Afterthoughts: This Past Month

July was a bit of a blur.  Check out the update, because the month went fast.

Monday, July, 1, I was exchanging messages with Laurel last week, where she sent me pictures of herself from back when she got divorced.  I posted a picture in last month's journal from about 2008.  I told her she looked good, and that I thought it was good that she had me take pictures of her when she was young.  I told her that I often found that women especially look back at pictures of themselves when they were young and kinda look in awe of how beautiful they looked.  I told her that that's why I think every woman should, at some point in their youth, take pictures of themselves nude.  Or have professional nudes done.  Like those bedroom photos.  Laurel thought that by me saying that I meant that I wanted her to take nudes and send them to me.  While I wouldn't mind that, that was not my end game.  The exchange made me feel like perhaps I need to slowly step away from this whole thing.  Whatever this thing is.  Not completely, but back to a point where I feel comfortable.  Because I kept the friendship going because I genuinely liked Laurel, and I wanted to maintain a friendship despite her getting married and moving to England.  Now she's back in the states, but it's Minnesota.  Who knows if I'll ever get to visit her.  And who knows what would happen if I did.  Would she want to be intimate?  What would that mean long run?  See... this opens up a whole can of worms that I don't want to deal with.  So, I'll keep it platonic from now on.

The weekend dopes left the A frame signs out all night.  I mean, it's not like someone is going to steal the signs, but it's the principle of the thing.  The weekend workers are mostly trash.  I get it, working Sunday ain't easy.  But that's no excuse.  Working Sundays sucks, big time.  But you still have to do your job.  Not this group though.  I wasn't too trilled when I worked Sundays.  My shift at Crowell on Sundays started at noon and ended at 5pm.  It was smack in the middle of the day.  Sometimes I could get away with going to brunch, but then it had to be a little early, and I would often have to rush to work.  Sundays might be the worst days to work.  Like I said, the shift is in the middle of the day, and afterwards I always felt like all I wanted to do is go straight home.

I got a Citizen app alert around 10:30am saying that there was a man with a gun on a bus in Tropico.  Tropico is an area of Glendale located in the southern part of the city.  A few hours later I come to find out that there was a man on a bus that was sleeping.  The driver noticed a gun in his belt and got everyone out of the bus.  The guy with the gun was asleep.  The police brought out one of those armored vehicles and woke him up.  It looks like he gave up peacefully.  Good.

The trend in all jobs is to have employees do the work of two or more people, but still only get paid one salary.  The library is no different.  The trend has taken over in the last few years.  The old policy was that there had to be at least one full timer in the building.  There could be one or more part timers, but they were never to be left alone without a full timer.  Well, they haven't followed the policy for YEARS.  I regularly close on Thursdays without a full timer.  If something goes wrong I have to call my supervisor, who is about three miles away at another location.  Not terrible, but if something does happen we do have a bit of a delay.  That's why I like that we have a security guard with us.  The point being, this wasn't the norm before.  Now part timers are regularly closing without any full timers around.  What's worse is when they leave just one person on a service desk.  Like in the children's room.  The new room is going to open soon, and one of the key features I saw in the renderings is a service desk that is for only one person to man.  They're already doing this in the temporary children's room.  A few weeks ago I had to go up there and give Ru a break so she could go to the bathroom.  What a fucking shame.  Imagine having to call down to the main desk to ask someone if they can take a bathroom break?  Well, it happened again today, only this time it wasn't Ru.  This is a fucking shame, because this is now the new normal.  That desk is only for one person, and that one person will most likely be a part timer.  Not always, but the majority of the time, I guarantee it.

Tuesday, July, 2, This morning I was to start work at 9am instead of the normal 10am.  I told my aunt that, and she took it upon herself to water the plants this morning.  Totally forgetting that it's better to water the plants in the evening, as to not have as much water evaporate in the heat of the day.  My aunt gets everything backwards.  I've told her many times to not just turn on a fan in an empty room, but when I got home today she had the big fan spinning away in the wash room.  Like, what's the point?  Just a waste of electricity really.

Grimace brought out full a truck worth of books.  I came to find out that she went ahead and converted new books into regular circulating books.  The job I've been doing for months.  The job I told myself I wouldn't do anymore.  Someone got to her and told her she needed to do her work.  Good, this was her job in the first place.  I only adopted it because I couldn't file the books on the shelf.  Let's see how long this new Grimace lasts.

Wednesday, July, 3, Elen brought some matchbooks that had some short stories in the inner flap.  Misa was on the desk, and when I started reading the story Misa interrupted me just before I was about to finish the story.  She asked me what I was saying.  I told her that the matchbooks had little stories in the inner flap.  I started reading another story and sure enough Misa interrupted me again.  I should have known better when I started reading the third matchbook.  Yes, she interrupted me again.  Long Covid.

I got back to Central and there was a bunch of junk under the delivery sorting table.  I inspected the items and they turned out to be backpacks with a pair of walking sticks, as well as a pair of binoculars.  I have no idea how much was spent on this stupid stuff, but I guarantee that these backpacks will never circulate.  The last batch of backpacks that had trail information and a translator.  I know none of those backpacks have ever circulated.  I don't even know where the ones that belong at Casa are located.  If someone actually wanted to check one of those kits out they would be somewhere I could access.  I think I'll check the one with binoculars out when it cools down.

I mentioned earlier in the week that I said something to Laurel that made her think that I wanted her to send me nudes.  While I wouldn't mind that, I didn't actually mean to do that.  I think that Laurel felt that my latest messages denote that I was pulling away.  I did lower my amount of interactions with her as well as change the contents of my messages to topics that had nothing sexual.  I say that she might have figured this out because she sent me a nice selfie today (see above).  Nice.

TheGirl and I have limited places we like to go to for dinner because of many factors.  The main factor is if a restaurant can accommodate Cheyenne.  In the summer we need to find a place that has a patio, but that's a patio that's cool.  Reno's has outside seating, but when we go to dinner the sun is right in our faces.  Same with the Don Cuco's in Burbank.  So we ended up at the Don Cuco's in Toluca Lake.  We usually have good service there, but not so much tonight.  TheGirl's daughter knows one of the servers, but we have not had the pleasure of having him as our server.  Well, it was not a pleasure.  We were seated, and it took nearly an hour for him to take our order.  Even after that the guys seated a couple of minutes before we finally ordered our food received their appetizers before we got our appetizers.  That makes no sense.  The food was good, and I gave about 80% of the meat from my carne asada taco to Cheyenne.  Which was my plan.  I hope we don't get this particular waiter next time we go to Don Cuco's.

The four of us went on the after dinner walk for Cheyenne to do her business.  We ended up by Warner Bros. studios.  This is where I was able to get a picture of Chan in front of the famous water tower.  He's living the life.

Thursday, July, 4, I got home from dinner at around 10pm.  I thought about jerking off, since I had today off.  But, the next thing I know I pass out in my chair and I get into that super groggy state where I can't keep my eyes open.  It wasn't until I woke up at nearly midnight that I got ready for bed.  For the last couple of years I've been getting a buzz before I jerked off, because it felt really good.  Tonight I didn't drink any more booze, but man it felt so good to jerk off.  I didn't have any whiskey dick.  It felt like I was edging for nearly half the session.  Good shit.  Then I went to bed.  And then I couldn't go to sleep, because of the heat.  It wasn't until I turned on the A/C that I was able to go to sleep.  But, I woke up about two hours later, sweaty.  I think I turned the A/C again and then I was able to sleep.  Later I woke up a couple of hours later needing to use the restroom.  I finally woke up at 5:15am.

I was in my backyard just chillin when my neighbors started shooting off fireworks.  Out came my noise cancelling ear buds, which are incredible.  I didn't hear a thing.  That is until 9pm, when I decided to get something to drink.  I took my ear bud out and all I could hear were booms.  It sounded like a freaking war movie. Nuts!

Friday, July, 5, On Wednesday when I was finishing up the route I noticed someone put a bunch of backpacks under the delivery table.  I gave them a cursory look that day, but today I was able to check one out what was inside.  Turns out it's quite a bit of things.  Here is what I found inside the backpacks: two walking sticks, three plastic bags, three booklets; a loud whistle, a compass, a small LED light; a microscope, and a pair of binoculars.  I'm not sure what the bags are for.  Later Elen said they might be for trash, because you're supposed to take everything that you brought with you.  So if you had a snack you're not supposed to toss the wrapper out in the wilderness.  I mean, I honestly don't know what those bags are for.  Oh, I forgot to add that there is also a state park parking pass.  I'm 100% sure no one will ever check these backpacks out.  I was telling TheNewCute that I hadn't even heard anything about these.  She said that one of the librarians sent out a Teams message.  I asked if she had seen an email, but she couldn't remember seeing one.  I don't remember seeing one, but I'm not one to care about those emails.  Which is why I mostly delete them.  Fuck'em.  I did a quick check of my emails just now and I didn't see anything about these backpacks.  Vagabundo is sure they funded them via a grant.  Hundred percent.  What a waste of money.

During the closure for the construction they installed a bunch of windows overlooking the reading room from the children's room.  When we reopened we noticed that there was one piece of blue tape on the outside.  We all joked that they would leave that tape up there forever and ever.  Yes, they will.  These fools would need to bring in a scissor lift to take that one piece of tape off the wall.  Ain't no one doing that any time soon.

The route was flying this morning.  I was at Grandview by 11am, and I wasn't planning on having lunch with TheNewCute until noon.  So I just chilled inside the super air conditioned library for a bit.  Mind you, I had gone to get gasoline, get the mail, and went to Chevy Chase, followed by Adams Square and Pacific Park libraries.  That's a lot for it to only be 11am when I go to Grandview.  I even went to the fire station to pick up their mail.

There is a very pretty girl at the fire station that I often get into conversations with about food, mostly.  I decided to avoid her on Wednesday by just not going to the station to pick up their mail.  I knew she was going to be out today, because she's out every other Friday.  Good.  I'm not exactly sure why I'm avoiding her, but I just have this feeling that I have to avoid her now.  I know, it's stupid.  It's not like anything is ever going to happen with her.

When I did get to the Brand library Maureen was nowhere in sight.  But then she ran up to circulation saying that her battery was dead.  I knew TheNewCute had a jump battery, because she was having trouble with her battery a couple of months ago.  I asked her, without directly asking her, and she went ahead and helped Maureen jump her car.  That little battery is pretty cool, and handy.  The good thing was that TheNewCute informed her that her little jump battery says to keep the car running for at least thirty minutes to recharge the battery.  That meant that if she needed to go back into the library it wouldn't be for at least a half hour.  We would have that much asylum from her.  Funny thing is, Maureen didn't come back until nearly 1pm, which is when our lunch breaks ended.  Perfect timing.

Saturday, July, 6, Because I'm going to work tomorrow I decided to go to the market today.  Funny thing is I saw the girl with the striped pants.  I usually see her on Sundays, if I see her at all.  I saw her when I arrived, but then I saw her go back up to the market as I was leaving.  Could she have forgotten something?  I did the other day.  Maybe she's a professional chef.  Maybe she's a professional buyer.  I'll never know, because I'll never get a chance to talk to her.

Sunday, July, 7, Mala texted me that they needed coverage for Sunday.  In exchange for working today she said I didn't have to work on Tuesday.  They should just pay me overtime.  It doesn't come out of their pockets, but that's another subject.  I agreed to work today, for a day off on a random Tuesday.  It was pretty chill though, because it turned out to be a nice quiet day at work.  I also liked that I was inside an air conditioned building.

While manning the phones I checked my work email.  I found an email from Stacie saying good-bye.  I texted her and she told me that Caley, from Brand, basically told her she had been gone long enough and that she should quit.  She's been gone for about six months.  I've never heard of anyone being told to quit like that.  Either way, Stacie has quit.  There was no future here for her.  I will miss her.  She nice.

Monday, July, 8, My buddy O texted me asking if I was free for dinner last night.  Sure.  He showed me his chest scar.  He didn't tell me before, but apparently he had a heart attack back in February.  Shit!  He's my age?  Hell, he's a month younger than I am.  The good thing is that it wasn't one of those hand to your chest in pain heart attack.  It was in a way, worse, because it was one of those have a constant pain kind of heart attack.  Well, he and I went to dinner and talked and talked.  We came back to my place and did a little more talking.  But, it was getting late.  He left my place a little after 10pm.  I could go right to bed, but I still had to get my stuff ready.  That took some time, but I went to bed.  Then I decided to have a drink and jerk off.  I didn't go to bed too late, but I had a nice swig of booze before I went to bed.  Not good.  Naturally I overslept this morning.  I said I wouldn't do that ever again, but here I was late for work.  I was just over an hour late for work.  I had to run out the door, so that meant no breakfast, no shower, and forgetting stuff.

I thought I had my gloves all set, but my buddy's visit threw off my checklist.  I didn't have my proper gloves.  I thought I had both right and left handed gloves, but I only had three right handed gloves.  Just great.  I do have gloves in my car, but initially I had to deal with a right handed glove on my left hand.  Womp, womp.

I can't ever drink on a Sunday night like I did last night.  And it's not like I don't like jerking off without drinking, but last night I mixed the two again.

When I got to the Brand library I noticed that the zine display had taken a tumble.  The wire holding some of the zines had come loose, and that meant some of the zines were on the floor.  I tried my best to pick them up and reset the wire on the wall.  I didn't know what order they were in, because they were separated by the librarian.  Some of them were on the top wire so that people wouldn't take them.  The ones on the bottom wire were meant to be taken.  Because I had a mix of the top and bottom wire I just decided to gather them and put them on the desk.

The marketing manager sent out an email today confirming what I already knew.  That being who was hired for what position.  Nicole, the children's librarian from Pacific Park, and I figured that a young lady named Jacklyn would get the Adam's Square job.  Sure enough, we called it.  She got the job.  My former coworker from San Marino, Heather, had already told me that she got the children's room job.  The last piece of the puzzle was the hiring of this guy named Solomon for the collections development job.  That was my current supervisor's previous position.  I thought that perhaps they would give it to Ru, but she's been blackballed.

TheDesire is still putting up some social media posts, which I like.  She posted one video where I could see her figure, and boy does she still look good.

A few weeks ago I noticed that my new waterheater had a bunch of ants all over the wall.  Oh hell nah.  I took a bug spray and killed most of those ants.  I knew by were they were going that there must be a nest in the house.  ARGH!  Today I placed a poison in their path back to their nest.  Hopefully it will do the work and gets rid of the entire nest.  Fuck these ants.

Tuesday, July, 9, Because I had today off I asked my aunt if she wanted to go to Costco today.  Last week she lamented that she wanted to go to Costco to get some things she needed.  OK.  When we first entered the place was packed, especially the checkout area.  The lines were in the first couple of rows of merchandise.  That's nuts.  I've never seen them that long.  I hoped that by the time we finished picking things up that the lines would be shorter.  Thankfully that's what happened.

While we were gathering our things I noticed that my aunt kept looking into the trash cans for something.  She did it like four times before the reason why she was looking was revealed to me.  She looked into a trash can while we were by the supplements.  My aunt took a little sandwich bag that had some little white things.  The side of the bag had a hole, and that's when I realized that the little white things were her pills.  There were whole pills and half pills.  She continually claims that her meds are making her slow down, and gives her constipation.  How can that be if she doesn't fucking take the pills correctly?  Whatever.  I said a long time ago that I have washed my hands of this shit.  See, my aunt doesn't live her life with a foundation of knowledge.  Rather she goes about her life on faith.  She feels that the pills are causing her to slow down.  Never mind that she's getting older.  Never mind that she doesn't do anything to fight off atrophy.  Whatever.

Wednesday, July, 10, Maureen, the janitor lady at Brand, is all drama these days.  Last week her car wouldn't start.  Thankfully TheNewCute had a little box that was made to jump start cars.  She jumped her car and Maureen was on her merry way.  I did tell her that she needed to get that checked.  Sure enough, today her car died again.  Once again she needed a jump, but this time TheNewCute's battery jumper was dead.  She didn't recharge it since the last time she used it, which was last week.  Maureen tried to get me to give her a jump, but I told her I can't do that with a city vehicle.  Because, what if I damage it?  It's me on the hook for it.  So she asked TheNewCute if we could use her car.  I was reluctant either way.  Next thing I know I'm moving TheNewCute's car in place.  Maureen took the jumper cables and started to attach them to TheNewCute's car's battery.  I haven't jumped a car in eons, so I didn't remember all the details.  What I did remember is that there is a specific sequence that you have to follow.  Maureen just clamped both positive and then negative and was struggling to clamp on her car's battery to positive.  She almost had the two sides touch several times.  That carelessness did it for me.  I told her I would call AAA.  That's when things got stupid at another level.

I called AAA for Maureen.  The app said that they would arrive around 2:20pm.  I didn't get a text saying they were nearby, so I went out to the front of the library.  I saw the shithead driver go down the road and just leave the park.  I knew he wouldn't be back.  I don't know why they have special instructions on the app and these idiots don't read them.  I specifically said that the car was located in the back of the library.  There's no way that dummy went back there.  No way!  I called AAA and they said they would dispatch someone else, but that it would be an hour.  I basically told Maureen that she was on her own.  But then we got one of the city guys to give her car a jump.  I was not going to wait another HOUR for AAA to send someone else, that was probably just going to get lost and not find the car behind the library.  Fuck that.

Sometimes TheGirl and I don't know where we are going to have our Wednesday night dinner until the last moment before we walk out the door.  Tonight we knew where we wanted to go, Isabella's Italian kitchen.  The main reason why we figured this would be the best option is because of Cheyenne. We figured they would have A/C, because they have what was probably a patio that is now enclosed.  Well, we were dead wrong.  The restaurant was super hot where we were seated.  The rest of the restaurant is off limits for dogs.  I was dying, I couldn't imagine Cheyenne was doing much better in that heat, so we decided to go somewhere else.  We ended up going to Don Cuco's in Toluca lake, which is where we went last week.  The good thing is that at Don's we got our usual table and we had the good waiter that works there.  Not like last week's dud.

Thursday, July, 11, I was running late due to some stupid accident on the 134, so I asked Siri to give me an ETA for me to get to work. She misunderstood me and then said that it would take me ten hours and thirty-four minutes to get to the library via the 5 freeway.  This despite the fact that I travel on the 134 when I go to work.  Good job.  I wonder what Siri identified as the "customer Duval branch library in Glendale," because I said Casa Verdugo.  I hope the next update makes her smarter, because right now she's pretty dumb.  I downloaded ChatGPT and that thing understands me better than Siri.  Siri will make up words that I didn't say.  Sometimes in mid sentence she will change a correct word for one that makes no sense.  And forget about context, she is clueless.

It was warm at Casa Verdugo today.  Even though I had my little desk fan, I was warm.  I was sweating to the point that my butt was sticking to my pants.  My underwear also kept going up my butt.  Hopefully they can turn the A/C down next week.

Speaking of Casa, I actually saw some bicyclists on the path today.  I mean, wow, and wow!  Someone said that perhaps people are discovering the path and are now inspired to use it.  Good.  I still think there are many design flaws, but at least people are now using it.

There was a social media post showing that the Descanso garden railroad is reopening.  I'm not even sure how long it's been since they ran the train.  I have to check it out.

Friday, July, 12, Last night I thought it might be a good idea to open the window in the kitchen to let some cool air in.  This morning I saw that my dummy aunt stuffed a towel in a gap that she created in between the window and the screen.  She told me later she was afraid a spider would come in.  Yeah, sure.  Every stupid thing she does drives me nuts.  She could have just done what I did, which is push the screen in and put it in place.  Easy.

When I got to Central this morning my hat was sitting on the table we use for delivery.  I gave it to TheNewCute on Wednesday.  She offered to repair it.  She gave it to my co-driver yesterday, so I could have it for the route today.  Nice.  I owe her something.

Stephanie is cute.  She has a great behind, but there are times I've seen her I can't say that I've noticed her having a big chest.  No judgment, I think she's super nice.  Today she surprised me, she was wearing something loose and yet her chest looked bigger than usual.  I know that the chest is often an area that expands and contracts.  Sometimes I will look at a lady and her chest looks really big, and then other times it looks smaller than before.  I know there are many factors, but for sure Stephanie looked stacked today.  Nice!

There are so many dopes on the roads these days.  Every fucking day the drivers in this town get worse.  They ignore stop signs, and stop lights.  And in general flaunt most traffic laws.  It's frustrating to have to navigate the city with these idiots doing whatever they want as long as they don't have to wait.  Awful.

The aftermath of last week came up today when Maureen said that someone complained about her.  Yeah, like everyone.  TheNewCute told Caley last week about how Maureen monopolizes the kitchen, so that people can't have a nice quiet lunch.  She's always in the kitchen with her speakerphone on full.  She's generally been a pest.  So her supervisor told her that she can't be in the kitchen, nor can she talk to the library employees.  I'm OK with that.  I feel bad for her, because she's going through a lot, but a lot of this is because of how she acts at work.

Saturday, July, 13, TheGirl and I had tickets to the Fab Four at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank tonight.  In the past we have picked up some sandwiches from various locations, such as Vons.  I'm always in search of a good sandwich.  TheGirl told me about a new sandwich shop by Bob's Big Boy.  So, we went to a place named Ghost Sando today to get some sandwiches before the concert.  Boy, that was a mistake.  I ordered a pastrami rubin (yes, that's how they spelled it).  The actual name of the sandwich is Rubin's Cousin.  I should have known from the spelling this wasn't going to be good.  And sure enough, when we got to the park to eat our sandwiches I bit into it and immediately I knew I had made the wrong choice.  I should have said we should get our sandwiches from Vons.  I only ate half of the sandwich and tossed the rest out.  Never again.

One good thing about the picnic is I got to use my new picnic blanket.  I bought that thing months ago, but I haven't had the occasion to use it.  Until tonight.

The good thing is that the Fab Four more than made up for the bad sandwich.  The band played a good assortment of Beatles songs from different eras.  It was a good night.

As I was getting ready for bed I started farting and boy oh boy did they smell.  I mean, they really smelled like burnt tires.  Thanks for nothing, stupid sando.  Never again!

Sunday, July, 14, Whenever I go to the market now I try to keep my head down and listen to my audiobook.  I did the same today, but I had good timing and I got to talk to the girl in the striped yoga pants today!  What a day of days.

What happened was that I went about my business and started to make my way out of the market.  I noticed the girl with the striped pants was talking to someone manning the self-checkout station.  I wasn't going to make any gestures to get her attention.  She started walking in front of me, and I maintained that distance.  I thought she would go down the stairs, but she turned towards the elevator.  That's where I was going.  I got a nice view of her butt, and I honestly thought she would turn right and go to the seating area in the back of the market.  Nope, she kept going towards the elevator.  We both entered, and I hit the button to go down.  But, the elevator didn't move.  I guess I didn't hit the button, even though I thought I hit the button at least twice.  Oh well.  She moved to push the button, but I beat her to the task.  I told her, "I thought I hit the button."  She said, "It does that sometimes."  Following that I bought up the fact that this location was going to be sold if the upcoming merger of Kroger and Albertsons goes through.  From then on the rest of the conversation was about the sale of the market, and what that means.  She got to her car and left.  I was on cloud eight.  Yes, that's one less than nine, I know what I'm saying.

I scratched my nose the other day and noticed a smell coming from my wristwatch.  The band, specifically, really stunk.  So, today I took the band into the shower and used my body wash to clean it.  As I rubbed the band in my hand I could see a bunch of dirt coming out.  Yuck!  I need to clean the wristband more often.

Monday, July, 15, I walked by the children's room while the door was open, and I quickly took the above photo.  There is some progress from what I can see.  One of the lead construction guys said that they see them finishing up by late August to early September.  OK, that's not bad.  Guess we'll see.

I try to find different things to have for my work lunch.  A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon a recipe for something called Hoover stew.  It's a simple recipe from the Depression.  It consists of hot dogs, pasta, stewed tomatoes and either corn or beans.  I picked corn, since I had some in the fridge.  I made it, but I didn't taste it until today.  It hit the spot.  The hot dogs give it most of its flavor, but I can see perhaps using higher end ingredients can make this a real nice dish.  It's good as it is, but maybe something other than ordinary hot dogs would kick it up a notch.  Next time.

Last week the city manager emailed the rank and file that Lessa (the library's assistant director) was being named acting director.  I figured out that it was because the city manager is leaving soon.  I remember someone telling me last year that the city manager was planning on retiring in September of this year.  Knowing that I figured that the assistant director would have to fill both roles, because he was leaving.  Grimace thinks different.  Today she told me that she thinks this means that Lessa will be named director.  I'm not so sure about that, but her statement did make me think that it could be a possibility.  From what I hear they are not having an easy time finding a person that wants this job.  Maybe that's true, but also it could be they have someone already in the wings, but they have to go through the process of being hired.  That often takes a lot of time.  I know the city manager would normally have the say in who gets hired, with the final approval coming from the city council.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I've wanted to change some things, and I'm slowly getting some projects going.  One of the things I want to change is this pattern of catering to my aunt on weekends.  The weather is hot, but I do want to go out to a garden, or museum.  So what if I go alone?  I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life, so I better get used to it.

Tuesday, July, 16, A man came in wanting to scan a bunch of his art.  I told him he could use the KIC machine, but that it would eventually crash after scanning a few dozen items.  I had to reset the machine once.  The next time he needed help he said there was a mark on one of the scans, and wondered if it was something on the camera that was making it show up.  I told him that the camera was down in the machine, not up, like he was pointing.  The top of the machine holds a mirror.  I told him I could clean it, see if that helped his scan come out better.  I did that, but then he said the smudge was still there.  I then tried to clean the actual camera lens.  Well, that did it.  My cleaning it made it go totally out of focus.  He couldn't scan anything from that point forward, and it was my fault.  I restarted the machine, but that didn't fix it.  Someone is going to have to come by to fix it.

Wednesday, July, 17, Misa, TheNewCute, and I were talking about relationships in the library.  Mostly how in the past people were more likely to hook up and date someone that worked at the library.  That's when Misa started telling TheNewCute about my affair with TheGirl.  She pretty much told her the major details about how we started despite her being married.  I was quite embarrassed and I started sweating.  TheNewCute didn't say anything, so I'm not sure what she thinks of me now.  It didn't seem to change our dynamic.  I hope.

TheGirl mentioned to me the other day that she wanted to go the Smoke House for dinner tonight.  There was a whole debate on whether the restaurant was named Smokehouse or Smoke House.  One word or two words.  We always thought it was one word, but everywhere we looked today it was two words.  Who knew?  Now we do.

I got a different drink tonight instead of my usual Manhattan.  I ordered something called a Boulevardier.  It's a cocktail that ChatGPT recommenced for me when I asked it what cocktails are similar to a Manhattan.  The recipe is slightly different from a Manhattan in that it has two kinds of vermouth.  It made for a smooth drink.  I'll probably have it again, but I do like my Manhattans.

Thursday, July, 18, For some reason my local market, Pavilions, doesn't carry the Bob's Big Boy tartar sauce.  Their website says they do, but when I go to the store they don't have it in stock.  At last not where it used to be located.  Today I went to the Ralph's right next to the Casa Verdugo branch, where I work on Thursdays, and sure enough they didn't have it either.  What gives?  The markets I visit all have the Bob's salad dressing.  When it comes to the tartar sauce, nothing.  See, I want to get a new bottle, because the one I have in the fridge is one that went through the great fridge death of 2024.  I used it with my breakfast leftovers this morning, but I was worried that it would make me sick.  I think the main ingredient in tartar sauce has to be mayonnaise.  Mayo doesn't do well in warm temperatures.  I didn't get sick, but I am running out of tartar sauce.  I guess I could go to a couple of other markets this weekend, like Gelsons or Amazon Fresh.  This ain't right.  Of course I go online trying to find the website showing they carry the sauce at Pavilions, so I could do a screen cap.  But now it's not on their website.  I did find that Smart and Final supposedly carries it.  Guess I'll go there.

Tony told me that some technicians were in the dock today installing the charger for the new outreach van at Central.  Meryl said that the outreach van is going to be delivered on Monday.  She also mentioned that Jacklyn was going to be driving that thing.  They should pay me overtime to drive it on the weekends.  They won't, but they should.  Jade told me that Jacklyn said she wasn't a very good driver.  Dang.  Well, you better get good fast.  The outreach van is about one and a half times the size of the delivery van.  Godspeed, Jacklyn.

Misa texted me today to tell me that she tested positive for Covid.  I think this is her third round with Covid, but it might be her second.  Either way, she's sick.

Friday, July, 19, I went down to the basement when I got into work, since I was a little early.  I figured let's check out the new charger for the outreach van.  And there it was.  One charger.  Jade told me that the outreach van needs two chargers, one for the actual van and one for the added stuff.  Maybe he was wrong about that.  Maybe these dopes don't know what they are doing.  Yeah, that's more like it.

I went down to the basement when I got into work, since I was a little early.  I figured let's check out the new charger for the outreach van.  And there it was.  One charger.  Jade told me that the outreach van needs two chargers, one for the actual van and one for the added stuff.  Maybe he was wrong about that.  Maybe these dopes don't know what they are doing.  Yeah, that's more like it.

Someone mentioned that it was stupid to have me man the phones, since despite it being a skeleton crew there are people in the building that could answer the phone.  Grigor mentioned some of the people in the basement might be able to answer the phones.  I agreed, but it's not my place to say anything.  Whatever.  I get paid either way.  And, on a hot day like today maybe I would rather be inside for the majority of the day.  There weren't a lot of phone calls anyway, so it was chill.

locked in at Grandview parking lot.  That parking lot has a combination lock that prevents people from coming in or leaving if they don't know the combo.  Some dopes like to park there despite all the signs that say it's library parking only.  They see a gate and never think it's going to be locked behind them.  OK But this one did lock behind someone.  Joe wanted to know if someone was at Grandview, and I told him that a couple of people should be.  I texted Aurora, and she said that there was no one in the parking lot.  Furthermore, she had left the gate open since she arrived at 9am.  Hmm.  I quickly thought that it was probably Casa Verdugo where the dummy was located, not Grandview.  I called Joe and sure enough it was Casa.  The moron didn't know that he could just drive up to the gate and it would open.  Vivian, once informed about the dummy in the parking lot, let him out.  Idiot.  I like that these dopes can't even get their own location correct.  I'm sure it was some douche that went over to the doctor's office next door.  We get a lot of dopes that go there parking in the Casa lot.  It has so few spots, but these dopes take them up going to the doctor.

Thanks to my coworker George I was able to go to lunch a few minutes early.  That gave me time to get my things all set and warm my food and still have a full half hour to enjoy.  I ran out the door at 12:30pm and started the route.  It was hot, but I was able to get to most of the branches.  I skipped Grandview, and the fire department.

Saturday, July, 20, I was craving Tommy's today, so I went and got that for breakfast.  When I was at Tommy's I noticed they had a skeleton crew of just two people.  One person was running the point of sale, and the other was cooking up stuff.  It didn't look like they were that busy.  Anyway, the girl at the register took my order, but she was clueless.  I asked for a single cheeseburger.  She asked if I wanted the special, but I had no idea what that was.  I said no.  They usually ask if I want the quarter pound patty, but this girl didn't.  Then she asked if I wanted cheese on it after I told her I didn't want pickles or tomatoes on it.  Yes, I said cheeseburger.  I have been going to Tommy's for decades.  I know what's on their burger.  Tommy's regular toppings are: onions, pickles, tomatoes; mustard, chili and cheese on the burger, unless otherwise indicated.  That's standard.  That's why I always say I want a cheeseburger without pickles and tomatoes.  When I got home, what do you think I saw?  Pickles and tomatoes on the burger.  Shaking my head.  When I got my order I checked to see if all the items were there, because the girl didn't even give me my receipt.  Which is standard for Tommy's. At least the burger hit the spot.

My aunt writes what she wants from the market on a pad by the phone.  I know to check it.  I noticed she already wrote a couple of things on the note, including oyster crackers.  A couple of weeks ago I bought some just in case I wanted some chili or something else.  I know, it's hot, so it's not likely I would eat that, but just in case.  I haven't touched them, but I see this morning that my aunt has eaten about half the package.  There are a ton of Ritz crackers from our trip to Costco, but she's having what I'm having.  Ha!  My aunt is funny sometimes.

TheGirl and I went to Miceli's for dinner before going to the Hollywood Bowl.  It was good, but not super good.  The garlic bread was good, mainly because they used oregano.  TheGirl mentioned that her dish was salty.  I can say that mine was a little bit salty as well, but it was passable, due mostly to the company.  TheGirl noticed a table on a little balcony on the other side of the restaurant.  The restaurant is styled to look like a village.  We asked our waitress how we could sit up on that balcony table.  She said that we have to ask for the Valentine table.  Yeah, we can do that.  And it doesn't even have to be Valentine's day.  Good to know for next time.

Tonight's concert was Disney 80's and 90s night, where the music of those decades were featured.  Good times.  They played some of my favorites.  There was a cool moment where they featured the music from the Disney Afternoon.  The first song was the theme for Ducktails.  There's a point where the lyrics go like this: Everyday they're out there making Ducktails.  Right after that line is the line woo woo!  Right on cue half of the audience said that.  The other half was like, huh?  You had to be a certain age to know Ducktails.

The Bowl changed their shuttle system for this year.  When I went to see Sarah McLachlan I got out of the concert and was on a shuttle within minutes.  Tonight, however, it took us so long to get onto a shuttle bus.  The above photo was taken at 11:05pm.  The concert ended at around 10pm.  If you count us going to the bathroom, and having to navigate the crowds of people, we probably arrived at the end of the line for the shuttle at around 10:20 to 10:30pm.  It took us some more time to finally get on the shuttle, and I didn't get home until just past midnight.  I don't know why there weren't enough shuttles for that particular line, but it was a mess.

Sunday, July, 21, When I stay in my backyard past 9pm I will often see mice coming from my neighbor's yard, over the fence, and into my backyard.  My only defense was to clap my hands to scare them for a moment before they came to their senses.  A few months ago I happen to see that there was a gel pellet gun for sale on Amazon.  I didn't buy it then, but after seeing how many mice were coming to eat the leftover birdseed I decided that I needed to buy the pellet gun.  Let's see if I can scare the mice away.

Monday, July, 22, I rode into Montrose and as I was leaving with the book bins I noticed that there were new computer desks for the patrons.  At first glance they looked nice.  There were three stalls in one desk.  Not bad, I thought.  This maximizes the small amount of space by giving everyone a little less room than the last configuration, but still a good amount of space.

I rode into Montrose and as I was leaving with the book bins I noticed that there were new computer desks for the patrons.  At first glance they looked nice.  There were three stalls in one desk.  Not bad, I thought.  This maximizes the small amount of space by giving everyone a little less room than the last configuration, but still a good amount of space.

Ilsa shared a direct message from a guy she was talking to on some dating app she's on.  He was a real winner.  In what looks like broken English he insults her after she rejected him.  I'm glad I'm not a woman, having to deal with these idiots.  He calls her a liar, and wishes that every man she is with will cheat on her.  Like why?  She doesn't like you so now it's sour grapes time?  Fucking idiots.  These guys give all men a bad name.

I rolled up to Brand to have my lunch, and while I was walking to the kitchen I saw that there were new umbrellas, tables and chairs in the courtyard / patio?  Whatever it's called.  They look nice.  For sure they will last longer than the umbrellas at Central did.  Also, I think this will make the patio more popular, because during a certain time of day the tables would often be in the sun.  Even the one in the corner that I would normally use on my lunch break was somewhat in the path of the sun.  To the point that I moved it to the corner.  Well, I also moved it there so that when I had my lunch on Mondays the dummy patrons that didn't remember the library was closed on Mondays would not see me having my lunch.

Tuesday, July, 23, One of the best fast food burgers was the Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger.  It was SOOO good.  It was such a great combination of ingredients.  You had the normal burger items like the buns and the patty, and cheese.  Added to that base was BBQ sauce, bacon, and onion rings.  It was nearly perfect.  As my buddy said, "Who puts onion rings on a burger?"  Genius.  But, the years have not been kind to Carl's Jr.  The quality of their burger patty has gone down over the years, to the point where it's inedible.  I have a dream of recreating that burger at home.  I think it can be done, since I'm sure that other people have probably done a lot of the legwork.  I'm sure someone already figured out what BBQ sauce it was.  That's key.  I think everything else must be standard.  I'll have to look further into it.  I've only checked out a couple of videos online.  I'll keep you posted.

I get to work and right before me I see one of the firefighter's trucks parked in such a way to block me from parking in the employee parking space.  These idiots are so inconsiderate.  They often park their trucks in the spots reserved for library employees, but I guess that's OK.  I parked my car in the alternative employee parking.  I wish people wouldn't fall into stereotypes.  But, they do.

I went over to the Ralph's that's next door to Casa Verdugo in order to find some Miralax for my aunt, and to see if they had the Bob's Big Boy tartar sauce in a different place other than the meat and fish counter.  Sure enough they had it in a different location, closer to the cheeses.  But, now I can claim success in my search for the best tartar sauce I've tasted.

I saw this article today about the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile being involved in an accident.  Definitely have to file this under The mustard is off the hot dog.

There is a TV reporter on channel four, Michelle Valles, that has been one of my favorite to watch over the years.  She's pretty.  They mentioned on the news that she has been working out.  She's always been curvy, but now she just looks tight.  She's not one that showed her body off that much in the past, but now she seems to be showing her body off more.  I'm good with that.  Keep up the good work.

I got off work at 4pm today, so there was plenty of time to get my lunch ready for the next three days and then have dinner.  After dinner I went to my backyard to watch some videos and chill.  Eventually the mice from my neighbor's house came over the fence to my backyard to eat some leftover birdseed.  That's when I deployed my gel pellet gun.  It's not easy to aim the gel gun, because the pellets reside in a bottle on top of the gun.  So no direct line of sight is possible.  I have to eyeball it, and that makes it hard to hit the mice dead on. I did manage a few indirect shots that scared them away temporarily.

Wednesday, July, 24, I was on my way to Treasury when I got a phone call from Mala asking if I could shorten the delivery today in order to cover at Grandview until 6pm tonight.  I told Mala that I have a thing on Wednesdays, so I wouldn't be able to stay until 6pm.  She then said that I could work until 4:30pm at Brand.  I'm OK with that, I told her.  I ran up to Montrose and Chevy Chase and went back to Central to get to my car.  I arrived at Brand just minutes before 11am, which is when the library opens.  As I write this sentence I'm sitting on the circulation desk at Brand.  At one point I wanted this job, the one TheNewCute eventually got.  It would be great to come back and work here.  Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

The circulation desk at Brand wasn't very busy today.  There was a point in which I was able to work on my stories, and my journal.  Nice!  I didn't even have to do the Link Plus stuff, because that was done before I even arrived.  Double nice!  It was a good shift.  I basically manned the desk by myself for the majority of the time.  Yeah, working at Brand would have been OK, for sure.  Oh well.  I even had Chan in tow.  He sat on TheNewCute's desk.

There are a lot of ladies that come up to the Brand library in order to study.  Almost all of them wear yoga pants.  Many of those wear really tight pants, like to the point where I can see their camel toe.  I'm certainly not complaining.  There was a lady today that went full camel toe.  I wasn't even trying to look.  It's a full parade of pretty girls with great bodies at Brand.  I saw a video that says women do this for the attention.  I suppose that's true.  Sure got my attention.  There was another girl with a nice big ass that was prancing around.  What gets me is how often these ladies are taking phone calls.  No one calls me, who are these ladies talking to on the phone every other minute?

Dinner was good.  We went to Don Cuco's in Toluca Lake, which we go to because the sun doesn't hit the patio.  We didn't get our usual spot, but we did get our usual waiter.  He does a good job.  TheGirl wants to drink mimosas with dinner instead of having a margarita, because a couple of weeks ago she had two at dinner and they fucked her up.  Her words.  I feel they are a little weak sauce, but maybe that's for the best since I'm driving.  TheGirl hasn't given me any overall updates on Cheyenne, just to say that she's gained weight.  We are taking that as a good thing.

Thursday, July, 25, I pulled into the Casa Verdugo parking lot about ten minutes before 9am.  I stayed in my car for a bit.  I could hear police sirens in the distance getting close.  Then I heard more sirens, followed by even more.  I got out of the car and noticed that there was a cop on the other side of the street.  He was standing at the mouth of the alley, and he was carrying a rifle.  Must be serious.  More sirens came up.  Vivian and I went to the front of the library to investigate and sure enough I see about a dozen squad cars in the street.  Some are blocking assess to the northernmost part of Brand blvd, and others are not allowing cars to turn west onto Stocker.  The activity seemed to be concentrated by the church parking lot, but I couldn't be completely sure.  Having walked the neighborhood I could kinda gauge where the police were.

TVivian wondered if we should even open for storytime, since there was so much police activity.  While we were out front an officer on a motorbike came up to us and said he didn't know much, but that they were looking for a suspicious person.  Hmm, that could mean anything.

It was a few hours later that I found the resolution to the police activity earlier in the day.  The Citizen app on my phone mentioned that there was a report of a man with a gun.  Turned out that it wasn't a man with a gun, but a man with a pool cue.  Someone thought that the holster used to carry the cue was a gun.

Friday, July, 26, A few weeks ago the Link Plus service was shut down due to the fact that the circulation office was closed due to the construction.  We're now back to normal, in many ways.  The rubber bands are back.  I took nearly ten minutes to take off all the rubber bands from the CDs and books.  ARGH!  Why can't we get along?  If I don't take these rubber bands off then someone at Brand will write an email and we're back to being petty.  I want to prevent that.

For some reason the gang in circulation was cleaning out the storage area this week.  Something is going on, but I don't know what that is.  Maybe I'll find out next week.  I'm glad they cleared it out.  That room was supposed to be Herr's office, but she retired before even moving in.  Since then it's been a room in limbo, because we haven't had a consistent manager.  Now we do.  I hope they use that room to store some things that are in circulation.

I arrived a couple of minutes before noon, which is when TheNewCute usually has lunch at Brand.  She was in the breeze way when I arrived.  I heard her say to Misa, "I'm going to get my salad."  She saw me with my lunch pail in tow.  When I went to the lunch room there was no one there.  She never came in.  I figured maybe she didn't want to have lunch with me today.  Oh well, I thought.  Maybe what Misa told her about me last week made her less inclined to have lunch with me.  Later my fear was quelled thanks to TheNewCute kicking me while we were both on the circulation desk.

In my quest to lose weight I've hit a bit of a wall due to the fact that I'm not able to walk on Thursdays.  I should walk at home, but it's so hot these days that all I want to do when I get home is lay out and take a nap.  I also need to cut down on my soda consumption.  So, I figured I could get some bottles for my lunch pail and fill them with tea, or something like that.  Then I thought that I could have an Arnold Palmer.  Yes!  That will be good.  I'll still have a Coke once in a while, but I definitely want to cut my consumption.

Saturday, July, 27, I get emails from Group On multiple times a day.  Every day I get at least one email that is advertising generic Viagra and generic Cialis.  If I had a girlfriend I would probably pick some up for a good time.  But I don't, so it would be a waste of money.

My buddy Vagabundo sent me a Chris Rock video where Chris says that a relationship is fucking and going to places.  Yeah, that pretty much covers it.  That's exactly what would change if I had a girlfriend.  I'd be going places and fucking.  Bottom line.

Sunday, July, 28, Since the closure of the 99 cent stores a few months ago I'm pretty sure that most people have gone to the Dollar Tree / Dollar Store as an alternative.  That was the first place I thought to go to for the things I would normally go to the 99 cent store for.  My eyes were opened today, as I stepped into the local Dollar Tree and found that more than half of the shelves were empty.  My aunt wanted me to buy paper goods like napkins and paper towels, but the store didn't have any.  Now I don't know where I might go and buy cheap paper goods.  The market didn't have cheap napkins.  They were all fancy napkins.  Maybe it's time to switch to cloth napkins.

I wasn't sure what to have this week for my work lunch.  I had some ideas, but it wasn't until this morning that I was sure I was going to make potato quesadillas.  Later I thought to also make so-called Spanish rice.  My aunt kept on bugging me while I was in the kitchen.  She kept asking if I needed any help from her.  I told her no, I don't know how many times.  I didn't require her help, she only gets in my way.

I cooked the potatoes and added garlic powder, salt, pepper; chipotle and cheese.  That chipotle really gave it a kick.  Nice!  My aunt never seasons anything.  Well, that ain't me.  I want flavor.

I was busy with the quesadillas that I forgot to stir the rice.  Predictably the rice stuck to the bottom of the pot and burned a little.  Sucks!  Next time I'll know to watch it more closely.  Serves me right for trying to do two things at once.

My history with Talia is all over the map.  As time goes by I think more about the good old days with her.  There were some good things, especially in 2008.  That's when Talia was coming over to my place on Thursdays to have sex.  I had a morning class on Thursdays at CSUN, but after that I had the rest of the day to myself.  And, more importantly, I had the house to myself too.  Talia would take the bus from Bel Air to my place.  Pretty sweet deal.  I think back and I should have kept that gravy train going for as long as possible.  I had THE dream scenario.  A girl wanted to sleep with me with almost no strings attached.  That's like every man's dream, and I was living it out with Talia every Thursday.  That was the great thing about Talia, she was willing to get naked at the drop of a hat.

To facilitate sex I would take my mattress off the bed and lay it in the middle of my room.  On the floor.  She would arrive at around noon, if I remember correctly.  Then we would go at it.  I got to live out some fantasies with her.  My fantasies aren't that crazy.  I titty fucked Talia, and she let me fuck her ass a couple of times.  Those are the two main fantasies.  I don't like any of that foot fetish stuff, and I'm not a guy who craves a blowjob. That era was the best.  Too bad that couldn't last forever.  Sigh.

I saw online last night that the Kroger / Albertsons merger has been placed on hold.  I was hoping to run into the girl in the striped yoga pants to tell her that as an excuse to talk to her.  I did see her at the market, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her.

Monday, July, 29, Weekend crew forgetting to bring in the signs is getting to be a bad habit.  Perhaps they were in a hurry to close.  I get that.  You're cooped up all day in the library that by the end of the shift all you want to do is go home.  Still, they need to shape up.

Mondays I drive the route.  Lately Mala has been pulling me off the route in order to have coverage for people calling out.  Last week I had to fill in at Brand.  Well, today I had to man the phones at Central.  I'm getting tired of being taken off the route at the last minute.  But what can I do?  It's a living.

Tony has a beef with the Link Plus people that goes way back to the start of the service.  For that reason he doesn't ever take Brand their Link Plus bins.  I had two bins all set on a truck when I come to find out that I wasn't driving today.  Tony took the bins and placed them under the table.  He refuses to take them.  Not OK.  But, there is nothing I can do.  I can't force him to do that.

Tuesday, July, 30, I haven't made something yummy for myself in a few weeks.  Today I decided to make myself some chilaquiles.  Not only that, but also bacon and refried beans.  Winner!

We had another all staff meeting today.  As I always say, it could have been an email.  But, whatever.  I get paid for that hour.  Woo hoo!  They did mention that the new bookmobile has been delivered.  Speaking of that, I later got an email inviting me to check out the new bookmobile tomorrow.  I joke that they're going to have me drive that thing at some point.  But, it will happen for sure at some point.

Wednesday, July, 31, It was a couple of minutes before I opened the doors at Central that I received a text message from Mala asking if we could have a chat.  Her word, a chat.  After opening the doors I went upstairs not sure what to expect.  I thought maybe they would ask me to drive the bookmobile next week.  She didn't.  Instead she asked if I had applied for the library assistant job.  I told her I hadn't.  Then she says I should, and if I can't do it before the Friday deadline to tell her so she can extend the deadline.  I think that's secret language for, "You got the job."  Guess I better apply.  She did add that I would still be driving, but that it would basically be a title change from Hourly City Worker.  I sure hope this isn't some sort of set-up.

Tony and I were invited to check out the new bookmobile.  The thing is big.  Bigger than the delivery van for sure.  We got to drive it a bit, and it is pretty smooth.  Jaclyn parked it a little sideways though.  She's concerned about the size.  I told her it will take some getting used to.  I added that it took me nearly a year to become comfortable with the delivery van.

There are a few things that will need to be addressed, because they will need to be fixed.  Funny how a brand new custom van needs fixes already.  I'll go over that in a later entry.

When we go to the Smoke House for dinner we have sometimes gotten the bad waiter who always says something can't be done, or an order can't be altered.  His name is Pedro, and unfortunately we got him tonight.  I wanted corn on the cob with my fish and chips, but I stupidly forgot to mention that I wanted it instead of the cole slaw.  So of course the whole thing gets fumbled, because he insisted that I couldn't alter the order and have the fries and the corn, because it always comes with slaw.  I misunderstood him, otherwise I would have altered my order.  But I didn't, and I got the order with slaw and corn.  Why would I say fish and chips if I didn't want the chips?  Yeah, this guy is trash.