h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I *really* have to get a good vacuum flask for tea.

And speaking of hitting the wrong key, I seem to have also got into the habit, just in the last week, of pressing the off button on my phone instead of the one that switches it from ring to vibrate, which I always do whenever I go out with it. At least I think that's what must be happening because I keep finding it in my pocket and switched off Because that's the only time I find it switched off when I haven't purposely done so, and also the only time I have it in my pocket.

I have a big 1 1/2 litre one, all stainless steel.
Which means it has survived several drops.
That used to last me right through a 12 hour night shift

Honestly. Sometimes I'm such a muppet.

The night shift normally starts at 1am because they work on a three-shift basis - 9am-5pm, 5pm-1am and 1am-9am. But there is no 5pm-1am shift today because they're having their works Christmas party. To which they forgot to invite me Not that I could have gone to anyway because I don't get up until around 5pm after working the previous night, and I have to work a shift tonight. Parties are no fun if you have to go to work afterwards.

So it's taken me until just now, after spending 20 minutes figuring out the bus times for a Saturday night 1am start, to realise that if there's no 5pm shift today, I can go in any time I like as long as I work eight hours, and if I can time the end of my shift with the first bus of Sunday morning I can get home nice and early and not miss most of the day

Getting left out, omitted, overlooked... whatever... it hurts. No matter the reason.

You can try to rationalize it. You can admit to yourself that in certain situations, you might not have any realistic expectation of being included.

But it still hurts.

We humans are wired to be social. Rejection hurts.


Or maybe I'm just heading in to a new depression.

No... I'm not. I am just feeling a bit touchy. Sorry to personalize your post. I should just shut up on everyone's else's journal posts.

Dammit, I was too slow getting back to this. I was going to say that I was being unfair in suggesting they deliberately left me off the guestlist, they just forgot because I only started this week. And like I said, I wouldn't have been able to go anyway. Earlier today I found out that it's being held at the head brewer's house which is in far north east Austin, in fact not even in Austin at all, more like a satellite suburb that's a town in its own right. Bob only knows how I'd get there and back.

By 'eck, there's nowt like being on your own at 4am in a factory-sized space with a hi-fi system at your fingertips that's big enough to fill it with sound, and Zadok the Priest on the wireless

It is 2am here. Can you turn the sound up a bit? I cannot hear it over here. .. ...

I'd love to but I'm worried I might send the speaker cones into orbit

It's 8.15am. I've been up since 7.15am yesterday, but I don't want to go to bed. I think I've reached that too-tired-too-sleep phase, and besides, it's Christmas Eve - I don't want to miss half of it, plus I plan to do a little last minute booze shopping. Maybe a quick 40 winks on the sofa...

When I was a kid I always used to ask my dad how he knew when 40 winks had was up, because he was asleep an couldn't count them.

Now I'm all growed up and I know how that one works

I don't mind working New Year's Eve, I really don't. I usually go to bed early on NYE, and when I was at the Drafthouse I was always available for the following morning, when most other employees were sleeping off the previous night's celebrations.

This year I have the opportunity to work through the night on New Year, which is a cast-iron, solid gold, diamond-studded plus as far as I'm concerned... or it would be were it not for the fact that buses will be running to a Sunday service on January 1st. Oh, that won't affect me going home on New Year's morning - the first bus on a Sunday runs earlier than I clock out. But getting to work for the Thursday night shift, the one that begins at 1am on Friday morning, is going to be right royal pain in the bum because the Sunday schedule buses in this town start running down around 9pm, and after 10pm you're pretty much SOL.

Which means getting to work three hours earlier than I need to

Hopefully there won't be a 5pm - 1am shift on New Year's Day - that would mean I can both start and finish my shift early But if anyone is working the shift immediately before me I guess I'll just have to twiddle my thumbs for three hours unless I can blag them into starting their shift early.