a potato "soup" today.  I put that in quotes because she said she passed out and much of the potato burned on the stove.  Another reason why she shouldn't be cooking, she is starting to burn things on the stove now.  She did it last week and now this week.  ARGH!  Anyway, her soup was pretty watery, and of course didn't have much potato.  Shaking my head.

Friday, August, 18, The big news is hurricane Hilary.  We're supposed to get hit with the remnants of the hurricane on Sunday.  By then it should be a tropical storm, still packing a punch.  The weather liars are saying to expects up to eight inches of rain over the weekend up into midday Monday in various parts of the southland, such as the Inland Empire.  In my area, they said we could get up to four inches in that time.  Still a significant amount of rain in less than two days.

They said not to go out on Sunday.  The news says we should get our errands done on Saturday, and that we should hunker down on Sunday.  I think I may take that advice and at least get gasoline tomorrow.  I hope I can get gasoline tomorrow, since I know a lot of dopes will be doing the same thing at the same time.

The other day Laurel mentioned that she wanted to talk to me on the phone.  I didn't see the message until it was late, so I told her that I was sorry about not seeing the message earlier.  I talked to her today on the way home from work.  She had big news.  Her husband left her for some lady that he met online.  Not only that, but Wayne, that's her husband's name, hasn't even met the other woman.  He's only been talking to her online.  And yet he told Laurel that he was no longer in love with her.  Amazing and sad.  I've known Laurel since she started working with me at San Marino back in late 2008.  In our talk she said she was thinking of the times when we hung out in Pasadena and were making out on Lake st.  Yeah, those were good times.  It all started with the night my car broke down and she drove me home.  We slept together that night.  We had some good times, but I do remember how she wanted to be exclusive.  I didn't want that commitment, even though no one wanted me.  Though as I think back I think I might have started to get some signs from TheGirl.

Laurel said she she wasn't sure what she was going to do now, because she and her husband had planned on moving to Minnesota to be closer to her son.  But now the plans of living there are in shambles.  She bought a house with part of her mother's inheritance.  But now what is her future without a husband?  She doesn't know.  Insane.  They seemed like such a good couple.  But Laurel thinks thing this woman has performed witchcraft on him.  She says that because of his sudden turn.  People do such crazy things in life.  For now all I can do is talk to her and try to comfort her.

Saturday, August, 19, The other day my aunt gave me an old camera that belonged to my Grandmother.  I know that film is making a bit of a comeback, so I know I can get film for this thing.  But, I noticed that the contacts for the battery are corroded.  I cleared out part of the contact, so that the circuit could be completed.  I put some batteries in and turned it on.  I could hear the old sound of a capacitor.  When I tried to take a picture the flash did not pop.  I turned it off and back on, but no dice.  I will try to clean up the contacts a little more with some baking soda, but I don't think it's about that.  I think the old capacitor doesn't work anymore.  That's OK, I can just use the camera in the daytime, or carry a light.  I do have a light.

We've been warmed not to go out on Sunday because of the coming storm.  I figured I would get some gasoline today while going to get food.  I went to my usual gasoline station, but it was packed.  Not only because there were a lot of cars, but the station has four broken pumps.  When I saw that I just drove off to another gasoline station.  Yeah, I paid more but it was worth it not to have to wait in a clusterfuck.

As I just said, the weather liars are saying not to go out on Sunday.  I got my aunt and I some Zankou chicken for breakfast, knowing that their portions are huge and neither of us would be able to eat the entire thing.  That means we can eat that for lunch of supper on Sunday.  But, I figured why not get some more food for supper.  I got us some KFC so that we could have plenty of food for Sunday.  I kinda want to go to the market in the morning.  But, I suspect that dopes will make that trip into a clusterfuck as well.  I have food for lunch on Monday, and my aunt will definitely have chicken left for Monday.  I can drive by the Vons near TheGirl on my way there on Monday after work.  If not, I can go Tuesday morning, since I start at 9am.  Problem solved.

Sunday, August, 20, The rain from tropical storm Hilary really started coming down around 10am this morning.  As I write this it's 6pm and the rain has been steady all day.  In the morning it was coming down in buckets, but now it's slowed.  But, like I said, it hasn't stopped at all the entire day.  It's supposed to rain all night as well, finishing up just in time for me to go to work.  Ha!

7:52pm and I'm inside now.  I stayed outside pretty much the entire day, but it's getting cold and the winds are causing me to get rain in my back of my head.  Just a mist, but it's enough to drive me inside.  Also, I need to get some stuff done for work tomorrow.  The rain came down in buckets earlier and since the last paragraph I wrote.

I was telling my friend that if the power went out I would be ready because I have the stuff from my earthquake kit.  And then I thought, that's all we need is an earthquake.  Well, it's like the simulation read our collective minds and gave us an earthquake.  A 5.1 out in Ojai.  That's about fifty miles away from me, but I felt it.  Not hard, just a soft move and that was it.  I was standing in the kitchen with my aunt when the iPad flashed a warning that there would be shaking due to an earthquake.  I couldn't read it fast enough, but it said to prepare for shaking.  Thankfully it wasn't that strong here.  5.1 I think is considered moderate, but if you're right above it I'm sure the shaking can be significant.  I joked on Friday that there was a big check list that had a bunch of natural events that could potentially happen.  I didn't want to joke and say that all we needed was an earthquake, but I did think it.  Well yeah, there is that check list.  I did joke that an alien invasion would be one of the items on that list.  That and locus.

I was winding down for the night when I looked outside into the backyard from the kitchen window.  I'm not sure why I felt compelled to look out the window, but it's a good thing.  I noticed that a huge branch had fallen and was hanging inches away from my string of lights.  I didn't want that thing falling on my lights and causing them damage.  I changed my clothes and shoes into something more water proof.  I grabbed a saw and cut the branch in two places.  I wanted to get a smaller piece at first, and then get more of the branch until it was no longer an issue.  Problema resuelto.

Monday, August, 21, I think the algorithm knows how much I like this woman's hips and is slowly making them wider each week.  I appreciate that.  She really looks curvier each day.

I stopped at Montrose first this morning, and while talking about the cleaning crew issues we noticed that the floor in the back office was wet.  We could hear the squishiness as we walked around the back office.  It was bad.  We went out around the back where there is a small walkway that was poorly designed.  That's because it slopes down to a low point where water pools.  There is a drain, but it's not big enough to deal with a decent rain amount of water.  So naturally it flooded back there and it seeped into the library from the foundation.  That's why that part of the floor was wet, but there was no leak from the top.  Shame.  I'm sure when I go by there on Wednesday they will have deployed some dehumidifiers.  It's the least they can do.

My aunt lost her cane on Friday.  She looked everywhere but couldn't find it.  Kinda like when I couldn't find my earbud.  My aunt has some outlandish thoughts, and those were in full force when talking about this cane.  She thought my cousin's kid could have taken it to give to her father.  Because his health is bad, and he might need it.  She thought it might be in one of the trash cans.  I don't know why she automatically goes right to my cousin's kids doing something.  They're good kids.  I went outside to check the trash.  I used the side walkway instead of going through the front door, like I normally do.  That was key, because on the way back I saw the cane on the fence.  Ah huh.

Talia sent me a text saying she wants to get her head shaved, because she says that her hair is bad since she's been sick.  I know she claims that her tumor is going to magically get better on its own, but things don't work that way.  Now she wants to shave her head because she's still sick, but doesn't want to face that.  She rather get rid of the problem but focusing on her hair being a problem.  I mean I can take her to a salon, but think just a trim would be a better idea.  Poor Talia, she's not right in the head or the body.

Tuesday, August, 22, I was checking in the books from delivery when I got to the book above.  I don't actively look at the covers of the books, but I catch glimpses.  I seriously thought that the book said "sit on my face."  Where was my mind?

I haven't told my aunt I get off at 3pm on Tuesdays, because I don't want to come home too early.  This means I have two hours to kill every Tuesday.  Last week I went to the Observatory, and it was cool.  Today I knew that I was going to go fetch my aunt's pills from CVS, but I figured I would get to the store around 5pm.  Again, that meant I had to kill some time.

I first went to Brand park to visit the tea house there.  All these years I've worked for the city I've never visited that place.  Well, I show up there and it's closed.  I asked TheNewCute what time they close that garden.  3pm.  Great.  I then figured I would go to the 99 cent store and get some bleach.  I use bleach for my whites.

After that I figured I would go to Travel Town to check it out and also use the rest room.  Mission accomplished.  It was around 4:40pm when I left Travel Town.  I took the streets all the way to the CVS store.  I had to wait for my aunt's pills, because I didn't pick them up on time.  The pharmacist said that they only retain prescriptions for two weeks.  Now I know.

Wednesday, August, 23, TheGirl and I were thinking of where to eat tonight.  We decided on Don Cuco's in Toluca lake, because their patio is out of the sun, and it would be better for Cheyenne.  When we got there the patio was packed.  Time for plan B.  TheGirl had suggested a couple of places for plan A, like this one place called Ribs USA.  I told her we should go next week, but then plan A went out the window I suggested we could do Ribs USA tonight.  Cool, problem solved.

But wait, problem not solved, because when we got our food it turned out to be really bad.  The taste was awful, or non-existent.  I had the tri tip sandwich, but it was flavorless.  I ordered two sides, but they gave me four: mac and cheese, corn bread, corn on the cob, and potato salad.  I think they gave me the bread complimentary.  The mac and cheese was the one side dish that tasted OK.  It wasn't good, but it was also the best of the bunch.  I had thought about getting the potato salad, but I didn't officially order it.  The lady put it in my order anyway.  Oh well.  The point was it was all bad.  TheGirl ordered a half chicken with baked beans, and she didn't like any of it.  I wanted to give the second half of my dinner to Cheyenne.  I seriously thought about just throwing the leftovers away.  But I HATE wasting food.  I'll figure something out, but the last thing I want to do is waste food.  Maybe I'll give it to my aunt.  Never again, Ribs USA.

Thursday, August, 24, I know I'm constantly posting pictures of Talia, and other ladies from the past.  I know I say to myself no more, but then I find more pictures.  I'm at it again, but this time I have an anniversary of sorts to showcase.  It was twenty years ago today, that Sgt. Pepper taught the man to play... I'm sorry, I mean to say twenty years since Talia posed for me for the first time.  Seems impossible that I've known her for that long.  Longer really, because when I took her picture we had already known each other for at least a few months.  I wanted to sleep with her, and thankfully she did sleep with me.  It wasn't on this photoshoot day though.  But, I did finger her that night.

I drove us back to her house after taking pictures up at the Rial Lane house, up on the hill.  When we returned to her place we were talking and checking out the photos while standing by my car.  I guess the photos got her going, because she got close to me and kissed me.  We made out and then she took my hand and shoved it down her pants.  She directed my hand with her hand to insert my middle finger into her pussy.  It was a night I'll never forget.

That's it... I'm convinced.  Maria Q's hips are definitely curvier today than yesterday.  Damn the algorithm!

Friday, August, 25, Well, I now know what my new Thursday assignment.  I checked my email this morning when I got to work and I saw that Mala posted changes on my schedule.  The email showed that I was scheduled for the children's room on Thursdays in September.  At least now I know.  Mala never emailed me back the answer to me asking what my next assignment was going to be.  OK.  Fine.  As long as I know.  I'm still not sure why I'm being moved from Casa Verdugo to the children's room.  I feel that something must have happened to have Grigor moved to Casa.  Time will tell, because it all comes out in the wash.

I was upstairs to check the mail from administration.  One of the homeless guys, Richard, waved me over, so I walked over to him, which was by the railing.  I looked down and I saw a police officer walking into the library.  That's fine, but then he walked into the Reflect Space room.  Again, nothing wrong there.  Then he went to the teen area and took out his phone and took a picture of one of the displays.  I found that to be strange.  I sent a Teams message to the Teen librarian and asked her to text me instead of using Teams.  Teams is official city communication, and these days people want to know what we are saying internally.  She told me that she would look into it.  Later in the day she shared an email from DrDeath saying that there would be more of a police presence in the library.  We've had some problems and I know that many of the employees have asked and asked for more of a police presence.  It doesn't answer why the officer took a picture of the display, but it could be innocent.  I guess we'll see.

A few days ago I had this crazy idea to buy some Lomo film for the 110 camera that my aunt gave me.  The camera belonged to my Grandmother.  The film arrived today, but I guess when I bought the film I also bought some 35mm film.  Now I have a lot of film.  I need to get going and take some pictures already.

Saturday, August, 26, My car has a schedule of things that need to be changed, like the oil and such.  The code came up that I needed not only an oil change but a bunch of other little things.  When I got to the dealer they said I needed an alignment, which they told me last time.  I also needed a new battery, because the current one was leaking.  I could see it.  Anyway, I had all that so they told me they would deliver the car to me when it was done.  Sure enough, just after I woke up from my nap they sent me text messages telling me that the car was ready.  I paid up and they drove the car to my house.  How cool.  Saved me a trip.

My buddy O asked me if I could stop by his mom's place yesterday.  He knew I was coming back from work, so he said I could do it today.  I was on the subway, on my way home, when I remembered that I said I would visit her.  So I went ahead and ran off the subway and ordered a Lyft to take me to her place.  She thought she heard music coming from the cable box.  Who knows.  But, in unplugging it she didn't know which hole to put it back in.  Hence me going over to her place to put the plug in.  It took me a little longer than my buddy thought it would take to figure out what exactly was unplugged.  And then it took a moment to figure out what input was supposed to be on.  Anyway, it was my good deed of the week.

Monday, August, 28, A few weeks ago Tony, the other delivery driver, tells me that they asked him to drive on August 28.  Then he asks what I was going to be doing if I wasn't driving.  I told him I didn't know.  Well, it wasn't until last week that they finally told me that I would be covering the phones in the administration office.  Cool.  I mean what can I say?  I can't refuse.  Besides, it was super hot out today.  I was actually busy on the phones, because the person that usually takes care of the phones downstairs called out sick.  That kept me busy up there.  I was making bets to see how many people would show up in admin.  And I meant patrons, not workers.  Sure enough, only one patron came in to make a complaint.

As I was strolling past the main desk I saw this book popping out at me.  It was a book of old restaurants here in Los Angeles.  Some are gone and some remain.  It's a really cool book that I might even buy, because I have this thought that I could visit all of them and eat there.  The ones that are still in operation, of course.  They had listed Little Joe's in Chinatown.  I know I walked by that place a few dozen times over the years, before they bulldozed it and put up a lifeless apartment building.  Oh well.  Progress.  I have been to many of the restaurants in the book already, like Cole's downtown.  Then there are those that I've been to but are closed, and then the ones I've never been to.  I hadn't even heard of a couple of them that are still open.  But in checking online they show that they remain open for a good reason.  I think it would be a cool project to do.

I joke that one of the chapters in the book I would like to someday write would have to be entitled: "My courageous battle against ear hair."  Well, in reality the fight goes on.  This morning I could feel a big hair in my ear, but I could not pluck it to save my life.  I didn't think to use the mirror in the bathroom, but I did think to take a picture of my ear to see what I felt.  Sure enough, it was this big ol' hair.  Yuck.  How does this happen?  At least I'm not like those guys that have zero hair on their heads, but have a whole ecosystem in their ears.  Still, I don't want any hair in my ears.  Tragically I do have some spouts here and there.  I couldn't live with that hair hanging, so I went into the first aid kit in administration.  Sometimes those kits will have tweezers.  Thankfully this kit did.  I plucked it blind, basically by feel with a little guidance from the above picture.  Success!  But what about tomorrow, and the next day, and day after that?  It's a never ending battle.

Tuesday, August, 29, Last night I got an alert that there was a robbery down the street.  This morning the news had a little more information about it.  Not much, but some.  There was apparently a home invasion robbery right up the street from me.  I pass that how on the corner nearly every day.  A group of three men broke in to the house while the family was there.  One of the men allegedly had a gun.  The thieves got away with jewelry.  One newscast said there was no idea what they took.  OK.  Still, it puts people on edge.  Terrible.

A lady came into the library and dropped off a pair of really cool pop-up books.  One featured the works of Matisse, and the other the worlds of Van Gogh.  The Van Gogh one was interesting, because it had a pop-up of his room in the yellow house.  I thought it was cool before I found that in the back of the book was a little pocket that had cut outs of the furniture.  the furniture is folded so that when you fold it back together it forms the chairs and the bed and even the paintings on the wall.  It was SOOO cool.

The lady who dropped off the books is an attractive lady.  She was wearing just normal clothes, a tank top kinda thing with another shirt on top, like a man's dress shirt.  She had jean shorts on, almost bordering on hot pants.  Her body looked nice.  She is thin, tall, with curly dark blonde hair.  Nice figure.  Well, my buddy, who also works at the branch, and I talk about this phenomenon of women bending over at the waist.  Now it's perfectly normal, but it just seem that when I turn to look towards the children's area one of these moms are bending over at the waist and I get a full moon.  Now I'm not even seeking this, and I often avert my gaze, because I don't want to come off as a creep.  I mean I enjoy the view, but I don't linger and start to drool.  Maybe mentally I'm doing that, but I look away.  The lady that brought in the books was bending at the waist when I turned around.  And yes, I was checking her out when she dropped off the books.  I could see her shorts were indeed short.  Her legs looked nice.  When I turned around I got the full moon again.  I looked online for a similar look and the picture above is a dramatic reenactment of that moment when her cheeks were hanging out.  The picture above shows vagina lips, but the lady didn't show that.  Though it was close.  I may have lingered for a heartbeat longer than I should have, but then I averted my gaze.  Now I was going to say that I don't think that these women do this on purpose, but today's lady sure did seem to have some intent.  OK, maybe not.  It's hot out, she wanted to wear something that would keep her from feeling too warm.  The big shirt provides coverage from the sun.  I don't now anymore.

Wednesday, August, 30, I drive up to the Montrose branch and I'm confronted with three small piles of donated books RIGHT in front of the doors.  Motherfucker!  I fucking HATE this shit.  I HATE donations as it is, because they are a waste of time.  We almost NEVER take a donation and put it on the shelf.  And the rest we throw out or "see" to that book broker for pennies.  I'm pretty sure that the money from the broker doesn't pay for Tony's salary for even one day.  I don't know for sure, but how much could they be selling it for?  Cents?  So what's our cut of cents?  I took those books and threw them right into the trash.  I'm not going to waste any more time with this shit.  I wish I could keep dummies from bringing in any and all donations.  These donations was shit too.  The worst is when people donate manuals for programs like Windows 95.  Really?  What do you think the library is?  Yes, we have books, but how useful is going to be a book about a thirty year old program no one uses.  And if you are using it, you don't need this manual.  Just dumb.

Today they had me deliver ice cream novelties to all the branches.  This heat made things problematic, for obvious reasons.  So, I had to mortify the route a bit in order to accommodate having to fetch the novelties back at Central so they wouldn't all melt.  It made for an interesting ride.

Thursday, August, 31, I woke up around 2am thirsty and hot.  It was the worst.  I went to use the bathroom and by the time I got back to bed I was wide awake.  I couldn't go back to sleep so I turned on the fan.  But that didn't work either, I was still too hot.  I couldn't take the heat, so I tried opening the window, but there was no breeze.  I said fuck it and closed the window and turned on the A/C instead.  Even still it wasn't until 3:30ish that I finally went to sleep.  Of course I was sleepy most of the day.  Especially after lunch.

Today was my last Thursday at Casa Verdugo.  It is what it is.  I don't get to chose.  I mean, I'm not completely leaving Casa, but this is a significant change.  Now comes the new adventure in the children's room.