And You May Quote Me 32

For a drifter between entitlement and disentitilement,

Tears get dammed up.

Shrinkage 8

I had to work late this evening. A biannual thing.

Biannual = all too frequent

Damon the district personnel had his cameo at our humble establishment.

I was clad in a twinset sans the cardigan. Damon nearly threw a fit when he walked in on me engrossed in physical inventory adjustments.

"Whoa! Your arms!" Cried Damon. "Have you lost a lot of weight?"

"No," i responded. "I've been at the same weight for a year now." I chuckled, "You've just never seen my bare arms."

"You're really thin," continued Damon. "Are you okay? Are you sick?"

Oh, i'm sick. I... am... sick. You have no idea.

This, btw, proves my invisibility.

Culinary 2

Today Riley asked me, "Why are all your photos on Facebook food?"

"I'm obsessed," i replied.

"With eating?" Asked Riley.

"With cooking," i said. "Eating? Look at me."

(In fact, this evening i almost gave all my chicken and fish away to Denisse and Trent*. I just wanted it off my hands. Over lunch Trent remotely expressed interest with one neutral comment and i was like, "You want it? It's yours!")

Riley grinned evilly.

I could include the fact that cooking temporarily kills my sense of unworthiness. But who needs to be burdened with that detail?


*Denisse's bro. Not his real name.

Chase 6

Today i started physical therapy on my hand.

Remarkably, the therapist's name was Taylor*.

He had me dip my hand in hot molten wax five times, then wrapped it up in a mitt. I was a coward at first and hesitated and needed much coaxing.

"It's not gonna burn," he assured me. Repeatedly. I'm sure he was annoyed.

Ten minutes later he dewaxed me (that was way cool!) and performed a number of tests on my hand and arms to gauge the severity of my injury, making me go, "Ow, ow!"

As i continued to grimace and cringe, this Taylor concluded:

I believe you're in pain. But you're not paralyzed.

That blew me away. I hope that is true for me spiritually as well.


*Not his real name

By Yours Truly 22

Garlic Chicken with Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme

Braised Fish... The recipe says, "Don't break the fish!"

You try it!

Red snapper with soy, mirin, ginger, and miso...

What i always say, "As long as it tastes good!"

One of the Few Things That Make Me Smile, Kinda

I make sandwiches on this on my lunch breaks.

Reminds me of when my Dad taught me how to draw a hen and her chicks out of ovals. I got really good at that. And drawing, in general.

It didn't last.

Something touching about seeing a hen and her chicks.

Chase 5

Another work-related injury. Within... a month? Mildred my supervisor is very displeased with me right now.

Today someone was sent from both District and Corporate to investigate my claims lest they be fraudulent. I felt a rush of indignance, but found (little) comfort in knowing i have nothing to hide: not like i can fake tight muscles and pinched nerves - i don't know anatomy that well.

My doctor wants me to wear this wrist splint when i'm driving, typing, or otherwise utilizing my left hand.

In other words, all waking hours.

The splint lessens the pain, but sure makes it difficult to type!

Last night, amidst my Scramble fervor, i had to pause mid-game and remove the sucker in order to resume full-speed.

I'm thinking maybe this injury is partially Scramble-related... But, sshhhh... Nobody needs to know!