Tues. August 7, 2018 

Last night was rough.  

I woke up at 3:30am to the power going down for seconds. I am a light sleeper and heard it in my sleep. I knew the air conditioner had shut down along with my computer because the room had gotten quiet. Then I woke again at 6am thinking it was time to go soon realizing I was an hour ahead of my alarm. When it did go off I was basically already awake. My mind was focused on not sleeping through it. 

Bitmoji alarm ME

I had to meet the lady I work with at 9 so we could head into New Hope, Pennsylvania. We were going to set up the café as best as possible with the appliances we had from the delivery on Friday. Today we had even guests, her son and his friend, to help us move things around. The more we muscle the merrier.  

Getting things set! 

On the way to New Hope, we stopped at Panera Bread for breakfast. I order a Superfruit smoothie again but instead of a butter-less bagel I chose a new item in the pastry window, triple berry scone. It was my first time eating a scone and I have to say, it was good. It was a bit thick so next time I will grab a coffee to pair with it. I think a hot cup of joe would make it better. 

In PA we got right to it. Well as best as possible. After tearing half of the box from the refrigerator we could see an issue. I looked slightly bigger than we hoped. Even the contractor as he left us said, “I hope the fridge fits.” At the time we paid it no mind but taking a few measurements it was very obvious that the refrigerator she order was too big.  

Bitmoji ME, confused

Scrambling for ideas the only option the lady I work with could think of was to call the contractor back as reinforcements. Our minds – the lady I work with, her son, his friend and I – could not find a way to get it in. Besides that, we could not even figure out how to get it off of the double pallet it was on. We were in a serious bind.  

Thankfully the contractor and his buddy were not too far from us. After waiting about 20 minutes they showed up and were the most help. Right from the door they started to plan out how they were going to get it off the double pallet and possibly squeeze the 54 in stainless steel refrigerator through a 44 in walkway, to then get it past the door frame.  

As they planned, most of it worked. We were able to eliminate one pallet getting it onto a platform with wheels. From there the contractor and his buddy tried to wiggle their way through the door frame only to wedge it tight letting the fridge prove its point, too big. After that we tried to remove all padding but that did not work. The last option was to have all six of us – the contractor, his buddy, the lady I work with, her son, his friend and I – hoist that 519 pound beast over the counter. That was a no-no. Way to heavy. She called the retailer to return it right it away. We tried our best. 

After the contractor and his buddy left we handled the rest since the refrigerator was no longer in our way. the two boys and I unboxed and built a hot table while the lady I work with took off to meet a local realtor. She is the market for a closer home to the café and for her mother. We also throw out the trash from the torn boxes and broken pallets. 

Café project ceased.  

Around 2:30pm all of us left the place as clean as possible. On the way back to her house we stopped at a place in Hopewell with good fresh food, Brick Farm Market. I had a teriyaki sandwich with spicy pickled cucumber salad on top. Very good. 

(photo found on Google images)

Back at her house a bit before 4pm. I stayed for a short time to talked about the fridge situation. We need plans to replace it but cannot afford to make the same mistake. We thought of a few ideas but what to do, what to do? 

On my way home, I had the biggest scare. It was well into the 90s today with the sun beaming down on earth as if it were trying to roast my side of the equator. It affected me big time. I ended up slightly falling asleep coming close to the highway divider. If it were not for an empty bottle that I ran over I would have definitely hit it. The bottle woke me up in shock with just enough time to react. 

Finally home I went straight to bed. I needed some rest. 

I ended up being woken to the sound of thunder and rain hitting the side of the house. It was very frustrating to be up because I could have really used another hour of shut eye. I even planned on it by setting my alarm beforehand. But since I was up I decided to eat. Pepper steak with white rice. As I ate I listen to a few mixtapes. Artists that I used to listen to in the past came out with new music. I was excited but, in the end, they were not good. 

Then I watched two episodes of Dragon Ball, the original, before getting on Fortnite.

(photo found on Google images)

Tues. July 31, 2018 

Early for a bit. 

I woke up at 7:30am to check my phone for a text. I knew I had to work today but I did not have a time or address to be there. Knowing the lady I work with, I expected nothing less than an early morning message with the details. 

After reading and responding to her, I made a grave mistake. I thought I could fall back to sleep for an extra 30 minutes. Well, I got plenty of rest but a whole hours’ worth. When I opened my eyes to check the time I let out a single curse word to express my emotions at that time. I had 15 minutes to get ready and leave. No time to do my hair, write, eat breakfast, nothing.  

Bitmoji ME, wth!

Moving along. 

Along the way to meet the lady I work with, a pitstop was made. I needed coffee if I was going to make it through our shift. A 10 minute ride away stood a Starbucks. I could see it glowing in the sun. It was my safe haven. Two large cups of iced coffee and pumpkin bread to go. I was all set and back on track. With coffee in my system I had a little ‘umph’ to me. I was ready to start.  

Finally at the location we had a big of a hiccup finding a place to park. There was a large industrial dumpster blocking the path. After the organizer made the crew move it we were golden. Speaking of the organizer, she might have been sending me a few mixed signals. Signals that I was not interested in but were obvious, maybe. It could be in my head and she could have been one of those really friendly type but this is how it started. 

I pulled up in front of her as she denied me a place to park until I told her I was with the lady. After double parking and chatting I went to open my door for more air flow. My air conditioner is busted so it gets hot quick. She then grabbed my door, opened it all the way and stood there in front of it as if she was blocking me in. We must have become close buddies in those 5 minutes of chatting. As I made my way past her, leaving my car in its place, she hung out at it until I came back to park. After parking we chatted some more where she started to fidget in place playing with her dress.  

Bitmoji ME, confused

I am very bad at reading ‘flirt.’ Sometimes it has to be explained to me so I might have imagined it all. But when the lady I work with brought it up, describing everything that happened in detail, I guess it was not in my head. She was watching from afar enjoying the show the entire time.  

Short shift. 

We set up and got right to it. By 11am we were ready to go. After sitting there for 45 minutes, waiting, we then got busy. In waves of 10 people at a time we kept a nice pace going. In between the waves a few people looked at us and walked away. It was sad because 90% of them did not even say hello. Eventually, the shift was over. I hoped more people would come but they never did. By 2pm I was packing up because the crowd was no longer around.  

I was home by 3:45 and right back to work. The fence that divides my property from the neighbors had grown vines on it that irrigated me every time I walked down the driveway to my car. They would brush up against me like a creepy old man try to get a feel. I had enough of it so I handled it. I cut it all down. The vines, weeds, some flowers, new growth trees. All of it.  

When I got home the original plan was to work on my car. After finishing with the distractions, I focused on it. It needs a good mechanic but I did what I could. A simple oil check and spark plug change. Then I made my way into in the house for a shower. The sun was beaming on me the entire time turning my body into a giant sticky pad. I had grass stuck to my legs and arms and grease marks all over my hands. I probably should have hosed myself down out back first. 

Bitmoji ME, showering

Time to end it. 

For dinner I heated up left over cheese ravioli from Olive Garden while I started to watch season 6 of “Arrow.” While watched and once dinner was finished, I folding 3 bags of laundry that I had piled up in a corner. I did a big wash the other day and left it in the bag after drying them.  

Around 8:30pm my girlfriend came over to hang out. She was glad to see my nephew. He’s has gotten big over the past 10 months. I remember him being so small and sleeping all the time. Now he has a walker that he loves and six teeth that he tries to use for everything. They grow up so fast. 

The rest of the night she and I laid in bed relaxing. 

P.S.  

I opened up an Amazon package that I was expecting for the past 2 day. My USB Type-C cables finally arrived. 1 x 4ft and 1 x 0.5ft. Excited for the spare cables!