Afterthoughts: This Past Month

We have made it past mid-year.  2026 has been a mix, but so far it's been good.  On with the second half.

Monday, June, 1, The Brand CDs are supposed to go into a separate bin, but some dummy put the CDs in the regular blue bin.  ARGH!  Who are these dopes that keep making little mistakes?  But should I call it a mistake?  The bin with the CDs is right next to the blue bin.  Someone working at the library should be able to put two and two together.  Oh, there are CDs in that separate bin, so I'll put it in this other bin.  Dummies.

I needed to finish the route a little early today, so I went to Adams Square first to get it off the agenda.  When I got out of the van I saw signs on the front door that a patron put up telling the public that budget cuts will cause that branch to close forever.  Ain't wrong there.  Just then Jacklyn showed up.  She tells me that the papers are all over the front of the library as well.  She hinted that she might leave the papers up, but we can't do that.  She took them down, but later Jacklyn texted me that the signs are plastered all over the neighborhood.

I gave Marie one of my pictures and she told me how much it was.  I countered with the fact that she gave me her hat.  But she insisted and today she gave me a nice card with a tiny camera that flashes and makes shutter sounds.  It's cute.  And, she also started following me on Instagram.  She never posts anything, but it's something.

The bookmobile event for today was to be in front of the Galleria.  I had to navigate going on the sidewalk in order to park in front of the main entrance.  It wasn't easy, but with Grigor's help it was better.  Jacklyn was freaking out that we weren't going to make it.  The lady from the mall said bigger cars have gotten though, so we did it.  Getting out was easier, because the exit side of the sidewalk was a little bit wider.  The event itself was fine.  There was a ton of foot traffic, but not many people were interested in books.  We did end up having forty-one sign ups for Summer reading.  Pretty damn good.  Overall I wondered what we were doing at the mall, but despite not having that many check outs we did well with the Summer reading sign ups.

I visited TheGirl a little later today, because of the bookmobile event.  She said she went to visit Phoenix and she said the poor dog is being mistreated.  She said that the owner is her brother's son, her nephew.  But that guy, Rambo, abandoned the dog and doesn't want anything to do with Phoenix or his own father (Rick, TheGirl's brother).  Rick has some talents when it comes to working mechanical things like ride attractions at amusement parks.  He used to work for Disney.  But his life is another thing.  I mentioned in a previous entry that he's very irresponsible.  He now has two divorces under his belt, and his current lady has thrown up some red flags, according to TheGirl.  She said that his new lady asked about his pension.  Not good.  He already gave away half of his pension to the other wife.  This lady is going to get half of half.  I say that because I'm sure he's going to make the same mistake and marry this woman.  Irresponsible.

Tuesday, June, 2, The new extension of the old Purple line is now called the D line.  There have been a lot of jokes, mainly by Metro itself, telling people to ride the D.  As in dick.  As in getting fucked cowgirl style.  Even LAPL did a reel where a lady comes up to a reference desk and talks about being uncomfortable about riding the new D line.  The librarian turns to her and tells her all about the history of the Purple/D line.  At the end he pretends to be clueless until she tells him what the reference she was saying meant.  He then clutches his pearls in surprise.  It's cute.  Well, today I rode the D... line.  But I didn't get railed.  The new stations are nice.  I actually got off one stop before Fairfax on La Brea.  If I want to go to Cassell's I can get off at La Brea.  I do want to try out their tuna melt.  Maybe I can convince TheGirl to go with me.  I wanted to ask her to come with me today, but she had business with her brother.  Who is in town for some reason.

The new LACMA building, the David Geffen galleries officially, is a huge building.  It's almost overwhelming.  The inside is not super intimate, but it's better than the entire edifice.  One thing I didn't like was that some photography was facing out towards the floor to ceiling windows, which made it hard to see the actual pictures due to the glare.  Also, that means these pieces are exposed to light.  I guess the museum doesn't care about them fading over time.  Overall I liked the new museum.  I don't know what they are doing to do with all the space underneath.  Seems like a lot of space that is just concrete.  I would have liked more grass under the building.  The building goes over Wilshire blvd. and part of the building rests on the South side of Wilshire.  That part is also just concrete.  I hope they do something more with it.  I feel that a super nice garden could have been put there.  Oh well, maybe in the future.

The last time I was at the Farmer's Market I saw this place called Gott's Roadside.  I figured today was a good day to get my steps in and get some Gott's.  Well, I'm not going to say it's a bad burger.  It's not.  But it also isn't a great burger.  I would call it, like the kids say... mid.  I would say a six out of ten.  Way better than McDonald's, but for the price I paid it should be amazing.  Bill's is still great, and it costs like 2/3rd the price.  I felt that the cheese was the best part.  The meat was bland.  Later one of the servers was saying that I should have gotten one of the many sauces.  Then that's when I knew this place was all about the sauce, and not the burger.  I was watching a video the other day about American dummies going over to Italy and asking for ranch dressing for their pizza.  First off, when did this become a thing?  Second, I'm sure that pizza in Italy is a million times better than almost any pizza here in the states.  When in literal Rome you should not be eating pizza with ranch dressing.  You are in the cradle of civilization and you're adding ranch to what I'm sure is an amazing pizza.  So yeah, Gott's seems to be all about the sauces, not the burger.  The only reason to come back here for me is the soft serve ice cream.  THAT was super good.

Wednesday, June, 3, Back to work today and back to the jokers that don't know how to sort the bins.  This time they couldn't find the time to put the books in the bin.  They just put the bin on top of the books.  Brilliant.

TheGirl has a lump on her left eyelid.  She's hoping it's not cancerous.  She and I both.  She's going to see the doctor tomorrow.  My heart fell when she said that she hoped it wasn't cancer.  Thoughts of Cheyenne, my Mom, my Grandmother floated through my head.  Not another one.  Please, not another one.  Crossing my fingers.

We headed out to Wood Ranch for dinner tonight.  Even though we don't have Cheyenne along with us, we've gotten used to sitting outside.  First, it's quieter.  The inside of some of these restaurants can be super loud.  So that makes it hard to even have a conversation.  Also, we're just used to being outside, since we nearly always sat outside because we had Cheyenne.

After dinner we did what is becoming a new tradition... walking the Chandler bike path.  There were no telescopes tonight, but we got our steps.

Thursday, June, 4, I stopped paying a company that was apparently holding my domain.  And now all the files are on a server, but when I type the domain it goes to another parked spot.  I'm going to have to call support.  Maybe they can change the DNS and send my domain name back to my server.  I don't how my domain got locked in with this other company.  I still own it, but the DNS sends traffic (which is just me) to a website that is clearly not mine.  I think it should be fine.  That other company was charging me $30 a month for nothing.  I'm glad I got rid of it.  If I lose the domain I'll just have to migrate everything to my other domain, or buy a new one and use that.

I went to take a shower this morning before going into work and my toiletries were moved.  Why?  Why does my aunt even have to move my stuff?  What could she be looking for?  My drugs?  In the past she's said that she thought I was using drugs.  Then why would I have them in the bathroom?

TheGirl went to the doctor and thankfully found out that the lump on her eyelid was not cancer, it's an infection.  Whew!  Super whew!  I was really down most of the day, because I was worried that TheGirl might have cancer.  I don't think I could handle that.

I was watching tonight's city council meeting to find out more about the budget, and just how much the library might be cut.  What happened was that the community showed up to show its love for the library.  About twenty-five people came up to the lectern to show support for the Adams Square library.  The kids were the most compelling.  They brought signs and had petitions calling for city council to save the library.  The neighborhood heard of the possible closing, and they came out to save the library.  Afterwards the council did start to talk about trying to finding the money to save Adams Square, at least for this year.  I don't know if they will find the money, but this gives Adams a fighting chance.  Next year, not so much.

Friday, June, 5, The new computer kiosk has been installed.  It must have been in the last few days, because I didn't see it until now.  The promise of this machine is that someone can go up to it and check out a laptop to use while in the library.  I think it's a good idea, seeing as we always have people come up looking to use the computers.  Now, will we lose a few of them to them walking away, or some dummy breaking it on day one?  Of course.  But the good thing is that there are now eighteen more computers in the library.

I got an email yesterday saying the new bookmobile hotspot is ready to be picked up.  So, I figured I would go to IT to get it.  I had to wait, seeing as there were complications on to who had it and where it was supposed to be.  But I finally got it and when I tested it the thing worked like a charm.  I'm still taking my hotspot on Saturday, just in case.

When I put my earbuds in my ear and within a few moments I feel discomfort I know that it's because there is a long hair in my ear.  I tweeze nearly every day, but even then a hair will either get away or grow overnight.  I think the one I plucked today was one that grew overnight.  ARGH!  Why?  Why does this happen?

I had a lot of junk in delivery today.  Four boxes of trash/donations, as well as four bins of books going back to Central.  There was also three giant games going to the bookmobile.  I don't know why they keep buying these giant games for the bookmobile.  Hardly anyone plays them, and they take up a lot of room.  I don't like them.  Once out of the box all the pieces go every which way.

There were three huge boxes in LITS that arrived a couple of months ago, but all I could tell was that they were some sort of screen.  Today a couple of them were out of their boxes.  They are electronic signs that can be moved from place to place.  The sign in front of the new children's room has graphics that are always the wrong aspect ratio, so they look distorted.  Hopefully marketing can figure it out before they start deploying these things.  Also, how much did these things cost?  There's no money, but they are able to buy signs like these that I'm sure cost a pretty penny.  Once I see the model number I'll know.

I have no idea what I'm supposed to do at the bookmobile event tomorrow.  I guess I'm just to wing it, like I always do anyway.  It's not complicated, but some direction would be nice.  And then I get an email at 7:08pm giving me the smallest of details.  Just to be at the park by 12:30pm to set up.  Also I don't get any help on the bookmobile itself.  The two ladies will be at the craft table.  All the years of being abandoned on the desk has trained me for this.  It will be fine.

Saturday, June, 6, Today's bookmobile event was celebrating Pride in the park.  This is the second year that we participate in Pride.  Right off the bat something had to mess with the deal.  I get to the park and I see that some dopes ignored the sign someone placed saying this was a no parking zone.  That's OK, I just parked right in front of them.  It turned out to be a better spot, since the other spot was in the sun.  I got to use not only the bookmobile for cover, but the trees.  There isn't much to report about today.  The bookmobile didn't have a lot of checkouts, but I feel that the missing isn't that so much as connecting to the community.  Showing up and showing our support for these events is about building relationships.  That is what could possibly save Adams Square from closing... those relationships that the library has with the neighborhood.  The bookmobile is an extension of that, which is why I think in the future it should go to different places in South Glendale.  There is Cerritos park that we have never gone to.  We could park it in front of a great many places, but no we always go to Maple park.  That's where we are going next week.  Just like this event, I wasn't emailed until last night about any details.  So of course I don't know what we are doing next week.  Typical.

I met this girl named Daniella at the Brand library like two or maybe even three years ago.  She was super cute, and that's when I still had this idea of pursuing ladies.  Even just a little.  Today I continue to follow her, and she likes some of my pictures.  The other day she posted a picture with Marilyn Monroe.  Daniella is quite pretty.

Sunday, June, 7, I woke up this morning to find that a shot glass full of whiskey was sitting on my table.  I went to get the bottle to pour it back in, and I couldn't find the bottle in its usual place.  I checked the security camera, which I set up just for me to see what I'm doing, and it shows me carrying the bottle into the other room.  I went there and saw that I left it behind the TV, where the peanuts are.  I wonder if I poured the glass and then went to get peanuts and left without the bottle.  Damn, this drinking is wild.

I downloaded the video to have it here, and I noticed that as it continues I must have gotten the urge to use the restroom, because after I left the bottle there I went to the bathroom.  I just have forgotten I had the bottle with me and just went to my room.  This drinking is wild.

I haven't seen Lisa at the market in some time.  At least a month.  Oh well, she wasn't interested in me anyway.  I liked checking her out, but I know I won't make a pass at her.  Because why bother.

I used to go to the gas station on Magnolia and Kester, but after they started closing due to shortages I started going to the station on Burbank and Sepulveda.  I was going to go there today when I was driving up Van Nuys to Jons market and I see that this one station off the freeway is selling gas for $5.48 a gallon.  Not great, but I checked on the AAA gasoline price checker app and it shows that Burbank and Sepulveda station is selling for $5.79 a gallon.  So I figure even if it was less there, this station was easier to access and a closer drive.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on this place.

Monday, June, 8, Stephanie posted a picture on her IG today that was from Saturday's gallery opening where she wore a cute sun dress.  Sigh.  I have a wee crush on her.  I like her body.  And after that little blow up at me during one of the installs Stephanie has been super sweet.  Maybe she felt bad that she took out her frustrations on me that day.  Because I was just standing there, doing nothing but drinking my water and she told me to leave the gallery.  That's why I don't go into the gallery when they are doing an install.  Anyway, she's not single and I'm not pursuing her or anyone else.  So I'll just check her out.

TheGirl moved Phoenix into her place while her brother's lady is out of town.  She's supposed to be taking care of Phoenix, but she went up to San Francisco for school, or something.  TheGirl has taken it upon herself to take care of him while she's gone for the month.  We went up to visit him a couple of weeks ago, but now he was with her at her place.  TheGirl brought him out for our visit, and he remembered me.  While inside, visiting Phoenix got right between my legs and kept on looking at me.  Oh when he saw Chandaka he was wondering what hims was.  We joked that maybe he thought Chan was a new toy for him.  For the visit I put Chan on top of the fridge.

Tuesday, June, 9, I finally got a chance to get in contact with my website provider about moving my domain to the servers on Digital Spaces.  To make a long story short, I was on the phone for a couple of hours getting the information off Turbify to Digital Spaces.  Soon I will have my domain with the same company that hosts my website.  I don't know how the two were separated, but I will now be saving $30 for web hosting that I never used on Turbify.

I took my car to the mechanic to fix my A/C problem.  The other day the fan wasn't working, and I wondered what was going on.  It would only blow when it was on the forth setting, full blast.  But I don't want it to be on full blast all the time.  It's noisy, and a little annoying.  But, that's the only setting it would blow at all.  The mechanic said it was the resistor, which I changed a few months ago.  But, he also found a problem with the fan, so he replaced both.  The car is good as new.  And a funny quirk that was happening with my volume knob was also fixed.  Maybe it was connected with that short.

My coworker Tony didn't go into work again today.  His knee must still be hurting.  I think it's now time to consider retirement.  He's limping around really badly lately.  And he's missing more days.  He is a good partner on the route, but it's time for him to move on.  I would love to have Grigor back driving.  Hell, they should really just make me the full time delivery driver.  But, that won't ever happen.

TheGirl picked me up from Dog Haus after I took the 501 bus line from Glendale to Burbank.  I told her that as soon as she would pick me up I knew that the garage would call to say the car is ready.  Sure enough, that's what happened.  But, we had already said we were going to get some drinking and eating done.  First stop was the Smoke House for a drink.  While at the bar a few of the reporters from KTLA came in.  One lady was filming a segment for one of these shows that showcase Los Angeles.

Following Smoke House we went to pick up my car.  Then it was off to Burbank to a place called The Corner.  TheGirl has been wanting to try that place out for perhaps a year.  But, we would have had to sit outside with Cheyenne, and they have hookah.  And neither one of us likes the smell.  So we never went with Cheyenne.  During the day there isn't hookah, and so we went there for lunch today.  I had a yummy BLT, and TheGirl had a veggie burger.  My sandwich was really good.  This is another place that might enter our rotation.

We went back to TheGirl's place before I started heading home, and of course Phoenix was there.  Poor little guy seems fearful of everything.  But, he's taken a shine to me.  He's a good kid.  He's helped TheGirl feel a little better.  However, she doesn't want him forever.  She says she won't and can't adopt him.  I don't know about the wanting to part.  Not being able to is another thing.  Tomorrow we're going to take him out to dinner at the Dog Haus, because I think TheGirl wants to socialize him.  We also plan on walking through Toluca Lake afterwards.

Wednesday, June, 10, There was an event at the Grandview library sponsored by the office of sustainability.  There was an envelope addressed to Nora from that office.  Gitmo told me that it was her hoodie.  Nora is pretty.  I thought about hand delivering the hoodie, but then I'm like don't be a simp.  I told myself that I'm done trying to win over any woman.  And then here I go trying to please Nora for what reason?  She's not going out with me.  Anyway, I just left it in regular delivery.

I don't know how it's possible for Marie's chest to look bigger every time I see her.  It could be a different bra, because her chest looked more separated.  I love it.

Because we didn't have delivery yesterday I had a lot of bins in delivery today.  Especially coming back.  I had twenty-four today, half of those for Central.  This was more like the old days.

Tonight TheGirl and I drank the wine I bought for us when we went out to the Orange Circle.  We toasted to new adventures.  With me having so many Tuesdays off, and her not finding a job yet, we've been doing some Tuesday Adventures together.  Phoenix is part of those adventures for now.  TheGirl claims she won't adopt him, but you can tell she's getting more attached to Phoenix.  We went on our walk around Toluca Lake and he was moving fast.  Cheyenne was older, so she wasn't pulling as much as she was when she was a puppy.  But Phoenix is all energy.  The good thing is that he seems to get along with other dogs.

A little after 7pm, while TheGirl and I were walking Phoenix, I received a Teams message telling me that Tony died today.  The only detail I know is what was on the text, that he had a heart attack.  I'll know more in the coming days.

Thursday, June, 11, Since Tony passed I thought of being practical with something.  I wanted to take the van to the shop to get some stuff done, like the oil change and fixing the side door.  But, when I got to Central the van was gone.  I got a call from Grigor a few minutes later and he told me he had the van, because he was doing delivery today.  Meanwhile, at Central it seemed like no one was around.  It was eerily quiet.

After the shock of last night I got another shock from my supervisor this morning.  She told we won't be doing delivery on Fridays.  That's fucked up, because I will stand to lose about $250 per week in salary.  I was already thinking of getting a second job to make some money and pay my bills off faster.  Now it will be a necessity to get another job.  When I was losing two hours a week it was going to hurt, but not that much.  This hurts a lot.  I will stand to lose ten hours a week, which adds up to forty a month.  That's an entire week's worth of hours I'll be loosing.  How can I survive on 2/3rds of what I'm making now?  Assholes.  Now for sure I have to find a second job.  And quick.

Tony and I worked as delivery drivers for the last few years, so a lot of people thought we were closer than we really were.  No problem there.  But I think people think I'm taking this really hard.  I'm not.  But then again maybe it hasn't hit me.  To be sure, I'm in a place where Tony's passing still doesn't seem real.  It's an abstract, because I got a text telling me this.  When my mom died I knew, because I was there.  Same with my Grandmother and Father.  I was in the room.  It will hit me.

Friday, June, 12, When I took my car into the mechanic the other day one of the guys working on my car asked me how I could see at night?  Before I knew it he was spraying some stuff on my headlines.  They went from being cloudy to being crystal clear.  OMG, they look great now.

My coworker Violeta has worked at the library almost as long as I have.  She has lived through the other financial downturns since we were both hired.  She was saying that in the past they always cut our hours only to give us back the hours after a month.  She's right.  Way back in 2009 I was given a piece of paper with my new hours.  In less than a month my supervisor was telling me to forget those hours because we were going back to my old schedule.  That was a different era, so I don't know if that will happen again this time.  The managers back then actually had brains, and were thoughtful about what was needed to run the library.  These days the managers are completely clueless.  And callus, because they don't really care about the employees.  They will run with skeleton crews even if service is affected.  Because all they care about are their salaries, and their bonuses.  So yeah, maybe I'll get some, or all, of my hours back but I can't rely on these dopes to do the right thing.  They will run on the rims, because they want to.

Saturday, June, 13, I was not super thrilled with the bookmobile event.  I put in a minimal effort.  Not just because of the news about my hours, but also Tony, and in general these events at Maple park turn out to be snooze-fests.  Sure enough, the bookmobile hardly had a dozen people visit.  The actual event in the park drew some more people, but not that many more.  It's a waste of time taking the bookmobile to Maple park, but we're still doing it.

Jacklyn did say that perhaps I could make up some of my hours if we have more outreach events with the bookmobile.  I'm not sure.  I mean that would be great, but I think they might just make her take the bookmobile on her own to these different places.  Me working last week's event alone shows them one person can man the bookmobile and still be effective.  They are right, if that person is me.

As Jacklyn and I were leaving Central we saw Michael in the break room.  We started talking about this and that and I noticed something on the desk next to the fridge.  It was candles on the desk only Tony ever used.  He loved to place Solitaire on that computer on his breaks.  Years ago he must have discovered it, and he liked to play it.  I guess it relaxed him.  A few years ago they replaced the old computer with a new one, but that new computer didn't have Solitaire on it.  He got IT to install it for him.

As I drove home I had this idea that we could memorialize Tony somehow at the library.  Maybe name the Bookmobile the Tony memorial bookmobile.  I don't know, something.

Sunday, June, 14, TheGirl invited me to El Torito in Pasadena for brunch this morning.  I have to say, the food was pretty good, but it's too bad I don't eat like a glutton.  I got some good food though, and I didn't eat dinner until 7pm.  And I only made myself a little sandwich.  Buffets are good for people that eat like pigs.  But I don't eat that much anymore.  I like small portions.  Today I had to go against that.  It was a cheat day.  And a day drinking day.  Won't be able to do much of either if my hours get cut as expected.  And if I don't find another job.  I have a couple of places I'm going to check out and send applications to.  Wish me luck.  I need to make up about $1,200 a month to make up for what I'm going to potentially lose.

My friend Natalie from Crowell texted me the other day saying that she had a ticket for the San Marino car show today.  I had planned on waking up early and going to the show, and then going to brunch.  But I legitimately forgot about both those things.  So after brunch I went to Lacy park to see if I could find Natalie.  My stupid phone wouldn't connect to service, so my messages weren't going through.  I went to the entrance of the park and found a ticket booth, but the guy manning it just told me I could go in for free.  He was nearly done wrapping up his stuff.  That's cool, I got in for free.  I tried sending more messages, but they just weren't getting through.  I made a grand circle tour of the cars.  There were a lot of nice ones, including the one pictured above... a Ferrari Daytona.  Three of them, though these two were closer together than the third.  Failing to find Natalie I decided to go home.  After I left my messages started to get through and Natalie said that she was already home.  Womp, womp.  We did say we need to make plans to hang out.  The other day she informed me that she is now two years cancer free.  Thank the maker.

Monday, June, 15, The above are some of the things that are on the wall that Tony put up on the wall in circulation.  I know I won't take them down, so I wonder if anyone will take them down.  I don't see a problem just leaving them up.

Marketing sent an email regarding the so-called strategic plan.  Of course it's nothing but word salad.  This is what part of the email said.

Goals for the 5-year strategic plan from 2026-2031
Vision: Glendale's heart for creativity, learning and inspiration
Mission: We empower people by cultivating curiosity, building connections and expanding knowledge
Strategic Goals:
+ Integrate the arts, culture and library components of Glendale Library, Arts & Culture
+ Conduct broad and on-going civic engagement
+ Promote Glendale Library, Arts & Culture as a center for the community
+ Empower staff
+ Address the need for improved and innovative technology
+ Plan to achieve financial sustainability

I watched an interesting video this afternoon as I was getting my steps.  It talked about how people are not dating.  It's much easier to just go online and find porn, or AI boyfriend/girlfriends, than to interact with real people.  Real people are complex.  You have to get to know them.  Each person is a minefield, and it's not easy to go from liking someone to asking them out.  Never has.  But that work is what every generation has had to deal with in order to find a person to be in a relationship with.  But now it's so much easier not to have to work on making that connection that people are opting to not put in the work.  Have to say I fall under the category of the person that doesn't want to put the effort into pursuing anyone, because nearly all attempts have been failures.  So I stopped in favor of jerking off every night, and only having women as friends.  I don't have to be rejected if I don't pursue them for any romantic entanglement.  It is the way I cope with being a consistent failure at dating relationships.  Even when I have had romantic relationships they have all failed.  Stepping back I think that says something about me in that I'm either incapable of an adult relationship, or I pick women that aren't.  Or both.  I think it's the former.  I never had any instruction as to how I'm supposed to act in a relationship, other than what I've seen on TV, movies, and in books.  Clearly that was not enough.  After Misa told me that there were a couple of women at work that showed interest in me, but then lost interest when they found out my age I told myself that I aged out.  No one is going to want to date a bachelor of nearly fifty-five years of age.  Yet another reason I don't try.  And yes, thirdly I don't try because I just don't want to get rejected for the thousandth time.

Tuesday, June, 16, When I had an appointment at say 10am, I usually arrive about fifteen minutes earlier.  My doctor's office asked me to arrive at 9:45am for my 10am appointment.  Solid, I can do that.  I walked up the stairs and when I get to the office door there's a sign saying that there was a staff meeting scheduled from 8am to 10am, and that's what time they will open.  Then why send me an email telling me to be fifteen minutes early?  I know, I know, it's an automated thing.  No human checked up on it to maybe not tell me to arrive early.  Fine.  I sat in the hallway.

Shortly after I got to work I noticed that the program we use to check out the books, Sierra, was really slow.  In a little while, Sierra stopped working completely.  It was like that the entire day.  It only started working at 6:55pm.  Good job.

Today wasn't all bad, Russian MILF showed up wearing a short pink skirt.  I mean wow!  She has such a nice body, and great legs.  And she was showing them off today.  Thank the maker.

Stephanie shared a video featuring some things around the city, including the Brand gallery and Reflect Space.  What it also features is Nora from the office of sustainability.  So pretty.

Tonight the planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury were all by the moon in the sky (pictured above).  How cool.  I went up on the roof to take the picture.  It was a little strange being up there in the dark.  But, the moon was already pretty low in the sky, so I had to go to the roof.  I think the picture came out OK.  I didn't really like being on the roof at night, so I was a little nervous.  Hence my hast.

Wednesday, June, 17, I don't know why people stand on the edge of sidewalks, especially here in Glendale.  Many times today I saw dopes standing right on the edge of the sidewalk.  I don't trust the drivers in this city.  I always stand at least four feet behind the edge.  I've almost been hit several times.  Nah, you dummies can stand right on the edge.  Not me.

I got to Brand and Stephanie was walking up the driveway wearing these amazing red velvet pants that showed off her hips.  She has lost some weight, so her hips were as pronounced as they used to be, but they still look great.  I love that little bit of a saddlebag look on a woman's hips, and Stephanie still has a wee bit of that just where the legs meet the hips.  In short, her thighs and hips looked wonderful today.  I didn't initiate hugging with Stephanie, she has been the one that wants to give me a hug whenever she sees me.  I don't know what good thing I did to deserve getting a hug from her, but I'll take it.  Sigh.

I did a speed test while having lunch at Brand, and running it shows why I can hardly watch anything on my phone when I'm there.  The download speed was 2.44 mbps.  Even text downloads are slow at that speed.  Lately I've noticed that my phone's internet has been slow at times.  I have unlimited data, but AT&T will throttle it if I reach twenty gigs a month.  I regularly go to sixteen or seventeen gigs in a month.  It's just how I roll.  But also, I think my service has gotten worse over the last couple of years.  When I first got this phone it was blazing.  Now, it can be fast, but other times it's slow.  Brand I get, it's up against the foothills.  It's hard to get a good line of sight to the tower from every location.  Still, what gives?

TheGirl wanted to go to the Smoke House for dinner with Phoenix.  Phoenix has progressed a lot since TheGirl has been pet sitting him.  She felt he was ready for the Smoke House, and he was.  He's a little timid, but he got through dinner great.  The walk out is usually a lot more noisy, but he walked through the dining room like a champ.  When we got our drinks our first toast was to Tony.

I know TheGirl says she can't keep Phoenix, but she surely has affection towards him.  She was kissing him after dinner.  She's certainly getting attached to Phoenix.  She must be torn because on the one hand she really can't afford another dog.  She may need another dog, but that's a different thing.  I think if she had a job and was financially secure she would keep Phoenix.  For now it's a temporary thing.

Thursday, June, 18, Back when I was going out with Talia she would often whip out her tits.  At the time I loved it.  The above picture was from 2005, and she's sitting in a chair in my room.  I'm opposite her on my desk chair.  I don't remember what we were talking about, but she whipped out her boob and there it was.  Early Talia was always doing that.  But it's funny with her and I, because of how she was open sexually.  She's the only girl I ever tittyfucked.  She was the first to let me do anal sex.  And she was literally my first.  It wasn't until, what I called Talia 2.0, that I really had a great time with her.  That's the version of our relationship where she took the bus to my house and had sex with me.  During my last semester at CSUN I had a morning class on Thursdays and that's it.  I was free the rest of the day.  I was home by noon.  I don't remember how it started, but every Thursday for months Talia would take the bus to my place and we would have sex.  Boy, do I miss those days of free love.

The appreciation team for the library brought all the branches ice cream bars and frozen fruit bars.  I had an ice cream bar during my break.  I do love that they cut our hours and the appreciation team tries to placate us with ice cream.  Yeah, I appreciate the ice cream.  Many thanks.  Now can you convince my supervisor that it's a bad idea not having delivery on Fridays?  Yeah, I get ice cream but no sympathy.

A little after 6pm tonight an unhoused patron came in asking for a bunch of silly things.  First thing she said was that her library card wasn't working.  Rory scanned the card, but he didn't notice that the image on the front of the card showed that it wasn't from Glendale.  So we told her she would have to use a guest pass.  As I said that I started to hand her a guest pass, but she didn't take it.  Instead she said, "I want him to give it to me."  Meaning Rory.  That's when I knew this person was not OK.  She didn't even want the one I had touched.  Rory printed out a new one and tried handing it to her, but she just left his arm hanging.  I was fully disengaged.  I didn't notice right away that he had placed it on the desk, and she was saying the numbers to herself.  She walked away and I gave Rory a what the fuck look.  She then came back and got a piece of paper and copied the numbers.  OK, whatever!

Friday, June, 19, TheGirl and I got on the subway and made our way to the Academy museum on Wilshire.  TheGirl isn't too keen on taking the metro on her own, but she tolerates it with me.  The Marilyn exhibit was pretty cool.  I can't call myself a massive fan of hers.  I do like her work.  She was gorgeous, but I haven't seen all of her movies... yet.  The exhibit was pretty cool.  I loved the pink dress, which was featured in its own room.  Her phone books were cool.  One page had Frank Sinatra and Lee Strasberg, while another had Joe DiMaggio.

Her famous nudes were there too.  Not too many, just the famous pin-up of her stretched out, and the one of he sitting (above).  She was a bombshell, as they used to say.  We also checked out the Jaws exhibit, which was cool.  But we needed to get going because it was getting late, and we were both getting hungry.

Since a month ago we knew that we were going to be eating at La Popular in Hollywood.  The museum was a last minute addition.  I ordered the enchiladas with short rib meat.  They were good, but my drinks were weak.  Next time I need to pregame.  That will help with the cost of things as well.  TheGirl joked we could do this every Friday now that I won't be working on Fridays.  True, but I can't keep paying for an entree and two drinks every Friday.  If anything I should've asked if they were hiring dishwashers.

TheGirl wanted to get soft serve from the Win-dow next door to La Popular.  She ordered two, but really we could have done with one between us.  That's because the serving was huge!  TheGirl ordered hers with salted caramel dip, and they had her this mountain of a cone.  We only finished about 2/3rd of our respective cones.  I do have to say that I like Gott's soft serve as much as this one, and I doubly like that they have a small size.

Saturday, June, 20, I went to Playboy dot-com to check out those famous pictures of Marilyn, and ended up checking out a bunch of pictorials.  One iconic photo is of Cyndi Wood standing in a doorway (above).  I included the covered and uncovered versions.  Wow!  How am I not making photos like this?

I went to Bob Baker tonight to check out a show called the Trains of Griffith park.  Which featured Travel Town and the Live Steamers.  The feature was a season five episode of Columbo called Identity Crisis.  It has a scene at Travel Town, and Ventura blvd (which I will try to download).  Bob Baker does such a great job with everything they do.  It's a wonder and a delight.

I was writing this journal the other day and when I do reread it, using the computer voice.  When I wrote the word tittyfucked the computer showed that it was misspelled.  I don't think the word is in the Oxford dictionary.  But, it did make me wonder if the proper way of spelling it was two words or one, or with a hyphen.  I know, why do I care?  Well, I do.  Doing a search was predictively going to bring up results that I didn't expect.  Like a link to a website devoted to women with big chests.  That's a dangerous thing.  I think I'll try the website tonight.  Wink!

Sunday, June, 21, During last night's screening of Columbo there was a segment that was filmed right on Ventura Blvd next to my house.  It shows Ventura Blvd in the mid 70's.  I checked online and season five aired from September 1975 to May 1976.  Usually these things are filmed months in advance, so let's just say that it was filmed some time in early 1975.  I was four years old.  Anyway, I love TV shows like this.  They are unintended time capsules.

Last night I checked out the website named Melonstube, which features porn videos with large breasted women.  It was pretty damn good, but it is not going to replace the site I start with now.  I also found a couple of websites featuring ladies with big butts.  Lovely.  Anyway, I did start off my jerking-off last night with a titty fuck video.  The website spelled it "titty fuck," two words.  I didn't get off too much on these videos, because it is a bit of a novelty.  I ended the night watching videos of ladies with big butts.  As is the usual.

To continue this nudity theme, I was on Playboy dot-com checking out the pictorials when a couple of ladies from the past came up.  The first was Patricia Ford.  Who was huge in the late 90s and early 2000s.  I don't remember where I first saw Patricia, but I do know that I was on the internet.  She eventually posed for Playboy (above).  Not sure what happened to her.  I guess she just retired from posing.

OK, after a search I found out some information about Patricia.  Here is a quote from the website peoplepill dot-com: "Ford married her long-time boyfriend Russell Waialae in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 14, 2001.  She retired from acting after that.  They had their first child, a boy, on November 5, 2006."  There ya go.

The episode of Columbo did feature an actress with a large chest, and cleavage.  I'm really going down a big breasted ladies rabbit hole.  Anyway, she was on the show looking nice.  According to IMDB she has been working pretty steady since starting her career.  Good for her.

Monday, June, 22, My aunt just loves to tell me what to do.  Today's example had to do with my yogurt.  Yesterday she talked to me about wanting to mix some of my yogurt with her yogurt, because it has less sugar than hers.  She claims that she wants to regulate her blood sugar, but I don't ever remember the doctor saying anything about that to her.  But I haven't been to a doctor's appointment with her in about two years.  I also know my aunt makes things up.  She will hear one thing and misconstrues what was said.  Anyway, this morning there's a note in the fridge saying I should start a new package and leave the old one for her to eat.  No.  I used the old one.  What does it even matter which one I use?  What a dummy.

I finally made it to the fourth notch of my belt today.  And I wore my belt on the fourth notch the entire day.  I hope this is the end of the plateau I've been in for the last few months.

Junior hasn't been around for a couple of weeks, because she hurt her back while bending over to reach the safe.  It was formally on the floor, but today I went into circulation and the safe had been moved to the large desk.  Someone put some bracing as well, because it is pretty heavy.

I was finishing up loading up the delivery van with all the bins when I closed the side door.  Now the side door has problems, like how the outside latch doesn't work.  When I closed it I heard a thump of some kind that I had not heard before.  I didn't notice until later that the side door wasn't completely closed.  I pushed it and it never clicked.  I plan on going to the garage first thing Wednesday to see if they can fix this thing.  I really need a new van, but especially now with the budget I won't get one.

Tuesday, June, 23, I was walking at the mall when I received a call from Grigor telling me that the back door wasn't opening.  We've had problems with that door as well in the past.  The garage crew fixed that door... twice!  Look, the van is falling apart, nothing new there.  Now I'll have to get the garage crew to see what they can do about both doors.  ARGH!

Since I had today off I told TheGirl that we could do something.  She wanted to get a burger at the Win-dow.  Hey, I'm good with that.  I told her I would drive, since it's easier to drive in to Hollywood.  And the parking is only $3 with validation.  And we were going to get drinks at La Popular, so it was win win.  The burgers were really good, the margaritas I got were better than the Manhattans I had last time.  All in all a good day.  Any day with day drinking is good.

TheGirl mentioned today that as much as she loves Phoenix, he has taught her that she doesn't have the energy for another dog in her life.  I think this is a good thing for her.  The pain of Cheyenne lingers with the both of us.  And we know it's a pain that will never diminish.  I can understand her not wanting another dog.  Phoenix is a good dog, and I really thought he would convince her.  But she did say that she isn't used to using this much energy.  Phoenix is young, and has boy energy.

I don't know who or what keeps moving the damn security camera in the back yard.  I think it might be my silly aunt, but I don't have evidence of that.  I fix it in place and something moves it.  I think it might be time to relocate the camera to a place my aunt can't reach it.  Just in case it's her that's doing it.  I'll know after I move it.

I wanted to go to my local library to get my stamp.  I was thwarted by the fact that my local branch opens at noon.  And so does the Studio City branch.  And, and, and... so does every branch library around me open at noon.  I went to the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square to sit in the food court and make a call to my domain server to ask why, after two weeks, my website isn't going to my website.  They informed me that I had to get in contact with a company called Parking Crew dot-net.  Who the hell is that, and why do they now hold my domain hostage?  To cut a long story short, the man on the phone game me enough information that I was able to go on to my domain servers and change the DNS there to my name servers.  Mission accomplished... my domain is back where it belongs.  About damn time.  And I'm saving that money in a time where I can't spend too much.

Tonight's Glendale city council meeting went long.  At the end of the night Adams Square was saved, but nothing else changed.  I'm pretty sure that I'll still be without Fridays.

Wednesday, June, 24, The van needs repairs and an oil change.  I had planned on taking it in last week, but I completely forgot.  This time I left myself a note and it reminded me to take the van over to the garage.  I needed a loaner, and they gave me a fancy Toyota electric car.  It has a nice ride.  The coolest thing was the lane assist.  I turned it on while I was on the freeway and it drove the car.  I felt like I was in the car KITT from Knight Rider.  I'm living in the future.

My supervisor mentioned that she talked to the people upstairs about Friday delivery, but they said there's no change for now.  I'm not doing delivery on Fridays.  Perhaps in three months they could revisit the issue, she said.  So yeah, I lost my Fridays.  I'm naming it Final Friday.  Might as well own it.

For dinner we all went to Don Cudo, Phoenix and Chandaka too.  TheGirl says this is our last dinner with Phoenix for a while, he's going back home on Sunday.  TheGirl said it was bitter sweet.  I get it, he's a good boy and deserves better than his current family.  TheGirl wanted Chan there too, so he got to be at the table with us.  It's a rare occurrence.  I think it's only happened four other times, including tonight.  After dinner we walked around Toluca Lake.  So many memories for TheGirl there with Cheyenne.  I know it must still sting to have to think of Cheyenne being gone.  It sure hurts me to think about it.  But what is life?  It starts and ends, and in between we have mini starts and endings.  We have to make the best of this time.  She and I still have time for adventures.  How much time we don't know, obviously.  The world is full of adventures.  It's like the last Calvin and Hobbes.  Calvin tells Hobbes, "Let's go exploring!"

Thursday, June, 25, One of the ladies, Cynthia, that regularly attends storytime came in and she looked like she gained a little weight.  Not a bad thing, I'm just noticing.  She's pretty.  She said hi as she went into the community room for storytime.  There was also one of the newer MILFs today looking amazing.  One of the new au pairs was at the library tonight.  She wanted some books for her ward.  Is that what it's called?  Anyway, the young lady she is babysitting needed some books.  OMG, this lady is so pretty.  She wore a soccer themed outfit today.  I'm not trying to actively look, but both the MILF and the au pair seemed to point their behinds at me.  I'm sure I'm assuming that because the MILF was getting things from the art cart, which is opposite of the circulation desk.  But still.  I don't mind the view.  I try not to actively look, but I did get some views without trying.

One of the things I wrote on the top of the Google Documents file that I write this journal in is 2026: with a purpose.  I think the first half of the year has been lived with a purpose.  But as I stare at a future where I'm going to be making one fourth the money per month that I was making, I have to find another job and refocus on some things that I do want to do with a purpose.

Friday, June, 26, I'm calling today Final Friday, because most of the part timers are losing their Friday hours.  At least that was the original idea.  After talking to a bunch of the other part timers I come to find out I'm the only one losing Fridays.  Oh well.  Sucks to suck.

I wasn't feeling yogurt this morning, so I ran out of the house without having anything to eat.  I decided that since this is my Final Friday I would treat myself to a yummy breakfast burrito from Tacos Villa Corona in Atwater Village.  It really hit the spot.

I went to the fire station to pick up the mail.  It was quiet, but that's normal on a Friday.  When I got to the lobby I noticed there was something going on outside.  I didn't know it, but there was an impromptu flag ceremony happening for a firefighter that had passed last night.  He must have been one of those guys that got things done, because they were talking so well about him.  It made me emotional.  I also tied it to Tony's passing.  This man, Bill Jensen, was burned on sixty percent of his body.  I'll try not to butcher the story as one of his colleagues told it.  It was a fire in Calabasas, thought to be routine.  That is until something happened that caused the fire to rage out of control.  Jensen took most of the brunt of the flames, and was burned on a large portion of his body.  He became an advocate for firefighters that had suffered life threatening burns.  The sculpture outside the library is dedicated to him.  That's no joke.  Giant.

When I got back from part three of the route I talked to Grigor about the future of the library.  He mentioned that Nancy told him they didn't need him on Fridays.  But then a day later she told him to come in on Fridays.  I don't think that will happen with me.  But, then I've been talking to others who have experienced this before.  They have me thinking that perhaps this is a temporary thing.  Last time this happened it lasted three weeks, and I joked about it today that yeah, I give them three weeks to change their minds again.  For my sake I hope they do give me some of my hours back.

The saga of the backyard camera being moved continues.  I figured I would put a screw on the bottom so that it can't move down.  I think the hinge is just old and the camera's weight causes it to slowly move downward.

A series of pictures came up on my Instagram feed today that featured pictures of Christy Canyon from the late 90s.  Peek Christy Canyon.  Not much I can say.  I started jerking off to Christy in the late 90s.  I remember buying one of those more hardcore girlie magazines and seeing the ads in the back for videos on VHS.  After sending away for one video then came the catalogs filled with videos with other porn stars.  But she was always my favorite.

Saturday, June, 27, This morning I woke up and saw these three tomatoes on the dining room table.  My aunt later told me that I figured it was - tomatoes from the backyard.  There are a lot of little tomatoes on the plant.  Hope they taste good.

I went to bed last night thinking I should wear my overalls to today's bookmobile event.  Which is what I did.  I like wearing them while on the route, and after today I think it will be the default outfit for the bookmobile.

Today was alright at the bookmobile event.  I had a lot of good interactions with the patrons visiting the bookmobile.  Some things have to change in how I deal with the bookmobile.  The computer situation is good, but the materials on the bookmobile need to be standardized to my liking.  I tried making some library cards and I find the one I picked is blank.  Not OK.

I was laying on my bench in my backyard when I noticed the Edison lights swinging.  I didn't know why it would swing like that, but then I looked to my right and I see a rat swinging from the lights trying to get into a cage that I put suet in for the birds.  I saw this evening that the other suet I bought earlier this week was all gone.  I thought, oh the birds must really like it.  Yeah, the birds and the rats, apparently.  I took the suet out and put it in a different feeder.  And here I was just thinking tonight how few rats I see nowadays.

Sunday, June, 28, Today is the final Sunday Central will be open for the foreseeable future.  I told Reneh and Owen that I would be there for a "celebration" of sorts.  Owen said he would bring some of those confetti poppers.  Sure enough he did.  So we staged a little show at the front of the library.

The Sunday closure is bittersweet for my coworkers.  Patty and Reneh both said they are going to have Sundays off.  I don't usually work on Sundays, but I have.  So I do consider myself part of the Sunday crew.  For me it's sad because if we get Sundays back in the future this crew will certainly not come back in this configuration.

I was writing this journal while in my backyard when three rats ran by me, I guess chasing each other.  I shooed them away, but that was crazy.  They're still lurking around the backyard.  I could see and hear them as I put seed in the bird feeders.  Damn them rats!  I'm going to have to load up the pellet gun I bought a couple of years ago to scare them away.

Monday, June, 29, Not much to report on today.  I parked my car in a different spot that's next to the electric chargers.  Those chargers are almost always empty, so this way my car is farther away from the rest.  Woo!

I still have the loaner for the route.  I like the car, even though I have to go back the route in three trips.  But it has Carplay and that makes it easier for me to enjoy myself.

I soaked some of the gel pellets in water overnight in order to have them ready for tonight.  Well, I guess I didn't soak them enough, because they were small.  Too small for them to properly work in the gun.  I'll soak them again and hopefully then I'll be able to give these rats what for.

Tuesday, June, 30, I got a text this morning asking me to cover the children's room for two hours from 10am to noon.  Yes, I said.  I need the hours, now more than ever.  I need as many hours as I can get.  And I need to bank as much money while I can.

TheGirl sent me a text this afternoon saying that she's going to pick up Phoenix from her brother's place tomorrow.  Every week we have to think of where we want to eat.  Since Chan and I didn't go over on Monday I sent her a text that night saying Chan was asking where gonna eat.  TheGirl said she wanted fish tacos from the Broken Compass Tiki.  I'm down with that.  But, we can't take Phoenix there.  I suggested walking him after dinner.  Perfect.  He's a good little guy.  He doesn't deserve to be abandoned by his so-called family.