A Day in the Life
(1-10 May 2006)
10 May 2006
-Cubs 8, Giants 1. This game was fun to
attend, but no fun at all to watch. The highlight was watching the entire stadium light up like Christmas every time
that Barry Bonds stepped to the plate. He got a few chances to swing & even struck out once, but no Ruth-tying
homer. But I got to the ballpark 100 minutes early as I it's walkable (longish, but still walkable) from my new place
of employ. Sitting behind us was a man more inebriated than perhaps any other I have ever witnessed. He was
seemingly trying to pick a fight with anyone who would listen, including & especially his over-patient female companion.
It was a short race between feeling sorry & scared for her.
-Re-enter Em, where we saw each other at the
ballpark for the first time in a little less than a week. It's been a very long week. She always seems to be gone
for long periods just as I start new jobs...
9 May 2006
-I'm riding BART all the time now, to the point that I
can easily foresee being utterly sick of BART. Nevertheless, it's absurdly convenient for where I live & work &
I've long held the belief that anyone who drives into San Francisco is being an imbecile. Anyway, BART raises the
age-old problem (think a Jake-like door dilemma here) of when to get up & offer someone your seat. While it often
seems polite, the whole practice frequently smacks of chauvinism & often of insulting people by implying that they are
older &/or more frail than they envision themselves to be. Obviously there are obvious cases, but they are pretty
rare. The biggest thing I can't understand, however, are the people who sit in the outside seat of a pair & block
access to an empty adjacent seat. That, my friends, is just jacked. They usually will let someone in if they're
really insistent, but demanding that of others is just ridiculous.
-When I was in third grade, I created this thing I
called the Pencil Warehouse. I would pick up any unclaimed pencil that I saw across the school & especially in the
classroom & store them in a section of my desk I designated as said Warehouse. My slogan for it was "If you
see a pencil you think is yours, it probably is. Please take it." Not only was I the only person in the
class who never ever ran out of pencils (or needed to sharpen one during a test), but many of my classmates came to rely on
the Warehouse to keep them stocked. No one really abused it, though, & the popularity of the Pencil Warehouse was
a driving force behind my landslide election to Class President. Fast-forward 17 years (it feels like this was
yesterday!)... I have a new Pencil Warehouse, as the primary distributor for the building of office supplies. The
feeling of being handed all those fresh supplies was almost identical to the assembling of the old Warehouse so very long
ago. Call it destiny.
-My lifelong struggle with fluorescent lights may be my only significant complaint with my
job. & really, there are few jobs that met the current criteria (working with other people) that don't include this
complaint.
-It is still May, after all. & April was especially good, so you knew no one was getting off
that easily.
8 May 2006
-I give up on Digg.
Despite the Mep Report demonstrating clear popularity with our latest highlight that we cut just for promotion on said
allegedly democratic site, the hidden management has pulled it because they personally don't like our content.
Boo.
-& Greg resurrected it & they did it again! I again totally give up on Digg! They're
the USA of the internet... they claim to be free, open, & democratic, but really are just as insular, plutocratic,
corrupt, & provincial as any other site/nation on the web/planet. & in both cases, my wrath is sparked by the
insidiousness of the claims to be different & better when it's just about the same. At least some
leaderships/websites are honest & transparent about their corruptions & flaws. The USA & Digg are just
plain fraudulent.
-While these ups & downs overshadowed much of my work day, it seems I am continuing to impress my
new co-workers & bosses with my work ethic. & being able to fix a printer when no one else in the building
could.
7 May 2006
-Went to Mama's Royal Cafe with 9 others (Fish, Gris,
Anna, Peter, Jacqueline, & 4 of Fish's Wisconsin peeps) & found it, for the third straight time in three attempts, to
be slightly disappointing in the food department (actually ordering different items every time!). Then we went back to
play Mafia at Gris & Anna's for many long hours, with a couple variations of play. That was great fun, &
quickly reminded me that while online versions of the game
are great fun, nothing competes with the actual live game. My pirate investigator was dizzying (one eye closed the
whole time), but such a great time.
-Just a twinge of that ol' Sunday night apprehension, but if I stay focused on the
fact that I actually enjoy the work, I should be able to beat it. So many familiar feelings become automatic.
6 May 2006
-Migraine: 13 hours, right side, severe, caused
by fluorescent lights & hair being up (the two big work factors).
-Weekends mean something again. How
odd.
5 May 2006
Happy Birthday to Aaron
Harper
-Mary Braun (1981-2006). It happened Sunday night & I knew just after
getting my job, but it seems to be best to make sure people who knew her are informed first in a way other than my webpage.
Emily flew to Denver this morning for the service & there'll be something in Santa Barbara this weekend to coincide
with the PIRG state-wide meetings that were already going to be happening. For those who didn't know her, she was a
PIRGer in Santa Barbara, & one of my favorite folks from amongst the PIRG community... always genuine, always nice.
She had been struggling with depression for a long time, & had recently gone on some drugs for it. Emily has
recently been doing a lot of work on depression drugs that increase rates of attempted & successful suicides, & the
fact that this was likely a factor here is heartbreaking.
4 May 2006
-It's been emotional.
-Getting up early more than once
a week is something I haven't done in a very long time. I feel like I'm back in high school. It's nice though,
because I'm obviously not giving up staying up late, so I'm going back to a low-sleep schedule, which recalls times of
feeling inspired to do something every minute of the day. Which makes this about seven steps in the right
direction.
-Dear Mike Hargrove, thank you!
-Rarely
have I consistently been coming home from a job with a smile on my face & the feeling that everything on that front is
falling into place. Yes, yes, it's been 2 days. But those are still 2 rare days.
3 May 2006
-Can't complain about my first day & everything seems
to be settling in quite rapidly. I was amazed at how friendly & welcoming everyone was & how many things
already had my name on them given that I'm theoretically still "pending". But maybe I'm just remembering how
it took weeks to get my name on anything at Seneca...
-I love having a carless commute.
-Dear Mike Hargrove: I
know you still want to give Eddie Guardado a chance. I do too. Who doesn't love "Everyday Eddie"?
But seriously. This could be a .500 team with a reliable closer. Doesn't that concern you? It's time
to give J.J. Putz a chance. Yes, I know his name brings chuckles more than fearsome closer intimidations, but I have a
strange feeling he won't have the same penchant for giving up first-time major-league homers to non-power hitters with one
out left in the game. Seriously. It's always with one out left, & often one strike. Get Eddie a little
counseling, or maybe even check to see if he's on the take. Because this two-outs blown-save nonsense is getting just
the slightest bit frustrating for those of us who've still rooted for back-to-back 90-loss teams in Seattle. Love, Your
Loyal Fan Base.
2 May 2006
-Whiled away my last weekday of "freedom" for
the foreseeable future, though honestly I have to say that I see this job as more liberating than free time. I'm just
really looking forward to regularly seeing people again on a daily basis, let alone being back in a helping profession.
& apparently the attire is casual!
-Going to be interesting to see how this affects my sleep schedule, though.
I'll finally have reason to sleep less, though it's been... a while... since I've had a job I've had to wake up early
for. Like 3 years.
1 May 2006
-Migraine: 10 hours, right side, minor, cause
unknown.
-I HAVE A JOB! Pending clearance from my references & the standard screenings for the industry,
I'll be commuting to SF daily to work for these fine folks. I'm going to be the
Administrative Assistant at one of their youth facilities. Very exciting stuff. This is precisely the job I was
looking for... something clerical in a non-profit I can really believe in. I start on Wednesday!
-What a surreal
day, for so many reasons.
-My right knee is acting up again, for the first time in a long while. I can't recommend
as much walking as I did in the city in relatively new formal shoes.
Introspection, My Worst
Friend* (Current)
Ye Olde Archive (Past)
Introspection Directory (Source)
The Blue Pyramid (Home)