August 19
Here was your PBX lineup for last night:
Supervisor: James
Operator: Adrian
Operator: Juan
This is what I’m reduced to: instead of Maria and Silvia and the occasional Angelica (Silvia’s sister and Adrian’s girlfriend) I get three guys in their 20’s all playing video games. None are remotely attractive.
Actually, I like James and Adrian, who are rather funny, though I don’t have much in common with Juan and all three were content to play their games and let me sleep. Every now and then they would answer the phone and James showed why he was promoted to supervisor by not only answering the phone and playing his game but listening to his IPod as well.
In an egregious, though not unprecedented, violation of Monte Carlo policy, I had 482 before clocking in. We are no longer required to be there ten minutes early for briefing, except on Thursday nights when we have to be there 15 minutes early, for which we’re paid. Every other night, though, we don’t have to be there till clock in time.
Like most others though, I’m still arriving at the same time every night, usually waltzing into the briefing room at 2240, though it’s been 2230 usually since I dress at home now. Anyway, I have some extra time to kill and I went to the EDR to get some fruit to take outside with me and they had meatloaf.
I hate swing shift! They eat ten times better than we do! I love meatloaf dearly and I was hungry so I indulged. It wasn’t the best meatloaf anyone’s ever had, but it was pretty good and even if it wasn’t even the worst meatloaf has merit.
August 21
For the third time this week, I dined with Princess Emma and, as usual, she sought me out. If I didn’t know better I’d swear she Likes me, which we’ve already established isn’t the case.
We were having a very pleasant 482 when Radtke walked up and pulled up a chair.
“Hey, mind if I join you?”
“Of course not, Radtke,” I said. “I’m sitting here with a pretty, single young lady, I’d love to have you join us!”
“Fine,” he said, sitting down. “I’ll go sit somewhere else then.”
“Really?” I said encouragingly. “Could you?”
Both Princess Emma and Radtke laughed. Since he was sitting down anyway, I graciously allowed Radtke to join us.
Our main topic of conversation was Radtke’s crush on Nong, who happened to be sitting a few tables over. We didn’t identify her to Princess Emma – I cited privacy issues – but that didn’t stop me from blabbing the fact that Radtke had a crush on someone sitting in the EDR right now!
I announced I would be Radtke’s mentor on this one, the one responsible for guiding him to the dating Promised Land.
“You?” Princess Emma said, finding it rather amusing.
I nodded solemnly.
“Look, before he came to me he didn’t even know her days off or her break schedule or anything.”
“That’s stalking!” Princess Emma said.
Sigh. There’s that word again. I pointed out that no, it wasn’t stalking, thank you, merely the accumulation of information. Princess Emma, and Radtke for that matter, remained skeptical.
