A VERY AMAZING DAY

i had a truly amazing day today.

after having a severe toothache on last thursday and friday, then coming down with the flu friday night and keeping it full strength till tuesday afternoon, i feared today was going to be extremely tough on me. i sat, totally lost, this morning, trying to decide what medicines to take with me to help ease my discomfort while at work today. it all wasn't necessary.

usually after the flu you are debilitated for at least a week, possibly more. you are weak, hungry but have no desire to eat, and feel like you are living your life under a sea of jello.

that was not the case today. i got up 30 minutes earlier to insure i was going to be able to get everything done and to work on time. i was showered, dressed and sitting at the computer 35 minutes too early to go to work. sigh.............

when i got to work i saw that only MW, EJ, AD, DD, and YO were working today besides me. that usually means that EJ wouldn't be there until at least 10 instead of her scheduled 9 am. MW would be barking at me and everyone else all day because that is just her mean spirited way. DD would hide from everyone all day by "running errands", "taking important calls" (on his cell phone). YO would still be sore from having her gall bladder taken out just a few days ago so would be barking at everyone as well. and it was intake day, which is the only day each month that we accept calls from the general public requesting emergency help with their mortgage, rent, utility bills, medication, etc. so the phones would be ringing off the hook and AD would be assisting them. i almost turned around and left, saying i suddenly didn't feel well, lol.

for starters, i arrived at the same time DD did. he walked me into the building talking niceties to me, asking how i felt, and telling me about his recent vacation cruise to haiti and around that area out of the keys in florida. once inside, i noticed one of my favorite community service workers was there (she is preggers), so that was a plus. YO spoke, asked me how i was feeling, and we talked about her surgery, all in a friendly manner. so far so good. MW came out and she spoke. she mentioned that there wouldn't be anyone to help me with long lines since there was only the one girl, but we would be able to get through it all ok. mmmmmm. then AD came in and hugged my neck, asked how i was feeling and showed me her horrible spider bite that has her right arm swollen up in the bite site really bad. not long after, EJ showed up for work.........not on time, but not an hour late, either. things were looking up.

i told my boss i would need to have my chair back at the counter for i would be very weak and would need to sit a lot. i think i sat down maybe 3 times all day. i had an abundance of energy, never once felt any "flu-like" pain and coughed very little. my customers were very nice, some said they had missed me and no one seemed to fear that i might pass on the old flu bug to them. i assured them i was no longer contagious.

i only had one small problem with a woman who "walked in" to see AD for an appointment and we don't take walk-ins. i tried to explain that to her, and she started getting an attitude. she said she had called for the last hour and no one answered. i told her that for some reason one of our lines was offline, so we only had the one line coming in, and that AD was taking all those calls, and when the money ran out, it was gone. she huffed, said it wasn't fair, demanded to see AD and looked like she was going to go off on me, and do me bodily harm. now i realize where she probably was. she was more than likely about to be evicted or have something shut off or both, but rules are rules, and i was told by AD herself that she WOULD NOT TAKE WALK-INS. i sorta feared the woman would turn around and attack me. some of the CS guys were standing around, so as the woman neared the door, i said sorta loudly, BODYGUARDS!!! BODYGUARDS!! the woman left and the guys just laughed at me. some help they were, lol.

around lunchtime my downstairs neighbor came into the store. she spoke to me first, seemed very happy to see me, and started talking up a blue streak. it was as if she had never stolen from me and we had never had words. i actually was happy it turned out that way. she saw a blouse she liked and asked me if i thought it was her.........i said yes, and told her to try it on. then EJ came up and relieved me for lunch so i didn't see my neighbor again when i got back.

i went to mrs. winners for lunch and enjoyed my fried chicken wings. i came back to work and the rest of the afternoon went very smoothly.

we closed at 5, i finished up counting the drawer, putting up the money in the safe, and i clocked out and went home. when i pulled up to my house, there was a tractor part of a tractor-trailer rig parked directly in front of my driveway. i sat behind him for a few seconds, then blew my horn. he sat there looking at me out his window like "WTF do you want?". i kept blowing till he finally got the message and moved up. i pulled into the drive. i had decided before leaving work that i was going to do something nice. my neighbor hadn't bought the blouse, so i took it home to her. i pulled around back to see if she were home and she walked up from around front while i was at her door. i gave her the blouse and she said that was such a sweet gesture. she HAD tried it on, and it was a little snug. but i told her to do with it whatever she pleased, it was hers.

we stood there leaning on my car for about 30 minutes "catching up" on all we have missed by not talking to each other. she was very nice, and i was too. she mentioned how she has grown less and less fond of our landlord, the mayor, and how she wished she had never let him bully her into getting rid of her kitty. i thought maybe she had found out about my kitty and was trying to get me to confess. but it was only because all my wild kitties were gathering around us while we talked waiting to be fed by me. it made her miss her kitty.

i explained to her about the way the landlord tried to get me to pay the $60 gas deposit again, and she needed to check her own bill to see if he tried to do it to her as well. she thanked me.

we finally ended the conversation because she was headed to church. it was actually nice. i still don't fully trust her, but it is a great start.

now, i left this part of the conversation out so that i could add it separately. this is rather funny. part of our discussion was about ghosts. she is really spooked (no pun intended) about strange noises she cannot explain. first of all, she knows that i believe that the landlord's mother, who died in the downstairs hallway, is still here with us. so, my neighbor asked me if i ever hear things. i told her i do, but i usually can explain them away. she told me this funny story.

she and her grandson were in the kitchen saturday evening after dark fixing something to eat. suddenly she heard someone say "OHHHHHHHHH". she couldn't tell if male or female, and it was not really a ghostly chanting, but just like someone in the room was sighing from being tired or sick or something. she said the hair on her arm stood up and she turned to her grandson, who i believe is near 10, and asked him if he had heard something. he said yep, he had. she asked what. he said it sounded like someone said "OHHHHHHHHHH". she said she knew then she had heard a ghost or something. that is why she was in such a hurry tonight to get to church to ask her pastor about it. being Christians, why were she and i experiencing ghosts?

i didn't say anything to her about it, but when i got back up to my part of the house, i sat and thought about what she had heard. what could it have been.........in other words, what normal occurance could it have been? then i remembered that on saturday i was hurting soooooo badly from the flu, that when i went into the bathroom (which is right over her kitchen area) and sat on the porcelain throne, i "OHHHHHHED". the pain from going from standing to sitting and crushing my fever-inflamed organs together was so intense, i had to yell out. now........this may or may not have been the sound she heard, but i am willing to bet the 2 cents that i have that it was. i am just going to sit back and enjoy it.

oh, i hate the fact that she smokes so heavily at night and it comes into my apartment. she told me tonight she was trying to quit, and was down to 1 pack a day now. she also asked me not to mention to the landlord that she smoked. i am sure he knows it, since it reeks of cigarette smoke down there.

i have more stuff to relate, but i am tired, sleepy and have already written a book, so better sign off.

nite nite.............

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