Day Two Hundred & Fifty-seven: 10/16/2023
All things quiet must come to an end. The building was serene and pleasant and I know it was short lived. There haven’t been any classes since Wednesday. So, for a Monday this is a pretty great one. I spent the rest of my shift doing some deep cleaning, some much needed organizing, and a few projects that have been on the back burner for a while. Yes, some of these tasks were delegated down to me. Some of my time was for myself. I even meditated a bit and enjoyed my audiobook.
The only thing I didn’t do is connect with my coworkers. I want this to come off as an observation, not a complaint to the situation, but I’m the minority. I’m the only one that doesn’t speak Spanish. My crew lead is the only one that is fluent in English and Spanish. He's able to talk to me along with my Spanish only speaking coworkers, double the work for him. I'm always impressed him Roman. We even have a new employee, Reina or Queen as I will call her. Who is a Spanish speaking person as well.
I have nothing against being the only person excluded from the conversations, but it's a bit lonely. Luckily, I have my writing to fall back on. Otherwise, I think I would feel very isolated from my fellow custodians. I could also try to brush up on my foreign languages. Though, is it foreign if there is such a high percentage of Spanish speaking citizens in this country?
I’m not expecting anything else, for most of my time here I’ve enjoyed my quiet time, the hours I’ve been able to spend inside my own mind and imagination. Without having the distraction of cultivating relationships with my coworkers. There is a sense of relief from the experience and I believe that is how I was able to finish The Teal Fairy Fables.
Day Two Hundred & Fifty-eight: 10/17/2023
I felt so concerned that I was going to walk into a major mess. I have low expectations, and I clearly thought that the hijinks from the last few weeks would flow over into this on. Except, I was pleasantly surprised to find that so much of the space was left intact since how I left it on Friday. It also helps that there will be testing for the next few days. I put in a lot of effort into my work this evening. I wanted everything to be spic and span so I won’t have to break my back until classes are back in session on Friday. Most of my area will be infiltrated by PSAT testers. Thus, I can be lazy if I wish. I’m looking forward to it.
Truly, today wasn’t too bad and in one week I’ll be on vacation. I just have to work the next five days without having some sort of issue and I’ll get my paid time off without complaint. Forty more hours of commitment before I’ll be able to take my own personal reprieve from the annoyances of cleaning up after adolescents.
Some other news, there is some serious tension going on between the administration and the teaching staff. It all stems from the distrust that occurred when the staff went over budget by a quarter of a million dollars! Though, I don’t understand why there wasn’t some sort of checks and balances. How does such an error occur? These are questions that I assume won’t be answered anytime soon and the reason for such a strain between the two sides. I’m definitely intrigued by the status of the conflict. At least the custodial staff doesn’t have to deal with such tension. We have our own menial pains to handle daily.
Day Two Hundred & Fifty-nine: 10/18/2023
It's been another fantastically lazy day. Since I spent so much time ensuring everything was perfectly clean Monday and Tuesday meant that I didn’t have to put in the effort today and tomorrow! Because of the testing I get to be a lazy lazy bum at the school. I can take the down time that I like and work on the projects that requires silence and contemplation.
I’m also really into my look today. I wanted to emulate something from the early twentieth century. A simple updo that has a sense of style from an era not that long ago. Of course there is a hairpiece to help volumize my less than thick hair. I think this style would work well with a tiara, if only I had one handy.
The picture I captured was another impromptu moment. The lighting was right and the painted wall was the perfect backdrop. Can you see in my eyes the wanting that I experience each time that I have to dispose of trash or even locate the receptacle from some strange corner in the room? Can you tell by the shade of blue that I’m honestly dissatisfied with my current position? Yet, I still arrive in one piece as glamorous as one can be while working as a custodian.
Day Two Hundred & Sixty: 10/19/2023
It’s opening night for the production of Kinky Boots! We also have a guitar recital. What and how does that affect me? Well, when we have productions in the evening we will have to wait to complete certain tasks until the audience and majority of the performers are out of the building. I’m totally cool with it today.
I spent most of the day chatting with the teachers. Again, they were being forced to stay in the building until 4pm even though testing was completed at 11:30. So, why make them stick around? Since there were still people in the building I couldn’t get going on my work, which was totally fine. It meant more time for gossiping.
I’ve had the lovely opportunity of being absolutely lazy again this evening. I should’ve used my time working on my writing projects, instead I chose to sit quietly and allow for my brain to go wherever it wanted to go. A simple drift as if my brain took a small voyage down a lazy stream. The thoughts trickled and waded along the surface. Waiting for some sort of rush of inspiration to occur.
Speaking about waiting, I had to wait pretty late before the folks exited the building. I didn’t really care that much today, and I watched them. I watched them converse with each other. They too were waiting for their performing progeny to leave the dressing room and receive the alcolade they so rightly deserve. I enjoyed watching them, but then realized that I looked like some sort of creep, thus, I left and found a quiet place to scroll through my phone. Eventually, the building was void of any other attendees. The final cleaning commenced and we turned off the lights for another day.
Day Two Hundred & Sixty-one: 10/20/2023
It was a little warm for me today. I shouldn’t be complaining about warm sunny days when we are starting to encroach onto the winter months, but I would kill for a cloudy day from time to time. I suppose that’s the feature that I miss the most about Seattle. Give me a gray day any day and this fairy will be thrilled. At least the fall is absolutely stunning here. I grew up in a place with very little trees, thus, there wasn’t much fall foliage to observe during autumn. I’m just thinking about all of the different places that I’ve lived. Every location has its own sort of uniqueness that some hate and love. Just depends on your preference!
Well, I made it through another week with no issues. Though today and Tuesday were the only real days of class. Except, the space wasn’t destroyed and my job wasn’t hindered by some angst of an adolescent. The theater got out on time and the attendees even exited the building in a very timely manner. Not requiring any issues on my end. I wish all weeks could be like this one, but unfortunately the school has to be in much more operation. I suppose the students need more than two days to access their studies.
Comments