Happy Birthday, Paige!

Yesterday she went to the beach with her friends. Today Lindsay and Kyle came to town and we all (including Tracey) went to Joe's Sushi. We had a great time. Gin (sp?) the manager (or owner. I don't know which) really likes us. It's pretty cool. Whenever the kids go without me he always asks about me. When I'm there he'll always send over a glass of wine or some sake. Sometimes it's a whole bottle of wine or sake. Tonight it was sake for Tracey and me. We all got the all-you-can-eat sushi, but he also sent us a complimentary plate of sashimi. When we left he gave Paige a $50 gift certificate. Jeez, what did we do to deserve such special treatment? We only go to Joe's for every special occasion. Every birthday, graduation, every whatever.

I re-read my last post. Man, things at work haven't changed much. I applied for one of the library positions, but I haven't heard anything back. The wheels turn slowly. I reeeally hope I get one of those jobs. I can't wait to get out of DSPS. My attitude is so cynical towards that place and this job. That is not my usual M.O. When I was at the District office I loved going to work. Now I dread it. This can't go on.

Paige and her friends went to court the other day to try to get the restraining order against the stalker made permanent. The judge denied it. Kind of scary, but that same afternoon we got a call from the police officer who processed our police report. He seemed very keen on contacting the guy for a "friendly" visit. It was great talking to him. I'd love to know how it turns out.

Broadway in the Basement went really well. Too bad there were only two performances. Two more would have been fun.

Now I'm in get-life-back-to-normal mode. My back started acting up towards the end of rehearsals. I have my second chiro appointment tomorrow (today?). It's not as sensitive as it was and I'm hoping one more visit will end this current episode of spasms and pain. I've been working on getting the house back in order. I want it to get back to being guest-ready at a moment's notice.

My tomatoes are really kicking out now. They're so good and juicy. I've made three big batches of salsa so far. Sometimes when I'm watering the vines I'll just graze. Damn, they're good.

It's late. Time for bed. Busy day tomorrow.

Catching up

So. Started the new job. The first few days were fairly awful. We were given piles of work to do but there was nothing set up for us to be able to do it. No one's RCC email was set up, no one had access to the programs we needed and there was almost no space to work. That office has too many people working in it and they just hired six new student employees. We are stumbling all over each other. It's a little better now that things are mostly set up. I was able to get most of my tasks done. Right now it's hard for me to see how this is going to be successful.

I really like the women I'm working with. I'm talking about the new hires. Communication is very good and everyone has done the best they can taking on their new jobs. I have a lot more faith in my team than I have in the people who run the place. They are professional, organized, and easy to get along with.

On Tuesdays I work in Riverside, Wednesdays in Moreno Valley. In MoVal there's almost nothing to do. It all depends on whether or not Scattered shows up. If she's there she can give me something to do. Last Wednesday she never showed up. Vacant had given me a list of files to pull and see if they are still current. I got started on that job, but didn't get very far because I discovered that the list of hundreds of names wasn't in alphabetical order. I called Vacant (twice) and asked her if she could send me a new list that was sorted alphabetically. She realized she had given me the wrong list. Once I got the new one (about 50 names, still not in alphabetical order) I was able to get back to the job. Success! I managed to find THREE files! You taxpayers should be happy to know it took me only four hours to find three files that I then had to put back because they didn't contain the information I was seeking. I came back to Riverside to work on payroll. At least I got that done.

Tanya sent me a job posting last week for four permanent part-time positions at the Riverside library. I updated my resume and sent it in. These positions all pay 2 bucks more per hour than I was making at Student Services. Fingers crossed.

Broadway in the Basement goes up on the 17th. I've been working on props and so far I'm very pleased with the way they're turning out. The house is blasted, of course. When I'm doing a project like this I don't do much housework. I did get the kitchen cleaned up yesterday.

We've been dealing with a stalker lately. One of Paige's friends broke up with her boyfriend and now he's stalking everyone she knows. We noticed that the tires on the passenger side of Paige's car kept going flat. I just bought those tires last November. Turns out they had been punctured. We had them replaced and the next day they were flat again. Had to replace those too. Now when Paige comes home she hides her car in the next neighborhood and walks to the house. We filed a police report and Paige's friend got a temporary restraining order. It hasn't been served yet. I want them to get a big, burly cop to show up at his door and serve him. Personally, I'd like to pound his face until he coughs up $300. I hope this ends soon.

So, yeah, the last few weeks have been pretty stressful. Right now I'm just doing what I can to get through it. I'll be glad when the show's over. It takes up a lot of my time. I'd rather be working on the house.

Sleepy. Rehearsal in the morning, then it's back to the prop machine. I need to get the house cleaned up before Sunday. Lindsay and Kyle are coming over for 4th of July dinner and fireworks. Got a lot of catching up to do with them.

Goodnight.