They’ve assigned me yet another major project. I’m to sort through about 4,000 manuals and send them off to the regions, as well as the supervisors in our building. Assholes.
Work-related stress is starting to get to Dirk. Apparently, the past two audits of their store have come up short about $2,000. The field consultant is breathing down his manager’s neck, and she, in turn, is making life harder for everybody under her.
Dirk and I got into a really bad fight Friday night. It wasn’t really a fight, because I wasn’t really saying anything. My whole take on the situation was that I was tired, and Dirk found some completely spurious reason to get angry with me, then proceeded to behave as though I was the one being unreasonable. He hasn’t tried that tactic in a long, long time, because I always call him on it. I called him on it again, eventually. After I quit crying.
I am not good at defending myself when I’m tired.
He ended up feeling bad, and he ended up missing dinner. Tough. It’s not my fault his job stresses him out. It’s not my fault he hasn’t found another one. I’m not holding him back, so I don’t see why I should put up with the backlash.
Saturday was better. I was still in a bad mood, so Dirk got to carry everything into the car. Practice went well, but I injured my hand at the end of the set. A word of warning to all would-be bassists: getting into the music is fine. Keep in mind, though, that when you pound on your bass strings with your fist right over the pickup, it’s your fist that’s going to be damaged. It’s the only part of that equation not made of metal.
No bruises or anything, just an aching pinky joint. I was rather proud of the musical result, though. I’ve turned my part of “Crosseyed and Painless” into a cross between a scream of rage and a prayer.
After practice, Aaron and I got into a race to see who could get back home first. Aaron won, simply because I wasn’t willing to break traffic laws to pass him. He had to drop Greg off, so Dirk and I dropped the equipment off at our house, then went to mine to drop off my bass. We’d planned to get together with Aaron after practice, so I called him from my house to see if he wanted to be picked up.
I was met with a plaintive, “Why did you guys leeeave?” I think Aaron’s feelings were a bit hurt, so I reassured him that I’d simply been under time constraints (I’m expected to at least stop by the house by 8:30 when I’ve been at practice). We went to a restaurant, and Dirk sat across from me instead of beside me, which seemed kind of odd. Aaron sat next to me, but when he moved to rest his head on my shoulder, Dirk came close to jumping over to our side of the table and killing him.
After I dropped Dirk off at work, Aaron and I went to Wal-Mart. He wanted to get a birthday card for his kid, and I wanted to get a present, since Sonia invited Dirk and I to Xavier’s party. I knew Dirk hadn’t thought to get a gift. I got Aaron to pick something out, because he knows what the kid’s got, unlike me.
We decided on a See ‘N Say. You know, you pull a lever, and it tells you what each animal says (if you watch The Daily Show, there’s something at the end for Mad Cow productions. While the cow’s eyes are rolling back into it’s head, a voice says, “The cow says Moooo!” That was recorded from a See ‘N Say). We saw some intensely scary people from High School, and we went back to his house, where I chain-smoked for a while before going home.
I don’t think I’d realized previously just how lonely I’ve gotten. I honestly don’t hang out with too many people outside practice, besides Dirk. I mean, had you told me a couple months ago that Aaron and I would spend any time together without making snotty little comments, I’d have laughed in your face.
Sunday was interesting. I finally got to meet Sonia’s family. They’re not nearly as bad as Sonia’s made them out to be, though that could well be a front put up for company’s sake. Her father reminded me a lot of all of my uncles. Not particularly smart, and trying to make up for it by being loud and ostensibly good-natured. We got along rather well, mainly because I didn’t see fit to disagree with him about anything. Just nod and agree loudly.
Xavier has got to be the most spoiled child I’ve ever come across. You should have seen all the gifts he got! He must have gotten about 25 different presents. I felt a definite lack in my childhood when I looked at all that stuff.
He liked the See ‘N Say best, though. He wouldn’t put it down to look at the other gifts.
We left after the presents were opened, so Dirk could get more sleep and I could get the oil changed in my car. That didn’t happen. I couldn’t find Jiffy Lube until it was 4:30, and they close at 4 on Sundays. The mechanic with the extremely watery eyes was apologetic. So, I’m bringing it again this afternoon.
Sunday night, it took me a long time to get Dirk up. When he finally did, we had just enough time to go to Wal-Mart for pantyhose and other essentials (I’ll leave that to your imagination). The mechanic with the watery eyes was there.
I’ve been eating these marvelous little jelly things we bought from an Asian store, called “Jelly Chews”. They’ve got a chunk of coconut in the center, surrounded by this jello-like stuff. Except it’s made of seaweed extract. I couldn’t get Dirk or Aaron to try one, because they were seriously turned off by the fact that they are lychee-flavored. I don’t think lychee fruit has an American equivalent. The closest you can come is if you eat a can of mandarin oranges packed in syrup, and then drink the syrup. Wait a couple minutes. That aftertaste is kind of what lychee tastes like. It’s a tinny flavor. It’s very much an acquired taste. The boys wouldn’t try it because they didn’t like the way it sounded. (It’s pronounced LEE-CHEE)
Their loss.
Cathy and I are set to go out on Tuesday night. I’ve got that interview tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Tomorrow’s entry most likely will not go up until afternoon, because the interview is at 9:30 a.m.