Nitro-glycerine attack!
So, I realize I've been giving this whole house-sitting gig a lot of knocks, and complaining a lot, but really, it's not so bad. I've actually been enjoying the solitude, and the furry dog that curls up in my lap whenever I sit down. He's been like a permanent shadow since Godzilla left. If I have to go to the bathroom, he sits outside the door and whines until I get out.

In other news, he fell in the toilet bowl (clean) the other day. Coming from a house that very rarely has any seat or lid down, I of course left the lid up, and he's not used to that. End result of "I would freakin' love to watch you brush your teeth from on top of the toilet seat" was not good. [1]

Work was really idyllic today, much more than usual, because of how warm it was. There's a funny nice feeling you get when you can keep the door open and bask in the sunshine while talking to the regulars who gather in front of the store or sit inside. And everyone was in a good mood today because of it, which makes a hell of a difference sometimes, especially on Saturday nights or Friday nights (everyone was in a good mood yesterday too -pay cheques and warm weather- it's really that simple sometimes). Even the crackheads were in a good mood.

I hadn't realized it until this week (on the subject of crack users) for some stupid reason, just how common crack use is downtown. And yet, it was an innocuous thing that tipped me off, though I've had many many other blatant examples presented to me in the past. Every week, my boss buys one "platform" of Bic lighters. You figure 5 rows wide and 20 lighters deep, and that's a lot of fucking lighters. Now, the beauty part about crack is that no one lighter will do if you're truly an addict. Bic, (as someone confided in me) is THE lighter of crack users, because of the "age of the flame" (how long it will stay lit, as well as how long the actual flame is). Anyways...we'll go through 100 lighters to the same 40 people in roughly a week. You might be thinking, "Well, what if they just lost them? I lose my lighter all the time..." More often then not, they throw the same empty lighter they bought the day before in the garbage when they pick up a new one. So yeah, I know I make light of this, and it's not really funny, but, it's so hopeless that all you can do is laugh, and make them laugh when they come in. I was saddened to realize today though, that a guy that I've grown rather attached to lately (he's nice to talk to)is a user. It doesn't change the fact of me enjoying his company, but ...it's hard to watch. And all you can really do when you are a counter girl, is watch. Constantly.

Today I may have done something potentially silly. There is this guy (a regular)(about the age of my dad, maybe a little younger) who has been bugging me to go to the movies with him since November. I've been telling him "no I have a boyfriend" until about December, and he was unphased. I don't think he really wants a date, I have since realized, so much as someone to hang around with. He works, sleeps, and eats, and hangs out by himself most of the time. So, understandably he's lonely, and he's somewhat (albeit humourously) miserly, because he makes major coin at his work and chooses to live at the Y. So today, I agreed to go to the movies with him. He really is a nice guy. He's very quiet and sweet, but you can tell he loves to talk and never gets the opportunity for someone to listen to him. So, yeah. I think it will be fine, hopefully. Plus he's short, so if anything/hand runs afoul, I could totally take him.

[1] That is one large robotic prehistoric beaver!  ¶ 12:14 AM