In the theater when you have a "two a day," the cast of a show puts on two performances in the same day. I think of some of the more "energetic" shows and wonder how they keep it up month after month!
In my own way, I had a "two a day" today. In the morning I had my last 4-hour training session at Sutter, and in the afternoon I worked at Logos. I may be too old for a two a day (especially when I have laundry to deliver to my mother in between!) I have to be at Sutter by 8:30 (preferably earlier, to get things set up) and I discovered today how much I am loving this new habit of mine, sleeping in until about 8. It's not that I have a lot of sleep, but my 3 a.m. wakings sometimes stretch for 2 hours and then it may take another hour to get back to sleep, so I love being able to snuggle down and sleep in until I wake up. But not today. I had THREE alarms set (the alarm clock on my phone, the timer on my phone, and the timer on the stove!) I got up in plenty of time, but I was really foggy headed and not happy until I got into the swing of the info desk.
I still do not have computer access! I don't know what's so bloody hard about adding my log in and password. But apparently it is quite complicated and is going to take FIVE DAYS to get me set up. But presumably, by the next time I work, it should be OK.
But once I got settled and Chris arrived to put me in the driver's seat, things went well. We are quite near the birthing center and I found out that when a baby is born, they play a lullabye over the loudspeaker. We had 2 babies born within 30 minutes today.
By noon, Chris' husband came to get her and she determined I was OK to work the desk until 12:30, the end of the shift, so I was set to solo. All went well except for giving not one but two people directions to the wrong place.
I stopped by Atria for a short visit while dropping off my other's laundry and making sure she had taken her meds. I didn't visit too long. it amazes me that she can sit with the newspaper in her lap and not know there are wildfires, and doesn't think she ever heard about 9/11, but was quick to mention that I was wearing new shoes. I would love to find out what goes on in that diseased brain of hers, but I am certain that given another 10 years or so I will start to know.
Then on to Logos, where we dropped off 4 boxes of book donations from Char, who is doing yeoman's work cleaning out their book collection, especially Mike's. Susan was working when I got there, and had Sammy with her (their dog...oh to have a dog that calm!) but she left right away. I found a Peter Mayle book to read and settled down to "work."
There was an old couple outside looking at bargain books. He was bent at a 90 degree angle (I swear I'm going to be like that eventually) and she looked like my friend Jeri. But they didn't come in.
A guy wearing a Cape Cod shirt and carrying a plastic bag from Henry Pordes Books in London wandered around for awhile, but didn't buy anything.
Someone else dropped off a bag of books and then a guy rushed in with a copy of a Scott Turow book, tossed it at me and said "for you to sell." Looking at it, I saw that it had been a bargain book when he bought it originally.
At 3 I made my first sale to a guy who had come in with 2 women. He bought six California history books and "The Knights Templar."
A young man with swarthy complexion and a head full of unruly medium length black curls. bought Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" and said that he "took great pleasure in purchasing this book" and hoped he can learn more about the human condition.
A woman was delighted to purchase three copies of Analog magazine for $1.
A delightful Mexican man pulled up a chair in front of the self improvement bookcase. He was there awhile and ultimately didn't buy anything but was carrying around a book called "Zhuan Falun," a best seller in China until it was banned. I suspected it was about the organization of Falun Gong, which we encountered once at a demonstration in Los Angeles, and came home to check Amazon, to find out I was right. The guy hoped to find a book on yoga or about photography. He spied a card we have of a dragonfly...a photo taken by a local photographer and whipped out his cell phone to show me a similar photo he had taken the day before, two different views of the same type of insect.
A woman with what I thought was a gorgeous 3-legged collie came in with very specific requests--the art of making perfume, books on Russian art of the Renaissance era, and I can't remember the third one. The dog's name was Marshmallow and I told her I had never seen a collie quite that color. Turns out he wasn't a collie at all, but a Malamute mixed with something else. He reacted to a blood sugar monitor she has attached to her belly and I asked her if he was a service dog. She said no, but she trains service dogs up in the Lake Tahoe area, where she has six of them right now. Marshmallow had just picked up some of their tasks. Ultimately she didn't buy anything, but I enjoyed talking with her.
A guy bought a coffee table book of black and white war photos from World War II.
A guy who looked like he might be a university coach, with the barrel-chested build and a navy blue shirt with UC Davis on the left corner, bought a book about San Simeon, where he said he had visited many times.
When a woman came in and bought a Halloween book for a child, I decided to check the children's room again and bought 3 more books for Lacie's birthday.
A couple came in trying to sell cosmetics, but she didn't seem surprised when I told her I didn't use them and they left without trying to give me a sales pitch.
A guy came in chuckling as he paid for a bargain book called "Pumping Mad." He said he "couldn't resist the temptation to share bad taste."
A tall African American man bought a Bargain Book thesaurus. Says it was his "first day here...and his last" and that he was just visiting friends. (But how can you pass up a thick thesaurus for $1?)
An older man sat at the table for awhile and finally bought a book by Orson Scott Card.
Two men, whom I assumed were father and son came in. The father looked like Tom Bergeron if Bergeron had a belly on him. They looked around for awhile, but didn't buy anything.
About this time someone outside started tremendously loud and violent sneezing, about four or five times. Never did see who it was, but the sound penetrated the glass of the window and door.
An Asian woman checked out the cookbooks, but didn't buy anything.
Peter arrived about the same time the nightly jogging group runs past the store and he was followed just a few seconds later by Walt.
So it was a busy day, but I felt productive at the end of it, and definitely more energized than I felt when the alarms woke me up.
I just realized my friend didn't come in today.
In my own way, I had a "two a day" today. In the morning I had my last 4-hour training session at Sutter, and in the afternoon I worked at Logos. I may be too old for a two a day (especially when I have laundry to deliver to my mother in between!) I have to be at Sutter by 8:30 (preferably earlier, to get things set up) and I discovered today how much I am loving this new habit of mine, sleeping in until about 8. It's not that I have a lot of sleep, but my 3 a.m. wakings sometimes stretch for 2 hours and then it may take another hour to get back to sleep, so I love being able to snuggle down and sleep in until I wake up. But not today. I had THREE alarms set (the alarm clock on my phone, the timer on my phone, and the timer on the stove!) I got up in plenty of time, but I was really foggy headed and not happy until I got into the swing of the info desk.
I still do not have computer access! I don't know what's so bloody hard about adding my log in and password. But apparently it is quite complicated and is going to take FIVE DAYS to get me set up. But presumably, by the next time I work, it should be OK.
But once I got settled and Chris arrived to put me in the driver's seat, things went well. We are quite near the birthing center and I found out that when a baby is born, they play a lullabye over the loudspeaker. We had 2 babies born within 30 minutes today.
By noon, Chris' husband came to get her and she determined I was OK to work the desk until 12:30, the end of the shift, so I was set to solo. All went well except for giving not one but two people directions to the wrong place.
I stopped by Atria for a short visit while dropping off my other's laundry and making sure she had taken her meds. I didn't visit too long. it amazes me that she can sit with the newspaper in her lap and not know there are wildfires, and doesn't think she ever heard about 9/11, but was quick to mention that I was wearing new shoes. I would love to find out what goes on in that diseased brain of hers, but I am certain that given another 10 years or so I will start to know.
Then on to Logos, where we dropped off 4 boxes of book donations from Char, who is doing yeoman's work cleaning out their book collection, especially Mike's. Susan was working when I got there, and had Sammy with her (their dog...oh to have a dog that calm!) but she left right away. I found a Peter Mayle book to read and settled down to "work."
There was an old couple outside looking at bargain books. He was bent at a 90 degree angle (I swear I'm going to be like that eventually) and she looked like my friend Jeri. But they didn't come in.
A guy wearing a Cape Cod shirt and carrying a plastic bag from Henry Pordes Books in London wandered around for awhile, but didn't buy anything.
Someone else dropped off a bag of books and then a guy rushed in with a copy of a Scott Turow book, tossed it at me and said "for you to sell." Looking at it, I saw that it had been a bargain book when he bought it originally.
At 3 I made my first sale to a guy who had come in with 2 women. He bought six California history books and "The Knights Templar."
A young man with swarthy complexion and a head full of unruly medium length black curls. bought Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" and said that he "took great pleasure in purchasing this book" and hoped he can learn more about the human condition.
A woman was delighted to purchase three copies of Analog magazine for $1.
A delightful Mexican man pulled up a chair in front of the self improvement bookcase. He was there awhile and ultimately didn't buy anything but was carrying around a book called "Zhuan Falun," a best seller in China until it was banned. I suspected it was about the organization of Falun Gong, which we encountered once at a demonstration in Los Angeles, and came home to check Amazon, to find out I was right. The guy hoped to find a book on yoga or about photography. He spied a card we have of a dragonfly...a photo taken by a local photographer and whipped out his cell phone to show me a similar photo he had taken the day before, two different views of the same type of insect.
A woman with what I thought was a gorgeous 3-legged collie came in with very specific requests--the art of making perfume, books on Russian art of the Renaissance era, and I can't remember the third one. The dog's name was Marshmallow and I told her I had never seen a collie quite that color. Turns out he wasn't a collie at all, but a Malamute mixed with something else. He reacted to a blood sugar monitor she has attached to her belly and I asked her if he was a service dog. She said no, but she trains service dogs up in the Lake Tahoe area, where she has six of them right now. Marshmallow had just picked up some of their tasks. Ultimately she didn't buy anything, but I enjoyed talking with her.
A guy bought a coffee table book of black and white war photos from World War II.
A guy who looked like he might be a university coach, with the barrel-chested build and a navy blue shirt with UC Davis on the left corner, bought a book about San Simeon, where he said he had visited many times.
When a woman came in and bought a Halloween book for a child, I decided to check the children's room again and bought 3 more books for Lacie's birthday.
A couple came in trying to sell cosmetics, but she didn't seem surprised when I told her I didn't use them and they left without trying to give me a sales pitch.
A tall African American man bought a Bargain Book thesaurus. Says it was his "first day here...and his last" and that he was just visiting friends. (But how can you pass up a thick thesaurus for $1?)
An older man sat at the table for awhile and finally bought a book by Orson Scott Card.
Two men, whom I assumed were father and son came in. The father looked like Tom Bergeron if Bergeron had a belly on him. They looked around for awhile, but didn't buy anything.
About this time someone outside started tremendously loud and violent sneezing, about four or five times. Never did see who it was, but the sound penetrated the glass of the window and door.
An Asian woman checked out the cookbooks, but didn't buy anything.
Peter arrived about the same time the nightly jogging group runs past the store and he was followed just a few seconds later by Walt.
So it was a busy day, but I felt productive at the end of it, and definitely more energized than I felt when the alarms woke me up.
I just realized my friend didn't come in today.
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