This week things have been a lot better. We at CWA aren’t striking yet (although we’ve reserved the right to since we don’t have a new contract yet), so I got to return to work and continue hoarding money in case negotiations break down and we wind up walking out next week. That’s alleviated some financial stress, and since things in my personal life have calmed down I’ve been happier in general. I’ve gotten to spend quality time with local peeps during the week, and on the weekends I’ve been able to travel to see Towanda, Dyeabolical and Scott last weekend and Caro in Minneapolis this weekend. I didn’t really get much alone time this week, but it’s been worth it so far.

Last Sunday morning in St. Louis Scott and I cuddled Dyeabolical in bed before they had to get up to go to a brunch and I had to head back to Indianapolis to meet up with Michelle. Although pouring rain made me a bit late picking her up, I had a nice evening. Michelle and I had Chinese food and then snuggled and napped together. Michelle seems willing to make more time to get together with me in the near future, so that's very encouraging. She's trying to force doctors to treat her symptoms seriously so she can sleep again and be more awake during the day, which she hopes will help her concentrate and better handle decision-making and stress.

Monday CWA still wasn’t striking, so I went back to work. We were crazy-busy all day, and I had a blinding headache I couldn’t get rid of. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I’d taken my analgesics home in preparation for the strike and hadn’t yet brought them back. After work Rockit Ma’am made us dinner and we each played on our laptops. We collected meat on Kingdom of Loathing and I worked on the MUX wiki since it was too late to do much role-playing. I set up a Twitter account for the MUX to alert players when characters are closing and TP events are starting, etc. Once my headache finally receded I was much more productive.

Tuesday work was just as crazy, and I got stuck on a cut that took me four hours to resolve. After work I stopped by Rockit Ma’am’s for a hug and kiss and to pick up my computer, which I’d left there so I didn’t have to lug it around all day at work. I then went to Kelly’s to pick her up and run us out to McDonald’s for food. Kelly was horrendously sleepy (she said her friend called it “experimenting with whole new levels of fatigue”), so we watched TV and played on our laptops briefly while we ate, but soon after just went to bed. I couldn’t fall asleep as quickly as Kelly did, so I played a bit longer on the Internet, but eventually I shut things down and snuggled up to Kelly to sleep.

Wednesday morning Kelly and I got up a little early so we could have breakfast at Denny’s before I went into work. After work I went to Chpa and Nikki’s. They knows I'm poor and trying to save money, so Chpa cooked dinner for the three of us while Nikki got ready to go over to my apartment. Nikki and I had discussed going out, and eventually decided to just stay in to snuggle and watch anime. Nikki introduced me to Samurai Champloo and then we watched Cowboy Bebop until Nikki passed out (it was a Shinichirō Watanabe night!). Nikki’s going to try to find the rest of her Samurai Champloo discs so we can watch it from the beginning.

Thursday morning Nikki and I left early so we could grab breakfast at Le Peep. Work continued to be extremely busy, which everyone apparently trying to get everything done before the Easter holiday weekend. Kelly had said she wanted more snuggles, so after work I went to her house, once again bringing us food. Kelly had a paper to write, so I got on the MUX and got to role-play with Temera and Sci-Fi as Barbecue, as well as with Stormwind and Uplift as Blaster and Typhoon. However, it turned out that Kelly’s paper wasn’t actually due until FRIDAY at midnight, so she decided to turn in relatively early. I got off the MUX and joined her for cuddles and sleep.

Friday I expected work to such since 90% of my co-workers were gone for Good Friday, but actually it wound up not being that bad. I did wind up getting stuck with an ISDN mess since I was only four people in the five states working who’d been trained on them, but after the business office closed it was actually relatively quiet and I had a chance to catch up on my points for the day. After work I went to Rockit Ma’am’s, and we got a new membership at Our Haven so we could go there for events, starting with Beltane next month. I checked my itinerary and packed for the weekend, and then the two of us went to sleep since Rockit Ma’am was already unconscious on the couch.

This weekend I’m in Minnesota to see Caro for her birthday. It’s great to spend time with her, even when I’m just sitting next to her on the couch while she spins yarn. Rockit Ma’am drove me to the airport Saturday morning and Caro picked me up. After stuffing ourselves with yummy breakfast specials we went by the art store and then returned to her apartment to snuggle on the couch and watch Juno. We hung out while she spun yarn, and then went to see some of her friends at a karaoke bar and then to The Triple Rock to see The World/Inferno Friendship Society perform I’m definitely a new fan). I’m glad I bought my plane tickets before the strike scare, or else I might have hoarded my money and not gotten to have this wonderful weekend with her.

Happy Zombie Jesus day, all!

"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March
1992 because we received notice that you passed
away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there
is a change in your circumstances."
--Department of Social Services, Greenville, SC