At work

 Ace told me once it's hard for him to deal with disrespectful customers.  He ruminates - although he doesn't use the word.  

Today's driver was, too.  An obese older man "I haven't ridden the bus in 20 years" got on the bus and wanted to sit in his walker. At the same time an unrelated older lady in a wheelchair "I'm new to Houston" was riding as well.  She clearly had very limited bus riding experience as well, she kept going off if people got near her but the bus was packed.  

If she wanted her space she should have booked a ride with para transit.  The driver was catching a lot of attitude from both.  The walker was a clear safety hazard so he parked the bus and called dispatch as the man refused to sit in a seat.  

The walker user and the driver got into it verbally with a lot of bad language on the customers part.  The old lady was chiming in shouting about bus delays.  

Eventually the man sat in a regular seat and we got going again.  The bus driver was supposed to be training a new driver and he went on a 20 minute tirade about "these people" which got walker guy fired up again too. After he got off the driver did another tirade.  I don't think the driver is going to make it very long.  

It was exhausting.  Sometimes I really wonder about my mission field.  

If a customer is rude to me I let it go, hopefully after praying for them.  One thing I admire so, so, much about Buddy is his calm and easy going attitude no matter what happens.  

I hope whoever I end up with is like that. 

Tuesday night

 I like to stay up for a little bit after I take my pills so I'll do a quick blog.  

Work was OK.  I saw Buddy.  The bus was full of fruitcakes.  When I ride I will say hello when I get on, give him some candy if I have it.  As far as I know he is still unreached and I think it's important.  And even if he did get saved I'd still give him candy just because he's a good man and a hard worker on a thankless, awful, route.  

So I did that, and sat down.  He didn't say anything to me.  Now and then, riding, I might make a general remark on something to open the door to conversation if he'd like (maybe 1 in 3 or 4 rides).  He doesn't talk.  I respect that.  

So I rode in silence.  He is still my favorite driver because he has a very smooth driving style and he very seldom gets annoyed.  He did have an awful passenger get on who was cursing him out, etc.  Buddy handled it very well I felt.  

I had a very nice box from work, I think the cats will enjoy it.  My boss said it is OK to take that kind of box if I'd like I just can't take the "break pack" (store issued reusable, we are charged for each one) boxes.  Very reasonable.  

I know tomorrow is his "off" day and I also know he likes to work overtime on his off day.  So, when I got off I said, sincerely "I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow, even if you work".  

"Thanks!" he said, surprised.  "Wait a minute, what's in that box?" with a killer grin.  

Oh, I would do a lot for that smile.  [sigh]

I told him "Stuff from work, the box is for the cat".  He made an affirmative to that and I got off and caught my other bus.  

My other bus driver is probably 180 degrees different; he is very gay, married, talks about his husband a lot.  He is a different race.  He talks about "Those bitches" a lot which I find hysterical.  I love him to bits and he knows that.  I asked him to bid again on the route and he's thinking about it.  I think they bid in a couple of weeks.  

And Buddy - he has said he may not bid again.  I would miss him.  I shudder to think about my rides home.  But it would be less complicated.  I can see both sides.  

I do hope he bids again..  

That's it for now.  

Ran into a former coworker

 It's oddly comforting for me to hear that my boss is toxic.  

I saw a current coworker she seems stressed so I think the boss is spicy today. 

Give me what I need, Lord.  

Very early Tuesday

The neighbors behind me, the ones Cleo likes, were setting off fireworks last night around 11 PM to midnight.  Why?  I don't know.  They did some fireworks for the start of Diwali last month.  They must be good people because Cleo likes them but why?  

Needless to say I did not sleep well.  I did manage to beat the headache.  

It's cold this morning, in the 50's, so I think I will wear my jacket and not the hoodie.  I don't think the hoodie will be warm enough.  That means I have to lug the jacket around all day but I really hate being cold.  

My spicy boss is there for my whole shift today.  I am hoping she is busy, not picking on me all day.  

I need to take my shower.  That's done, I need to run out of here in a minute.  

That's it for now.  

Another lesson learned

 Stir fry and evening medication do not get along!  I got pretty sick but happily kept everything down.  

Interestingly enough my meds love lentils which I have in abundance.  I will just take my pills with the lentils.  

I slept OK for me, I'm eating some porridge I cooked up on Saturday.  I cooked it with some cut up Granny Smith apples and some dried fruit, I also put a little "real" maple syrup on top.  It's pretty good.  

I am trying to focus on whole grains, complete proteins if at all possible.  I'm serving the lentils with either rice or cheese to do that.  

I had a glitch with my account recently.  I was getting emails with my bank statement every day.  My aunt is also on the account which is relevant.  I also put my Dad on the account to get the savings account balance every day.  They signed him up for everything and like most people I don't want my Dad knowing my every transaction.  So I asked them to take him off the checking email.  They did.  They also took me off the checking email and they can't seem to put me back.  That is very frustrating.  

Other than this I do love my bank.  

Spotty's home, meowing at me.  He wants me to do my God Time so he can get in my lap for treats.  

The problem with leaving the house in the dark; I can't "read" the sky to see if it's going to rain.  I have my poncho that's about all I can do.  

I don't plan to bring a lot of junk with me to work.  Some things I can't avoid but I'm trying to pare it down.  I'm going to go through my backpack after I do my God Time and purge anything I don't need today.  

Later: 

My aunt fixed things with the bank, we hope.  I had a 3-cat pileup in my lap during my Bible Study, Cleo fell off and scratched my arm on her way down.  So all day I was smiling when I'd see the scratch on my arm (not bad).  

Work was OK.  

I saw Buddy on the way home.  He didn't want to talk; I respect that.  I don't think he is interested.  There is a chance he is, somewhat, but also conflicted because I don't match what he wants in a woman.  There is a chance of that maybe 5% I'd say.  The other 95% he is not interested and has his own issues.  

I will say it was notable he ran over a curb that has never caused him any problems before.  I think he had something on his mind I don't know what.  I am not good at reading men.  

To add insult to injury, I had a homeless guy checking me out at the bus stop.  A thug on the bus kept looking at me trying to figure out if I'd reciprocate.  And the married guy at work, who flirts outrageously,  called me "sweetheart" which my boss overheard.  She was teasing me about him until I told her (this is not the critical one) he's married then she agreed NO WAY.  

Can I please be appealing to a DECENT man, please?  

I did text a confidante today I don't understand why I even have a drive at all.  I asked God to take that unless He wanted me to remarry.  He took it for a while, now it's back.  And there is no husband.  And why do I have a drive anyway?  My meds are supposed to kill all that; and my age.  But it's there.  

Being a practicing evangelical Christian I am not going to do anything about it except pray.  It's inconvenient and embarrassing.  I don't need thoughts in my head.  I really thought I was done with this.  

Highly unusual for me, I was working on a migraine when I got off the bus.  So I took some Aleve, cold diet iced tea, and some chips.  Hopefully that will kill it.  

Worst case my migraines last about 12 hours on average and it will be wrapping up when it's time to leave for work.  

That's it for now!  

Well that was sad

 I have been talking to a couple of guys including the morning bus driver and a security guard at work.  The guard was parking his truck by the bus stop when I got off every morning.  

Today the morning driver was pretty terse so I didn't talk.  A young lady in her 20's got on.  She stood next to him and they had a very animated discussion.  So much for that.  

I got off the bus and saw the truck in another location.  He was riveted to a cell phone video.  He wasn't looking for me that was obvious, and I wasn't happy he was not doing his job, either.  I don't care what a man does but do it well.  

I came in the building and went to the bathroom.  My hair just looked awful and very thin on top.  And I can't find my hair brush.  

I have the usual "It's going to rain" headache but I took something.  

That's it for now.  

It's going to get better.  

I am OK with my heart.  The way I see it I have to take some chances.  If God wants me to remarry He will bring the right man at the right time.  

If not I had a pileup of 3 cats in my lap this morning!  

Sunday night

I made coconut curry lentils.  They are good but could use more curry powder - I used 1.5 t for a cup of dry lentils.  Next time I will use 2 t or maybe even a whole tablespoon.  

I took a nap; got up and washed out my hair.  I am happy with it.  

Then I went to the kitchen and got to work making my stir fry.  It is tedious cutting up the meat.  I really need a quality knife - the one I have is not very good.  But I got it done.  

I used coconut oil, sesame oil, "double black" soy sauce I bought at the Asian market, some black pepper, a little ginger.  I cooked the rice and the ramen noodles, which I drained (I learned this hack online).  Then I cooked the chicken, set that aside, then did the vegetables.  I had a fair amount of juice in the pan so I made a sauce with some cornstarch in cold water.  I put the veggies off to the side and then put the sauce off to the side as well.  I added a little more oil and soy sauce, threw the noodles in there for a minute or two, set them aside (a lot of dishes, after, which are done).  Lastly I did the rice.  

Then I combined it: 2 noodles meals (one of which became dinner) and 2 rice meals.  Chicken thigh, starch, veggies, sauce I made.  

I've decided I need to be more active in managing my food allergies and cook the majority of what I eat.  The stir fry was very good.  No MSG, no garlic.  Nothing to provoke a headache.  I suspect most of my food allergy issues manifest as a next-day headache.  And I know I can eat everything I put in my food today.  

And the freezer is full  The hash browns keep falling out I need to hurry up and cook them.  I may make more breakfast casserole when I get groceries.  

I'm glad, when I made lentils, I made them 2 very different ways and didn't make much in each batch.  So I won't get sick of them.  And I have a nice variety of foods, roast pork, beef and barley soup, spaghetti, stir fry, 2 kinds of lentils.  

My rice pot got some good use but one star this weekend was my fine mesh strainer.  It was very useful with the lentils in particular.  I like to soak my lentils and pour off the water, I don't get gas when I do that.  I know I lose some nutrition doing that and I'm OK with that.  I could pour them in the strainer and not worry about my drain.  It fit 1-2 cups soaked lentils quite nicely.  

Happily I can say I actually use pretty much everything in my kitchen except the coffee pot.  And that, I keep for guests.  

I don't need to take a shower tomorrow as I took one tonight and it's not hot.  That's it for now!