The Routine...

Suggested soundtrack: "The Sound of Settling" by Death Cab For Cutie



Slipping into a routine...

Week three.
Still in training, done after this week. Hopefully I "hit the phones" soon after and can start to make some real money. Also, it'll really help to know whether this job is gonna rock, or suck, or where it falls on a scale from "rockin'" to "sucky." No mystery regarding training: It sucks the biggest boner ever. The only thing keeping me sane is the cool IM system that is company-wide, so I get to chat with friendly co-workers on the outside, and fellow suffering trainees on the inside. I get to make snide comments regarding the physical appearance and personal hygiene of the trainers, and watch the person I sent it to try and control their giggling. Then it's my turn to get an IM, and so on. For the record, my trainer bears an uncanny resemblance to:

...so the personal remarks aren't hard to come up with.

The routine I settled into (so far) goes like this:

MONDAY:
6am. Wake up
6:20am Wake up, for real this time, commence with the three "S"es
6:45am Start drive to work
7:45am Arrive at work, surf web
8:15am Training starts, surf web at every opportunity
12:15pm Lunch, read a few chapters of current book
1:15pm Back to work, resume surfing web at every opportunity
5:15pm All done, start drive home. Reflect upon how nice it was working in a restaurant: It wasn't like a real job, it was more like a place you stopped by for a few hours on your way to the bars in order to quickly and easily earn beer money with your friends. Then realizing: the office job is a place you spend half of your waking hours at where you are afraid to look at a girl's ass or say bad words or check your myspace, where you eat terrible fast food during your alotted lunch hour and return to more of the same, that is soul-crushing and music-less and repetitive, but pays much better than foodservice and is occasionally unintentionally hilarious. Realize that until I like my job or my town more, for now, my career change was lateral movement
6:30pm Arrive home, angry from traffic and thinking, also physically worn out. As I walk through the door, as a way of saying "welcome," Mia the 150lb mastiff jabs her nose into my balls and buttcrack. Good to see you, too
6:31pm JD asks if I wanna play videogames with him, I tell him I need to change and eat and do various other things
7:15pm I realize, to my horror, that although I changed slowly and put all my clothes away neatly, and fixed my own dinner, and read leisurely while I ate (stopping once or twice to tell JD that I wasn't quite ready to play videogames), and washed and put away the dishes, only 45 minutes have passed since I got home. Such is the nature of time, I realize with zen-like calm
7:25pm I have now changed, slowly, into my swimsuit. JD is knocking on the door to the bathroom asking if he can "come in," and asking if I'm ready to play videogames with him
7:26pm I am settling in with JD to play, as per my strict requirements, "only one level" of Lego Star Wars II. Despite my generosity, and probably in direct response to my surrender, JD "calls" player one, as well as the character he wants to be, meaning he gets to be whoever has a "lightsaver" and I get to be Princess Leia. Every time. "Dude," he shouts, "you have to be the girl. I called the lightsaver guy." Fine. One level only. Dude
7:45pm The one level has been played. I repeatedly assure JD that, yes, I'm positive that I don't want to play another level, and no, I don't have to explain myself to an 8-year-old. (JD isn't terrible, and I hope I don't give that impression. He's a cool kid. He is just stoked to have a friend installed in his house who plays video games, and can barely contain himself. When I was 8 I was probably the same way) I put music on outside and go into the pool
7:48-8:30pm I am in heaven. Or close to it. No people, no dogs, just music, and cool water, and fireflies, and stars
8:45pm Done drying off, I have a snack and read for a bit, maybe watch a movie
10:30pm Bedtime

TUESDAY: See above

WEDNESDAY: See above

THURSDAY: See above

Soundtrack change: "Beer" by Reel Big Fish (Couldn't find the song I wanted)



FRIDAY: See above, until 5:15pm...
5:15pm Change into street clothes in parking lot, drive to pick Mike up from mechanic, adjourn for beers
7:30pm Finally done with mechanic, we head to some random spot, drink two 32oz Shiner Bocks, eat painkillers
8:30pm Go get sushi, more beer, one carafe hot sake, one bottle cold unfiltered sake
9:30pm Sushi chef comes to table with some Shoju, we help him finish the bottle off with tonic
10:10ish Go to bar next door
10:45ish I apparently mass text everyone I know in SD. For the record, I have no idea what I said (my phone doesn't keep track of sent items), but the responses I saw the next day led me to believe that I was in a festive mood. Here's an approximation:


SATURDAY:
10:00am Wake up to the sound of many children yelling and playing
10:15am After peeing for a solid ten minutes, I head into the living room. The kids ask, "What time did YOU get home last light?" I think to myself: "Time? HOW did I get home last night?" but out loud I say, "Real late. Now, Uncle Nik needs some cereal." Eat and read quietly, drink water
4:30pm Head to Mike's for dinner and booze. We make a big batch of strong lemon-and-vodka drink, and drink it all. Then the two of us, plus another guy, finish off a bottle of Crown. "Finally, my hangover is gone," is the last thing I remember thinking

SUNDAY:
Chill at home, watch the Chargers lose

MONDAY:
See previous Monday

...and so on. I could get used to it. Thing is, Not drinking all week leaves me unprepared for the weekend. I'm not a big guy, but I can usually hold my liquor. So all of those years of practice are already out the door. The good thing is, drunk doesn't cost as much. The bad thing is, it doesn't take as long, so I got rocked hard on Friday. I'll try and take it easy on future Fridays.

So, all is getting better, as I've found a bit of relief from the beast of Boredom which looms large. Now, I need to solve the problem of human contact. In San Diego, in the restaurant business, I was in an environment that forced human contact and coworker interaction. None of that here. In San Diego, I got hugs, and kisses, and sometimes more, on a semi-regular basis. Here in Dallas, I haven't recieved so much as a hug. And that sucks. I knew I'd be bored, and that I'd miss friends and socializing on a nightly basis, but the lack of real contact is a terrible thing. Man, I sound whiny. But you miss the contact, trust me. So, I'll continue to bitch about that until I get a piece of Dall-ass. When that happens, you all will be the first to know.

Until then...