vignettes

the hallway at my seasonal job has a line of blue tile going down it. today, when i was walking to my area, all i could think of was that episode of scrubs where they implement a colored-line system to take people to certain places in the hospital. i couldn't remember if they had a blue line, and if they did, where it took people, but i kept hoping a children painted green would leap out of somewhere. that would've made my day.

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overheard a girl today during our lunch break telling another girl how she doesn't date much because of her family. her family being so huge and based in austin that she never knows if she's related to someone she could potentially date. i thought to myself, "um, that doesn't matter on the bold and the beautiful. hell, rick and phoebe hooked up, but that was only after they found out he wasn't biologically her uncle. but still, they were thinking those thoughts even when they thought they were related, otherwise, the whole thing wouldn't have happened."

sometimes, life is better when it's not like a soap opera.

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so, my smoking ladies were canned. long live no smoking ladies. except ... they've been replaced. that's right, today during our lunch break, this girl who sits across from me and i had never seen smoke last week, well, she was outside, and smoking, and talking with this obese black woman who also sits across from me. (the obese black woman is the girl who doesn't date from above.) and she decided to talk to me.

ugh. all i wanted to do was sit there and eat my banana and apple and smoke a cig and read in peace. but nooooooooo.

you know, i like to think that i come off as pretty unapproachable. and i only think that because, well, people have told me that, and i agree with them. so it irks me that, here i am, looking all unapproachable, and people still come up to me and talk to me and try to make nice. especially when i just want to be by myself in peace.

what's worse is the small talk. i hate idle small talk. (brian and i had a conversation about how we both hate idle small talk on new year's. that's one of the only things i really remember from that night.) here's a sample.

smoking girl: you're ignacio, right?
me: yup. (said with mouth chewing on apple)
smoking girl: so how are you getting the new material?
me: eh. (made hand motion to signify wishy washy, or something like that)

here's another sample.

smoking girl: so do you go to school?
me: no, i have a day job.
smoking girl: oh, you have a real job. (laughs a little)
me: i wouldn't call it a real job. it's just for a delivery service.
smoking girl: oh, so you know the area well.
me: enough for my job.

i tried my best to give laconic answers just so the girl would maybe get the hint that i didn't want to talk to her. ever. i guess i'll find out tomorrow.

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so, i let the new material at work today stress me out. and i know why it's stressing me out. i mean, last week, we had a whole week to sink in the material. and it was fed to us little bit by little bit from monday to thursay, with lots of time to practice. but today, we were fed a shitload of new material, with not much time to practice it. sure, tomorrow is going to be all practice, but man, it's still a lot to digest. and the new info from today has pushed some of the info from last week out of my head.

hell, on the drive home tonight, i blanked on my phone number. i can't remember why i was thinking of my phone number, but i blanked on it. it reminded me of this time when i was temping for the state and still living in san marcos. and after a rather long night at work, i drove back to san marcos, and drove to the wrong apartment. i drove to the apartment where i lived with amy. i even got to the door and tried putting my key into the lock, and wondering why it wasn't fitting. i was about to knock on the door when i remembered that i lived by myself in an apartment across town.

at least i remembered that i lived in austin tonight. ha.

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when i got home tonight, i had an e-mail from my freelance agent asking me if i was interested in an assignment from the company that had me freelance for them for a week back in november. said new assignment would start later this week and go into next week. i thought this was very fortuitous, seeing as how next week and the week after that, i'm laid off from the seasonal job. plus, this freelance work will probably pay my rent and my tax money i need to pay the irs. it means i'll be lacking in the sleep department since i work lunch shifts at my delivery job wednesday through friday, and my seasonal job wednesday and thursday from 6:30 to midnight, and if i pass my tests on thursday, then friday from 6 to 2:30 a.m. and my delivery night shifts on saturday and sunday. but i'm sure i'll manage, somehow. i just really need that money.

sigh. now i can't decide if i just want to veg out on some soaps or go through the material we covered at the seasonal job tonight and make a cheat sheet. i think i'll veg, and work on the cheat sheet after my lunch tomorrow with angela.

gah. rains. pours. etc.