Angels of the Silences / This Vampire Life in General

Well I guess you left me with some feathers in my Hand…

I’m on my “weekend.” My days off are Tuesday-Wednesday, but because I get off Tuesday at 0700 and start again on Thursday at 2200 I get confused what each day actually means.

Goods are it is a very physical job. Last week I took the tour of a local “old school” gym. Big. Tons of weights. Heavy bag room. Stretching room. Locker room. Shower room. 24 hour access. $35 a month. 7 minutes from home, 10 minutes from work.

But right now I am pretty freaking sore. I am averaging about 6 miles of walking every day. Then there is the bending and lifting and reaching involved. I might not need to go back to a gym. I get a decent workout at work – which is strangely a relief. I am not sitting in front of a computer for my work days. Instead I am hauling pallet jacks and lifting and bending and walking.

The second day I succeeded in getting my water bottle out to where I was working. I didn’t know if it was allowed, but it was killing me not being able to get a sip of water every now and then. I usually go through 120+ ounces of water a day. Then I put in my air pods and listened to the Bosch Novel “City of Bones.” Cool thing about air pods is if you pull one of out of your ear – say if someone talks to you – the iPhone pauses the book. Pretty cool.

There is a rotating cast of characters on staff. Some barely grunt. Others are friendly. At lunch yesterday I found a guy who was an AMS (aircraft mechanic, structural) on my ’99 cruise on the USS Constellation. We shot the shit and said we would catch up even though we never met. Today a friendly pretty girl saddled up and started chatting while we were “zoning” - which is turning product face out and pulling everything to the front. We chatted the way military people can do easily. She asked about my background and I gave her the thumbnail sketch, she thanked me for my service (which to this day remains one of the most awkward exchanges I have with people these days.) Her family was military and I suppose it explains how easily we started chatting.

Today I was working the shit-show of sporting goods. Everything misplaced. We worked our way through a pallet that apparently had already been worked through. Everything was overstock or seasonal and had to back on the pallet. It was a little frustrating to have to re-do what someone else had already done. I just kept telling myself “$22 an hour, $22 and hour!”

I wouldn’t get that sitting on the couch watching NCIS re-runs.

Plus I am getting plenty of exercise. And we don’t have to deal with customers on the overnight.

Sleep is still a slowly resolving problem. Discipline is the solution. Somewhere deep in that bag of tricks of mine I still have a little satchel labeled “Discipline.” Still digging around in that bag.

I’ll find it. In the meantime I have to go sit in the shower and turn the water up as hot as I can.

Because.

Fuck, after three days I am sore.

Last updated June 01, 2022