Wednesday
It's amazing how much one person can
make you feel miserable about your job and yourself.
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Let the Madness begin
I hate Tuesdays. I never know what I am going to get
hit with once I walk through the door at work. Although
better than being there yesterday, when The Boss Who
Must Be Obeyed was apparently in high dudgeon.
The Boss was at a Boss Meeting today and won't be in
until tomorrow. (You will note, reader, I do not use
a descriptive pronoun. Pfft! Of course not.I'm not
that crazy!) Which means any unpleasantness I
might have wandered into unawares today is now put
off until tomorrow. The difference being I now have the
fun of anticipation...not..
No wonder I don't sleep well.
I hate Tuesdays. I never know what I am going to get
hit with once I walk through the door at work. Although
better than being there yesterday, when The Boss Who
Must Be Obeyed was apparently in high dudgeon.
The Boss was at a Boss Meeting today and won't be in
until tomorrow. (You will note, reader, I do not use
a descriptive pronoun. Pfft! Of course not.I'm not
that crazy!) Which means any unpleasantness I
might have wandered into unawares today is now put
off until tomorrow. The difference being I now have the
fun of anticipation...not..
No wonder I don't sleep well.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Monday
Amazing.Yet another phone call from work on my
day off. I rolled back over and went back to sleep
without answering it. I didn't want to deal with the
aggravation I knew the phone call would cause me.
In the process of re-reading Game of Thrones
Still holds up as a good read.
Ah well..at least I'll never run out of books to read
at the laundromat.
Amazing.Yet another phone call from work on my
day off. I rolled back over and went back to sleep
without answering it. I didn't want to deal with the
aggravation I knew the phone call would cause me.
In the process of re-reading Game of Thrones
Still holds up as a good read.
Ah well..at least I'll never run out of books to read
at the laundromat.
Sunday, February 23, 2003
Sundays
Sundays are my lazy days.That is if I've
got enough groceries to put off food shopping until
Monday or if I've done it Friday night on my way
home from work.I usually get home from work
between 12 and 1 am early Sunday night, and
then spend 2-4 hours online in rp or chat.Since
I rarely if ever fall asleep instantly, (last night was
an exception, btw..out like a light) it's close to
5 am by the time I fall asleep. So Sunday is the
big sleep-in day.
Today I was awakened at around 10am by the
phone. Whoever it was hung up when the
answering machine came on, but it was enough to
wake me. After a trip to the bathroom, I went back
to sleep only to be woken again twice by whoever it
was. Bastage!
At any rate..I finally was fully awake around 1pm
but being lazy I stayed in bed and turned on the tv.
Channel 44 has been running English mysteries on
Sunday afternoon.Today it was an Inspector Morse
story, The Wench is Dead. Excellent writing
and with the added hook of being a story within a
story.
Up at 2:15. Wash, dress, brew coffee and nuke
pancakes. Slip some cds on. Lunassa, Secret
Garden, Norah Jones.Seconds on coffee and
pancakes. Open a window a crack to let in
some fresh air. After the last month, 48 degrees
Farenheit feels positively balmy.
I bought some books last night at the store, so I
may just sit in the parlor and read later.For the
moment, I'm going to spend some time on line
and rp a bit.
No aggravations. No Boss Who Must Be Obeyed
until Tuesday.
Unless, that is, she calls me tomorrow about
some store matter.
Sundays are my lazy days.That is if I've
got enough groceries to put off food shopping until
Monday or if I've done it Friday night on my way
home from work.I usually get home from work
between 12 and 1 am early Sunday night, and
then spend 2-4 hours online in rp or chat.Since
I rarely if ever fall asleep instantly, (last night was
an exception, btw..out like a light) it's close to
5 am by the time I fall asleep. So Sunday is the
big sleep-in day.
Today I was awakened at around 10am by the
phone. Whoever it was hung up when the
answering machine came on, but it was enough to
wake me. After a trip to the bathroom, I went back
to sleep only to be woken again twice by whoever it
was. Bastage!
At any rate..I finally was fully awake around 1pm
but being lazy I stayed in bed and turned on the tv.
Channel 44 has been running English mysteries on
Sunday afternoon.Today it was an Inspector Morse
story, The Wench is Dead. Excellent writing
and with the added hook of being a story within a
story.
Up at 2:15. Wash, dress, brew coffee and nuke
pancakes. Slip some cds on. Lunassa, Secret
Garden, Norah Jones.Seconds on coffee and
pancakes. Open a window a crack to let in
some fresh air. After the last month, 48 degrees
Farenheit feels positively balmy.
I bought some books last night at the store, so I
may just sit in the parlor and read later.For the
moment, I'm going to spend some time on line
and rp a bit.
No aggravations. No Boss Who Must Be Obeyed
until Tuesday.
Unless, that is, she calls me tomorrow about
some store matter.
Saturday, February 22, 2003
A Day in the Life
9:55am I'm woken from a sound sleep(a rarity)
by the phone ringing. I can hear the voice of a co-worker
on the answering machine in the kitchen, so I grope
for the bedroom phone next to the bed. It's the store,
looking for a Special Order I received the other day.I
tell my co-worker to check the "to be called" shelf
and she thanks me. I can tell by her voice she is
not happy she called me and woke me up, but I
can't blame her. She was told to do it by The
Boss Who Must Be Obeyed. I roll over and go back
to sleep for a few more hours before I have to get up
and go in to work myself.
9:55am I'm woken from a sound sleep(a rarity)
by the phone ringing. I can hear the voice of a co-worker
on the answering machine in the kitchen, so I grope
for the bedroom phone next to the bed. It's the store,
looking for a Special Order I received the other day.I
tell my co-worker to check the "to be called" shelf
and she thanks me. I can tell by her voice she is
not happy she called me and woke me up, but I
can't blame her. She was told to do it by The
Boss Who Must Be Obeyed. I roll over and go back
to sleep for a few more hours before I have to get up
and go in to work myself.
Work
Told you I'd get to this eventually.
I've been a bookseller for a number of years now, the last
few for one of the two major chains. What was once a job
that gave me personal satisfaction has lately become one
that is just a source of income. Yes, I know, that is what all
jobs are. But when I first started working in bookstores, it was
work, yes, but it was fun.
It's no longer fun all the time. There are occasional flashes of
gratification, but for the most part, the pleasure is gone, lost
in a sea of paperwork and nitpicking and inconsistent mandates.
An online friend of mine has said she could picture me running
my own small bookstore someplace, discussing books with
customers.
I can too. Unfortunately, the reality is I'm two or three decades
too late for that dream. The big chains are the future.
Told you I'd get to this eventually.
I've been a bookseller for a number of years now, the last
few for one of the two major chains. What was once a job
that gave me personal satisfaction has lately become one
that is just a source of income. Yes, I know, that is what all
jobs are. But when I first started working in bookstores, it was
work, yes, but it was fun.
It's no longer fun all the time. There are occasional flashes of
gratification, but for the most part, the pleasure is gone, lost
in a sea of paperwork and nitpicking and inconsistent mandates.
An online friend of mine has said she could picture me running
my own small bookstore someplace, discussing books with
customers.
I can too. Unfortunately, the reality is I'm two or three decades
too late for that dream. The big chains are the future.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Did I mention I hate winter?
We got 27 inches here. I looked out my window
at 7:15am and saw the landlord hadn't cleared a path yet
and a peek out my door around the corner showed my car
buried by snow and the lot unplowed as yet. So, I called
out from work. It was going to take awhile to get out of this
mess.
When I went outside finally, I cleared my entrance walk and
waded out to the car. The snow had actually drifted on its roof
and extended out past it to form a ledge. The landlord came by
at this point with the plow but was unable to plow me out from
where I'd parked, so he sent one of his men over with the snowblower
and he cleared about 10 ft of driveway behind me so I could back
out eventually.
With my car moved, I helped a neighbor clear her car, then I
helped the elderly lady next door clear her walkway. Then I went
back in here, ate breakfast, threw some cds on the player and
napped for most of the day.
And that, for posterity, is my version of the Holiday Blizzard
of 2003
We got 27 inches here. I looked out my window
at 7:15am and saw the landlord hadn't cleared a path yet
and a peek out my door around the corner showed my car
buried by snow and the lot unplowed as yet. So, I called
out from work. It was going to take awhile to get out of this
mess.
When I went outside finally, I cleared my entrance walk and
waded out to the car. The snow had actually drifted on its roof
and extended out past it to form a ledge. The landlord came by
at this point with the plow but was unable to plow me out from
where I'd parked, so he sent one of his men over with the snowblower
and he cleared about 10 ft of driveway behind me so I could back
out eventually.
With my car moved, I helped a neighbor clear her car, then I
helped the elderly lady next door clear her walkway. Then I went
back in here, ate breakfast, threw some cds on the player and
napped for most of the day.
And that, for posterity, is my version of the Holiday Blizzard
of 2003
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Monday, February 17, 2003
Fimbul Winter
Damn, I hate winter.
It's 25 years since the Blizzard of `78, and Nature
has decided to celebrate with another one. We are
expecting 1 to 2 feet of snow with 5 feet of drifting
possible.Luckily, it's my day off, so I can huddle here
in my hobbit hole and try to ride it out. Perhaps I'll
stay home tomorrow if the storm is as bad as they say.
More later.
Damn, I hate winter.
It's 25 years since the Blizzard of `78, and Nature
has decided to celebrate with another one. We are
expecting 1 to 2 feet of snow with 5 feet of drifting
possible.Luckily, it's my day off, so I can huddle here
in my hobbit hole and try to ride it out. Perhaps I'll
stay home tomorrow if the storm is as bad as they say.
More later.
Monday, February 10, 2003
Ok..as I was saying...
Fantasy, you might ask. Why Fantasy?
Why, when there are so many mainstream books and
authors out there, do I read fantasy?
Umm..good question.
First off, I have read some of the more recent writers
of `serious' fiction and find, sadly, I just don't like them.
I like Tom Pynchon and Thomas Berger, and some of
John Barth,but for the most part there is little out there
that appeals to me. I read other genres,historical
fiction, mystery, horror, and nonfiction as well, but
as I said, no current mainstream fiction authors grab
my attention as Fitzgerald, Faulkner, or Thomas Wolfe
did when I was younger.
I should confess here I was a voracious reader even as a
child and worked my way through many adult writers before
I finished high school.I think I shocked my junior year English
teacher when I turned in a report on Wilkie Collins'
The Moonstone instead of the usual stuff she got
from us. I mention this to establish the fact that yes, I have
read other things besides what I read nowadays.
So? Why Fantasy?
It all began with Arthur. No, not the aardvark.
The Arthur. King Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table, in the form of one of those kid's editions
that occasionally are sold at supermarkets in a set of
classics.It's still here on my bookshelf some 48 years
after my mother bought it for me, the only title left from
the set, sitting there alongside all the other books I've
bought on the subject over the years. Arthur led me to
Bulfinch's Mythology and Howard Pyle and
a host of other historical writers, and eventually, to
Tolkien.
Aha. So that's the how. What about the why?
That'll have to wait. I'll air more of my literary laundry
after a trip to the laundromat to clean the real life variety.
Later that same day:
First off, laundromats are a lot less crowded during snowstorms.
Secondly, editing a blog is a evil, evil, task. I just lost the first
attempt at this. I was not amused.
Ahem. As I was saying earlier, why fantasy.
I'm not one to avoid reality, but I do like to occasionally escape
from it. Think of it as a form of vacation from the tensions of the
world and work. (Believe me, I need some r &r after some days
there,and I will eventually get around to that subject.) A good
book or tv show can take us someplace else, take our minds
off stress for a few hours and then return us with a bit less
weighing our spirit down.
And I admit I am a bit of a romantic, not something a guy will
readily admit to, but I've always been drawn to history, myth,
and fantasy/sf.
Life is a Mystery, and there are countless Little Mysteries within it.
No, I'm not saying there are elves, or dragons, or aliens out there.
I'm saying there might be.
I'm open to the possibilities.
Fantasy, you might ask. Why Fantasy?
Why, when there are so many mainstream books and
authors out there, do I read fantasy?
Umm..good question.
First off, I have read some of the more recent writers
of `serious' fiction and find, sadly, I just don't like them.
I like Tom Pynchon and Thomas Berger, and some of
John Barth,but for the most part there is little out there
that appeals to me. I read other genres,historical
fiction, mystery, horror, and nonfiction as well, but
as I said, no current mainstream fiction authors grab
my attention as Fitzgerald, Faulkner, or Thomas Wolfe
did when I was younger.
I should confess here I was a voracious reader even as a
child and worked my way through many adult writers before
I finished high school.I think I shocked my junior year English
teacher when I turned in a report on Wilkie Collins'
The Moonstone instead of the usual stuff she got
from us. I mention this to establish the fact that yes, I have
read other things besides what I read nowadays.
So? Why Fantasy?
It all began with Arthur. No, not the aardvark.
The Arthur. King Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table, in the form of one of those kid's editions
that occasionally are sold at supermarkets in a set of
classics.It's still here on my bookshelf some 48 years
after my mother bought it for me, the only title left from
the set, sitting there alongside all the other books I've
bought on the subject over the years. Arthur led me to
Bulfinch's Mythology and Howard Pyle and
a host of other historical writers, and eventually, to
Tolkien.
Aha. So that's the how. What about the why?
That'll have to wait. I'll air more of my literary laundry
after a trip to the laundromat to clean the real life variety.
Later that same day:
First off, laundromats are a lot less crowded during snowstorms.
Secondly, editing a blog is a evil, evil, task. I just lost the first
attempt at this. I was not amused.
Ahem. As I was saying earlier, why fantasy.
I'm not one to avoid reality, but I do like to occasionally escape
from it. Think of it as a form of vacation from the tensions of the
world and work. (Believe me, I need some r &r after some days
there,and I will eventually get around to that subject.) A good
book or tv show can take us someplace else, take our minds
off stress for a few hours and then return us with a bit less
weighing our spirit down.
And I admit I am a bit of a romantic, not something a guy will
readily admit to, but I've always been drawn to history, myth,
and fantasy/sf.
Life is a Mystery, and there are countless Little Mysteries within it.
No, I'm not saying there are elves, or dragons, or aliens out there.
I'm saying there might be.
I'm open to the possibilities.