Poker face

My bed got a little crowded last night.  Torbie likes to sleep near my left hip, and recently Biscuit's been joining us, lying near my right leg.  They don't leave me much room to toss and turn. 

I had odd dreams about a little girl from India, involved in sex trafficking.  Sad but true, she exists.  Maybe not the girl in my dream, but the poor over there are exploited.  Desperate mothers will sell their children, knowingly or unknowingly, into prostitution just to put food on the table for a few days. 

I was pretty cozy, snuggled with the cats, so I hit the snooze button a few times before I got up.  I got up, did my usual morning routine.  I just finished my God Time, I didn't have time for it earlier. 

We went to work.  We discovered the dead food machine missing.  I hope our guys took it.  I tracked down the custodians and apologized to them.  The floor, under the machine,  had a layer of sticky crap, topped by a layer of dust.  I had planned to bring in a mop and clean it when they took the machine, but someone else had already done so.  I found who did it and offered her a free drink, on the house, and my apologies for "making" them clean up our mess.  She said that was OK, she didn't mind, and she didn't want anything.  I offered her a "store credit".  It is really important to stay on good terms with service providers.  They have the power to make life easy, or hard.  Not to mention I don't want to be an asshole who says "That's your job".  No, it's my machine.  It's my job. 

Snacks needed some work so I got to it.  I stocked them up and then helped Ron with the bottled vendor.  It needed 9 cases.  Clearly they like the new location.  I took the money out of the machines and counted it in the stockroom, while Ron stocked the bottled vendor.  We finished at about the same time.  He had enough to pay me and buy the sodas tomorrow. 

After work, we went to the bank.  We turned the $1 bills into "real money", and I got paid late.  I was OK with that. 

Ron called our usual cab driver to take us home.  He was out sick, he had a bad fall and is apparently bruised up. 

[bad word]  He's one of the few guys who actually comes to that area, which has a bad reputation.  How would we get home?  Ron had cancelled our ride home. 

Funny story on that.  Ron called the computer line to manage his trips.  He cancelled the 2 PM trip.  Then he realized they weren't his trips!  He had logged in as someone else, somehow.  Coincidentally, part of his client number equaled another client's whole client number.  And they had the same 4 digit password. 

Ron had to figure out who he'd done this to, and then call dispatch and tell them to please fix the trip.  The dispatcher knew Ron wasn't the client, who is another ethnicity.  Ron had to explain what had happened.  They gave him a really hard time, teasing him "We're going to tell him you cancelled his trips!"  But he fixed it. 

Ooops.  Won't do that again. 

Later on, he cancelled the ride home because "Lou would take us".  Well, Lou's apparently at home with an ice pack. 

What about the bus?  OK.  I pushed Ron over to the Jack in the Box and we ordered some lunch.  The pavement was pretty rough and one young man wouldn't get out of our way.  He stood there, staring at us, blocking the sidewalk.  He finally decided to move when I showed him my poker face.  Someone like that wants to upset you.  If you don't show any upset, they leave you alone. 

While we ate, Ron called a couple of cab drivers, none of whom expressed any interest.  Like I said, we bank in a bad area.  He left a message with Mike. 

We finally decided to call Chuck.  He came pretty fast, considering. 

Mike called Ron back, Ron said he already had a ride but thanks, and, we all knew he didn't want to come to that area anyway!  Mike laughed pretty hard at that last one. 

Ron had a terrible time trying to get into Chuck's vehicle.  It has a step up to - running boards I think they're called.  Anyway, Ron didn't have the strength to pull/push himself up into the cab.  I thought I would have to get up under him and shove. 

Ron's out of practice, getting into that truck. 

I put the wheelchair in the cargo area and we went home.  We chatted about inconsequentials.  We got home and I unloaded the wheelchair.  Gravity helped Ron with his exit, a lot smoother than his entry. 

I took my pills and had a protein shake, because I have been around a lot of very sick people lately.  I don't want to catch it.  I hope they have the thing I had back in December.  I'm immune to that. 

I noticed #6 has been home all day.  Is he sick?  I don't know.  Maybe he's between contracts.  He does construction. 

I laid down but I couldn't sleep.  I stayed in bed for 2 hours, because I have to get up at 2 AM tomorrow. 

Happily, it seems pretty quiet, so I'm going to go to bed after I log off here.