Today's rambling: Weather forecast for hell, please...
Written on Wednesday, Jul. 24, 2002 at 8:09 p.m.
while feeling a bit

Interesting trivia tidbit (as copied from my daily trivia mailing): "We�ve been had. The Walt Disney film �Pinocchio� was a sanitized version of the 1881 book on which it was based. In the original, Pinocchio, a juvenile delinquent at the beginning of the story, squishes Jiminy Cricket by stepping on him. Jiminy comes back as a ghost to serve as the puppet�s conscience."

Somehow, I think I'd rather see the original version than the Disney-tized version. :P "Pinocchio" is one of my least favorite Disney films. Adding a little bug-squishing would've made it exciting, especially as Jiminy Cricket was an annoying little thing. "Now Pinocchio, do you really think you should--" *SQUISH* Heh heh... *looks abashed* Sorry...

Now I'm going to get to the best part of the entire day. Of course, it didn't start out well! I had to wake up at 3:30, in order to be at work by 5:30 (I'd decided to go in with Mom so that I could help out Mare, as opposed to going in at 9:30 with Linda and staying until 6). Unaccustomed to such early risings, I didn't get to bed until midnight...and so I only got about 3 and a half hours of sleep. Blech.

Anyway, it was REALLY weird being in the store before it was even open! The sky outside was only just beginning to lighten, and there I was, putting bagels out in their little metal basket-y things. By 6:30, Geoff was there, so things started to look a bit brighter. ;)

Twice that day, I went into the back freezer to look for bread. The first time, Geoff wandered in and stood very close to my left, for no reason other than to talk to me. The second time, he was just coming out of the dairy cooler with a u-frame full of stuff he had to put on the shelves...yet he still stopped what he was doing and walked into the freezer to chat for a few brief minutes. ^_^

During our lunch break, I mentioned that I'd have to stay until 6, because Evan (aka "The Deaf Kid") would be by himself otherwise...and he has to be babysat constantly. Let me just digress for a moment to say how absolutely ANNOYING that is. I'm sorry that he's deaf and has other mental problems. But my patience level is not equipped to handle being a nursemaid. He wandered off today, in the middle of doing something in bakery, and I had no idea where he went. I was content to just let him go, since I couldn't communicate with him anyway and all he was doing was staring off into space, but Karen was like, "Oh my god, we have to find him!!!" Turns out, he was in the bathroom...for like 20 minutes. :P Whatever. I still wasn't looking forward to babysitting him.

Back to the story, during lunch I mentioned this to Geoff. I'm not even sure how we got onto the subject, but out of the blue he said to me, "Ernie and I are going up to Johnny's after work. You could come up too, and have Long Island Iced Teas or something."

*blinkblink*

Yes. You heard it correctly. Geoff actually invited me out. Sure, it was just a casual thing, and a 'group' thing besides, but he's never even invited me to one of THOSE before! Karen told me that this is a really good thing...I laughingly replied, "Why? Because it means he considers me to be one of the guys?"

"No," she said immediately, then went on to say that it means he's not afraid to 'show' me in front of the guys, or something like that. Definitely a good thing, eh? :P

I didn't give a reply at that point, both because I wasn't sure if he was serious and because I wasn't sure if I could even go. Both Geoff and Ernie were done work at 2:30, which would leave Evan alone for two hours. The topic was pretty much left alone for the rest of break, but as we walked up front to clock in from lunch, I made a comment and then Geoff said "Well, just come up with Ernie and me, and you can come back down here to check on him and make sure he hasn't burned the place down."

Soooo, obviously he was genuine in his invitation, or else he wouldn't have brought it up again, right?

Around 2:30, Mom came over to say that she was leaving. The story I got from her at that point was unclear, so I'll just tell you what she told me after I got home. :P She and Geoff had been talking, and then she said good-bye. When he said, "You're out of here already?" she replied that yes, she was, "But Amber's here until six!" At that moment, she said, his face sort of fell. At that point, she'd had no idea about the invitation, so she wasn't quite sure what the expression had been for. When she came over to say bye to me and I told her what had happened, however, she was like, "Oh, so THAT'S why he was so curious!"

She walked back over to him and told him, "If you get her drunk, you're driving her home!" and, apparently, his face lit up again. "I think he's really excited!" she confided to me right before leaving.

Blah blah, Geoff finally finished up and walked over to get me. Waited patiently by my side while I asked John what was going to be done with Evan (I'd asked him well in advance, so it's not like he was surprised), and then we started walking toward the front of the store. Let's fast forward a teeny bit more, since this is all boring...

Walked up to Johnny's and sat at the bar, where I got a Smirnoff Ice. Not really what I wanted, since they're not THAT great, but it was better to start with than a Long Island Iced Tea. *chuckles* I have no idea where Ernie was, but he didn't get there for probably half an hour...fine with me, since I like being 'alone' with Geoff. ;)

Karen showed up as well, though that's mostly because she frequents this particular bar. I ended up talking more to her, while Geoff and Ernie chatted...or, should I say, Ernie talked and Geoff listened. ;) I never knew how much that man talks, especially when he's had a few beers! Eesh!

After the second Smirnoff, I switched over to kahlua and cream, my old favorite, hehe ;) I think I had three of those! But the glasses were small, and that stuff is SOO good when you mix it with milk...I always like to think of it as chocolate milk with kick, hehe! The bartender, a younger guy named "Scooby" gave a little whoop when I ordered my second one, since I'd been so hesitant about the first two drinks. Even Geoff and Ernie were exclaiming over it. :P

When 6 o'clock rolled around and I had to go back to the store (Linda was driving me home), Karen tried to persuade Geoff to take me home so that I could stay longer. *giggles* I think he would've agreed to it, but I knew he was exhausted (he'd had even less sleep the night before than I'd had), so I told him that it was fine, I'd just go home with Linda.

He did, however, offer to walk me back down. :) Ernie remained at the bar, since Geoff was going to return after walking me to the store. I'm so glad I like someone who's a gentleman, LoL! ;) Well, in most ways, hehe...

Once again, I was feeling a little light-headed, though not NEARLY as much as when we'd gone to Ruby Tuesday's. I really need to remember to eat something before I agree to have drinks. X_X I was feeling bold enough that I ALMOST asked Geoff if he knew I liked him! *giggles* But I didn't want to ruin the moment.

Maybe he'll want to do something after work tomorrow, too... ;)

On the way home, I began to doze off...felt kinda weird at one point, because I felt like I was suddenly taking off in an airplane or something (my eyes were closed). My head began to nod, and then...a cop pulled us over. Apparently, Linda was doing 80 in a 65 mph zone. They were in desperate need of filling their quota or something, though, because a)There were THREE cops all positioned in the same spot, each of them with a car that they'd pulled over; and b)They were actually stepping out into the middle of the road to get the cars to pull over! That's desperation for ya: the willingness to risk being roadkill just to scribble out a couple of citations.

I want to go to bed right this very minute, but the second auction I'm bidding in has a little over two hours until it closes...and the bidding between me and this other person is fierce! If I were to win at this very second, I'd be paying $36.00 for a double-CD compilation. The only reason I've even considered paying so much is because the CD is out of print (so to speak...is 'out of print' the right term to use for a CD?).

I lost out on the poster, which sucks a teeny bit because it was a cool-looking poster. However, the end bid was $18.50, which is a bit too much for a simple poster. I have to chuckle to myself when I think of how I made that other person pay so much for it. ;) I'm vindictive that way. But losing that auction frees up some of my funds, so that I can bid more money on this album!

Speaking of money...Geoff couldn't refuse to let me pay tonight, because all he had to his name was $7, hee hee! He paid for his drink, mine, and Ernie's, but he was a dollar short...The look he gave me was so sheepish and apologetic, I felt bad for him! And when I had to bring out money to pay for my kahlua, he shot me a similar look and said, "I'm sorry, I'd pay for you, but I have no money!"

I was more than happy to pay for myself, though, because I feel guilty making him pay for me all the time! He and Ernie made fun of my Hello Kitty purse, though..."You're 21 now," Geoff reminded, to which I retorted, "You're never too old for a Hello Kitty purse!"

Bleh, I'm tired of typing! And I'm sure you're all tired of reading, so let's part amicably, okay? ^_^