R: 2/6/03

Work Diary, 2/6/03

Writer's block is still killing me. Thus:

1. Precognition is just cynicism gone haywire. I just made that up.
Now, tell me, has someone said it before?

2. Tonight I'm attending a going-away party. The party's for my
friend's sister, who's marrying their older brother's fianc?e's
brother. Imagine the consternation that one caused. They leave tomorrow
for Las Vegas, where they'll be married, and then it's off to
California. For a gift, I'm buying the bride one of those nifty calling
cards. That way, when everything falls apart, she can call her family
back here for airfare.

3. I have new tires on my little Subaru, which is fortunate, since it's
snowed here the past couple of days. I'm the type who moves along at a
steady pace in the right lane, but not so the SUV-ers. They roar by
everyone, throwing slush this way and that and putting others at risk.
I hate them, really I do.

4. I'm almost finished with my employee evaluations. I've been a
nervous wreck the whole time; I can't wait until Valentine's Day, when
the damn things are signed, sealed, and delivered. I've solicited
specific examples from each employee to include in the evaluations,
then added some of my own. The other day, I glanced at another
supervisor's evaluation of one of her employees. She'd written,
"So-and-So is very good at teamwork," and left it at that. Why am I so
competitive?

5. Speaking of employees, I heard through the grapevine that one of
mine - the same one, in fact, who applied for my job and obviously
didn't get it - said, "Allen just won't admit that he doesn't know
everything." Christ. I've done a little self-evaluation and come to the
conclusion that, yes, I am indeed a limitless fount of knowledge.

6. Cher is coming to Denver. Why?

7. I'm forcing myself to watch "American Idol" so I'll have something
to talk about with my co-workers. We talk about other things, of
course, but AI provides a common ground (and I'd rather kill myself
than sit through a sports match of any kind. People who live and
breathe football freak me out.). So far I'm rooting for Frenchie, a
rather large black lady who wears glittery eye shadow and funky Capri
pants. Also she has the best voice, though that may not mean much to
the image-conscious voters.

8. Speaking of black ladies, I'm hoping I live long enough to see one
become President of the United States. Actually, any woman would do.
Same goes for a black male president. I'd even vote Republican if
necessary, just to see it happen. I was alive when they stepped onto
the moon so I don't see why there would be any fuss. We've come a long
way, baby. Right?

9. My friend has a miniature Chihuahua. I find this very strange. It's
the cutest thing next to a swamp rat, I guess, but why take an already
miniscule dog and scale it down even further? A market exists for them,
that's for sure. Plus, Mini-Chis have equally mini-poops, which must be
of some comfort to the owners.

10. Last week, a fourteen-year-old girl hanged herself from a tree in
front of her school. The school's in Colorado Springs, about sixty
miles south of Denver. The girl did it early in the morning, before
rush hour had started. Subsequently, many people going to work and/or
dropping their kids off at school saw her. Still, it was quite some
time before anyone actually recognized her (or, rather, before anyone
recognized it was a human being hanging there). Says a lot about how
routine blinds us to our surroundings, don't you think?