Co-workers

D and the other staff guy, R had lunch together somewhere
and went out for beer after work. Imagining that D would treat, I felt a little whiny about not being invited along.
D eats out/at home every day and most nights has a beer after work before picking his son up. He also keeps beer in the fridge at work and it disappears.
I got a call just before 4:30 about binding equipment for the home. $170-ish was the lowest priced one. She wanted lower.

I wonder if he would have taken C, the casual labour guy along too and treated him as well. Except C was in the hospital all day for some reason. He had a friend of his, M, pick up his cheque and said he'd see me on Monday.

M, I'd wager, smokes an equal amount as C does. A quick look at M, dressed in a nice red sweater and out-of-date black leather jacket (or back in style 80s Michael Jackson jacket with shoulder pads), neat haircut and I can tell he's from the same place as C. Probably an addict in recovery. M is handsome, and if his speech were smoother, could probably con the elderly out of some coin with his blue eyes and nice smile.
R is also a smoker but is stinkier than C or M. Maybe his girlfriend doesn't do his laundry regularly as he suggested.

L had popped in earlier. She succeeded in getting a 7 FT lighted Christmas tree from Canadian Tire that was on sale. I called her later as she had accidentally paid a bill dated December 26, 2008. She's recovering from a cold. Is it just me, or do people sound sexier when they have colds?
Yesterday, she told me her husband has been extra sucky ever since her sister-in-law (30) broke up with L's brother (4oish). Right before a large number of guests arrived, she told him, "I don't know who I am. I was afraid to tell you sooner." L doesn't want her husband to go overboard. To him, she would ask, "Who are you?" if he persisted in being extra-caring and in constant contact.
Thus the phrase, "Who just says it's over?" came up. But they talked and it is over.
Y and I haven't talked but it feels like it's over.
Time passes and I forget the things I wanted to talk with her about. The things that were important to me that I wanted to make clear.
It feels like she will never want to talk. After all, she and her singular ex aren't friends to this day and Y broke up with her for similar reasons.
Last night, somewhere between 3AM and 6AM, someone gently rang my buzzer. I wondered if it was Y. Perhaps that's why I dreamed of her and within my dream wondered if it was a mistake for our relationship to be over.

"Who just says it's over?" was a line that also appeared, I believe, in Synecdoche, New York.

I went through the Accounts Payable files today. Looking for something needed. Pulled out all the empty file folders and put them beside the duplicate file folders. Slowly organizing and improving upon the work those past receptionists/office managers have done before me. Removing extra, unneeded staples to save space in the folders. Seriously three staples for 2 sheets of paper?! I use a metal letter opener to remove the staples with a stabbing motion. Works nicely.

Recurring Themes

Had another dream last night of Kate and her kids and being in their house in secret.
This time the kids were older. Her youngest daughter, Molly was a teenaged lesbian. Her son, Seamus also a homosexual. Not sure about the middle child, Megan. Ken's old green wool sweater lay outside as if on display on a piece of modern art.
Seamus helped me hide. Everyone got scared when Ken arrived home.
I hid on the porch. Black hood covering my face. But I could still see out.
He drew near and I thought, he knows I'm here, I should just take control of the situation.
So I leapt up and screamed and ran away.
As I ran I saw there were army vehicles in the driveway. Gifts from Ken to his son, hoping to make him manly.
I ran up the hill. A cab pulled up. There was already another woman inside. The driver flashed a ten dollar bill and a five, communicating the fare. I agreed and climbed in. Then there were four of us women and I started to rile them all up that we shouldn't have to pay so much.

15
It's been over 12 years now since the end. Will something happen in three years?

A normal day at work. Trying to get work done. Interrupted. Blurting out the truth which was already known. Blurting out more. Such a Sagittarian.

After work, I went for a Hermanns and dinner at the Irish Pub. Female servers were dressed in red and black kilts.
The Butcher Shop man had no clients so lounged in a white chair by the window.
A Japanese woman walks along the sidewalk, reading a letter, smiling. Beautiful.
I get in the lineup at the theatre. Behind a butch and a femme. I wonder if she really is butch or she's going FTM.
Inside, I decide to get a drink and line up again. A cashier calls me over. Two others who were behind me get helped while he is still counting change. I leave and buy a drink from someone else.
The movie is brilliant. I feel like it's exactly what I would hope to accomplish if I ever wrote so there's no point in even trying or I'd just be thought to copying Kaufman.
I get home and there's a notice from the landlord. Two actually. One in the mailbox, one under the door. On the 28th, between 2:30 and 4:30 he will be entering suites for a "Routine Building/Suite Inspection"
Nothing routine about it as this is the first time it's happened.
Angry again at the landlord for this. And once again, the work that I've been doing to clean up and organize gets put on hold as I have to stop and hide it all. Which for me and my system of having it all out so I deal with it, is a step backwards.
I check facebook and there's a message from Kim and once again she ends by saying,
"Take care."
I now hate this phrase as she keeps saying it and each time it sounds like goodbye.
Or Take Care of yourself because I'm no longer doing it.
And I know this is unreasonable and probably means I've gone slightly whacky post-break-up.

last night's dream of exes

At the airport, they follow behind as we walk to the car.
Lorie asks, "Do you want to meet here again?"
to no one in particular, but she means me.
Kim responds, "Okay."
Turning back, I see Kate with two of her kids.
I take a long look at the kids and then back at the woman.
It's not her. But suddenly I'm hitched up on the back of a vehicle
being towed along, heels dragging on the road. Just to make a statement.
As if the lookalike will let the real Kate know how much she hurt me.

A day at work

I learn that the reason why our regular casual labour dude doesn't have a phone is because he is homeless. He's been staying at Salvation Army. Aside from smoking cigarettes, what does he do with his money? He makes what I made at Rolex, what I wish I were making now. And it's all deduction-free money. Now I don't know if my boss had been planning on posting up the Trespass Signs or not, but he did print out 2 copies of the email, perhaps not realizing the sign came as an attachment. They come from the Liquor Cabinet (now if that isn't ironic, what is?). The subject is Esquimalt Business Association:

For your information,
Attached is a poster for you to post on your exterior walls business. With Downtown Victoria pushing out the homeless, Esquimalt is their best option. The EBA has been communicating with Victoria City Police to address the problem. Some of the homeless are very aggressive c/w extreme health problems. Caution must be applied for both you and your staff.
The reason for the poster is to give VPD the permission on your behalf to deal directly with the person. With out the poster the homeless just say they have permission from the owners and this leaves VPD helpless. Pleas help to send the message to the happy campers in the community.
If you can get a description of the individulas (yes they come in groups) or individula, Chantal Ziegler our community contact with VPD will talk to them and advise them not to come back. With the sign they can be charged with No Trespassing.
You want to be extra careful if you or your self are doing bank deposits. These people can also intimidate staff to stop working for you. Lets work together to stop the problem.
When phoning the Police get a Police Report Number.
If anyone has questions please do not hesitate to contact me for further information.

Cheers,
Brent Patriquin
Canadian Liquor Cabinet
250-361-3530 #3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have copied it out exactly as it appears, grammatical errors in tact.
I recycled the 1 copy and took the other home for amusement.
Hopefully, one day, I'll get to see the actual Trespass Sign as well.
And then I can ask my boss how he thinks our casual labour dude would feel seeing that poster if he wants to put it up and avoid politics and ethics.

The other staff member, who takes the casual labour guy out with him, decided to show something to me on his cell phone. He accidentally opened up a photo of two big nude women seated on the beach or something. They were photographed from behind. I laughed and joked that he could be fired for showing me something like that. I was serious. He accidentally opened up the same one again and then found the correct one. A photo of a nude male baby seated on the beach with an enlarged, adult-sized penis. This photo came with audio with an adult voice pretending to be the baby and saying, "#%@! off. what are you looking at?!" etc.
The staff laughing, asked me if I saw the penis. Yeah. Staff guy says he doesn't even know who sent it to him. I tell him I hope that's not the new spam, thinking of my own cell phone. He jokes that it came from Telus and it cost him 50 cents for receiving it. I wanted to tell Staff guy not to ever show me anything like that again, but if Staff guy thinks I'm one of the guys, that's better than being hit on or sexually harassed right? (Staff guy has a girlfriend, who does his laundry for him.) If he goes to show me something else on his cell phone, that's when I will stop him and tell him I have no interest in seeing jokes like that. He will then probably think I have no sense of humour and forget how I made him laugh in the past with my jokes.
The accountant comes back after a call from the boss about the cheque arriving. We've received larger cheques, I don't know why this one is of special interest. Probably because they agreed the next time a big cheque came in (an expected one), he would take some of the money for himself. This was the accountant's idea. Perhaps so he would be much more agreeable to her recent hundred dollar raise for supposedly coming in more often to train me. But the truth is, she hasn't. Dang even our tech does this by deciding to make calls etc and then turns around and charges us for it. Really, tech, charging us 2 hours for a couple of 5-minute calls?
While the accountant and the boss chat, I ask X (the accountant's daughter's best friend) what the accountant is driving that day. He says it's her new sports car. I ask him how it drives. He surprises me by saying it's great and that she's been going fast. I guess it hadn't started raining by then and the roads were dry.
What's funny is that the accountant has complained to me how the boss's relative (the one I'm replacing) ripped her off by charging her for time even though the accountant had to go back and fix all her errors. And yet she's charging us an extra hundred for saying she'll come in and then calling and saying she can't make it?
The boss leaves early, happy about the $9,400 he's going to deposit into his joint account. He's married and lives in a house with their son. It's supposedly the first time he's taken money for himself. He makes more than twice what I make. And he can use the company credit cards to pay for things that I turn a blind eye to.
A man walks in, naturally looking for used furniture. I sigh, this always happens when the boss is not around. I get so many calls and walk-ins and I'm sure I piss people off with my ignorance about costs and product. Miracle-of-miracles, the boss returns. He tells the man the catalogue prices he sees are just "list" costs and that we can do better than that. And lies to the man about having to go do some work and leaves. It's nice because he's going to deliver a cheque to the casual labour dude.
Today I was freezing again. I wear a t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, sweater and a hoodie. Then I get too warm. Argh! I ran around in the back, hopped, and did exaggerated marching to try and warm up.
A man calls back asking where we are located. He called the other day. I recognize the accent and how he has a hard time listening to me. I have to repeat what I said before about us not having anything in stock. And he tells me what I say costs $900 costs $500 online. "Okay, then!" I answer with cheer, thinking good luck. I search the internet as well and see that he's right but I wouldn't order from them. It would be like ordering a mail-order groom from a popcorn company.
I leave at 4:30 and am just happy to leave at my regular time as opposed to staying 'til 5 (as I already work through an 8.5 hour day getting paid for 8). And after taxes, I hardly make more than I did on EI. I am a loyal employee who knows I need to leave to make more money, even though it will anger them (who currently pay half my wages for 6 months as I'm supposedly getting training during this time). It certainly is educational. I am learning how I would run a business differently for one thing.

The best thing about this day at work is just happening to look up and there was a ridiculously-cute-looking woman looking at me. I looked away, naturally, and realized she was probably in high-school but it was still a happy moment. The happenstance of looking up to find someone looking at you and attaching meaning to it.

Ulp

Last night I went out for a bag of Smart Food.
The air was still and warm, fresh and calm.
I felt safe and floaty.
And wondered if I was about to die.
I looked around as if a car was about to strike, but
I really was safe.
I forgot this feeling, walking into the store.
I could have been shot and killed in a robbery, after all.
Letting my guard down. Or a car could have come crashing through the store.
Oh the puzzling mind.
That I would wonder at Death around the corner in a feeling of lightness out in the dark peace of night.