Afterthoughts: This Past Month

Happy New Year! 2024 is the year of the gut punch.  The way things are going 2025 will mean more gut punches, plus uppercuts.  Is it prophetic to say that 2025 is going to be hard?

Sunday, December, 1, I was driving back home from the market when I saw a car with an interesting license plate.  It read EF6WAS9.  Which was pretty cool, and a reference to the Jimi Hendrix song If 6 was 9.  Good work.

It's Sunday and I have to say that this holiday weekend went by too quick.  I really do need every weekend to be at least three days.

Monday, December, 2, Last night I was thinking of where I might go on my Tuesday Adventure in January and beyond.  There are only so many museums that I want to go to, and that are not open on a Tuesday.  Academy Museum, I'm looking at you.  I figure I can go to some restaurants that I've wanted to visit, like perhaps the cafe 50's in Santa Monica.  I could also visit my old school, Santa Monica college, while down in that area of the city.

I work with a LOT of thoughtless dummies.  Just before the "teen space" was opened there was an email sent by Syco that outlined who could be allowed in the teen room before 3 pm.  However, there was a bit of wiggle room in the words of that email to open the door to everyone.  Guess what happened today.  All that stuff went out the window.  The original plan was to only allow people with special needs to use the room exclusively before 3 pm.  At 3 pm only teens would be allowed.  But like I said, all that is out the window.  Now anyone can go in before 3 pm.  Administration is incapable of making good decisions.  But, what else is new?

I was sitting outside at Brand when I noticed the sole of my shoe was split in two.  When did this happen, I thought to myself.  I checked my other shoe, and sure enough both soles looked like someone used a knife on them.  My aunt has been telling me for weeks that I should buy some new boots.  I looked online for some nice boots, and found them.  But her funds have been low, because she paid for the trees to be cut in the backyard.  But, I think come her next SSI check I'll order up those boots and use my old boots as my work boots.  These shoes served me well.  Their only flaw is that when it rains they are not waterproof and they do get my feet wet.

The fails just keep on coming at both the new children's room and the new teen room.  One of the doors won't stay closed at the teen room.  I was told that it's because of the A/C blowing air, and the pressure is more inside the room than outside.  Hence it blowing open.  If this is true, how come this is the only door that flies open?  The other doors don't do that.  Just this one door.  Someone put a block on the door to keep it from opening.  If this was simply a matter of air pressure then one of the other doors should be opening.  Fail, fail, fail.

I went into the children's room to ask Heather how it was going.  She said she was fine.  Then she told me that some of the LED light strips were falling.  See, instead of using a bracket to secure the light strips they just used double stick tape.  The more these fails come to light the more I can see that the work was subpar at best.  Someone else told me that it was a child that pulled the lights out.  If only the construction used brackets.

Tuesday, December, 3, I went to the Petersen Automotive museum for this week's Tuesday Adventure.  Not much to say about it.  It was good. 

The picture above is of the circulation desk at Casa Verdugo.  This is where I spend thirteen hours a week.

I somehow ended up on the photo advertising the upcoming ugly sweater day at the library.  As I pointed out to Vivian, I'm not even wearing a sweater.  Neither is she.  This happens because, for all administration's want to have us participate in things, most people don't want to deal with this BS.

Wednesday, December, 4, I went up to Chevy Chase and the blue bin with books for the other branches didn't have a location card.  I know that I have left them location cards in the last couple of weeks.  So Chevy should have them.  Well, they do, these jokers just aren't using them, they're hoarding them again.  I went to the back office and found they had six of the new ones I made a few months ago, plus a few from the older ones.  I took them with me.  From now I may not leave them any.

Our original plan from last week was to eat at Reno's tonight.  But, it was cold tonight and TheGirl didn't want to submit Cheyenne to a cold floor.  Even with her blanket, the cold can slip through.  So we went to the Smoke House.  They will often seat us in a corner where there aren't any other people.  It was a busy night at the restaurant, because of the holidays.  Cheyenne didn't miss a beat.  TheGirl and I both ordered fish and chips, so Cheyenne got a good amount of fish.  She was chopping it up out of my fingers.  Good times were had.

Thursday, December, 5, Some dumb dumb put religious garbage in the bookdrop.  I tossed it all in the bin.  Not just tossed, but ripped in half.  No one needs this bullshit in their life.  I don't understand why someone gives these things to libraries.  We can't display them.  I, especially, don't like this stuff.  Hence me tossing it in the trash.

I'm not sure why I was so sleepy today.  After lunch I got super sleepy, and that sleepiness didn't really go away until around 5 pm.  Even right now I'm getting sleepy, and it's not even 9 pm.  ARGH!

My friend Sunnye came by the library the other day to tell me that she was out of the hotel room.  The agency that was paying for it won't pay anymore.  She told me that they usually pay for a week, but that they had paid for six weeks already, and wouldn't pay any more.  I'm sure she could have found some way to prevent this.  When I got back from my lunch walk I noticed a car in the library parking lot that had a car cover on it.  Sunnye said that she was using a car cover in order to not arouse suspicion from the people in the neighborhood.  Once I got inside she came by the desk to talk to me.  She told me she had a hard time sleeping in her car last night, since it was really cold.  I asked if she could get some blanket from her storage locker, but she said that it would mean having to go through all her boxes.  I guess she didn't label any of the boxes.

At Casa we get quite a few tutors.  One is a cute girl who a kicking body.  She knows she has a great butt, because she often wears super tight yoga/exercise pants.  She sits with her student in a table right in front of where I sit on Thursday nights.  At one point of the night I turned around and boom... she is standing up, bent at the waist.  Basically "presenting."  I got a really nice view.  I sometimes wonder about times like this.  I guess it's possible that she was doing it on purpose to show me her butt.  But then I know that not everything a woman does is done to garner a male gaze.  Either way I got a really nice view.  She kept on doing it too.  I tried not to stare, but boy it was hard to look away sometimes.

Friday, December, 6, Rubber band gate continues. Today I took rubber bands off the most books and CDs I think I ever have before.  These jokers say not to have rubber bands on the Link Plus items, but then I'm stuck taking these things off almost all the items in the bins going to Brand.  This is some fucking horseshit.

During the morning meeting it was mentioned that the upstairs men's room is going to be kept locked because they found bugs.  I'm not sure what kind of bugs.  What else can go wrong with that bathroom?  I'll tell you what.  The other day I went to use it before leaving work.  I was doing my business when the walls started to rattle.  And I mean really rattle, loud and hard.  I finished up and went next door where the janitor was cleaning.  I asked him if that rattle was from him flushing.  He said yes.  Furthermore he says that that rattle started the second day the bathrooms were open.  OMG!  He tells me, "The first time I heard it I thought we were having an earthquake."  Yeah, it's THAT loud.  These bathrooms are going to turn out to be a huge disaster.

Wednesday night my debit card was declined.  TheGirl and I alternate paying for dinner and the second round of drinks.  It was my turn to pay for the drinks, but my card was declined.  I asked the waiter if I could Apple pay, and he lead me to the machine.  Declined again.  I then used my Am Ex card and wondered why my card had been declined.  I figured I could go to the US bank in Glendale while on my lunch break.  While there they told me that my card had been compromised.  There was a charge from Sephora, and another in Tokyo.  Tokyo!?  The teller said I needed to call fraud prevention to have my account reactivated.  Once that was done I was told to get a temporary debit card from the teller.  That done, I went on my way wondering how my card was compromised.  I usually use Apple pay when I buy stuff, but not always, because some places don't accept Apple pay.  Terrible.

Someone likes to write clever things on the whiteboard in circulation.  Here is the latest gem.

Saturday, December, 7, Before going home last night I stopped by the market to get some booze.  While looking at the premixed cocktails I found some premixed Negroni.  That's a drink that I asked ChatGPT about earlier this year.  This version was pretty good.  For such a little can it packed a nice punch.  Yum!

Sunday, December, 8, My aunt wanted to go to Costco today, which is my least favorite place.  Too many dopes in one spot at the same time.  No one knows how to walk in that place.  I expect too much from dopes.  Oh, and worst of all I didn't see Emily.  Boo!

About thirty years ago my mother was working at Costco.  She got me a "job" that was hardly a job.  The job entailed me going to the store and checking on the display of space heaters.  I also had to count how many space heaters were sold.  Then I had to go to the front desk and have someone in charge sign a document to show that I went to the store.  My mom helped me out.  She got me the "job" and sometimes she would check on the display for me.  I was picking her up from work back then, so most days I would just go and do it.  I can't believe they still sell these things.  I can't believe that my mother has been dead for so long.

I bought wraps from California chicken cafe today.  For some reason my aunt loves to take cumin and salt her wrap with that.  The wrap is yummy on its own.  She does this all the time.  I honestly think she's lost her taste buds.  It's the only way this makes sense to me.  This from a woman that NEVER seasons anything.

Monday, December, 9, A few months ago I was an hour late for work.  During that time I was also five minutes late to work.  I don't like being late for anything.  I have overcompensated and today I was fifteen minutes early to work.  Lately I've been arriving early to work.  I might have to readjust my timing a bit.  Just a smidge.

I went upstairs to go up to the administration office and on my way I passed by the new bathrooms.  They both had out of order signs on them.  It's been two and a half weeks since they opened those bathrooms.  Fail.

Last Friday I was asked to show the Casa/Grandview staff how to put items into the bins for delivery.  Well, it was all for nothing.  Today some dope put books in the bin the wrong way again.  I don't know why I thought my little talk with them would change anything.  Dopes.

As I always do on Monday, I went over to TheGirl's place for a visit.  While there she told me I could feel Cheyenne's tumor.  I didn't want to touch it too rough, but yeah I could feel it.  The good thing is she still seems to be doing well.  She was jumping on me and everything.  Maybe she can be this way for a while.

I haven't had the heart to ask TheGirl to take Chan and me on a tour of the Toluca Lake Christmas lights on display.  Since we were in the area I took Chan to see a few of the lights.  Maybe if we eat close to Toluca Lake on Wednesday I'll ask TheGirl

Tuesday, December, 10, We are still living under the changes that were made due to Covid.  I've been telling people that we need to break from that Covid mentality.  I need to make changes in my life.  I want to save more money, that's for sure.  I'm about 90% sure that I don't want to pursue any relationship with a woman.  I considered giving it one last shot, but I think my energy is best used on other endeavors.  Like I think I want to try and develop a side hustle with my photography.  I want to sell my work.

I went to the LA Zoo for my Tuesday Adventure this week.  I'll have another Tuesday Adventure next week, but then for two weeks I won't.  One week is Christmas, and I don't have work on Christmas eve, and the other is New Year's Eve.  That day I'll be starting at 9 am and ending at 5 pm.  No time for a Tuesday adventure.

I went to the LA Zoo for my Tuesday Adventure this week.  I'll have another Tuesday Adventure next week, but then for two weeks I won't.  One week is Christmas, and I don't have work on Christmas eve, and the other is New Year's Eve.  That day I'll be starting at 9 am and ending at 5 pm.  No time for a Tuesday adventure.

The bathroom drain was running slow again.  I thought I wouldn't have to clean out the drain plug for a longer while.  But my aunt is definitely stuffing wads of paper down the drain.  Why does she do this?  No idea.  I've had this notion that she does this for attention.  Not sure why she wants this kind of attention, but she's not going to get it from me.  I don't want to tell her that I know she's taking wads of paper and putting them in the drain.  I'll just keep cleaning the stopper.  Better to not know.

Wednesday, December, 11, I was walking up to work and I noticed the banners from the reopening of the renovated children's room and the teen room.  I noticed them before, but today I gave them a longer look.  I think that the words on the graphic should have been aligned.  What do I know?

With the opening of the new children's room the bookcases used there have found a new home at the branches.  Casa got four bookcases to replace the old ones.  The advantage of the new bookcases is that they have wheels.  When we have events at Casa we can now move the bookcases much faster, and without having to take all the books off.  I hated to see the old solid wood shelves go.  But I do think the new ones are better because of the wheels.

Cindy from the Crowell library foundation texted me about a file that needed changing.  It turned out I had already changed it, but she had the old version.  That got me thinking how she didn't ask me to help with the bookmark contest this year.  Which is OK, I have a full plate as it is.  But, I got curious as to what this year's theme was.  I went to CrowellPublicLibrary dot-org and it directed me to the city's website.  The city has a website suite made by companies that host city websites.  It makes all the sites look generic and boring.  It also makes them harder to navigate.  Some things that people want are under layers of other things that they don't want.  And it's not intuitive.  I know this because I tried to navigate the library's website and found myself unable to find out anything about the bookmark contest.  I eventually just went to the foundation's website and found the theme there.  But in the past both sites had the information.  You wouldn't even know there was a contest going on from the city website.  What a bunch of horseshit.  I'm happy that I left.

TheGirl and I went to Don Cuco's for dinner tonight because on Monday I mentioned carne asada for Cheyenne.  But, we got the bad waiter there and he got my order slightly wrong.  Instead of carne asada he gave me carnitas.  Which was fine since I liked it, and so did Cheyenne.  Next time I better be more specific.  Our neighbors loved Cheyenne's sweater.  It was pretty chilly.

Thursday, December, 12, When I was making my lunch for the week on Sunday I noticed that I didn't cook enough pasta for five servings.  I told myself that I could cook it up later, but then I thought that I would just eat something else on one of my work days.  Today was that day.  I took a beef sandwich from the freezer and took it to work.  I usually doctor it up with a little onion and mayo.  ARGH, and now that I'm writing this I think about the pickled onions I have in the fridge.  I could have added that to the sandwich.  Oh well, it was still good.  What I need to figure out is how much food I want to have for lunch each day and how to make enough for that on Sunday.

I got a notification from Amazon that my copy of a Charlie Brown Christmas had been delivered.  Delivered to a "secure location."  The picture sent showed that it was in plain sight, just thrown in the front yard.  Ohkaaaay.  I guess it is technically behind the fence.  But if someone wanted to get it they can just open the gate and grab it.  Thankfully no one did.  Other people that deliver to my house have made more of an effort to hide packages by placing them on the side of the wall.

Friday, December, 13, Today is the fifteenth year anniversary of Laurel's nude photoshoot (see above).  Back in 2009 Laurel and I were flirting.  Somewhere in that flirting she showed me a picture that she took of herself wearing lingerie.  That picture was fucking sexy as hell.  In the picture she was showing off her butt, and it really got me going.  I told her that I could take more pictures like that.  We both knew that my proposal would lead to us sleeping together again.

I remember going over to where she was living feeling extremely nervous.  I took a bunch of pictures, but I don't remember if we had sex that day.  We may not have, due to me being so nervous.

I asked for a new van about three years ago, maybe four.  But yeah, I don't need a new van.  I haven't had a working back-up camera in about seven years.

Emma told me earlier in the week that several full time library assistants were going to be moved around.  I had heard something about this months ago, but there was no movement.  Well, Emma confirmed today who was going to go where.  Grimace is going to Central.  Jade is going to Montrose and Chevy Chase, and Kerri is going to Casa and Grandview.  Lastly Albert is going to Brand.  Which means he's going to be in TheNewCute's old position.  Which also means that the library assistant job that I was emailed about is definitely not going to be for TheNewCute's job.

Speaking of Brand, I was invited to interview for the library assistant job on Wednesday.  I wrote Caley back and told her to take me out of consideration for the job.  I'm not going to waste my time.  I'm done applying for any jobs at the library.

These moves pretty much assures me that I'll be driving the bookmobile on a regular basis.

I have to just go into work... do my job... go home... get paid.

Saturday, December, 14, I saw something in the window of a Carl's Jr as I drove by one yesterday.  The poster in the window said Burgers and Ballers.  I checked online and found out that the ballers part is in reference to two new drinks.  The blood orange drink sounds good.  Sadly Carl's hasn't had good burgers for a while.  Maybe I should give it another shot.  Sometimes places do improve after they let things go down hill for a while.  Burger King is really bad now since they changed the way they broil their burgers.  Carl's meat was really sad.  Maybe some day I'll stop by.

TheGirl suggested we go to a restaurant named Los Gringos Locos up by Descanso Garden for dinner before the show.  They had good food.  They make the guacamole in front of you, and it tastes really good.

After dinner TheGirl and I went to Descanso for what is now a tradition of viewing the lights of Enchanted Forest of Light.  They changed things up a bit.  For a couple of years they pretty much did the same layout.  I think people might have said something, because of the last few years they have changed things up.  Good.  It was a good time, as usual.

Sunday, December, 15, I buckled my belt and I went to the third notch.  It was a little bit of a tight fit, but I could wear my belt on the third notch.  I'm glad.

Monday, December, 16, No surprise, the Glendale city council has voted to get rid of the Brand Blvd. bike path.  It was said that it was a complete failure.  It was.  There was a survey done and 76% of the respondents said that they didn't like the bike path.  A lot of people showed up to council to voice their grievances.  There weren't many that defended the bike path.  The majority of the people said many negative things about the bike path.  Bye, bye.

I was getting the van ready for the route when Mala came up to me.  She told me that she had heard that I turned down the interview for the library assistant job.  She told me that I should reconsider.  I told her that I would, but I rather just pass.  There is no advantage for me.  She gave me some cockamamie excuse about aligning my duties with the title of library assistant.  I called their bluff, that's why Mala came up to talk to me.  If I take the library assistant job I effectively have given myself a salary cap.  No thank you.  Besides, her excuse isn't a very good one.

Tuesday, December, 17, Since so many of the museums I want to visit are closed on Tuesdays, I decided to take a Tuesday Adventure to my old community college... Santa Monica College.

Santa Monica College, aka SMC, is a two year community college.  I attended SMC for WAY more than two years.  I joke that I was on the ten year plan.  I was young.  Time didn't mean anything to me back then.  I was finding myself, or something.  I loved being on that campus.  I felt an energy there.  I guess that's why I thought I would just stay there forever.  It wasn't until after my Grandmother got sick that I realized I had to get real.  After she died I put the pedal to the floor to finish up school and get my degree.

Today I felt like a time traveler.  The mural in Drescher Hall instantly threw me back twenty years.  I so happy that they didn't paint it over.

When I was going to SMC I took a speech class with a professor that I developed a HUGE crush on.  I wanted to be with her so badly.  But it wasn't just that I found her attractive and wanted to sleep with her.  There was that.  I wanted a real relationship with her.  My biggest fantasy in my mind was a scene where the both of us were sharing a large comfy couch.  She would be on one side grading papers, or reading a book.  I would be on the other side reading a book.  Our feet would touch from time to time.  The lights were low, and there were lamps on each side of the couch to help us see what we were doing.  In my mind I felt that that scene was the most wonderful and romantic thing I could share with her.  That space where we were both comfortable with each other.  Where everything was cozy.  In my mind, our relationship would be cozy and comfortable.  In my mind, we would talk about everything under the sun, and I would never find a subject that she didn't know.

I want to write her a letter telling her how much her classes made me the person I am today.  I think I need to start drafting something.  I don't know if it will reach her, but I guess I should try.  I'll never sit on a couch opposite her, while she grades her papers.  That only happened in my mind.

I thought I left enough time to eat and get to work with plenty of time to spare.  Wrong.  I was two minutes late to work, but that was mostly due to an accident right on my work exit.  Dumb.  I went to Cafe 50s after my visit to SMC.  Their website says they have a good Monte Cristo sandwich.  On Yelp people say it's as good or better than the Disneyland version.  This I had to try out.  It was good, not going to lie.  But Disneyland's is slightly better.  I wish I had more time to chill at the cafe.  I was there for only twenty minutes and I had to bolt.

I think after the new year I might have to book a trip to the Getty Villa for my Tuesday Adventures.  I have to allow a little more travel time if I'm going to have a meal that's bigger than a hot dog.  I say this because I was two minutes late for work today.  Not good.  Yes, there was an accident that slowed me down, but I also didn't leave the diner earlier than later.

I got an email telling me that my credit score went up six points.  Six whole points.  I think this is due to paying off my Chase credit card.  I owed just over $1,200 and I paid that amount to wipe out almost all of the debt.  I have a monthly charge for my website, so that card will always have a balance on it.  I just like the idea of having a small balance rather than a large debt.

Wednesday, December, 18, Today was the last bookmobile event of 2024.  There isn't a schedule for 2025 yet.  So for now this is going to be it.  I knew I would end up driving the bookmobile, but I didn't think it would happen so fast.  I do enjoy it.  But I think next time I will take some project to do on my iPad.  Because I basically just stood around for three hours.  I'm not complaining.  It's better than sitting behind a desk, that's for sure.

I got my employee evaluation today.  Of course it was stellar.  Now I can ask for my merit raise.  If I'm given a five percent raise, like I got last year, I will be making over $30 an hour.

TheGirl originally thought we should go to the panini place in the Burbank mall for dinner tonight.  But she changed her mind and we ended up going to Reno's.  I do see that Cheyenne has lost weight, but she still has a hearty appetite.  We ordered four meatballs for her and she polished all of them off.  I would have given her some of my so-so pastrami, but TheGirl mentioned it wasn't a good idea.  That's OK, since Cheyenne received a bunch of snacks when we got back to TheGirl's place.  I made the mistake of ordering the pastrami.  I'll stick to the chicken parmesan from now on.

Thursday, December, 19, A little after 3:30 pm I thought that it was a good time to catch up on my journaling.  No soap.  The time waster lady asked me a few computer questions in her usual style... which is to ask and then a few minutes later ask another question followed by another question a few minutes after that.  Then this other guy wanted help with his email.  He wanted to minimize the image embedded in the message.  Like why?  That's not a real thing.  Then the time waster wanted a ruler.  On top of all that, I was feeling super sleepy today.

Sometimes the day flies by, but for some reason when I'm feeling sleepy the day seems to drag.

Friday, December, 20, A couple of weeks ago someone painted No Parking on the side of the Pacific Park library.  Today some dumbass parked there.  But of course the car had to be a Tesla.  My man Tesla was a mad inventor.  But, because he didn't know to copyright his name in some sort of Trust, some yahoo came along and named their car company after him.  Now every asshat that drives a Tesla is a horror on the road.  I wish all of these cars would burst into flames.

I've mentioned before that I have been eating less.  The Monte Cristo that I ordered on Tuesday has served me well.  I have made three more meals out of that initial meal.  I polished off the onion rings on the second meal.  But I managed to stretch out my order from Tuesday into four meals, adding tater tots along the way.

Saturday, December, 21, I've been wanting to go to the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo since I found out about it some twenty years ago.  In the year of the Tuesday Adventures I decided that I should go to the Old Town Music Hall today, because they were going to showcase the Mighty Wurlitzer.  I'm glad I went, because it was tremendous fun.  The whole program was great.  I will definitely go back again soon.

I made it to the Magic Castle and found Ilsa waiting in line with her friend from work.  The Castle doesn't allow any pictures inside the building, so I don't have any pictures to show other than the exterior and the lobby.  It took so long to go through the line outside that we didn't get a chance to get a drink at the bar.  We didn't even get to see the ghost piano player.  At least I didn't.  Ilsa and her friend said they got to see the ghost piano player after I left.

When we got our menus nothing really jumped out at me.  I didn't want a full entree to eat, because I wasn't that hungry.  I thought about getting the chili, but I figure I shouldn't just get one little item.  So I thought that I would get the baked potato as well.  That's when the waiter told me that I HAD to order an entree or they would charge me an additional $85.  WHAT?!  WHY?  I had no choice but to order the filet mignon.  It felt like I was living the diner scene from Five Easy Pieces.

The food at the Magic Castle is not that good.  The filet was just so-so.  I've been there twice and I didn't like either meal.  For what I'm paying it should be better.  I don't expect the best, but something better than what I could get at Denny's or Norm's would be good.  I didn't want dessert, but Ilsa and her friend were convinced by the wait staff to order the banana cream pie.  I made a joke that the wait staff was told to "Push" the pie.  I tried forking a bit of the crust and it exploded.  Just great.  The pie was pretty flavorless, except for the cream.  That was good.  The crust was tasty, but it was dry.  Which is why it exploded after I put a little pressure on the crust with my fork.

After dinner we went to one of the smaller theaters and watched a really worn out show.  They did some sleight of hand, and some mentalist tricks.  Nothing that good.  My watch then informed me that my heart was racing.  Great.  I had my anxiety pill with me, but I didn't want to stay anyway.  I told Ilsa that I was going to bail and wished her and her friend a good night.  I don't think anyone else will ever invite me in the future, but if I am I will just pass on the invite.  Never again.

Tonight's whole Magic Castle experience cost me $186.  On top of that I didn't have a good time.  Disneyland with Ilsa cost me something like $250 and I didn't have a good time after Ilsa showed up.  I got on more rides in the two hours that she was late than in the rest of the time I spent in the park.  And, I didn't get to go on the Haunted Mansion, because I couldn't enter us on the early virtual queue due to her being late.  I like hanging out with her, because she gets me to do things I normally wouldn't.  But these things are costing me a lot of money.  And I'm not always enjoying myself.

On a side note, I love that when I put my jacket and fancy shirt on tonight that I was practically swimming in them.  I have thankfully lost a good deal of weight over the last few months.  The jacket I wore tonight was the one I sent away from last year for Emma's wedding.  It fit just right.  Tonight I think I could have worn the first jacket I got, which was small on me then.  I haven't tried it on, but I'm pretty sure that the mistake jacket would now fit me just right.  Certainly cutting my portions have helped, but I think the fact that I cut down on drinking soda has influenced the weight loss the most.

Today I experienced the new dick driving move where a dummy driving behind me doesn't like that I slow for a yellow traffic light, and then goes around me clearly going through a red light.  This happened to me twice today.  On my way home from Pollo Loco I was in the left turn lane when I saw that the light was changing to yellow.  I slowed down, but the dumb dumb behind me flashed his lights and honked at me to go through it.  Because he was planning on going too.  I didn't respond to him, so he went around me and made the left turn when the light was absolutely red.  When I was driving to the Magic Castle the same thing happened to me on La Brea.  Only this time they didn't turn, but they did go right through a red light.  Jeez.  On La Brea the dummy going through the red caused the cars turning left to be delayed, which of course delayed the cars going the other direction to then be delayed.  Idiots are angry that the signals take so long, and that they can't move through traffic very quickly.  I feel the same way, but these dumb dumbs actually cause the delays by going through a red light and causing all the other cars down the line to be delayed.  Idiots.

Sunday, December, 22, As I write this sentence it's 10:39 am and I'm hungry.  But my aunt is still in bed.  I want to get my day started, but it's been a thing that we eat breakfast together on the weekends.  However, I wanted to go to get some tamales out in LA, and then I still have to get gas and go to the market.  And I want to make some potato quesadillas.  That's a lot.  And I want to watch some football and take a nap.  And I have to get my clothes ready for the shortened work week.  I have Tuesday and Wednesday off.  I think TheGirl said she was going to go out to Fontana to be with her grandson on Wednesday, so no Wednesday dinner this week perhaps.

Update.  My aunt woke up after she heard the microwave go off when I put my food in it to heat up.  I couldn't wait any longer.  After breakfast I got into the car to go to get some tamales before going to the market.  Only problem is that when I entered the establishment into the maps app it told me that Lupita's was already closed.  Wha?  I checked into it and sure enough they close at noon on Sundays.  And they close at 2pm the other days of the week.  Hmm, that means I'll have to go after Christmas to get some.  Or I could go during my lunch hour at work tomorrow.

Monday, December, 23, I received a text early in the morning from Mala asking if I could cover a shift at Casa Verdugo Library instead of running the delivery route today. I left home for work at my usual time, but because of the holiday there was almost no traffic.  I pulled into the parking structure at work at 7:38 am when I got her text.  I told her I was already at Central, so she changed it to doing some of the route and then starting at Casa at 2 pm.  That wasn't great either, but I am going to ask for a raise so there's that.  And I won't work tomorrow or Wednesday because the library is closed those days.  I won't recover all my lost hours, but at least I get a couple of those lost hours back today.

It turns out that Vagabundo asked for the day off a week ago.  These jokers either didn't schedule someone or someone called out last minute.  I checked the online schedule and it seems that five people asked for leave.  Still, they should have had someone lined up.  Oh well, I come to expect this all the time, because we're short.

I started to draft an email asking for a pay raise.  After taking on yet another responsibility in the bookmobile I think I deserve a raise.  I mean, I always deserve a raise.  Today someone complimented me on helping out with a file that was printing bad.  It was some funky proprietary file format that was printing extra stuff on the side of the document.  So that it would print really blurry, and small.  I went through so many hoops, and spent about forty minutes getting this guy a proper print.  But, in the end I did it.  He paid me a compliment and said he wanted to tell my supervisor how good a job I did.  Yes!

It was a quiet night.  At 6:30 pm there were two of our regulars and one other guy on the public computer.  I think many people are still going to the stores instead of coming to the library.  Maybe some of them are out of town.  I had enough time to read the next Dog Man book.

On my way to work a bus turned in front of me that had a funny wrap on it.  The wrap is an advertisement for the movie Wicked, but one spot was not covered with the wrap.  I think the previous wrap was for the move Gladiator 2, with Denzel Washington.  His face is partially in view, which made for a funny juxtaposed image of Denzel's death look back towards the evil witch on the other side of the bus.

Tuesday, December, 24, This morning I went to the dining room to have breakfast.  I turned on the TV in order to set the Roku to the YouTube app.  There was a message that said there wasn't enough memory to run the app.  I think I use that app about 95% of the time I watch that TV.  No other app is as important to me.  The message advised me to delete apps that I don't use.  So yeah, good-bye apps I don't use and yet are on my device.  Good-bye Wall Street Journal channel.  Good-bye bloat.

I got an email saying "Add a verified badge to your profile today."  Huh?  Oh, so they're following the stupid move Twitter/X did to charge people for a verification badge.  Yeah, no thanks.

Wednesday, December, 25, Merry Christmas!  I bought some black out film to install in my car, to help me block the glare from the sun while I drive.  I've been putting off the installation for some time now, but I figured that since had an extra day today I would install it today.  I think it came out OK.

I went to get some food, and while opening the gate I looked over at my neighbor's house across the street.  It's been a while since I've seen my neighbor's car in the driveway.  I'm trying to remember when I saw him last.  It was within the last few of months, but I can't tell you when it was exactly.  Maybe I'll ask my other neighbors if they know what happened.

I've mentioned before how my aunt likes to wad up wet paper and pour it down the bathroom drain.  I try to clean out the plug once a month.  Tonight I was in the bathroom and I noticed a wad of wet paper in the sink.  There were other pieces of paper on the floor that were not wet.  I knew that I should get my screwdriver.  Sure enough the sink stopper had wads of paper in it.  I wonder why my aunt does this.  It's fucking annoying.

Thursday, December, 26, I work up at my usual time, but instead of getting out the door at 8 am-ish I decided to leave earlier in order to get some booze at the market, and some tamales at this place just south of Glendale called Lupita's.  Only when I got there, I found that the place was closed.  Thwarted again!  I'll have to try again next week, perhaps.  I start at 9 am on Tuesday, so I could go before starting work.

I was going to send a text to TheGirl about my misadventure with the tamales when I saw something funny in my autocorrect.  Yes, I went out to get tampons.  Cue the rolling eye emoji.

Because there were no tamales I got to work super early.  Like just past 8:30 am.  I went in and just chilled for a while.  When I started I noticed that two of the tables were gone.  Also, the tables in the community room were all gone, along with the chairs.  I couldn't think who would take them.  It wasn't until my coworker Katie came to work that I had thought that perhaps the firemen next door took them.  They probably had their families over.  I know TheGirl went to visit her son at one of the other stations.  So Katie went over to visit and sure enough they had our tables.  They didn't bring them back because they thought we were closed today.

I drafted an email asking for my raise while I was sitting at Casa on Monday.  Today I sent it, and in a little while my supervisor emailed me back that my raise was already in the works.  Nice.  And I didn't even have to ask.

Because we didn't have dinner last night, TheGirl suggested that we have dinner tonight.  She voiced what I was thinking, that this is our last Christmas with Cheyenne.  It really sucks, because she still seems in good shape right now.  Despite that tumor growing inside her, she still greets me like the old days.  I just don't want her to suffer.

Friday, December, 27, A few months ago I asked Stephanie for some tie-downs to help with delivery.  She bought them, and today I got to use them to move a magazine rack from Pacific Park to Central.  It was great, because it didn't move while I was on the route.  Woo!

I was heading to the graphic's department when I heard the footsteps of a woman walking in heels.  I opened the door to the basement area and TheLooker was on the other side.  We talked for a bit.  She told me that she's in law school.  She said we should all hang out, but I know she won't follow up.  That's OK.

I pooped my pants again today.  ARGH.  I laid down a fart and I felt a little wetness in my pants.  When I got to the bathroom I found a little skid mark.  I usually have a spare pair of underwear in the car.  And today I had two spare pairs.  Because I was hanging out with Vagabundo, I had my so-called Wednesday bag with me with a change of clothing.  I carry that extra pair in my Wednesday bag due to me running into this problem before.  I think that I'll add a spare underwear to my regular work bag.

My buddy said we should try to go to Dan Tana's.  Why not?  I've been wanting to go there for a long time.  The place is small, from what I saw, and it does require a reservation.  But, sucker me tried calling them during the week, but they don't take reservations during the week.  We figured we could try anyway.  I arrived first, and went inside.  The place was PACKED.  I asked, but the receptionist told me that they were booked solid.  I went outside and told my buddy, who was feet away from the entrance.  He suggested we try this other place called Yardbird.  He mentioned a couple of other places too, but Yardbird served chicken sandwiches.  So we walked over to the Beverly Center and had a good time.  I ordered the OG chicken sandwich, while my buddy ordered the Louisiana hot.  We both liked the food.  I even liked the pickles.  We walked back to the WeHo library, where my buddy had parked his car.  He drove me to my car, which was up the street from Dan Tana's.

Funny enough Dan Tana's is right up the street from where Talia lives.  Like five blocks.  I swung by her place, but I couldn't see anything due to the tall hedges that were in front of the house.  Oh well.  I was just curious to see if she left her door open.  She has a screen door that she keeps closed, but the inside door is often left open.  Oh well.  She's another girl I failed with.

Saturday, December, 28, I woke up early and started watching the news.  All the news ladies on the channel nine morning show had heaving chests today.  So did the lady from channel five.  Top left is Kacey M. from channel five.  Top right is Sheba T.  Bottom left is Rachel K.  Bottom right is Alex B.  Alex lost some weight, but it would seem her chest got bigger.  Lovely.  Maybe I'm just imagining this, but for sure you can't deny that Alex and Sheba had large chests.

Speaking about the news, the reporters were asking what goal, or goals, we the audience had for 2025.  That's a good question.  I know I want to save more and pay my bills faster with the raise I'll be getting.

I had an insurance payment that I had to mail.  These days there are a lot of shitheads doing things to mail.  So everyone says not to use a mailbox, except the ones at the post office.  Because of this I decided to drop off my mail at the local post office, and while out I could get food for my aunt and myself.  I dropped off the mail and it was still kinda early.  I say that because my aunt tends to wake up at 11 am.  I'm starving by then.  I wanted to pick something up earlier, but then I thought how her food would get cold.  In order to kill some time I went next door to the Los Encinos park.

Los Encinos is a park that shows life when Los Angeles was under Spanish control... under the rancho system.  The park is park of what used to be Rancho El Encino.  Encino being the Spanish name for Oak.  There's a natural spring in the park that feeds a manmade lake when today there are all kinds of water fowl.  After visiting the park today I want to take a day and have a picnic there.  I have my fancy blanket for that.

The Algorithm knows me too well.  Today I was on my Jack instagram account and the lady above pops up on the reels.  Yes, the Algorithm knows I like ladies with big behinds.  This one is really nice, because of her little cottage cheese butt.  I like what some would call imperfections.  I don't know, I likey.

I was doing some calculations based on what I think might be my raise.  If they give me a 5% raise, like they did last year, then I'll make $30.36 an hour.  That means that I would make about $61,000 in 2025.  I'm talking gross pay, because take home is much less.  Still, it will be nice to have that extra amount of money to pay bills faster.  I think I'll up how much I contribute to my retirement, and how much I pay my American Express card.  I currently pay AmEx $211 each month.  That amount came from my zero not working on my computer's keyboard, so I couldn't put the amount of $200.  I'm also thinking of increasing my contribution to my 401K from $130 to maybe $140 every paycheck.  I have to see how much the raise is going to be.

Sunday, December, 29, I ran into Lisa at the market today.  We spoke for a little while.  The news ladies yesterday mentioned goals for 2025.  One of my goals is to sleep with Lisa.  It probably won't happen, but I need to try.  I need to go away from the previous techniques from my failed pass.  That's number one.  Number two is sleep with her.

I've mentioned before how portions are too damn big.  My aunt will often tell me that she doesn't want to finish something that I bought her.  That didn't happen today, but even with me the breakfast burrito I bought yesterday was huge.  I ate the second half today.

I hate having to mix some ingredients only to have them spill over the bowl I'm using.  That's why, a few days ago I ordered a large mixing bowl.  Today I got to use it to make my tuna salad.  My aunt tried to tell me that she had a mixing bowl, but I'm tired of her hiding kitchen items from me.  I feel it's time for me to have my own things.  And it's time for me to have a mixing bowl that's big enough that my small portion of food will not fly out when I'm preparing food.

After coming back from the market I went to work on my tuna salad.  Once that was done I went out to the backyard to watch videos, and maybe pass out.  Around 2pm it started getting cold.  That's when I decided to go inside.  Once inside I started getting sleepy, so I decided to go to bed.  I didn't go to sleep right away, but I eventually fell asleep.  When I woke up about an hour and a half later I felt like having to go to the bathroom.  Once there I pooped, but it was really loose.  Not diarrhea loose, but loose.  I pooped one more later in the night, and it was better.  Loose, but not as bad as the first time.  The last thing I ate was leftover breakfast burrito.  Hmmm.

Monday, December, 30, Last month my aunt and I were at Costco.  I had seen this lemonade on a previous visit, but didn't buy it then.  My aunt convinced me that it would taste good, but when I tried it the flavor was not good.  I haven't touched it again since.  I really hate to throw it down the drain, but I think I might have to.  Only because it's taking up space in the fridge.  My aunt hasn't had any of it either.

Talk about a clown circus at work.  Today there was a message on our internal messaging app about problems with the children's room workroom door.  On Friday Jade and I went on a little tour of the children's room.  We had a hard time getting into the workroom using the keypad.  I had to use my key to get in, and even then we had to pull the handle up rather than down. Later in the day Heather told me that the lock was completely busted, and that they have to repair it.  In the meantime they took out the locking mechanism.  Dumb.

I saw some chocolates in circulation, so I went to try one.  The one I picked looked really white, which usually means it's old.  Jokwin told me he had one, and that it was good.  I took a bite, but it was not good.  I should have known it was going to be bad from the color.

Tuesday, December, 31, Today was a super slow day at Casa Verdugo.  No one showed up until 10:50am.  For the rest of the day it was slow as well.  I don't think we had more than thirty people the entire day.  It was a long slog, especially since I was sleepy.

After I finished eating lunch I went outside to leave my things in my car and take a short walk.  As I put on my t-shirt I laid a huge fart.  When I started to turn away from my car I noticed a pair of shoes on the other side of the fence that's between the library and the fire department.  That guy must have heard me lay that fart, because it was loud.  Jeez.

I got off work at 5pm, came home, and made myself some tater tots with chili on top.  It hit the spot.  My plans for eve is jerking off.  Oh, and drinking.  Which makes me think that I really need to cut down on my drinking.  I usually get drunk at least three nights a week, and often five nights a week.  I don't usually do resolutions, but drinking less will also help me lose more weight.

I googled what map on the old SNES Sim City game was the best.  According to the internet it's number sixty-one.  New year, new city.  Well - time to upload this journal entry and chill before jerking off tonight.  The last few weeks the material I've used online has been really good shit.  Anyway, Happy New Year.  Good-bye year of the gut punch.  Hello year of the uppercut.

Wrap-up: December 2024 has been a bit of a mixed bag, but overall it's been a good month.  The best thing about this month was my Tuesday adventures to the zoo, the Petersen and my old junior college.  Cheyenne still to be doing good, despite the tumor growing.  She greets me like it's the best moment of her day.  I know it's the best moment of my week as well.  I got a lot of things done this month.  I loved going to the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo.  That's definitely a highlight of my month.  But then there's the negative, like all the dummies on the road who can't drive.  The Magic Castle was a disaster, and I know I'll never go back.  Overall I have to give this month a B+ grade.