My hangnail is bleeding.

I brought my Simon & Garfunkel "Old Friends" box set into work today, which is making me a very mellow boy. I got into work a half hour early to check on Velma (she's been upset and fighting some demons) and managed to be fairly productive, even. I made a poster and sent out some emails and have been a pretty good worker, considering. I'm fighting a little scratchy throat which means more echinacea when I get home, and a good night's sleep.

My girl was upset last night, and it's very frustrating to be so far away at times like that, times when I just want to put my arms around her and make her feel better. I just have to keep reminding myself, "tomorrow, tomorrow." You know, I wish I could be like scottopic and write in brilliant prosetry.

We are so passive aggressive at work. There is a chalk board outside the women's bathroom and there are lots of comments and questions about respect and how one earns it. It started with "Does respect come with a title?" I love the people that I work with, except the one that was written about. We are amazing people. Even the passive aggressive messages make me smile, because I imagine who wrote them, which of the brilliant, competent people I am privileged to share space with had those thoughts.

I'm really going to miss Velma when I'm gone. She challenges me and my defenses in a way that I've come to really crave. There isn't a single thing that gets by this woman. I have so much respect for her, and today she told me that she was really proud of how well I was doing. That made me feel really good.

I'm writing the paper about My Emily this afternoon. I hope she likes it.

~//~

Just a grain of sand
hanging on his sole for so long
thinking I belonged
in his worn out tread
until he clapped his shoes
together and knocked me loose.
When I blew away I thought
that I would join the
anonymous others
on the sunny shore but
I was swept into a clam
and became her pearl.

Someone took notice!

My sweet and angelic Coworker Jessica (she's an adorable itty bitty first-year work-study!) called me her hero! She got a big fat wad of paper jammed in the electric stapler and I got it out for her! Rowr!

The Chad is stuck.

The little slip of paper I got in my mailbox yesterday said that The Girl^TM's package would be available at the post office for pickup today after 9am. So I raced over there after work and waited in a big long line only to have the man behind the counter tell me that because it was Express Mail, they were going to try to deliver it again today and there would be another slip in my mailbox.

Sure enough, as I found out when I got home, he was right. Now I have to go back out to the post office and wait in the long line again tomorrow.

Please please please let the echinacea work!