20 Years

I woke up around midnight but managed to doze a bit before I had to leave for work. Still thought about asking to use my Chief's Holiday to stay home, even as I knew it was as they say, far too late. Parking was the usual nightmare it was before the pandemic but I I try to focus on the dogs going for walks, the calories burned, and the fact that I don't really exercise at all other than walking to work. There was something about trying to keep my arms straight due to the nerve damage and I haven't tested those boundaries. And I'm not really sure how much worse pushups would be than typing all day. Lynelle chatted about the holiday on her way in. She just swapped churches, though I don't recall the specifics. Something about the old church being a dick. New church is great, focuses in on the people attending instead of the almost mechanical ritual performance of the old one. The new church's choir feels more like a community and they all become sort of part of the music. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Typical overshare on my part, but I mentioned that in many ways, music is my favorite drug. Just as true to form, she rolled with it and said something about the many paths to spirituality. One of the things I mentioned in our 360 Review (bassically our turn to critique management) is that Lynelle is versatile. Not the same way I am, though she certainly might be, but she seems to adapt her management style to us individually, as opposed to other managers who have a set management style and demand the staff conform. Things like this feel related to that. Carl came in to chat just a couple times - he & I are some of ADI's most problematic members. He had a meltdown when I first started... it's part of how I ended up working here, come to think of it. And of course my LOA was no less dramatic. A friend of his just died. I gave what solace I could.

It was a surprisingly light day for records - y'know, literally the only thing we still need to be physically there for - but the Keurig machine finally got repaired. I think almost every other employee just has their own coffee machine in their office? Not sure. Since I slept so poorly (also quite typical), I took the opportunity to try it out and snag some Silk creamers from 7-11. A homeless person asked for cash on my way in so I bought them a couple PB&J sammiches. I'm honestly confused why the sammiches are $3.5 each, but Beef n' Cheesy is $2. There are lots of terrible possible reasons why that could be, but at least one possible not-terrible reason. Probably.

I said I'd be waiting outside for FHA at 6:30, so I took care of the kids and spent some time with Lady Miss Friday. I didn't know the actual plan - FHA said he wanted to meet up tonight, just us. I figured maybe a retrospective or similar, it being what would have been our 20th anniversary. Perfect timing with Julian out of town, because when I mentioned it to him before, he freaked out. FOMO, insecurity, jealousy, etc. I wore the Venetian shirt FHA got me on Showcase Showdown #2, delighted that it still fit. He picked me up, put on the new Bunny Mix, and we went to dinner at Sipz in Clairemont. The new Bunny Mix is new enough that I still lost my ish over pretty much every song that played. I asked him how he made it and it was mostly just going through the Music Group and adding the tracks I've lost my ish over in the past. More to be grateful for, both the music group and having someone willing to do all that homework. I wish I'd drank more coffee or popped some caffeine pills during the day; I was a little dumbfounded. It was lovely just catching up, though, since neither of us keep regular journals anymore. He wants to meet Colleen, so I'll be sure to invite both of them to... something. Separately, I didn't realize my whole demeanor changes when Julian's around. I never know what's going to set him off. He's gotten better since moving back, but I'm not even on the same continent as Qualified to help him, and I'm very hopeful that he'll get real help when he gets back.