MY LIFE - DECEMBER

Saturday, December 9, 2000

Today was a very long day marked with several events that would normally stick out in my head but won't because I got three hours of sleep, got up at 6am, and was basically up from that point up at the store meeting, at home, then at work, then at home again. It's been one of those days where I've been very loopy and getting myself into trouble.

It would be great to tell about if I could remember any of it, which hasn't been the case at all today. I also have to work tomorrow, so any chance of resting tomorrow has been thrown out the window and promptly run over by a dump truck.

I do remember some parts of the meeting, although most of it was spent trying to stay awake and trying to keep my stomach from getting too pissed off at me. It was basically revolting against the Cap'N Crunch that I had this morning and made for a very long bathroom break when I got home. But I digress.

The part I remember most about the meeting was when Steve was explaining the scheduling and what shifts would be available. I watched as Joann's face turned scarier and scarier as her expression went from a smile to a very deep scowl. I'm going to go out on a limb and say she's not happy that her 9am-3:30pm shift is no longer an option. She has to choose between 8-4, 9-5, 10-6, maybe 11-7 or 12-8, 2-10, 3-11, or 4-12. Since there are some with seniority over her, it's become clear that the 11-7 might be her earliest option.

So she's going to be ranting and raving about this and making it into a big problem. It was just that issue however that wasn't really discussed today though. Linda and Joann's testy attitudes never came up. I'm willing to say that Linda was making an attempt recently to be nicer and do more overall, but I'm not totally convinced that she's down to a reasonable demeanor.

I know Joann's going to bitch about the schedule and one thing Bob (my manager) and Steve should try and do is make it clear she works for them and Steve comes up with the schedule. The union allows him to schedule what the store needs so she won't be able to file a grievance. I saw this too, but I don't worry about this because right now I don't care when I work as long as I work 40 hours.

In all honesty, I was hoping that Joann would get lippy though. I wanted to see her give Bob and/or Steve a reason to fire her because she's been asking for it for a while now. I was disappointed when she did open her mouth and acted very reserved and calm even though she really wasn't. She's been a problem for others at the store since I arrived there and I would not be upset over her getting fired.

The woman doesn't even really work with me much and she doesn't like me. How fucked up is that? I haven't done anything to make her dislike me, yet she does anyway and it's probably for no other reason than the fact that I get a little goofy and try to have some fun. She doesn't seem to like that. I don't really know what her problem is with me though. I don't really care either.

The day once I got to work was a little better. I got to work with our intern Betsy more and found out she can be very hyperactive and bounce all over the place. Unfortunately, this was great encouragement for me and we constantly played off each other's actions. She reminded me a lot of Tricia Ross, who I went to high school with and got along great with. She just reminded me of Tricia in the way she laughed, talked, and behaved.

She also complimented me in an interesting fashion. She came up to me and was asking about how long I had been working at the store and told her about how I transfered. She remembered people talking about me transfering over there and told me it explained why I knew so much about what I was doing. She said she liked me because I wasn't an idiot, which I took as a compliment.

She must have told me that in a number of different ways several times during the course of the day. I was getting along with everyone though and spent the day mostly filling, but occasionally typing and getting drive-thru. It was a slow day and the kind of day that spawns trouble from me. I didn't really get into any, but at times I'd get into some word games with Betsy or with someone else and things really got interesting when Steve came in to work at 4.

Today was a good day, if not a tiring day. Let's hope that tomorrow I have some energy and that it isn't hectic and full of repercussions from the meeting.

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I shouldn't even talk about this because it's so silly and so redundant that it makes fun of itself. I'm only going to mention it for a few moments for that reason anyway. If you haven't been paying attention, the Florida Supreme Court said that it wanted a hand recount of some votes in some counties in Florida. Well, today, the U.S. Supreme Court suspended that recount and there will be oral arguments on the matter.

Didn't we just do this last weekend? Didn't the U.S. Supreme Court make a decision, but only recommend it to the Florida Supreme Court and give the jurisdiction back to the Florida Court? What the fuck is going on now? It's been one big circle. They go through the courts, through the state supreme court, then the U.S. Supreme Court before starting all over again.

I'm spinning people and I'm not even following this thing that closely. I only read the headlines and the snippets that pop up on my instant messenger window every now and then. I stopped caring three weeks ago, yet this just keeps going on and on. Just count the fucking ballots and get it over with. All we're doing is playing musical chairs at this point anyway. The Supreme Court will recommend a decision, Al Gore will appeal it if it's against him to the Florida Supreme Court, which will rule in his favor giving George W. Bush a reason to appeal to the highest court in the land.

It's never going to end either. The paper says that this could take weeks to resolve. That carries this close to the date of inaugeration. What do we do then? Look at Clinton and say "hey, what's four more years?" or do we have this resolved by then? I'm not sure if it will at this point. Gore refuses to quit, which is admirably, even if he irritates the hell out of you on tv.

This is one big mess and I don't see an end to it at any point in the future. The courts need to get on the same page and either allow the hand recount or say no and that's the final decision. That won't happen though.

Like everything else that should happen, that will make sense. We can't have that.