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January 8, 2001 |
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Although I'm back in Washington and it's Monday, I'm not back at
work yet. It's not that I'm sick or anything (although that can be
interpreted in a number of ways). I have gotten into a habit of
not taking vacation. I don't know what it is exactly. I think
it's baggage from my waiter days, when you would work as much as
you can since not working also meant not earning money.
That may seem a bit obvious to many of you, but taking vacation not only
implied that you spent more money, for some folks it also means not earning
any money… which sucks.
When it had been time for me to report my vacation times, I had found that
I had about 270 hours. This translates to roughly seven weeks. I could
conceivably take about two months from work. I vowed to take more time off
this year and I started by taking a couple of extra days before and after
my trip to Florida. This is my freebie day.
Did I mention my predicament with my water heater? No? Well, shortly after Len had taken off to go back to see his family (in New England), I had found that there was a small puddle in the middle of my floor. After a cursory look, I found that the water was coming from the water heater. I'm typically pretty level headed when it comes to crises, so instead of doing the knee jerk reaction of getting the sucker fixed immediately, I tried to access the potential danger. It really wasn't leaking that quickly. I observed over the couple of days that followed that it only really leaked after I had used a substantial amount of hot water… taking a shower for instance. I then came to the conclusion that it would probably be fine if I were to postpone fixing it until I got back from vacation.Did I mention I'm back from vacation? Well, technically I'm still on vacation, and I would do vacation stuff today.
Today, I would be driving down to Olympia to visit Lucas. It has been some time since I have seen him. In fact, I think it has been since his graduation party. I suppose I can make the convienent excuse that it is a matter of time. I've been caught up in spending time with my girlfriend, Pam and I'm sure he was spending his summer doing a number of different things with his friends and his girlfriend. Still, we had both said that we would call and get together one more time, a word we would both be braking.
His birthday came and went in October and still I had little chance to see him. Maybe there is part of me that is avoiding him, though I can't really imagine why. On occasion, I've been told that I'm a role model for him. That's funny… Me? a role model? Although I suppose that I can't really deny it. Yes, undeniably we're friends, but it's not that simple. I find that when I with him I strive to become better and there are times when I'm afraid to disappoint him. Maybe I'm the atypical role model because I encourage him to think through his problems, and not simply accept what other people's stipulations and styles. I certainly encouraged him not to live by my standards, particularly since I'm bordering on mentally unstable.
The drive to Olympia was pleasant enough… though just about any drive when I can drive fast is fun these days. Oh, I'm a man of simple pleasures. Okay, not really, but it's a good story. I'm not sure why it gives me so much pleasure, maybe it's a sickness.
I arrive at Lucas's house in time for lunch. I talked briefly and exchange the usual salutations. I asked how his mom, Dalia was doing. This was when I found that Libby had passed, since it had naturally upset her. Libby was their golden retriever and had been a part of the family nearly as long as I knew both Lucas and Dalia. She was one of those dogs that seemed as if they could not harm a fly and was always incredibly happy to see you. Libby was the closest thing you might experience to unconditional acceptance… a genuinely happy dog. Whenever I hear the verse, "Religion… is the smile on a dog", I think of Libby. The world is minus one truly happy dog, and thus it is a sadder place. I'll miss Libby… slobber and all.
As for Lucas and I, the first thing we did was exchanged presents. I got some Mickey Mouse bookends, which I certainly won't complain about, since I could always use bookends, and I'm a bit of a Mickey Mouse enthusiast. We end up going to Subway for lunch which is only a few minutes away. During lunch we talk about his experiences in college. True to his old self he still complains about the teachers, or at least one teacher. Maybe he does have bad luck. However, I never had so many problems with classes when I was a student. Though to be fair, I had nicknamed my senior project advisor Lucifer, though the sharp little goatee didn't really help… and there was the incident with my Calculus II class, where Ted had suggested we (George and I) take the same calculus class. I was the only one who didn't drop that class, and I only passed with a C.
He has changed a little. It's subtle, but he has. We continued talking about school, and work, and our girlfriends. We spent the afternoon playing cards, Magic - the Gathering. It's a collectible card game. I brought some newer decks for him, which is something I do every time there's a new set. It's become somewhat of a tradition. It's really just something that we do when we get together, since he enjoys playing and I'm the only person who he plays with anymore. I hate to think that we have fallen into a bit of a routine because we don't know what to do. There was a time when we could do just about anything and it would be okay. These days we only seem to play cards.
There's a part of me that feels a bit dishonest when I spend time with him. There are too many things that he still doesn't know about me. That I have a tattoo or a nipple piercing, for instance. I'm not sure what kind of light that would put me under. Normally, I wouldn't have thought about it that much, but he seemed particularly susceptible to the fact that I was interested in getting a tattoo at the time (it was five years ago). He knows that I don't really practice a religion, although not to what extent I'm an agnostic. Lastly, he doesn't know that I even have a web page. It's a bit of a strange double life, in a miniature sort of way. How can I be a role model if the role he's seeing is not the real me? Ironic isn't it?
We took a break sometime in the afternoon to help him pick up a rented snowboard. He was to go with his grandfather tomorrow and I would certainly do what I could to help. We maneuvered along the streets of downtown Olympia, which is, in my opinion, is not that much to look at. It's not bad, but it is just not really noteworthy… like any other small town. Whenever I drive through a town like Olympia, there's a part of me that inundated by a quiet sadness. It has a cramped, claustrophobic, feel to it… the kind of town where teenagers grow up trying to escape. Maybe it's just me; maybe it reminds me a little too much of my life in Puerto Rico.
I didn't stay much longer since they had plans for the evening. It was just as well too, since I had to return to work tomorrow. There were still a number of issues I had to attend to before heading back to work. It's a good thing that I'm getting at least an evening off. The infamous water heater will have to wait a bit. I got a letter from the homeowners association that encourage residents to change their residents to change the water heater approximately every dozen years, and they mentioned that it would run about $350 to $450. I'll wait.
January 8, 2001