new spring coat

Gorilla at the car wash on Piedmont Avenue has a new suit.

recurring loops

recurring loops happen. Thoughts you can't get out of your head, worries that won't leave you alone.

I've found that recently, what seems to help is stepping out of the normal habits with a mental and physical activity. For me, that has been as simple as working in the garden and yard for a while at the end of each day. Somehow that clears things out all the way down to the dream level in me. I don't know if something like that would work for anyone else, but maybe it would. After doing the same things in the same places redundantly, even my dreams can become frustrating loops. I actually dream better after gardening.

Pretty good day

Yesterday was not as busy as I would like but a couple of jobs came in near the end that made the last hour pass at an acceptable level. I balance the lulls with busy work clearing out old files and stripping film to go into recycle bins.

When I got home, Monster was clean-shaven and grinning. All of the dead wood in the side yard had been moved and stackeed neatly against the side of the house. The misplaced hosta had been transplanted to a better place on one side of the house and the rhododendron had been tranplanted to the other side in a better, roomier space. New pinestraw was spread evenly across all of the area he had worked in.

I told him it looked great and he said "You like it when I bust my ass."
Yes. I do like it when he works around the house an actually finishes a job that he starts.
He looked a lot better too after shaving.

The only complaint (I can't help it - there's always one) was that he dug up the one purple flower I'd saved from the front. When I asked what he was planning to do with it, he started singing "Seasons in the Sun". I've never seen anyone who hates flowers as much as he does. I am planning to rescue it next time he's not home - after it stops raining. I'll either try potting it or planting it in back next to the patio.

Estrogen

Five of us had met for a polite southern ladies tea at the Faded Rose. I think it is the most feminine place I've seen in recent years in that traditional, southern, rather mature style. The weather didn't cooperate with me earlier. There was a downpour just minutes earlier but the clouds parted just as everyone made it there. Lots of tea. Several pots of various infusions were consumed. Scones/biscuits served with preserves, lemon curd and clotted cream.

Mrs. Cloun, being the supporting friend that she is, helped me look for the elusive perfect dress to wear to my cousin's wedding in June. I'm hard to please this week. Everything seemed like it was the wrong color, too casual for an evening wedding, or too matronly - too many gathers, too fluffy, etc. etc. But I think I have a lot better idea now for what I might wear. I could wear my black suit, but this would be my one good excuse this year to buy myself something wonderful and feminine, despite the fact that I'm not a girlie skirt-wearing type. I would love something simple, classic, slender in jewel colors like red or purple. Or polka dots - there are so many nice black & white polka dot dresses that were either too flimsy at the top, too low in the back or too fluffy and bunched up (whatever that's called).

I will continue the search another day.

Just what I needed

My day was frustrating. Nothing to work on and I finally gave up the ghost and went home at 3PM. No work - no pay.

Then we went to East Atlanta and met Sandy at the cantina to satisfy my margarita carving. Nick was working and came out of the kitchen to visit for a moment. I had a good margarita with a full, oaky underlying flavor and complimenary quesadilla from Nick. Then we headed to the Gravity Pub to check out Bingo night with Chaz. We stayed for three rounds before leaving.
We came home, where Monster urinated for an age that rivaled Austin Powers.

Good company and tequila and music and escape from the norm were just what I needed to calm my anxiety and raise my spirits. Thank you.

Where did my job go?

Got to work yesterday and found out Boss #1 has taken another week-long vacation. I am left alone in the front with The Irritant. Needless to say, there was no work to do yesterday except for a few previously unfinished projects drizzling in bits and pieces from last week. This morning I got to my office and there is NOTHING in it to work on. I finished yesterday archiving and filing so that's one less thing I can do to entertain myself with today. I also changed out all the chemistry in the plate maker yesterday, so that job is done as well.

UURRRGGHHH!

What is the price of boredom and entropy?

Inman Park Festival

This weekend is the Inman Park neighborhood festival and parade.

Happy Birthday to Monster

It's his birthday today. He's still sick with whatever microbe has gotten into him. I will do whatever I can for him when I get home from work.

Yesterday, after work, Ann and I went to eat sushi together at the restaurant that seems to be appropriately named "Sushi Bar" up the street. Not bad. Not as cheap or with quite the atmosphere of Ru San's but very conveniently located to home. I'll be back, hopefully with Ann again.

might be plague.

Monster got back from working in Florida on Monday with a scratchy throat, which we both attributed to traveling with smoking co-workers and in dry airplanes, but by yesterday he was much worse and running a fever of 101. Looks like a flu of some sort. Or could be bubonic or pneumonic plague.

So far, I'm feeling okay. No signs that he's shared too much with me yet.

Patio Living

We've been working in the yard most of the weekend, catching up on a winter spent letting everything go outside. There are twenty leaf bags we've filled up on the curb now. Monster has made a level garden planter/box for us to grow tomatos, eggplants, peppers and herbs in. I've beaten back as much of the english ivy in the back yard jungle as I could over the weekend to make room for the garden and to begin to reclaim the back yard for outdoor living.

Now it's time to relax in the butterfly chairs on the patio in back with a few refreshments and enjoy our place.

Next project: The dining room. But not this week.

Better than I thought today would be.

Boss #1 finally came back from his family vacation today. the dya was filled with setting jobs and clients right again and getting everything back on track. Lots of accusations and questions followed by polite apologies and at least one cheap shot on my part accusing the pressmen of sexism when they wouldn't listen to me. Truth is, they didn't feel confident about anything until they heard it from their Commander In Chief. There was an undeniable break in the tension in the air with Boss #1 back and The Irritant not as noticable.

There was a march of some sort today in Chamblee, a part of town with a lot of Asian and Hispanic immigrants. Police were at every intersection as hundreads of people walked by, many holding United States flags, one or two sporting Mexican flags, walking up Buford highway. I only wish this march had been in Buckhead or Marietta, where a lot of immigrants are employed, but for all I know there were similar marches around the area.

Dinner of pizza with red wine tonight with Monster.

Go to Wikipedia. Type in your birth date (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List three important birthdays and three interesting deaths. Post this in your journal.

events:

1604 - Kepler's Star: German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes that an exceptionally bright star had suddenly appeared in the constellation Ophiuchus, which turned out to be the last supernova to have been observed in our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

2005 - Peter Mayhew, better known in his film role as Chewbacca becomes an official U.S. citizen.

2005 - The Chicago White Sox clinch their first American League pennant since 1959, and their first World Series appearance, also since 1959.

birthdays:

1253 - Ivo of Kermartin, French saint (d. 1303)

1915 - Arthur Miller, American playwright (d. 2005)

1972 - Eminem, American rapper

deaths:

532 - Pope Boniface II

1849 - Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French musician and composer (b. 1810)

1967 - Henry Pu Yi, last Emperor of China (b. 1906)

TGIF

This has been the longest week of the year at work.

I have had to start backing up certain job-related emails by forwarding the correspondence to my personal email account just to have a permanent record of what had transpired this week.

We had at least one day when I had no access to my email at work.

I have listened to The Irritant talking customer into smaller orders - like this is somehow what he's supposed to do - make less money for the company and get some clients to choose other providers altogether.

Everyone tells me to ask The Irritant for info when I have questions (like missing information) on a job or client and 90% of the time, not only does he not have a clue, but refuses to speak to clients or check into things I do not have access to.

I hate this place... mostly because of one employee.

This is the first day of Boss#1's family vacation week and chaos has already started. One of our vendors called in looking for faxed instructions for a job they recieved last week and the job jacket, which should be in the irritant's office by now, is missing. The Irritant tells me he is unable to make a new fax-sheet for the order without the job jacket. I have already done a thorough search of both my office and the common area. I suspect it will magically resurface soon, as these things usually do. I can not tread in The Irritant's territory. Making purchase orders and such paperwork is under his specific job duties.