Homeless - 80

Greetings, fellow humans,

Hope you are doing well and are being careful on the southern beaches. Never can tell when a rabid pelican might get all postal on you because our species screwed up the place where he lived. Yeah, that situation wouldn't read too well in your obit.

My summer is just a bit different from the past couple. If you recall, I enjoyed the environment of a 'party pool' that I visited on the weekends that consisted of water volleyball, nonstop grilling, much beer guzzling, music, repeated human female breast exposure, frequent visits by human authority figures, human female skinny dipping and mostly good times by all. During the week, I visited the 'quiet pool'. the one that was mostly shaded with a cool water temperature throughout the summer, that was seldom visited. The waterfall provided a smooth and pleasant backdrop to the environment.

This summer, I don't visit the party pool because the cool people have moved to houses. We have occasionally got together at someone's house but the atmosphere at the party pool has changed. There is a woman that assumed the role of alpha male - no, you read that right; a queen bee if you will. The past couple of summers, she was contained by the superior social techniques of the rest of the pool group, relegated to the background because of her caustic social technique. Now, with everyone gone and a new group of people moved into the complex, she dominates the environment. I have visited twice. The first time, I noticed how the atmosphere had changed, of how she strove to dominate the environment. The second time, I was walking toward that pool and heard her voice, turned around and went to another pool in the complex. I do miss the water volleyball...sigh... Thank god there is more than one pool at the place.

Since the warmer temperatures have returned to this area, I visit the quiet pool on a daily basis, usually from 6 PM to 9:30 PM to cool down BT is parked in the shade so that she can cool down, too, which can make the difference between a good night's sleep and a fretful one. So far this tactic seems to be working with regard to my ability to sleep comfortably for a few hours. I awake between 5 - 6 AM, get some ice water, take a morning constitutional to make the mountains tremble, have a morning smoke and relocate to a 'pausing spot' to get an hour or two more of sleep, read a bit, spend some time on stuff.

Food is somewhat varied as far as fast food goes. I eat a couple of times during the course of a day, spending $1 - $2 per meal. Thank god for value meals. In the mornings and last meal of the day, I usually eat a handful of nuts. Once but not more than twice a week, I eat at a salad bar at a grocery store for around $3 - it is reasonably priced, Yeah, fast food ain't the best for you but when it's all you can afford. Every now and then I eat a home-cooked meal. There are times when a meal comes from samples at grocery stores. I do long for the day when I can cook when I want and whatever strikes my fancy - porterhouse steaks, king crab legs, shrimp, chicken, pork - using crock pots, ovens, etc At work, I usually keep some sandwich meat and a loaf of bread.

Once a week, I wash and dry a load of clothes for $3. My wardrobe is somewhat slim these days. All my winter stuff is stored at a friend's place. I found that I can get by just buying detergent and reusing softening sheets that I get out of garbage cans at the laundromat. I only pick the best ones. I tend to pass over the ones with beer and whiskey stains though; I found that they don't yield the best results that I strive for.

I do a hard workout three times a week, usually a couple of hours. Two days a week, I spend an hour stretching out and some Plank stuff. Last time I weighed, I was around 200 lbs. Doubtless, my workout regimen and reduced calorie intake has something to do with that.

Bartering with alcohol is a viable alternative to hard cash plus it seems that people are more apt to welcome you with open arms. There are a couple of places that I visit on a regular basis that offers a couch and food. I bring cheap whiskey to one and beer to the other. I prefer these alternatives rather than any sexual favors. I also help with yard work. I find that type of work satisfying at some level.

Black Thunder continues to get by. despite not being 100%. Today I had her oil changed, thanks to the discount that the manager always gives me and also thanks to the lady who approached me at my sleeping spot around midnight on 6/21. She works at one of the business establishments in the strip mall that I guard. She said she was moved to give me a $20 and didn't know why. I thanked her and used that money to attend to BT.

The thing is that I was thinking if I had enough funds to do that very thing, giving the extent of my current financial resources. I was thinking of saving some this check and some of next check but her contribution moved the issue to the front of the priority list.

The spirit of the universe moves me but it also moves the people in my world. Now, if it only move the winning lotto numbers my way.

Later,

David

Homeless - 79

Hiya,

Hope you are having a good June. The 4th is right around the corner, lurking in the warm shadows of summer with the promise of cold beer, pool fun, grilled animal flesh and music.

As an IT hourly contractor, my job performance reviews were on a daily basis, meaning that if they didn't send you home early, you were doing a good job. However, as a city employee, I am sucked into that empty dimension of futility twice a year, namely the performance review process. To further punish me for my non-existent sins, the gods have decreed that the guy who fills out my performance review is an arrogant, ass-kissing wimp with an authority problem who wants everyone to respect his great leadership. In reality, we all try to keep him out of the loop as much as possible because his approach to situations mirrors that of Wily E. Coyote's famed strategizing and we all know how those turned out. For some reason, he insists on treating me as his inferior and for some reason, I insist on behaving as his equal. The manager told me that the reason he acts like that is that I intimidate him and he is trying to compensate. I told the manager that the boy has no business in a leadership position with that attitude, that it is counter-productive and doesn't make any positive contributions to the environment.

Remember the TV series MASH? There was a character in the show named Frank Burns who craved authority and whined that people didn't respect his leadership abilities. That's the guy who fills out my performance report. He even looks like a skinnier version of him. His comments are subjective and biased, and doesn't contain any hard metrics. My work at the Library branch is physical in nature, meaning that from mid-April to the end of September, I sweat. I should be categorized in that review as 'SOB works like a mother f---- and everybody likes him'. Instead, he nitpicks about imaginary things and grudgingly admits I do an average job of which my team mates know better. When I read his comments he wrote in my first review, I thought he's young, stupid, has delusions of adequacy and greatness...let it slide. And then I thought, naw, take him apart and let him know that he can't just write anything and not expect it to be challenged which I have done each time, pointing out the errors, inconsistencies and outright fabrications, asking for examples of a particular instance for validation and noting how his feedback reeks.

Now, the thing that kinda bothers me is the time I devote to that bullshit, is time that I could be devoting to my main writing project, if I had a competent, mature lead. I wish I could respond to the entire performance review as This is bullshit! but I found that properly constructed sentences refuting aspects of the review go a lot further in lending credibility to the feedback and might possibly be used as a learning experience in his ongoing training as an assistant manager.

Yeah, well, it hasn't happened so far...

Over the past five or six weeks, I put the writing project on hold and devoted that time to constructing cost saving suggestions to the Library system. A 'suit' downtown sent out an email several weeks ago soliciting suggestions. Before that time, I had asked around for such a conduit but no one knew; couldn't even find the topic in the DPL manual. I'm glad the email was sent out because I had some ideas that I thought would benefit the system, both in reduction of material, labor and procedures. I've received positive feedback but who knows - they could be giving me a reach around.

Among the suggestions I have submitted concerned, yep, the performance review form of my function, reducing it from 30 pages to 10 pages. I included algorithms to retrieve and process information from the database to quantify an individual's performance. I also suggested a peer-to-peer appraisal and the guidelines thereof. I also suggested an employee-to-supervisor appraisal and the guidelines thereof.

From what I heard, Frank Burns didn't care for that idea.

Gods, I hope you don't have to contend with soul-draining crap like this.

Later,
David