One of "Those" Days

There are many different variations on “one of those days”, e.g.:
-the “Monday”
-the “Wednesday but all day long you think it’s Friday so you’re feeling kinda good about things until you realize it’s Wednesday and then it sucks”
-the “starts out pretty good but then things snowball and, even though there is no one thing wrong, it gets pretty overwhelming by 3 pm"
-the "sure it's clear and sunny out, but the news just said there is a giant asteroid heading right towards Earth and, now that they mention it, what is that thing in the sky?"

I’m having one of “those” days.

The day I’m having today seems to fit most snugly into the second last one. No one thing has gone wrong, just a bunch of little things snowballing.

Speaking of snowballing… Yesterday morning started out at -13C, then yesterday afternoon was +9C, then yesterday evening was -13C. Today it’s snowing. And snowing. And, wait, yes, snowing. Stupid weather. I need a pair of these.

Oh, okay, that’s the first item on the list of what’s-going-wrong today.

Second item: I had a dream last night that left me feeling really unsettled, but I don’t really remember the dream at all, just that I woke up feeling uneasy. I know that there was someone in the dream that I was happy to see but that by the end of it I was feeling really not-so-happy. (What? There’s a word for that? Sad? Angry? Malcontented?)

Third item: I got to work and a friend was on MSN so I said hi and commented on something we had been talking about. Said “friend” (who deserves quotation marks now, since it's one of "those" days and they contributed to it) reacted as though I had suggested that they should rip out their kidneys (both) and have them couriered to me, posthaste. Which, frankly, was an extreme over-reaction. I don’t like starting the day with a misunderstanding and then with pissy-ness between friends/acquaintances/co-workers/etc. Later in the day, after enough coffee and/or food, sure, I can handle it. Just not at 8:05am. Please.

Fourth item: The weather sucks. I know that I mentioned it already, but seriously. Why can’t we have our precipitation spread out over the whole season like other, civilized climates? Why must we get it all in a compressed and overwhelming format?

Fifth item: It’s February 28. Part of my job involves monthly invoicing for rentals. I have about 15 invoices that should be dated the 29th, the 30th, and the 31st. Now I have to do math, re-assign invoicing dates, and, did I mention the math? Did I mention how the math and I are not the best-of-friends? We don’t have movie nights or talk about boys or anything. We don’t get along. I mean, not even for a strained conversation as we wait for a cup of coffee if we happen to be in the lunch room at the same time.

Then, add to all the other items the fact that all day long I see planes landing at the airport and I'm stuck here, and it's SNOWING (I know, I told you already, I'm sorry). A friend and I have this on-going joke that we're going to take off and try to catch a flight somewhere warm. Up until now it's always been a "Haha, wouldn't that be funny?" but today I'm trying to figure out how long it will take to get my passport renewed.

However, NHL starts up again tonight, (rumor has it the Flames game is on TV!!), I have a Coco Brooks* pizza thawing in my fridge for supper (now I'm really hungry), and ... well... that's it for the plus side at the moment. But, at least it's not one of those days with the asteroid...

*if you live in or near Calgary and you haven't tried Coco Brooks, what are you doing reading this? Go there NOW. So good!!!

E-Friends

I have this friend. Well, maybe "friend" is an exaggeration of the relationship. Let's say he's this guy I know. Sort of. (I mean, he's definately a guy. The "sort of" applied to the "I know" part of that sentence) For the last few months, we have been having an e-flirty sort of email and msn "thing". It started with emails from him about innocuous subjects and these would go back and forth for a while, with the flirtation building up slowly. For about a month the back-and-forth emailing went on all day long at work (shh... ). Then, after the flirtation had sort of escalated, he started to cut back on the emailing. There are still times when we have back-and-forth days, but not very often anymore.

The funny thing is, when he comes on msn in the evening or weekends, if I say anything to him he answers once or twice and then quickly goes offline.

It's like having a friendship (a real face-to-face friendship) with a guy tank after there has been flirtation. Except that it's all virtual. I don't know if he's worried that I thought there was more to it than what it was (which is often what is going on when guys are that way about a real face-to-face situation), but the complete unwillingness to communicate with me outside of the workday hours kind of makes me laugh.

I enjoyed the email conversations, it gave me something to do at work while wading through ever building mountains of paper, but I never for one minute thought there was more there. Boys. Dumb. Really.

This experience has really magnified something in my life, however. It has been a long time since I have had good guy friends in my life. Or any guy friends. Or guys for that matter. Most of my co-workers are guys, but I don't think that counts, since we have no contact aside from work. The last time I had a good guy friend, the friendship sort of ended when he announced one day that he didn't think we could ever be anything more than just friends. Which came as an enormous surprise to me, since I didn't realize he was considering the issue. Also, ironically it was HIM who scaled back the actual friendship and eventually dropped out of my life. Good thing we WERE "just friends". haha. hmm.

So, what am I trying to say? Not much. Just that I miss having guy friends. I tend to find it easier and more comfortable to be friends with guys: none of the competitive, snarky type of stuff that can happen with women friends. Plus, they don't roll their eyes if I want to watch the game rather than go out shopping.

Close Talker

It could truthfully be said that I have some personal space issues. Specifically, when someone I don’t know/don’t know well/don’t want to be close to is in my personal space. Even more specifically when said person does not get the body language indicators that they are too close (i.e. if I take a big step backwards, maybe don’t match me step for step.)

Case in point: We have a new guy working in our warehouse. He seems like he’s an okay enough guy (compared to some of the warehousemen we’ve had), but he is sort of a close-talker. (He also stares and interrupts conversations that he has no part nor business in but that’s a different rant). Or maybe it’s just with me. I don’t know.

Every time I go into the warehouse to get something for a customer, he tries to engage me in conversation, and he stands WAY too close. Generally when I go back into the warehouse, I’m in a hurry. I have a customer on hold, or standing at my desk. Also I’ve been doing my job for 15 months. I know my job. I know the equipment. If I need assistance I ask. I don’t chit-chat normally, much less when I’m in a hurry.

I could put up and possibly get used to the constant attempts at small talk, if only he wasn’t such a close talker!!

Did I mention the strong, bad aftershave? No? Oh. Yes. Added to close-talking and not reading body language cues, there is an almost visible aura of aftershave around him. Not “oh that guy smells great” aftershave/cologne, but “Oh, that must have been on sale at 7-11” aftershave.

Now, mind you, I much MUCH prefer the attempt at smelling nice for work. The guy we had before this one was also a close talker, but he was a non-showerer, nor was he much of a tooth-brusher. However, I tend to sneeze a lot around strong cologne/perfume, and added to the uncomfortable attempts to chat, and the fact that I’m in a hurry, and the fact that he is just this side of creepy (did I mention that? No? He has a tendency to walk up behind me. When I’m bending down to get something or to write while standing. shudder), it’s kind of, well, unsettling.

So, where was I going with this? Oh, Yeah. I wish there were some way to strongly and in no uncertain terms explain the boundaries of your personal space to people who don't get it. Other than just shoving them or telling them "I can't stand it with you being so close to me!!!!" and running away. You know. Maybe some way that isn't so, well, off-putting...