Whenever I want you all I have to do is dream

Yesterday I slept way in.  I dreamed a lot.  I dreamed I was in pain, a nagging pain in my lower right side.  I wondered if I had appendicitis and was annoyed at the idea I might have to miss work.

I then dreamed that meteors filled the sky and ash covered the ground like snow.  I was at my aunt's house and tried to call mine to see if the phone lines were still working, if my house was still standing.  Emergency services answered and said I needed to stay off the phone to keep the lines clear.

The only thing I can remember from this morning is something about a dock plate.  Tomorrow I'll be putting them up and down again and things will be fine.

Cars I see on the way to work

I saw a MINI Cooper Coupe today, black body with white stripes and a white roof with black stripes.  I didn't get close enough to see if it was a Cooper S or not.  I know if I get a MINI, it will definitely be an S and I was kind of hoping to get the MINI roadster but it may be a bad idea to be planning for my next car when I may not be able to renew my driver's license.

Driving at night is not so bad yet.  I use the GPS to help me figure out where to turn in unfamiliar territory since I can't read street signs at night and not that well in the day either.  Sometimes I turn her on even when I know where I am going, and then go the opposite direction just to hear her voice, begging me to "turn around when possible".  

I think things are going ok at my new job.  I think people feel they are safe there, because it is so big, we won't be affected by closings.  But I look at the dilapidated equipment and the tiny contract facilities popping up here and there and I think there is writing on the wall.  I just hope my knees and back hold up until my minimum retirement age.  They won't have to give me an incentive to go.  Sometimes you hear people say they'll go if they are given money.  Dude, they give you money now, they shower you with it.  Bank it and brace yourself.

A Better Night- They Haven't Thrown Me In The Deep End Yet

My trainer tonight let me do everything, he has a different way that my previous trainer doesn't approve of, but his rationale made sense to me- why send out partially loaded trucks?

I do have one thing from the old job that I miss, from dealing with the public: those occasions when a BBW would come in sporting spectacular cleavage.  The last day I was there, this happened, and she had some ink that might have meant she was family, but I don't know if you can go by that really.  And she was probably half my age.  But it was nice to look at and think about putting my face there as I drift off to sleep at night...

I've gotten family vibes from several men I work with now but none from any women.  Everyone has been friendly and welcoming so far.  I have to work my day off tomorrow and that dang energy shot I had at lunch around 8 pm is still keeping me awake and it's almost 3 am now.  I should have been asleep an hour ago.

Changing Jobs After 50

I've had two days on my new job.  I went from being the smartest person in the building to the dumbest. This job has physical aspects, some trailer doors are bitches to open or close.  There are major safety aspects- a lapse in attention can get myself and someone else hurt or killed and I can get fired.

There hasn't been any book training, mostly I have watched her and then she watches me and corrects me when I mess up, which seems to be every time.  Once I think I know what's going on, some exception pops up- a detail gets changed and I'm lost again.  She assures me it will become second nature to me but all too often she is doing the work because when the time comes it has to be done NOW.  There are long periods of down time on the nights I have worked so far, and then up to three trucks can be ready to go at once.

I get home after midnight, and I'm tired, so it's a light snack an off to bed.  Without the after-work drinks, I can sleep through the night easily.  So there you go- alcohol, even just one drink- can disturb your sleep.  And I'm going to need rest to recover, my upper body is getting quite a workout- I will not be trying to do P90X any time soon.

At my new place they still do the vacation picks in March.  They were shocked to hear we could only pick three weeks total.  They said I'd still get mine that is already approved but I needed to bring in my signed slips.  Then I remembered I'd left them on my desk.  I pictured my boss, sweeping his arm over my desk, putting everything into the trash.  He's been doing that sort of thing, he cleaned out a file cabinet full of forms we still use and put them in the trash.  I ran over to work after breakfast and to my relief my folder was still there.  I grabbed it and left.  So I'll get a little Mustang time in April if the weather is nice and I'll get my track weekend in July unless something else hoses that again.  And if they aren't stingy with annual leave in this place, maybe I can get other track weekends in.

I am supposed to be able to use a bicycle in my job, so I can get to the dock doors quickly.  The procedure for getting a bike is murky- "Just take one with an empty basket.  Except that one by the break room, so-and-so is in there, so it's probably his bike.  Another time a guy took my bike and I had to yell at him, only our kind is supposed to use the bikes."

Great, I have no way of knowing if a bike is in use or if someone is using it is supposed to be using it.  But I'll probably get to yell at someone soon, I guess there are a few people around who like to try you.

So my immediate goal is to not do anything that can get me fired.  And be tough.

How Do I get one of those adult warning things?

There don't seem to be any Butch-Femme BDSM blogs so maybe it is up to me to start one.  Unless I just haven't looked hard enough.

I'll look some more.

Why Can't I Sleep?

Well, I am doing everything wrong as far as sleep hygiene is concerned.  I sleep on the couch in front of the TV too much.  It is aggravating how easy it seems to be to fall asleep during a very interesting, engaging show.  It only took me five or six tries to get through Bitten.  Then I was wide awake for The Boys Next Door.  It had this low budget look at first and then I said "Hey, isn't that Charlie Sheen?"  It sure enough was.  So now it's almost four in the morning and I still don't feel like sleeping so it's lucky it's my day off.  I need to get back into a routine where I wind down with some reading instead of conking out in front of the TV.

I got good news at work.  My last week there won't be so hellish, they are putting someone with me in the afternoon.  Low Man wanted to get breakfast pizza for her last day today and I offered to help pay for it, so she'll probably be calling to tell me how much it is.  Then I'll have to get up and get out to get that to her.  We heard that the guy who got to the new place before us loves it there.  I am looking forward to it.