What a day it has been....

First, a free drink to the first person to correctly name the three series that my favorite television writer used the title of this entry as titles for episodes on.

I don't even know where to begin. The situation with the person from work went from bad to worse. The owner called, and well, he no longer works here. This isn't what was supposed to happen. We were trying to get some one we cared about help. I'm still not 100% sure what happened, and we're working to try and get this situation righted. He was the best at his job, and a great guy. Yes, he did have a problem that started recently. It seemed to me to be a cry for help. I'm starting to put more information about this together, but I feel awful about it since I'm the one who ended up making the phone call to the owner.

We were supposed to be able to start work around noon today. Once I land, I find out that there was a lack of communication, and we actually won't be able to get in until after 6pm tonight. This kind of screws up our dinner plans. Once we get there at 6pm and start working, we find out that we're really paying the price for other peoples mistakes from last week. Apparently another network was in town and really pissed off the venue. Several people have been banned from the building as a result, and they are really putting their foot down and making life miserable for everyone. Just what I need today.

I got an email from my mother today telling me that my dad's back is worse now than it was over the weekend. He went for an MRI and found that he has two herniated discs. The Dr. has recommended an epidural block to alleviate the pain while they evaluate other options. My mom sent this via email because she has lost her voice and can't talk. Ever since they retired, they are going downhill fast. I feel bad because I feel I never see them. They're so far away, yet so close. Plus when I visit them, it's never to see them, it's to do something for them -- install a ceiling fan, move a TV, set up a computer.

I've been tired lately. I realized last night that I wasn't able to get a deep breath. I remembered that I have a history of exercise induced asthma, with my big trigger being cold air. I haven't had an attack in years, and don't have an inhaler at home. I was on an early flight this morning so I couldn't do anything about it at home. The last time I got a prescription for an inhaler, I was living in Pittsburgh. I could call that Dr. explain to her my situation and get her to call in a prescription to a pharmacy in the town I'm in now. Unfortunately I don't remember her name. I called C, and she didn't even remember me going to a Dr. there initially, but after prodding remembered, but not her name. C suggested I go to CVS because they have Minute Clinic's in them, and they could probably help. In the end, they were able to help, I got an inhaler and I'm doing much better now.

Routines

While my schedule is anything but ordinary, I've come to appreciate the routine that I am normally in. I was off this past weekend, and it has totally screwed me up. I'm not sure what day it is, or what I should be doing. I didn't know what to do on the weekend. I was supposed to meet up with some friends from work who were in town and off, but since of the guys they're with is an ass, they never made it. (Not even a phone call after waiting for hours for him)

I haven't followed my usual laundry packing/routine. I don't really have a good mental idea of where I am in relation to being able to travel tomorrow morning. Typically when I come home on Mondays, I know i have 3 more days to do my laundry and be all packed and ready to go. I'm able to temper that against what I have to wear over the next few days and get it all done with a minimum amount of rushing on Thursday night/Friday morning. This week, I'll be rushing tonight, I'm sure. Luckily I'm only going away for 4 days/3 nights so it's not that big of a deal.

I'm not sure when I fell in to a routine, but I really don't like it. I'm not used to falling into a routine. I liked it better when I never knew what was going on and I was traveling all different days. Now I've become predictable.

Online friends....

I think it's a fact of life that many people have friends that they have met on-line. In many cases, friends that are only online. I know I personally have several friends like this. Sure, I may have met them one or two times, but because of my schedule, I really don't get to see them that often. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

C was going through match.com this summer and as I've said, she and I still talk a lot and share a lot. We still look out for each other. She would send me lists of people she was thinking about, or those who had contacted her, and I'd give my opinion. One thing that I remember her saying was that she was worried about chatting on line/via email too much with someone. She thought that she should only exchange a few emails before meeting otherwise you can get too familiar too fast, and not having anything really to talk about when you actually meet. At the time I didn't agree with her. I thought that the more information that you have the better it can be.

I've found recently that friends I have met online do know more about me than those I see on a day to day basis. I've opened up more in the past 10 days on here than I have to some of my friends in real life. I have no problem sharing. Why is that? I don't know. Surely I can't be alone in this.

Why is it that it can be so comfortable to talk via IM or via email or via text message? Why is it so easy to share information that way? Why have I let some of my friendships slip?

I Love this Bar

I walk in, and someone buys me a drink. That drink is finished, the bartender pours me another, "forgets" to put it on the tab. I get another, the tab is started. Some random guy I've never met before buys me a drink becuase the other guy bought me a drink. I order food. Owner of the bar buys me a drink because the random guy that bought the round was an ass and was trying to start a fight with another patron, and I was trying to calm him down. I eat my food. A bartender who wasn't working that night buys me a drink. At that point I have to say enough since I do have to drive. All that and my tab was $12.00.

Alone...

This is a reply of mine to a friends post elsewhere. Eventually I ended up meeting up with some people I work with in the hotel bar, but the feelings are the same.

As you know, I too was working/traveling over Thanksgiving. I was alone in a hotel bar while texting. I have many of the same thoughts as you in terms of being alone on holidays. I've been recently traumatized I think by a friend of mine from HS having a baby, and realizing that she has grown up. I can no longer call her any night and say lets meet for a drink. Her husband was always ok with that, but now with the baby, it's going to be harder.

I have very few friends here at home now. All of my friends, and more appropriately acquaintances live all over the country. I think in the past I have over used the word friend and made it in my mind synonymous with acquaintance. I'm not quite sure when it started. I used to be the person who kept in touch with everyone, who stayed friends with everyone. Now, I'm always the one on the outside looking in. I'm just not there enough to count it seems.

I'm not quite sure how to change this. While it sucks, it's also kind of comfortable. No expectations. At some point I'll pull out of it, but I'm honestly not sure. Hang in there, people will show up. They always do. Just make sure that when they do show up, you do as well.

Another tough one

Much as I expected, the conversation was tough on many levels. I like this person as a friend. I don't like seeing them like this. The person isn't happy, and there's something more going on. I knew it was none of my business, but I care to see them happy. I have no problem with people drinking socially. I have no problem with people getting drunk. The problem becomes when people drink to get drunk every night.

I talked to this person about it, and while they'd say that everything isn't ok, they denied a drinking problem. They denied, despite having facts proving otherwise, their drinking getting in the way of their work. They thought that I was being unfairly critical of them. They thought that I was drawing the attention of higher ups to something that doesn't exist. I told them that this was actually first brought to my attention by higher ups, and that I had been looking the other way for way too long. We agreed to disagree, and we'll see what happens. Reinforcements have been called. I don't want them to throw their life away.

You can go home again.....

... but it won't be the same.

This weekend I had opportunity to drive along some of the road I would drive while I was in high school. I didn't like it. The familiar has changed and no one consulted me. CD-World is gone and is now Romantic Depot. The diner who's name i can't remember is now replaced with a 7/11. I was even back in my old neighborhood and things there have changed. There are too many cars. I don't think that the kids play in the street anymore. There are no basketball hoops up, nothing painted on the street. All that has worn away.

I went down to the river and nice wooden footbridge has been replaced by a metal monstrosity. A lot of the paths that were in the woods have been over grown showing that kids don't go in there to play anymore. Things have definitely changed.