The Week in Chunks

I'm going to break the usual format and try to cover as much as possible in this one post in an effort to catch up to the present day. Buckle up! Here we go.

Jen. In her usual spooky way, and this has been documented here before, the morning after the Calliope post went up she called me before work, for the first time in a week and a half. It's almost like she has some kind of spider sense that lets her know when I'm at my most disgruntled, even if she's had no communication from me at all, and she hasn't. It was kind of an awkward conversation, because I wasn't giving her much of anything, even though she mentioned thinking that I was pissed at her for some reason, but I kept it non-commital, as 3:30 in the AM is not my best time for hashing things out. To be honest, I'm not even really all that interested in hashing things out at this point, because this all has gotten tedious. But since I am still in this relationship I suppose it must be hashed out at some point. The conversation should take place in person, though, because that is when I'm at my strongest. I'll let you know how that goes.

Work. The job continues to go really well. I'm getting a lot better at what I do there, my confidence is growing, and I think that shows. I'm evolving from the new quiet guy into my more animated self, and I'm going to push that even further. I've moved up a rung on the ladder, too. They fired Jason for chronic absenteeism, so instead of being 8th, I'm now 7th in the cell. We've hired a new kid, too, named Eric. He seems a decent, likeable sort. As usual, I've taken it upon myself to kind of look after him and help him out when he needs help. I don't have to do this, nobody told me to do this, but coming from FMC and LSI it's something that I feel is my responsibility as a more senior staff member. I'm not going to let the kid drown ... like some others there might.

I'm also coming up on my two month review, and I'm very anxious for it. Hopefully, I've improved on some of those marks from the 30 day review (which weren't bad at all), because it's nice to get that kind of vindication for busting my ass, which I assure you I have been doing. At my 90 day review I should get a pay adjustment, and I'm a little nervous about that, not because I'm afraid they won't think I deserve one, but because Allen (aka Cooter) just had his and he got bumped up $2 to $11.50. If I go into mine and end up with less than that, I'm going to be pissed.

Writing. I've solved the kitchen staffing issue. I needed a cook. Originally, that spot was covered by a character named Pam, based on Jude. She's been written out of the book for years now, and I never replaced the character. Now that everyone is back in the hospital again, there needs to be a cook. So I wracked my brain to think of someone I could base a character on that would fill the same sort of story elements that Jude brought in. I need someone older than Kelly (who is 19), married, has kids, and with a particular sort of energy. I ran through several people, but nothing clicked, then I thought about LSI second shift from way back when I was there, and came up with the person. There was a girl, about my age, named Jill who did turn-on for us. Strangely, she was the first person there about whom rumors of her and I having a fling began, something that would continue for the rest of my seven years there. Anyway, she's perfect to add to the kitchen mix. In a stunning bit of originality, I named her ... Jill.

Colleen. This week's big news is my sister's impending move to Andover, Massachusetts. Ian has been offered a job there, so they're moving from Philadelphia to much much closer, which I think is excellent. Colleen is my favorite person to hang out with in the world, and this will be the first time we've lived in conjoining states since 1991, when she went to Bryn Mawr. They'll be moving sometime in September-October from the sound of it. I should be moving to the Newport area myself in that timeframe. This means that even if my lovelife hits the skids, my little sister will be there to go to concerts and movies with.

I think I hit most of it. There you go.