Cafe Hitch-hike

2024-04-05

Happy to see a Friday

I decided to wear the maroon dress and the mules instead of the beige outfit and boots. The music then seemed to fall in place. It started with music with a combo of pop-happy, 80s new wave, 90s modern rock, and thoughtful lyrics. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a Friday.

The organization-wide, week-long dog and pony show concluded yesterday. The whole place is silent cos everyone stayed home to recover. I had a part in getting the building ready with informational events, talks, posters, and emails. I was so happy to see the building's support and interest, and I didn't even have to beg or threaten anyone.

The organization provided limited numbers of polo shirts and pins for the DAP show, and I was able to secure some for the building. A couple curmudgeons eagerly asked me if they could get pins. I couldn't help but feel silently startled to see building people excited about anything that goes on around here, but I was sooo glad to see it.

A song came on that took me back to 1993? I worked really hard in the hotel kitchen that summer but the year was a lovely whirl. It wrapped up with fancying a grad student from a nearby college and we had, literally, a sweet little romance. Since where we lived limited our affection, we spent some evenings in his car in some snowy, obscure park.

I imagined him again in my car this time as I drove to work, with me holding his lean, brown hand with the small, gold nugget ring his father gave to him. I'd swear I smelled the sea or saltwater in the air when we were sweet on each other. During those times, he'd smile a certain way that made him look a few years younger.

After he finished his program in 1994, he decided to go back to his home in South Texas. He became a track coach and bilingual ed teacher, and then a high school principal. He works in the same school district as my distant relative who is also an administrator. The beau is married and with 4 kids, according to his social media. I don't say anything cos... God knows my presence can be disruptive. But... they were happy times for me and I'm sure for him.

I love my lecturer Professor Arthritis (bad joke, I know). He takes his knowledge but not himself seriously. He isn't much older than me but prides himself on being old and unhip to newer things, and I find myself giggling in his lectures because he is actually funny. The prof joked he got his first scholarship from his father's bricklayer union because he was terrible at it, so they paid for him to do something else. Prof. Arthritis is psychic because he describes all kinds of stuff that applies to my workplace. I may need to list his insights to see if they come true.

Oh, I think I can be done with all of this in-- 1 year?!?! OMG, so I pray! Grad school and full-time work kinda steals large amounts of time and energy!

I thought about the times I thought certain things would be cool to see, certain people would be cool to meet, or that I would had liked to see something happen:

1. I drove by a subdivision and thought it would be a cool place to life (happened more than once), and I ended up living in both places for quite a while.

2. I drove through a little beachside town and thought I wanted to get to know it although I didn't live near there. I ended up dating someone who lived there (Rafael) and I still like the place very much.

3. I watched a TV show with a particular character and thought I wanted to meet someone like that, and I did. When I told them, they said I conjured them; they said they were conjured by a mermaid, which made me laugh.

4. There was a cute little tea set I saw at a raffle and I swore I wanted it. To my surprise, I did! It is a porcelain set made in Turkey with reds, browns, and blues. I've had this kind of luck with other raffles through my life.

The boss (aka Tropical Storm, they are nice but windy) is gonna be gone even more cos their spouse got terribly ill. Prof. Arthritis said when someone take a lot of time off work, they usually won't stay for long. He also said described a scenario that was near-identical to working with TS. I wonder if this is gonna be one of the things he predicts comes true. Someone else who pissed me off to no end is also taking a lot of time off and I hope he may be right about that.

I had my second reptile guest on my patio. In February, a rat snake molted in a hanging plants. I saw the skin but not the snake. Apparently, the plant was an ideal spot because it was cool, moist, and safe for the snake. Over the weekend while I pruned my plants, I was about to finish my last potted plant that I sat on the top bowl of an inactive floor water fountain. I lifted my plant and saw a little guy (or gal) curled under where the plant!

We stared at each other for a bit. It was a stringy little thing that I suspected was a corn snake. It hissed at me like a copperhead, and then I retreated from the patio to figure out how to get rid of it. It wasn't venomous and very small, so I tossed a towel over it, and then let it loose behind my building.

Oh, boy... I bet my coven ladies would have a field day figuring out the symbolism or metaphor for this and that I created a haven for snakes!

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