Weird scenes inside the gold mine

Took a break from Subway sandwiches yesterday and had lunch at Taco Bell instead, which led to a couple of odd encounters. The first was with a woman I'd met through the Wells Weight Watchers at Work program - she had been interested in Diversicon but had mislaid everything but my e-mail address and the date of the convention. I filled her in on the location, cost, and where to find the programming schedule online; she seemed particularly excited about the writing panels since she said she was working on a "sci-fi" novel.

The second encounter was depressing. I was sitting there munching my nachos and reading the Wall Street Journal when somebody's cell phone went off behind me. Old, bad habits asserted themselves, and I found myself listening to the unhappy story of a breakup/divorce/separation in progress. The phone's owner had apparently had her address book burgled by her soon-to-be-ex, who had sent a bunch of e-mails about their relationship problems to all and sundry, including phone owner's employers and co-workers. Phone owner had spent most of the morning cleaning up the resulting mess, and was going over to the (apartment?) that night with a friend to pick her stuff up. Her tone of voice was one I remembered well - angry, but on the edge of tears at the same time, and trying to keep the lid on the whole seething mess because one is in public and it wouldn't do to have all kinds of strangers see you erupt in a screaming fit of sadness-fueled rage in the middle of the Taco Bell. I felt really bad for her, and it was depressing to know that there really wasn't much I could do for her. When I got up to dump my garbage and leave, our eyes met. "I'm sorry you had to listen to that," she said.
"No, it's all right, I understand," I demurred. "Good luck."
"Thanks," she said, "It's - " She stopped abruptly, as if she had been about to bleed all over me and caught herself.
"It's all right," I repeated. "I understand." Sad smile. "Been there, done that. Take care."
A depressing scene in the middle of a depressing day.

Today should be better. I had sandwiches and yogurt for dinner last night and went to bed early after watching the second halves of "Song For A Kingdom Now Lost" and "Wakaba Flourishing" from Revolutionary Gitl Utena. Sad stories, but the scene with Tatsuya and Mikage in the first one shows you that there is some kindness to Mikage after all - he's not just a devious schemer, weaving his webs in the darkness. He does have a heart.

This morning my blood sugar was much better - down to 153 after a couple of days above 200. Woke Melody up, showered, hit McDonald's and drove in to work since I have an appointment after work to have a masseuse frob my shoulder. The knee is better, but I think I'll ask her to tweak that as well.

Weird scenes inside the gold mine

Took a break from Subway sandwiches yesterday and had lunch at Taco Bell instead, which led to a couple of odd encounters. The first was with a woman I'd met through the Wells Weight Watchers at Work program - she had been interested in Diversicon but had mislaid everything but my e-mail address and the date of the convention. I filled her in on the location, cost, and where to find the programming schedule online; she seemed particularly excited about the writing panels since she said she was working on a "sci-fi" novel.

The second encounter was depressing. I was sitting there munching my nachos and reading the Wall Street Journal when somebody's cell phone went off behind me. Old, bad habits asserted themselves, and I found myself listening to the unhappy story of a breakup/divorce/separation in progress. The phone's owner had apparently had her address book burgled by her soon-to-be-ex, who had sent a bunch of e-mails about their relationship problems to all and sundry, including phone owner's employers and co-workers. Phone owner had spent most of the morning cleaning up the resulting mess, and was going over to the (apartment?) that night with a friend to pick her stuff up. Her tone of voice was one I remembered well - angry, but on the edge of tears at the same time, and trying to keep the lid on the whole seething mess because one is in public and it wouldn't do to have all kinds of strangers see you erupt in a screaming fit of sadness-fueled rage in the middle of the Taco Bell. I felt really bad for her, and it was depressing to know that there really wasn't much I could do for her. When I got up to dump my garbage and leave, our eyes met. "I'm sorry you had to listen to that," she said.
"No, it's all right, I understand," I demurred. "Good luck."
"Thanks," she said, "It's - " She stopped abruptly, as if she had been about to bleed all over me and caught herself.
"It's all right," I repeated. "I understand." Sad smile. "Been there, done that. Take care."
A depressing scene in the middle of a depressing day.

Today should be better. I had sandwiches and yogurt for dinner last night and went to bed early after watching the second halves of "Song For A Kingdom Now Lost" and "Wakaba Flourishing" from Revolutionary Gitl Utena. Sad stories, but the scene with Tatsuya and Mikage in the first one shows you that there is some kindness to Mikage after all - he's not just a devious schemer, weaving his webs in the darkness. He does have a heart.

This morning my blood sugar was much better - down to 153 after a couple of days above 200. Woke Melody up, showered, hit McDonald's and drove in to work since I have an appointment after work to have a masseuse frob my shoulder. The knee is better, but I think I'll ask her to tweak that as well.

Icon mystery unraveled

This explains everything.

Icon mystery unraveled

This explains everything.

A few quick hits before departure time

Mom called this morning. It's a bit weird to be having long phone conversations with her while I'm at work, but then again, it is the place where I'm easiest to get a hold of. I don't always have my cell phone on me (much less turned on) and almost never answer the home phone even when I am home, so that cuts the options down a bit. Anyway, nothing's gone wrong at home lately. In fact, Mom got out on her own the other day and except for the driving part -my nieces are apparently bad, bad backseat drivers- it was a good thing for her since she saw a lot of people she normally doesn't see, and it sounds like it was a real boost to her morale. Which she needs, since her vision is starting to degenerate thanks to the diabetes and she hasn't replaced her glasses yet because money is tight.

My brother appears to be doing okay at the hotel job (he's an assistant manager for Holiday Inn), working hard and putting in the hours. Mom complained about his smoking and drinking, which is understandable but a waste of time, and also about his bill-paying, which she feels he hasn't been doing enough of. I can appreciate how Carlos feels about it. It's awful hard to restrain one's appetites when one is single -or worse yet, divorced. It took me long enough to realize that I needed to quit spending so damn much money on anime and manga and get a handle on the bills.

Went to Jimmy John's today for lunch after mailing out a book sold through half.com, and I will note that in the future, if I am going to buy jalapeno chips I should just pick up the bag and wave it at the cashier, otherwise he'll think I want actual peppers in my sandwich. Ewww.

A few quick hits before departure time

Mom called this morning. It's a bit weird to be having long phone conversations with her while I'm at work, but then again, it is the place where I'm easiest to get a hold of. I don't always have my cell phone on me (much less turned on) and almost never answer the home phone even when I am home, so that cuts the options down a bit. Anyway, nothing's gone wrong at home lately. In fact, Mom got out on her own the other day and except for the driving part -my nieces are apparently bad, bad backseat drivers- it was a good thing for her since she saw a lot of people she normally doesn't see, and it sounds like it was a real boost to her morale. Which she needs, since her vision is starting to degenerate thanks to the diabetes and she hasn't replaced her glasses yet because money is tight.

My brother appears to be doing okay at the hotel job (he's an assistant manager for Holiday Inn), working hard and putting in the hours. Mom complained about his smoking and drinking, which is understandable but a waste of time, and also about his bill-paying, which she feels he hasn't been doing enough of. I can appreciate how Carlos feels about it. It's awful hard to restrain one's appetites when one is single -or worse yet, divorced. It took me long enough to realize that I needed to quit spending so damn much money on anime and manga and get a handle on the bills.

Went to Jimmy John's today for lunch after mailing out a book sold through half.com, and I will note that in the future, if I am going to buy jalapeno chips I should just pick up the bag and wave it at the cashier, otherwise he'll think I want actual peppers in my sandwich. Ewww.