My Day...

Caught the 5:05 express train from Suburban Station today, an hour after my normal train. I was stuck at work dictating reports. uggghhh! If at one time I did 1/3 of the work, but now have to do 1/2 the work, how much more work is that? Its ten times as much, or so it seems. I even had to wait 35 minutes for the train, not because it was late but because I always leave to much time to travel. I am way too punctual. Its not a bad wait with my reading habit. I sit on the red slated benches right by the track. They are quiet but not overly comfortable. For whatever reason I don't really like to stand and read, it feels snotty kind of. So I sit and allow everyone else to board the train first. This normally leaves me having to squeeze next to someone in a two seater, or sit next to someone in a three seater and know I will be sandwiched in. I pick accordingly. Today I ended up next to some girl I thought looked as tired and pissed about not yet being home as I felt. A happier looking older black lady excused herself and sat to my right.

I have gotten in the habit of riding the "quiet ride train", meaning "cell phones are prohibited, if you are going to have a conversation keep it short and quiet, head phones are to be kept down." I just sit and read and it is actually fairly conducive to a good reading pace. One must stay awake and alert when smooched between two other strangers; you don't want to nod off on any shoulders.

Today someone missed the point. They had their headphones on, but the music was still very loud. I looked back and the guy causing the ruckus was four rows back. If I can clearly hear the music, it is obviously too loud for the quiet ride train. This slows my reading, and not really because of the noise but because the whole time I'm thinking, "I should say something... someone should say something....why doesn't the conductor STOP THIS!!!". Well somewhere between East Falls and Manayunk some guy gets up and goes over to this goofy looking kid and says "turn your music down" pretty loudly. The kid apparently doesn't hear him so takes off his headphones and the other dude goes "TURN DOWN YOUR SHITTY MUSIC DOUCHE BAG". The music was shitty, I was thinking that earlier. I laughed out loud and went back to "Tropic of Cancer".

I bought my office lunch today. Mi Pals hoagies. We got five different types, my favorite of which is the breaded eggplant. The greatest thing about Mi Pals is the large quantity of roasted red peppers they use. My staff was very appreciative and most of the hoagies were eaten (I actually had one of each type). I feel like everyone I work with does a good job. I was also feeling like I haven't done anything for anyone other than myself for quite some time. It felt good.

Why does nobody else where the undershirt they wore to work to the gym? Everyone has specific gym clothes. I think this is a waste of resources. Wearing my white tee shirt for two purposes uses less water for washing and less electricity for drying. Plus it is just logical because no one sees my undershirt at work so it doesn't have to look immaculate and even if its not in perfect shape, its still a good gym shirt. The white tees also make the best yoga shirts because they are tighter around the waist and don't flop up to my nippels when inverted. I was 15 minutes late for yoga today because my gym sucks and had the wrong time on the schedule. The teacher was very apologetic.

Currently playing "How Great thou Art" and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" on my guitar. Rachelle's guitar is tuned in open E in case I have the urge to play any "Blood on the Tracks" songs. Currently currently listening to Mason Jennings "Mason Jennings" album, which has become one of my all time favorites and a very substantial part of my life... I rubbed your back while you were sleeping.

Darkness at Noon

Finished Darkness at Noon yesterday. I had never heard of this book, but it ranked #8 on my list. Loved it! I guess I am a sucker for Russian revolutionary stories and tales of challenging big brother.

Darkness is the story of a man named Rubashov, who was, years before the time of the story, a major part in the revolution that overthrew the czars and lead to communism. He is accused acts of revolution against the revolution, and thrown in jail. A lot of the story is focused on how he is interrogated by two different officials who try and make him sign a confession of his treason. I am not going to go into it too much as to not ruin the book for anyone else.

This book helped me to understand the ideals of the communists and why, eventually, it did not work. It seems they only succeeded in replacing one totalitarian government with a worse and more ferocious totalitarian party that would kill, torture, and do pretty much anything else in the name of the people. Rubashov realizes this fact after years of loyal service, which leads him to his actions.

This book was apparently a major influence for Orwell's 1984 (still my favorite). You can see close similarities between the interrogations of Winston and Rubashov. A lot of the book is philosophical and centers around the formation of governments such as how a monarchy needs to be overthrown by a group with a number one guy (Joseph Stalin), but should eventually be handed to the people. I guess the problem was no one ever wants to give up the power. I wish I had the book on me so I could throw down some quotes but I lent it to a patient.

I started Tropic of Cancer... is it wrong to read pornography in public?

aquarium

cleaned my aquarium today. I am writing this just so I can kept track. I took of the in tank filtration system and cleaned it with a toothbrush, along with the CO2 diffuser. I then scraped the algae of the back of the tank. I also did a 1/3 water change. I moved the sword plant that I thought was dead to the left side of the tank. It was in fact not dead but not doing great. I trimmed down the red sword a lot along with the stem plants and planted the top of several of them throughout the back and right of the tank. Cleaned the sub filter with new carbon and new filter pad. Adjusted the CO2 levels and changed the CO2 indicator. Wiped off light, top, and tank. I can see the java ferns making little O2 bubbles from here! Also, saw one ghost shrimp, which I had not seen in a few days and figured The Bandit got to all them. I am not sure what I am going to do with the dwarf grass, half of it is green, but half is brown. Got the CO2 tank refilled two weeks ago.

Things I want to do:

take pictures

cut out the brown dwarf grass

I could move the red sword to the front, then use stem plants throughout the back.