Week in Review – Week Ending May 9

This past week I was back on my usual late shift. It made sleeping easier for me; although of course now I’m back to keeping other people up to all hours when sometimes they have to work in the morning. Oops. The next three weeks will have me working during the day or back on the 2 AM shift, so I guess my friends and lovers can stand one week of late nights this month. B)

Sunday morning Jero and I stayed up near dawn around the bonfire, partially to enjoy the revelry, and partially because we didn’t want to return to our tent and freeze to death like we had the night before. When we did return to our tent we came up with a new sleeping bag arrangement that was much warmer and so we slept better than we had on Saturday.

When Jero and I woke up we had some sandwiches, showered and then broke down the tent. We said our goodbyes and headed to Bloomington for Jero’s derby practice. I got to hang out with Jalyru, which was fun, and afterward Jero and I dragged Jalyru out to dinner. After eating, Jero and I headed back to Jero’s where we unloaded her car and then promptly passed out. It was a good weekend. B)

Monday morning Jero headed to work early and by the time I got up I realized I’d left my keys and wallet in Jero’s glove compartment. *facepalm* Luckily Jero got off work just a couple hours into my shift, so I was able to take a minimum of unpaid personal time and hustle into the office as soon as Jero got home. Unfortunately as soon as I got there I got yelled at since one of the managers is a jerk, but c'est la vie.

After work Monday I went back to Jero’s to eat and pick up my laptop and then went over to Ke to hang out and give her some snuggles. She’s been feeling cranky and since I’d just spent the weekend with Jero she was OK with me canceling our usual Monday plans so I could go cuddle Ke until she felt better. Ke and I talked a bit about what was bothering her and she was decidedly less cranky by the time we slept.

Tuesday morning Ke cooked me breakfast (yummy Canadian bacon, cheese and egg English muffin sandwiches) and then I showered and headed over to Jero’s with lunch. Jero and I got in a little bit of snuggles before I had to head into work. At work I talked to Mars about joining Ke and me for Star Trek this weekend, but since we were going to the 10 PM show near Speedway it was too late for him. B! and he went to an earlier IMAX showing instead, so I’ll have to talk to Mars about it Monday.

Tuesday after work I went to Chpa and Nivagi’s to meet up with Nivagi. We ran by Jimmy Johns to pick up sammiches and then headed back to my apartment to eat. I ran downstairs to pay my rent and hang a derby poster and then came back up with the intention of snuggling Nivagi and watching Dexter. However, the more Nivagi and I cuddled and talked, the less we wanted to watch DVDs, so we eventually snuggled and slept instead.

Wednesday morning I dropped Nivagi off at work and then went home from some alone time. I got to talk to Mira on the phone and accomplished a little journaling and laundry. I tried to grab some caffeine on the way to work but after sitting in the drive-thru for 20 minutes I had to give up and just go into work, which left me cranky. I napped during my break to re-set my mood, and felt better by the end of my shift.

Wednesday night I escaped from work and ran home to put in some more laundry before Gwde arrived. Gwde grabbed food on the way to Indy so we’d have time to hot tub before it got too late. After hot-tubbing we showered and then lay down to listen to music, relax and snuggle. It was definitely nice to hang out with her twice in one year. We’ll have to get together again before another year passes!

Thursday Gwde didn’t have to work so we slept in before going out to the Bonjour Café for breakfast. I tried some new spiced-chicken pita that was pretty good and then headed to work early enough to get some caffeine this time. At work I found out we might be getting dual flat-screen monitors soon which will definitely make me feel more like a super-villain. Muhuhuhuhahahah!

Work was busy in the morning and then quieter later in the evening. After work I went to Jero’s to hang out, since we’d cut out usual Monday date short. Unfortunately Jero’s laptop is dead, so she spent some time fighting with it while we ate and hung out. She was eventually defeated by laptop gremlins so we gave up and went to bed so she could get some sleep before work.

Friday morning I slept late at Jero’s after she went to work (cruelly teasing her about it over Twitter). When I woke up I played on my computer until Jero got home and then hung out with her. Ke called to tell me she was free after her last final and work for the week, so I went over to Ke’s and we napped until it was time to get up and go to meet Chwi and Melawi to go see the new Star Trek movie.

I loved Star Trek. I’m a long-time fan and I’m impressed how they captured the essences of the classic characters, while giving themselves room for a fresh start and a new continuity. I’m fan enough to get most of the little references without screaming about how they had the wrong number of pips on X character’s cuff and therefore the movie was crap. After the movie Chwi, Ke, Melawi and I retired to Denny’s to dissect and discuss.

Saturday morning Ke woke me up with breakfast and exuberant post-finals energy since she’d finally caught up on sleep at last. She ran around her house getting things accomplished while I tried to sneak five-minute naps where I could. Finally I left to head to Bloomington to meet up with Chhu since Chhu and I were driving down to see Mom today for Mother’s Day.

I drove Ke’s car to Chhu’s since Ke was taking mine up to have my brake pads changed by her mechanically-inclined brother (thanks, Ke!). Chhu drove us the rest of the way to Evansville, where we met Mom at her sister Jamcde’s. We drove Mom home and ordered pizza, and then all hung out until Chhu and Mom were ready to head to bed. I got to see Mira briefly when she dropped by to pick something up, so that was a pleasant bonus.

Today Chhu and I are hanging out with Mom and plan to take her out to dinner tonight. Happy Mother’s Day, all!

Shredder: “You fight well... in the old style. But you've caused me enough trouble. Now you face...The Shredder!”
Don: “’The Shredder’?”
Mike: “Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw.”

-- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Week in Review – Week Ending May 2

Last week at work they had me on a 2 AM to 10:30 AM shift, so I spent most of the week buzzing from caffeine and extremely sleepy. It’s theoretically better for my social life than my usual 1:30 PM to 10 PM shift, but I’m not sure how awake I am to socialize after a few days of reversed sleep schedule. Of course, I started to recover and adjust by Friday, just in time for me to switch back to the until-10 PM shift. *headdesk*

Sunday morning Ke, Mira, and I dragged ourselves out of bed to go meet my sister Chhu for brunch at Le Peep. After Chhu headed home, Ke, Mira and I headed back to Ke’s, where they intended to make me sleep while they went shopping. They were largely successful at that, and I didn’t wake up until shortly before they came home bearing dinner. We watched some The Big Bang Theory, and then went back to sleep, since I had to be at work at 2 AM, and Ke had to get up for work at 6.

Monday morning when I got off work I brought Mira food at Ke’s house and then we lay down so we could snuggle and nap before Mira had to head back to Evansville. I woke up when Mira left but then went back to sleep until Ke got home. Ke was in a talkative mood so I didn’t get much sleep from then on. Spending so much time around old sick people (she’s a nursing student) has made her worry more about the future and what will happen when we get old. I snuggled her until I had to get up to head to Jero’s for dinner and MUXing. On the MUX I role-played with Katie and Spike and then went in to work.

By Tuesday the 2 AM shift was really starting to hit me. After 6 hours at work, by 8AM I was really dragging. When I escaped I went to Jero’s to sleep. After I woke up I showered and ate the yummy dinner Jero had cooked for us. When I was finished eating I kissed Jero goodbye and drove to Louisville to see Laat. Laat has been having a hard time lately and I used my early schedule as an excuse to go visit her while I could. We used the time to cuddle and catch up, and I much enjoyed our new comfort level where Laat finally feels she can open up and talk to me again for the first time in ages. I had a nice time hanging out with her, and she plans to visit this month during her vacation.

Wednesday morning at midnight I drove back to Indianapolis to go to work. When I escaped I brought Jero breakfast since she was home sick. I slept at Jero’s house and then headed home to meet Gwde, who came down from Muncie to visit me. I haven’t seen Gwde in exactly a year (!) so it was fun to hang out with her. We went out for dinner and wound up at TaTa Cuban Café, which was wonderful as always. Neither of us were really feeling 100%, so we skipped hot-tubbing and just snuggled in bed to watch Repo! The Genetic Opera. After she left I showered and went in to work.

Thursday after work I went to Ke’s to sleep and decided to stay there to MUX. My usual until-10 PM shift makes it really difficult to schedule role-play with most of the other MUXers who are usually going to bed just as I’m getting online. So, I talked to Hemy and we planned a TinyPlot event for Thursday. As
Buzzer and Major Bludd, we attacked a small town in the Midwest and civilians Katie and Mikaela got caught in the middle. Fun hijinks ensued. Ke made us yummy dinner while I was role-playing and I ate in front of the laptop. Unfortunately I wound up unintentionally irritating Ke since I’m completely unavailable while MUXing since I’m doing so many things at once.

On Friday the benefits of my 2 AM shift emerged, as my weekend started at 10:30 AM. I ran home to pack and then headed to Jero’s. We went shopping for last-minute supplies and then I napped while Jero loaded her Vibe (sorry, Jero!). We grabbed food on the way and headed for French Lick, Indiana, where we were meeting people at Our Haven for a Beltane celebration. We got there early enough to set up our tent in a very good spot – many of the people who had arrived Thursday had to move their tents in the middle of the night because it rained so hard it flooded. We caught some rain ourselves, but luckily by that point we were by the fire or safe in our tent.

Saturday morning we froze our asses off in our tent but finally warmed up once the sun rose. We bought breakfast from friendly drunk people still feeling the effects of the night before (Jero and I turned in early) and then we spent the day enjoying the peaceful surroundings, napping, and hanging out with Chpa and Nivagi. We observed fun maypole dancing and then cooked dinner over the central fire. That night we watched as huge log chimneys were constructed for that night’s bonfire and then hung out there for most of the night, watching Nivagi dance and talking with Chwo and Dapowo as well as a sleepy Mika. We had an excellent time camping, and hope to return soon.

"This is not a partisan issue, for Republicans and the Christian Right led the way in blowing the whistle on the slaughter in Darfur.... Ultimately, public pressure may force Mr. Bush to respond to Darfur, but it looks as if he will have to be dragged kicking and screaming by Republicans and Democrats alike."
- New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, criticizing the Bush administration for backing away from its commitment to end the genocide in Darfur, including its opposition to the bipartisan Darfur Accountability Act