PRECISELY OFF SCHEDULE

I'm surprised at how light this entire week has essentially been. I think everything came Monday. My 6th floor only got ONE package today. They've never had ONE package. I was so light a moving process didn't affect me any in getting into the building. Of course, UPS decided to bring his radio TODAY when we DIDN'T need it. I finished early enough to offer people help, but nobody was biting. Ah well.

I napped then called up the school to see who I needed to bitch to about my inability to register. See, was supposed to on Wed, but they're telling me the classes I want I need a prerequisite class, but according to the literature available I've already taken said class. Now, if they added another there's no indication at all. I'm hoping it's not this class that's ONLY available at 8AM. Either way, there's gonna be hell to pay. And if I'm not in school this semester, I'm spending it researching OTHER schools. The hell with this shit. I shouldn't need to undergo so much aggrivation to pay money to get taught. It's not right, and I'll be goddamned if I'm gonna take it.

I had my eggs sunny side up for dinner after buying a dozen eggs, and man did it suck. The taste was off and one of my eggs was yellowish green. I threw that sucker out. Hoping the rest of the batch ain't crappy. Of course, while I was cooking them ma decided to rearrange under the sink, so she was in my way. Then she decided to put unsalted butter in the butter shelf so I had to run out and get the margarine next door which made me forget to season my eggs. To top it off, the glass I got was apparently not washed very well, which I saw AFTER I made my chocolate milk. Yeah, the night was just not going well...

I HEAR YOU KNOCKING, BUT YOU CAN'T COME IN

Late freight meant a late start despite the small amount of packages I had. I decided to do the two outside stops first so I could focus on the building in one shot. That turned out to be my undoing 'cause after I dumped my handcart and went to my stuff in the loading dock I found out the elevator decided to go down. The bastards also wouldn't let us go through the front for some stupid-ass reasons. That left me, UPS, and two contractors stranded...as well as several other deliveries that came and went. I had to scan everything and make like every place was closed so I could input a comment as to why people didn't get their packages so when they checked the site they'd see. It took until after 11 for them to get the elevator working. I quickly dumped my stuff and within 20 minutes I was done. That's right, waiting almost 2 hours for 20 mins worth of work. Such is the life of a courier.

My aunt is coming up from Florida. Pops is having a minor procedure which she got into her head was a major one so to help out she's coming up. Help out whom? They don't even talk to us except to find out where gma is. Nobody's too happy about this, especially since they talked her out of it a few days ago, but gma fucked it up. The plan is to ignore her as much as possible and go on with our lives. This is gonna be fun. NOT.

Tina had sent me an E-Mail about a tour of the abandoned Atlantic Avenue Tunnel tour I had heard about on Forgotten NY before yesterday. I totally wanna go, but forgot all about calling up to make a reservation to yesterday. Hopefully I get the chance to tomorrow. Be nice to do it legally for a change. And, of course, the best part of the night is chatting with my new friend. Allllllll good.

SCENT OF A WOMAN

I only had 20 more pieces than yesterday, but you'd never know it. Thanks to a NASCAR thing going on in town, traffic was heavier than usual (WTF is NASCAR doing in NY....I thought only redneck hicks down south liked that?). On top of that, dispatch had to reboot for some reason so we were without inter-courier communication until 10:20. That means I couldn't call for the help I needed by the time I got to my building and inside. My only saving grace was Juan saved me a spot out front. Anyways, after a judgement call I did a sarcifice play and ended up with only 2 lates. If it wasn't for that damn traffic I woulda had it golden.

As usual we had a meeting today, and at the meeting I smelled that scent that's been haunting me. I think I blogged about it, but I'll recap. There's a scent I've been smelling in various places for the last few months, and it smelled like something I smelled in Sam's car the few times I was in it. It was bothering me 'cause I didn't know what it was, or why I was smelling it in the places I was. When I went to get some water and returned to my spot, Lissette had taken a place on the floor next to where I was and the smell was there. Well, it was either her or Carlos but I took a gamble and asked her before I left. Didn't even need to as it was dominating her new office. Anyways, asked her and now I know: Victoria's Secret Heavenly. Makes sense since Sam vas a VS nut (unless that was another lie).

Class was as pointless as ever. I read my modified story and got a good response, so that was good. But we got an in-class assignment that was lame, so that was bad. Bitch also ended it on time for once which made me later than I planned in getting back to talk to my new OL friend. Like talking to her, she's very fun and plenty of laughs to go around. Bah, the cool ones always live hundreds of miles away...

SINKING FEELING

Now this is the kinda day I like. 66 pieces, 1 trip inside, all the time in the world. Hell, I even got back to the station early. Natasha gave me my employee of the month letter (joy) and then I proceeded to Best Buy, riding with Will most of the way. Gotta tell ya, when yer body is aching doing that run isn't too much fun. But, I got the DVDs quick, got the bus back quick, and all was good.

I decided to make the bison burgers ma got me a while ago. Not bad, but not filling. Hadda have 6 just to be full. While I did that, pops worked at fixing our sink. Sunday night I saw water on the fridge. They saw it again yesterday. He investiaged and found the pipe was rotting out. So the usual cursing fest ensued, but he got it done. Now, to fix the leak in the basement from one of the downstairs toilets...

OVERKILL

I hate it when I'm right.

I started out with 78 pieces? I left with well over 200. My truck was jammed, and not only with regular stuff, but with BULK stops. My other block, 22, 6, 7, 20 and store stop were all bulk, and I even had one on 11, the one that gave me trouble last week? Yeah...they got 24 freaking heavy boxes. As a result, each of those stops (except the store since he comes out to me) was a trip on the elevator as they took up my entire handtrucks. I dropped the regular stuff first, then each bulk as I could, ending up having to deliver them to clear up the handtrucks as I went. I eventually got help after 11, gave Carlos my outside stops and Rory took half mine in the building. Unfortunately, it was all too late as 4 of my stops ended up late...including the bulk on 11. Help messages gallore, late freight...yeah, was just not a good day. Ah well.

Class was as pointless as ever, but I did get happy when she said we'd only have 4 classes left. Woot! Freedom looms! And I'm all congested and sore, and my teeth hurt. Definitely winter. Blah.

MUTE

At around 5 AM, I felt the twinges of a sore throat coming on. Now, how in the hell I got a sore throat just sitting and playing a video game, I dunno. All I know is I went to bed and got a full-on sore throat and congestion to boot, making it painful to do anything vocal. Yep, it's that time of year. Crud. Gonna take me at least till Tuesday to get rid of this, and it's gonna make tomorrow even more interesting than it already was gonna be. Dammit.

Always something.

TESTS

I'm experimenting with what got me fucked up on Wed. One of the popular theories was that it mighta been feelings for Tina have returned. So, I set up a hangout with her to see. Remarkably, I was actually able to GET ONE. Holy shit. I think I need to have mental breakdowns more often! We got together and ate at this health food joint on 75th since she was fasting (first and LAST time fo rme...ugh!) and did our usual talking thing. Fortunately, I didn't have another freak-out moment so I think I can rule just her out. Unfortunately, I did feel little twinges so I think I still got something there. Crap. Ah well, at lest it's not a disabling kinda thing and I can look on at other places. If, y'know, I had other places to look. Although the popular perception seems to be there's something between me and Rebecca. Even Liz started getting into that act. Yeesh!

Spent the rest of the day working, and chatting with that new girl I started talking to. Very fun convo. Also, the game Bully? A lighter version of GTA but still good.

BLACK FRIDAY

Thanksgiving was the same as ever. Ma cooked all day, bitched about it, we ate then went to go see gma. Predictable in it's simplicity. Although the turkey was extra good this year.

Today I was supposed to work a half day, but I got put on the "scan crew" which ended up keeping me there for an entire shift. What had to be done was all the stuff left behind for the holiday needed to be scanned under a special tag before 10:30. Every route with a lot of stuff, those trucks got loaded while the lighter ones got sent back to the cans on the sort to be re-sorted again on Monday. I managed to convince Natasha to let my truck be one of the sorted ones, so I got a nice head start. Although I ended up with 78 pieces and I'm usually good for over 100 on Mondays. Ugh. Also, Monday they got everyone starting at 5:50 while I'm at 5:30. That leaves me 15 goddamn minutes to get all the equipment ready. It takes 10 just for the power pads alone, forget the damn keys. Plus I don't think pops is working Monday so I'm gonna hafta leave earlier to catch an earlier train. Monday is gonna suuuuuuuuuuck. It also turns out Jasmine missed one of the 15th floor packages 'cause they called up looking for it. Hopefully Rory finds it there. This is why I work alone...

I went to Circuit City after 'cause they had a good DVD sale going. Big mistake. There was also a 6 hour sale going on. It was so crowded they had police barriers set up outside, and the line was literally around the entire place. I just went in, did a quick scan of the stuff on sale, then got on line for over an hour. I ended up with iRobot, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (regular special versions...got sick of waiting for the super specials to go on sale) and the video game Bully. Standing all that time left my knees hurting bad. Although on the line I did see a younger clone of my old English teacher Ms. Maratos. Damn clones.

I tried to nap, but D called me up to make good on a hangout we had planned. He had just gotten Guitar Hero III, and apparently you get different stuff on 2-player mode and since I'm the only other player he knows I was elected. I got to see the electric guitar/amp set he bought, he's seriously going through with learning. Now, if he's learned the art of follow-through, well, that has yet to be seen. GH3 is fun. Lotta differences from the others, and the co-op mode makes it hard to figure out who screwed up where. I thought my guitar kept fucking up on notes I was hitting, letting me hit them AND miss them at the same time.

I also started messaging this girl from that dating site I was inadvertantly signed up too. No, not as a potential 'cause she's out in Texas, but 'cause when I read her profile not only was it a very fun read, but aside from a couple details she sounded almost EXACTLY like sis. I said as much, and apparently she wants to start conversing so hey, I'm down with that. Funny there's two of them out there. ...And kinda scary.

EFFED UP

I was bulky heavy today, which meant I needed some help from the start. Natasha sent the new girl Jasmine with me. Unfortunately, her help wasn't all it coulda been had she had her own equipment, but there was a difference. I had her do the outside stops while I loaded up the building, then I gave her the top down while I took the bottom up. I made double sure to take the 11th floor, 'cause I had a lot for one stop including boxes for shipping. So much I needed the handtruck fer it, and if I had trouble with it she never woulda made it. For my trouble, I got a nice gash accross the wrist. Fun. I thought we made it in time, but unfortunately it turns out she forgot to do the 12th floor so that shit was still sitting there waiting for Rory to do it. Ah well. She's new and I was never good at working with a partner, so shit happens.

And speaking of shit happening...

Unos was tonight. Met up with sis, Christi, Tina, Wissam and D around 8-ish, and we went in and grabbed a corner booth. Place was steaming hot, lemme tell ya. But that wasn't the shitty part. The shitty part was the second I reached the joint I started feeling weird. As the minutes drolled on, it got worse. I excused myself and went to get some air, but I just could not feel better. I got there somewhat, so I tried to go back in only to get hit with it four fold. So I dropped cash for my soda and took my leave.

The more distance I put between the place and me, the better I was feeling. Ain't I too old to start having social anxiety disorder? I dunno what the hell happened. I hung out by the water for a while just sitting and thinking. As I was thinking, I was realizing how alone I felt lately, though I've denied it for the most part. I'm also realizing when I told sis my successes felt hollow, I fucked up by inadvertantly making showing up the slut the primary reason for it, so it's all tainted. I thought it was a bonus, guess I was wrong. So I need to make some changes...figure out a new direction for my life to compensate for the illusions I've been running under. Find a way to make my life what I want because of how I want it, not for the perceptions of others.

I'll figger it out eventually.

UNO

As of today I was refunded one of the fraudulent charges made through my Paypal. Good, nice and quick. This good news was also followed up with a fairly light day so all went well.

I headed up to the store once again to buy some stuff ma couldn't get yesterday. I love how frequent my use of the car is getting with little to no argument. Liking the way it's going.

Sis wants to get together at Uno's tomorrow night to do a hangout thing before she goes back home. Haven't eaten there in years. Think I was there like once. Wish it was still a White Castle, that woulda made my night. Ya know, it's on the very spot where they filmed a scene of Saturday Night Fever and reportedly one of the best White Castles in the city. Wonder if I ever gotten to eat from there before they trashed it? Hmmm...

MONDAY WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

It's a good thing I check my E-Mail at work because if I didn't, two transactions made with my Paypal would've gone under my notice for several hours. That's right, someone got into my Paypal and tried to buy stuff. I quickly kiboshed that through them, then had ma change my info on there to prevent further access while Paypal does it's thing. In the meantime, I was put very behind in my work and I was panicked and feeling like shit all morning. I was not in the mood to be trifled with...especially by Rory's flinging packages into my truck and not bothering to see if I'm, y'know, standing where he threw. Just one more box to hit me, I'da thrown it right back at his head. That's the mood I was in. Also didn't help matters that the electrical in my truck decided to take a dump, leaving me with NO lights or instrument panel. The mechanic fixed that up briefly, but had me drop it off with him when I was done.

Monday was back on par today. I had a tremendous amount of crap fer my 7th floor, as well as the usual amounts all around. The result was I ended up making several trips into and out of the one building. One to drop floors and deliver 22, which took up more space than I thought it would. And, of course, to get the elevator back down took forever and a day (that's what eats up most of my time). Next one was to do 7, which took up BOTH trucks. Hadda go back out to get the 6 stuff and my hand cart, then continue to do as normal. I hadda call for help on my outside stops, and eventually inside. For the outside, apparently several people responded. Great. Inside, nobody got there and I ended up with one late thanks to a lot of rushing. Late by 2 mins. And because of my state of mind from earlier, like a dipshit I only put 2 hours on my meter instead of the usual Monday 3. Asshole. At least it didn't rain too heavy.

Looks like I'm going back to the store earlier than expected. Ma said they got my pasta on sale, so ya know I gotta stock up. Tuesday they usually get the trucks so hopefully they'll have a fresh supply. Should probably let Tommy know I'm coming. Maybe bring the comics too and hope Craig is there. Also hope the car doesn't fucking die on me again. At least I have nowhere to be this time around. I'll also try to get my banking pin number changed, not that I ever used it, but gotta protect my funds.

Oh, yeah, and tonight I've come to realize something; not only am I enternally just a friend, but apparently I'm also the rebound guy of choice. Whenever one of my gal pals get single, I suddenly become very prominent in their lives. I basically see them a lot more than would be the norm. However, once a BF re-enters the picture, contact is reduced to minimal. Example; one friend was having problems with her BF the same time she decided to start planning hangouts with me. Problems get fixed, hangout talk ceases. Another friend, all the time she had a guy I barely saw her online. They break up, suddenly it's wished I lived closer to her so we could go out and what not. She disappears again and I find out about the time that's happened she's gotten with a new guy. So, yeah, I'm probably the ONLY rebound guy in the world who doesn't get ANY action while being the rebound. Go figger. Not that I WANT to be the rebound guy anymore than I wanna be the best gay/girl friend, but I can at least get SOMETHING out of the deal. :-p

CON DAY TWO

Man was I beat. Getting home at 2:30 after being out all day isn't such a great thing. I was sore, beat, and my pain had pain. I spent most of the day behind the table with Liz until the CT folk left, excluding the time I spent buying more 25 cent comics. That was my plan, wait for the last day then spend whatever I had left on the books. Ended up with 145 (more with duplicates...AGAIN!) for only a quarter each. Not too bad considering the 500 I got in June. I was very good this year. I coulda also went to see new Hero Kristen Bell, but I don't really give a crap about her. Never saw a thing she did, barely seen her on the show, so she has no interest for me. 'Sides, I'm a Hiro/Peter fan.

I didn't stay much longer after the CT group left, but before I departed I got Bob to buy a Spidey biz card holder which he was tremendously over charged fer. It was Spidey, so he didn't really care. Mark landed a few parties interested in speaking to the group, we got several potential new members, Rebecca told me she got Mr. Chekov from Star Trek to take one of her comics as well as making a buncha connections for computer rendering, and Bob and Chris' work attracted the eye of a movie producer who gave them a card and E-Mailed them promptly this evening. Liz also learned what it was like to be at a con and got a taste of CAG NY for better or worse.

Me, I was nothing more than a glorified table chaperone. Dunno what the hell I was doing there. If you don't have a product of your own to push, especially as a writer, you're worthless there. Yes, I'm with my kind of people, I'm where I need to be, but until I have something tangible to show for all my efforts, my existence is meaningless.

Just spent the night listing comics and chatting. Gonna hafta move ahead with a few things but with partial work this week should be easy enough to get a handle on. Oh, yeah, there was this one moment where a chick who randomly added me a long time ago on Myspace IMed me tonight. She was saying how she missed me, if I missed her, how she was thinking about me mostly when I asked what she was up to to try and make convo. Now, we only talked ONCE for a few mins a few months ago. I don't even remember what it was about. Then the role play actions of her virtually making out with me, yeah, I got a little weirded. Tried to tell her so, and she got all angry like I was the bad guy or something. Whatever, she deleted me, I blocked her, so I'm good with that arrangement. You don't say you missed someone like she did when you only talked once, it's highly inappropriate and just freaks people out.

SAVED THE CHEERLEADER

Yes, I made it to the con today. I sat at the table, got some writing done on ma's laptop, and had a good time chillen with my peeps. At the table was me, Hector, Keith, Shawnti, Everett, Sue and occassionally Liz. Bob showed up, Matt, Mark and Ed had their own table accross the way. Rebecca came and used to me to sell stuff at the table until Jeff and Jim gave her a spot at theirs. Ken was there with Ruthie doing their thing, and Rachel eventually came by as did Chris and his GF (whom he forgot to introduce to me). Then there was Belkis and her crew a couple tables away, the gaggling bunch of artists and creators all around, and the merchandise. I, was also very good. I averted my gaze to any and every comic box (although I didn't really see that many bargain bins this time around). At least I was good until the podcast guys next to us put up a quarter box right next to our table. Yeah, I sifted, but only snagged 40.

I went upstairs at the time in the brochure to get my Hayden Panettiere autograph for Wade. My VIP bage got me on the faster line, and a free photograph with her, but the autograph was $25. Yeesh. Nothing too spectacular...picked a picture, she signed it with the name I gave, then I was on my way. I came back around 12:30 when the pics began and got on line, seeing as I already paid for the $30 privelege with my pass. I had brought Liz with me 'cause I thought she wanted to take a pic or something, but she didn't listen and thought it was a panel. She eventually left, but not before I started talking to this girl with a Hook & Ladder 8 shirt. Apparently, she was the wife of one of the Ghostbusters running around with their mock Ecto-1 parked out front. She was telling me about all the costumes they do, how her hubby makes 'em all and all the shows they go to. Tell ya this much; never met the guy but I knew he was a lucky man. She also told me about this little girl she met at a show whose father named her Bat Girl (first and middle name) and her sister Harlequin (Amanda, I KNOW you'll love that one). O...kay...then. At least go with the real names, spare the kids!

Was my turn to get on the final line for a pic, I was told I needed to get a ticket. So I ran back out to get one, then back to the front of the line (fortunately). I think Hayden recognized me 'cause her hello was a little familiar. Guess not many get autographs for other people. Pic was taken, and I went and got it a couple hours later. Man, I take lousy pics. I was farther from her than I thought I was and I lost my smile by the time the dude took it. Blah. Ah well, I didn't really care one way or the other. I did what I set out to do and that's all. I did catch one guy's pic with her where he struck a Spidey-type pose next to her. Yeah, way to creep a celeb out, dude!

Around 3 Liz was finally hungry enough to accompany me for her first taste of White Castle. Unfortunately, I forgot to refresh my memory with it's location and went the wrong way. Tried to call their service line for the location, but they gave me every other one. I think she mixed up one 'cause she gave me 8th avenue where it was, but a Saten Island cross street. Customer disservice at it's best. Anyways, we got a crave case and some fries, and she loved it like I figured she would. Fortunately, it was good that she did 'cause I had never eaten there and tested it myself to affirm it didn't suck. Nope, all good. We brought some back for Hector and I handed out the rest to various people. I also had to get Becky chicken rings 'cause she decided after asking her TWICE she wanted something. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm in a relationship with her and yet I don't get any of the fun parts. I did get lotsa pay back with some rough housing, so it was all good.

At 7 the con ended and we broke for dinner. However, Mark pissed off a LOT of people by, once again, deciding for everyone we'd be eating at Mustang Harry's. Now, the food is good, but expensive as shit, and many of us can't afford to constantly eat there like he apparently can. And since they couldn't accomodate the nearly 30 people in our group and were gonna split us up anyways, a bunch of us decided to head for the nearby Ginger House to have our own inexpensive gathering. Others wanted to come, but unfortunately were already comitted to Harry's. Ended up being me, Sue, Ev, their 3 buddies from Rhode Island, Ken, Ruthie, Ed, Rachel and another comic guy whose name I forgot. Jim and some other creators also came in with their own party. We had some fun, discussed some business, then split up for the night. I went back to Harry's to see if anyone was still there. A group were still chilling in the corner, but Mark was saying bye to Shawnti, Keith, Liz and Bob who were heading back to James'. I decided to go with them and hang for a bit.

Leave it to the goddamn MTA to make me look bad with no 7 service from Manhattan. I hadda make these guys shlep from one platform to another and back after convincing them to take the train. Dammit. We got there and tried to watch some movies, but Bob and Shawnti were progressively passing out. Having finally achieved web access, I left them with Darth Vader Falls in Love and Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which they all loved. And with that, I take my leave.

DEAD ON DEPARTURE

One cool thing about today was all the packages we got in related to the convention later. We got packages for the hotel fer one of the guys I actually know (tried to score those to deliver, but Rory opted to give me Verizon instead...punk) and one of the other stops got something from Diamond Comics, but it was a P2 so it was Rory's no matter what. In the cans, I also got a package for Edwin's route to someone from DC, and Earl told me that Tesshkeel Comics is located on his route. Man! The bitch came with how late I got out again, having to call out for help. Willie came by and took two of my stops, leaving me to finish up one in the building then my last outside stop after locking it. But, I made it so it was all good. Unfortunately, I forgot to scan one of my 7th floor packages. Dammmit. Almost a perfect day.

The day continued to go downhill when I was talked into trying out this pizza place near where I catch the train that I always see this group of people outside eating at. I was with a couple co-workers and we all said what the hell based on one's recommendation. After reaching 36th street, though, it started to mess with my stomach big time. It wasn't even all that good, I've had better. I hadda go home 'cause I forgot my bank book so I drank some gingerale and took an ant-acid tablet before opting to just try my luck to find parking by taking the car to the bank instead of my bike.

Found parking and made it back to the car before the meter ran out, then went to the store where Tommy had some sparkling cider waiting for me. Gotta have it for my holiday season! I shot the shit with some people, bought my cider, and then prepared to hit the road for the con...only to have the car NOT start. With ma and pops at the doctor's in the city where I needed to be, I hadda wait till after 5 for him to determine the battery terminals were filthy. He gave me a jump and I headed for home. Unfortunately, by the time i was able to start of the train I had missed it. Deciding it'd be too late by the time I got there I opted to just stay home. Pissed as hell I missed the first day AND the panel, though from what Rebecca told me online later I didn't miss too much since it was poorly promoted. Ah well.

LATNESS

The freight was late as hell, and the rain didn't help much. I didn't get to my block until 9:30, and then I had the usual construction blockage of the freight. I also had the sales reps glad handing me on he street. I didn't even get into the building until almost 10:30. Fortunately, I was able to get help with one stop and an extension of 10 mins, but that wasn't enough to keep me from getting 23 lates. Dammit.

I called Tommy to have him hold 24 bottles of Martinellis fer me fer the holidays since it goes on sale this week and I know it goes fast. I'll swing by after I go to the bank to get money for the weekend. Convention time!

DO I CARE?

I tried to bang out homework fer class, but didn't work out so well. Got one assignment done and printed out stuff to read before I left. But when I got there she was showing a stupid video on the Black Panthers. Why the fuck are we watching history videos in a creative writing class?! The room was packed, and I was able to grab a seat behind the TV able to watch it via reflection in the windows. But, I really didn't give a fuck and was fighting falling asleep anyways. This prompted the bitch to pull me aside at the end and say I'm withdrawn from the class. Class? WHAT CLASS? Class implies there's some actual TEACHING going on. Teaching related to the topic of said class. Fucking waste of time and money. I told her it's just 'cause I'm tired, which is partially true, but irony of ironies when she reads the HW I turned in where my "brother" bashes the pointless waste of time one of his classes is. You couldn't time that better if you planned it.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR?

It was a light day, but somehow I still managed to get 22 stops which I STILL have no idea how I managed to get done, considering I hadda carry all the outside stops by hand. Carlos had said he told them to put my 7th floor on the floor, and the fucktards did that...along with 90% of my freight like I KNEW they'd do. So I responded in kind...I threw all the shit out onto the catwalk till I got a path inside, then began to do my thing. The fuckers then laughed as if it was funny. Fortunately Natasha saw that mess and said they'd go over a new load chart with me to find out where I want stuff to go.

Amidst talking about all this crap and measures to be taken to deal with it, they let me know that I was employee of the month for October. This came as a bit of a surprise to me because A) I'm new and B) someone else was announced employee of the month. Turns out, though, he was just in his work group...I'm for the whole station. To clarify, that means there's 3 (or 4) employees of the month per month. What's that mean? Well, I get a small cash bonus and lunch with the district manager. Joy. Try to see if I can't get out of that one. I also signed up for an 8 hour management class. Not planning to become one, but figger it could at least open some doors in the meantime.

I've got yet ANOTHER direction for my cousin's script. By the time I pick a direction this thing will NEVER get done. Dammit.

GOOD OLDS BOYS

What is with these easy Mondays lately? Well, so long as I get to the street around 8:30, I have plenty of time to make an additional trip and deliver everything I have without stressing or rushing. Hell, today I had a good 8 minutes left. Loading got a bit hectic when Verizon came down the line for Rory, but otherwise my truck was nice and organized. This was also day one of 10 straight I'll be spending in my area, being that the con I'll be attending is there as well.

Pops caught me down the block and asked for help. See, we rented a garage from Jim's son for the Oldsmobile for many years. Little James, the shithead, went and bought his status-symbol first car and they're gonna give him the garage. So, pops went out with ma this weekend to find a new one, but it don't open up till next week. He retrieved the Olds and I drove the van back to save him a walk and it's gonna be in our driveway till then. Ya know, I had proposed to ma that I should try to buy either that or the Falcon off pops, and maybe junk one of the other two. By the time he gets around to helping me fix 'em up, that's all they'll be good for.

Came home and was too beat to do any work, as usual. I tried to my credit, but it didn't happen. At least I didn't pass out on the couch this time... Chatted away with Liz and Rebecca before I hadda rush out for school. I got there about 15 mins late, but 5 mins after that they broke for the night. Woot! Less time I hafta spend there the happier I am.

The first step to remodeling reality happened tonight. Tossed one of the old mid 20th century aluminum-style cabinets from my gma's apartment. Once the other one is cleaned out, that'll go too (I opted not to take them 'cause of their sheer ugliness...yuck). The bookcase by the front door has also been optioned as a future DVD case for me. Now...where to put it?

MAKING THE GRADE

So Rebecca finally broke down and asked fer my help with her administrative duties. She had me meet her at Brooklyn College where she had keys to a lab and privacy to get the work done. Good plan except that the key is no longer used, which we found out later on. That, and my getting there was delayed by the fact I got turned around off the Q and ended up heading AWAY from the school instead of towards. Friggin' Q. Anyways, she got us into the computer lab where I helped grade papers and log 'em. We managed to have some fun in between her stressing over the hatred of her job. At least I didn't end up holding things this time.

Oh, yeah, all last night I ended up holding a bag of some sort, in the shoe store we went to or to hide the candy she bought when we went inside one of the movie theaters on 42nd to wait for her sister...I felt like her BF but without all the fun! Ah well.

Chat was very light, so I tried to get some work done. Operative word being tried. Where the hell did all the time go? Used to be I could do everything in no time, now it's like I got no time for nothing. Crap on a stick.

MEETING BLUES

Today's meeting was dedicated mostly to the explanation of the project clusterfuck and about the copyrights involved with the use of the CAG name. Basically, I and my agenda took a back seat for most of the meeting. We eventually got through my agenda, and had a workshop about lettering before splitting for lunch. At least the turnout this time was pretty good, with an old member I never met and a new one who just joined.

After lunch, we all went out separate ways, and I opted to chill with Rebecca again. We tried to find this Japanese book store she wanted to go to, but she forgot where it was. We visited the Bryant Park skating rink instead which I didn't know existed, then headed to the Hard Rock Cafe so she could meet her sister after I convinced her to have some fun fer a night. She found out her sis decided to do the movies first so we went to the nearest theaters where we waited as she continually tried in vain to contact her. After a couple hours she decided to just go home, which we did. We didn't do much, but it was fun. Plus, got to see a gorgeous checker cab up close. God, I love those.

Tried to do some work, but I was pretty tired at that point. Did some minor stuff, watched some TV, and now it's time for bed. Later days.

BELATED MONDAY

Good Mondays usually mean crap the rest of the week. The last two days I've had to rush to make my final stops because of some such delays I encounter. Today, I came into my truck where those assholes threw in several rather LARGE boxes, limiting my work space more than usual. Needless to say, given I only got 3 hours sleep last night, this pissed me off greatly. That and the fact that the boxes that actually BELONG on the floor they throw on the goddamn shelves, and vice versa. I EXPLAINED this already, is it so fucking hard to throw the shelf stuff ON the shelves? I'm not asking for organization, god forbid, but you KNOW the stuff that goes on the floor...put THAT shit on the floor! And if there are giant packages, PUT THEM OUTSIDE THE GODDAMN TRUCK! Everyone else does that when they load their own. The only times those fuckers EVER helped me in loading is when I was actually there. Meanwhile, they expect me to come running when they need help or to take stops off of them. Yeah, fuck that. I'm always running behind because I have to fix THEIR mess then deal with the typical bullshit on my route. They list how many stops you should have by what time the sort is done before you should be on your way out, and I can never go with what they list because I just don't have the time. I'm lucky if I can even do 16 stops without rushing, forget 20.

My receptionists seem to keep disappearing. The 15th floor has been gone for about 2 weeks now, my 22nd floor was missing in action, 20th was also out for the day, and my 9th floor is leaving for a better job. Yeesh, just when I get the hang on everyone's name.

Oh, and apparently I forgot to deliver a package on said 9th floor. Hopefully Lissette remembered to tell Rory to find it and do it.

So there's some group drama going on. Apparently a member's side project was erroneously endorsed by participants as a CAG project, which it never was. So we've got fingers being pointed in different directions and a small rift developing because of it. That's where I come in to try and repair the damage and get some ideas going for the benefit of the group that have been tainted by this one event. Sigh...it's never easy.

WORKED OUT

The Monday crap seemed to have missed a day with the time change and hit today. Our shipments were INCREDIBLY late to the point we didn't get out till almost 9:30, and they didn't cancel service. It was also raining, but that subsided by the time I got to my block.

I was able to drop off my outside stops with a shuttle driver, only to get blocked by a truck making a delivery killing some of my work space. I also couldn't reach anybody in my usual first stop considering I was so late, so I still had that crap sitting on my truck. Then the usual elevator drama, and I didn't get inside until 10:15. No way in hell was I gonna make service until I got the message it was extended to 11. That changed everything, and I was able to make service no problem.

Unfortunately, I fell asleep once again putting me behind on everything. Think I'm gonna save the GB story for next Halloween as I'm not gonna get it done anytime soon. Ah well.

ALTERATIONS

I had 114 pieces, a lot of it bulky enough to have me drop 3 of my stops to Carlos. Turns out, I didn't hafta do that at all. I was done with plenty of time left over, enough to try and offer help to people. The only one who needed it was Willie; he had 2 buildings to go with several stops. By the time I made it to his truck (the last of THREE on his block...yeesh!) I only had enough time to take 2. But, he got extra help and was all good when time ran out. Not too bad for a Monday...which has me worried for later on.

I ended up falling asleep and not getting done nearly half of what I intended, so I had to rush through and write up a story for class. I basically take one of the Halloween GB stories I was writing, changed the names and places, and brought that in. Got back my other one, which she liked, but made some stupid changes on. The lady doesn't know shit about shit, I'm convinced of it.

WEEKEND REVIEW

It only takes one fucker to ruin a good day. Friday went along just fine start to finish despite it being the second day of the audit, but when I got back to the station the mumbler I mentioned a long time ago decided to block me in as I was setting up my truck to pull into a spot past the poles. When asked how he expected me to do so with him now in the way, like a dick he asked me if I knew how to drive and offered to teach me. You have NO idea what it took to NOT lunge out of my truck and feed him his throat. If that sumbitch thinks I'm gonna take his shit, let him try it again. He will NOT live to see the next day.

Saturday I got to relax for the most part, but I did some work anyways and despite all that I reeeeeeeeeeeeally wanted to hang out and do something. That's a problem when you got nowhere to go and no one to go with. What I ended up doing was taking pics of my sword collection. I admit, I got a little carried away. After the initial shots with some poses by me, I kinda got into it and decided to put on my shades and emulate some Wesley Snipes. Hey, I was bored and it was fun. Those are up on my Myspace and Facebook.

Today, D called me up to come hangout. We had McDonalds and he filled me in on the date I interrupted him on last night, and his new GF. Then it was to his place to rock out to more Guitar Hero, then home fer me to try and get some work done and join the chat. See, I had a sinus headache all day and as a result I couldn't look at the screen without it being like flashing a bright flashlight an inch away from my eyes. Not fun. Did eventually clear up enough by the end of the night, but still there a little bit. Blah.

AUDITED

The audit went off without a hitch. Everything ran as it was supposed to. Although, it was funny watching management scrable earlier to try and finish up everything. In giving out equipment, I was told I hadda put the time cards in the buckets with them, and I wasn't allowed to give 'em out until 5 mins before punch-in. Simple, right? You'd think...except a couple guys threw a tantrum when I told them after asking for cards. You'da thought I was keeping their paychecks or something. Buncha big, immature babies.

Despite how slow the belt was moving and how late we got out, I made good time getting to the street and parking. Tried to deliver my 7th floor as early as possible by doing 22, then 11 when I switched banks, then 6 followed by 7. Ended up getting there about the usual time since I didn't even get my stuff inside till almost 10. From there I worked my way back up, switching over at 12. Way I figured, since I had to switch banks and I had to do 22 first, I would deliver the two connecting floors on each trip so no steps would be wasted. It all actually worked out pretty good, and the elevators going UP came faster than the DOWNs ever did. Dunno how that works, but whatever. Only hiccup was my 20 needs their stuff early early too, having retrieved the boxes themselves BUT leaving them for me to scan. So tomorrow, gonna stick 22 after 20 and see how that works.

I was in the mood for Chinese food, so after the bank I passed by the place we usually order from. Boy, was that a mistake. Around here, the Chinese places are usually small little spaces taken up mostly by the kitchen area with a tiny customer area in the front. When I went in, there were a buncha high schoolers there probably from OLA eating. These kids were ANNOYING to listen to. Y'know, the popular types who sound like spoiled brats whenever they talk. Listening to them was just...argh. Then, this dude came in with this retarded kid who proceeded to kick me twice before I had to give him the "I will kill you" look. Took a lot of patience to NOT explode right then and there, as I reeeeeeeeally wanted to. Hey, at least the food was good.

Oh, and I told the hottie at my station I thought she was lovely. Hey, started with an L like her name and it was the truth (although downplayed a LOT), so when I saw her I said it as part of her name and got her to blush a bit. Think I made her day a bit better. Now, if only I could get rid of the kinks in my neck my day would be a bit better.