The Michael Swayne Story V: King of his Castle

I don't understand it. I work in a nice and quiet office (until Gabby starts singing offkey), and sit in front of a computer all day. And yet, I am so tired. If I wasn't working at the office, I would sitting in my nice and quiet room (until I turn on Spotify and listen to music), and sit in front of a computer all day. I don't know. Maybe it's because my mind is carrying around the weight of my check, until my wallet gets that burden. Maybe it's because I am doing something other that foruming here on TFF and watching YouTube videos. But it's probably because I rode about 15 miles on my bike today.

Dad said he didn't have gas to take me to town, so I left at 8am this morning and went to work. I stopped at Grandma's on the way to give her back the dishes she put our Thanksgiving leftovers in. Then we talked until 9:10. I arrived at the office at 9:28am. I then did my part of the cleaning. I still take all the trash to the dumpster. When we were picking cleaning jobs to do, I was volunteered for it by Gabby. I told her that I already do that, but to her it seems more official or something. I don't know.

When I got back at 9:40am, I began to work on the paper. I transferred last week's paper to a new document, and removed the Thanksgiving letters. Then, I cleared out pages 4 and 5 to make room for our Christmas Countdown. This is our annual thing where we give children a chance to color a day of the paper as it gets closer and closer to Christmas. Then, I worked on removing the ads that no longer belong in the paper, whether their sales have ended or other reasons. After that, I checked the office E-mail and typed up the obituaries. The Internet was being slow, so the E-mails took forever to go through.

After lunch, Misty came and her and Gabby sold spots for the Christmas Countdown. The two of them had all 24 spots sold in an hour, and earned the paper $408. On top of that, Misty sold the front page as well (another $175). So, it kept Iris and me busy the rest of the day. Then the computer messed up a little, and because I forgot to save, I have to redo the last announcements I put in the paper. They took me 30 minutes to finish, and there was only 15 minutes left in the workday. So, I put them back in the tray and will redo them when I come in tomorrow.

Iris and I had a little meeting while Gabby was getting her lunch. We discussed on how I was adjusting to the job. Since my trial period ends this Friday, we are getting prepared for the big meeting on whether I stay on as composer. We both think I am getting along fine. So, things are looking good.

Also, when Misty put some insertion orders in the tray, she apologized to me on how she and Pam were acting last Tuesday. Well, she apologized on how uncomfortable I became while the two of them were arguing in front of (actually, right behind) me. I told her that I understood (and I do), but I also said that I was nervous because of the arguing and because the paper was late as it was. She said that not many people are able to grasp how to build the paper in the short amount of time that I did, and that I will get faster as I continue to work at it. And really, I am surprised that I was able to build the paper in that amount of time. I made a 12-page newspaper in 15 hours. And I only had two hours of actual teaching. I guess I also had six years of watching it done, but that doesn't really count.

Random Fact: I can apologize in five different languages.

Anyway, at 3pm, I left for home. I didn't bother to call Dad because I didn't think he would show up even if I called because he was out of gas. So, I went on my way. As I approached Grandma's I saw her garage open. Then I saw Dad on her lawn mower with a load of mulch. They were mulching her flowers to be protected for the winter. I got off my bike and helped out. Dad told me to drive the lawnmower, because he was having trouble getting on and off it. I drove and he shoveled mulch. Then, when Suzy showed up (Doesn't she have anywhere else she can be other than where we are!!!), Dad talked to her while Grandma and I finished the mulching.

Grandma gave us another set of leftovers to eat. As we were leaving, she asked me what she owed me for helping. I held up the bag, and said that the food was payment enough. Then Dad and I went home.

Dad got on my case about not opening (or closing, I don't care to remember) the damper on the wood stove when I put my junk mail in it to burn. I snapped right back by saying that compared to the hours and hours of cigarette smoke I have to deal with, the three seconds I have the wood stove open is nothing. He left it at that.

Moving on...

I finished watching both Saki: Achiga-hen Epsiode of Side-A and Yuru Yuri Season 2 today. I have no idea what to watch next. I should pick something, because if I go to bed right now then I will wake up at 3am and won't be able to get back to sleep. I am not as tired as I was when I started typing this, so I think I will have to do something.

I am working in the office every day this week. Gabby has doctor's appointments Thursday and Friday, so I will be coming in to watch over everything. Also, tomorrow I will be doing the deposit for the first time since July. I am good at Accounting stuff, so it won't be a problem.

Well, that's all for now. Feel free to leave your anime recommendations in the comments below. I hope to see you around the forums, and until I do...

Later!

Michael