This morning I worked on campus, and things started in a most unsettling way, when I went to the bathroom, and as soon as I flushed, a cockroach scurried out from under the toilet seat with its wings outstretched. Had I been thinking, I would have "unalived" it (as the kids are saying, probably due to some TikTok filter), but due to both my shock and my natural abhorrence for killing another living creature not for eating or self-defense, I just ran out of the stall and washed my hands extra well. After all, I was not going to eat the cockroach, and it certainly wasn't threatening my life. Today it was only we ladies working on campus, so I warned the others, and my young coworker said, "I am not using that bathroom for the rest of the week!" and then she ordered some cockroach spray. I reported the cockroach to the building manager, who said he would have the exterminator come look at things. Now I find a cockroach a lot less scary than cockroach spray or whatever the exterminator uses - who needs to breathe in all that poison? - but I seem to be in the minority. I continued to use the bathroom the rest of the day, figuring the cockroach had moved on to darker pastures, and I never saw it or any of its relatives again.
I was on campus for our monthly Congressional meeting, where I hung out with my Union peeps. We're kind of a bloc of people there. There are other blocs, like the Trades people. My colleague used to be in Congress, but now she's a different class of employee so she can't be in it. I think it's my fault that my Union peeps are now in Congress, because I convinced them that, since Act 10, the Union can't do that much, but maybe we could change things via shared governance. There were cookies and beverages at the meeting, and there were lots of leftovers, so I took a couple of cookies for Travalon and a second bottle of water for myself.
Travalon had his first day of cooking at the Club. He kind of enjoyed it, but he did say it was hot in the kitchen. It probably didn't help that it was so hot outside, getting into the 90's. I walked with my colleague, but we went slowly and stayed in the shade.
Travalon picked me up from work, then we went to the health club and swam in the outdoor pool. That was wonderful, but I was bummed to have forgotten my shampoo and conditioner at home. Then in the locker room, as I was getting dressed, a girl of about nine pranced in, followed by her mother. They didn't look Latina, but they were speaking in Spanish as they put stuff in a locker not far from mine. The girl was saying, "She's a pig, she's a pig!" and the mother was saying, "Don't say that!" so I assumed she was talking about a kid in her class... and then suddenly I realized she was talking about me! Now let me assure you that this kid was not thin herself, nor was her mother, so kind of the pot calling the kettle black, in my opinion. I looked over, and she was looking at me, so I gave her the Look of Death (which I'm really good at, when necessary) and pondered telling her to F--k off in Spanish, but I let my glare speak for itself. Now maybe she just thought I was angry that she was speaking Spanish in this country (which actually doesn't bother me at all), but I kind of think she realized I knew exactly what she was saying, because she shut right up and ran off, followed by her mother. She reminds me of a girl I taught years ago in a catechism class, who was also fat and unattractive but really mean and proud of herself. She was kind of the leader of the other girls, although I have no idea why. She was not one bit appealing herself. I always wondered how she turned out, now that she must be about thirty. She's probably either in prison or the CEO of a company. Whatever factory is turning out these fat, ugly, proud, mean little girls, I wish it would stop.
Famous Hat
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