This sucks

Two of the three things I hate about my relocation have converged to make this a suck-ass Saturday.

1. The hairdresser: I have not been able to find a good hairdresser in the almost four months I've lived here. I had an appointment with a "meh" stylist in Austin on Wednesday. She canceled 30 minutes before the appointment after I'd already made the drive up there. I made an appointment for today with the "meh" stylist here in town. I showed up and the place was closed. Waited half an hour and she never showed. Grrr!

2. The insects: I desperately need to do laundry. However, there is a ginormous spider who has built a web outside my back door. He's so crafty that the web is attached from my back door to the utility room door. I carefully opened the door and reached my arm out with a can of Raid and sprayed him. Now he's suspended in mid-air and breathing his last, but I'm still too scared to open the door all the way and move him. I just know he'll kill me if I set foot out there.

I'm going to pop in a DVD of Perry Mason and drown my sorrows in 50's TV-noir.

La gallina se va

So, I went out again with the work guy. (I need to give him a name ... let's go with Renegade.)

Anyway, I went out with Renegade. He hadn't called me since that last infuriating phone call. We chatted a little at work, but nothing major. So last Friday on his way out to lunch, he stopped and asked if I'd like to go and I said okay. While we were out, he asked if I wanted to do something over the weekend and we decided to go out on Saturday after my book club meeting. I was really hoping we were going out just as friends. I mean since we hadn't talked, I didn't think that he'd think there was still anything going on between us.

Well, of course, I was wrong. When we talked on Saturday to finalize the plans, he called it a date. I frantically IM'ed Lass to get some advice. I asked her to promise to kill me if I didn't resolve the problem before the night was over. She wouldn't agree. (No, she wasn't being kind. She was reserving the right to tease me later. What a pal! lol)

Turns out, I didn't need killing anyway. After more frantic texting with my nephew, I figured out what I would say. Renegade gave me the perfect opening after dinner. I took it and explained that I enjoy spending time with him, but I just want to be friends. I'll spare you the whole speech.

I was so proud of me! We spent close to another hour together after that, things were fine and fun, I've seen him since then and there's no awkwardness. A happy ending!

Happy birthday to me

Yes, I know it's over a month away, but I had to buy my present early.

I just discovered that Avenue Q is finally touring the country! And I found out just in time, too. It will be in Houston next month. I bought myself a ticket, and since I'm not poor anymore (yay), I splurged on a good seat. Okay it's a great seat: center orchestra, second row. This is going to be so awesome! I can't wait to see it. And if the show is as fantastic as I think it will be, it's going to be in Ft. Worth in July, so I can see it again!

Curious?

Oh, how bad I am at leaving my poor readers hanging.

Do you want to know what has happened with random kissing guy? Well, I called him Tuesday after Labor Day like I said I would. We talked on the phone for a long time, but it only confirmed that I don't like him romantically. I didn't see him at work all week and he didn't call me, so I thought I was home free.

He called Friday night and we talked a long time again. This time I came close to not liking him even as a friend. He has some infuriating (for me) ideas on religion and society. I had to ask to change the subject when my blood started boiling. He didn't mention getting together and I didn't either.

So far this week he's waved to me in passing and sent me a 'hello' email. I hope he's gotten the hint that I'm not interested. I don't want to have to spell it out.

Dialogue

Samsara: I never thought it could happen to me: a drunken makeout with a guy I'm not really attracted to. Okay, it wasn't exactly a makeout. It was just kissing.

Inner voice: "Just kissing?" Uh-huh, but where?

Samsara: What? On the lips.

Inner voice: Don't be coy. You know what I mean. "Just kissing" on the goldarn town square! In front of whole world.

Samsara: Alright, alright. I admit there was some PDA.

Inner voice: You're darn right there was. Don't forget the little episode on the patio of that restaurant.

Samsara: Oh, lighten up. That was just a peck!

Inner voice: Fine. I just hope none of those 8 million college kids out there was one of your student workers. What kind of example was that to set?

Samsara: Okay. You and I both know college kids. They don't need to see me being an idiot to think it's fine for them to do it.

Inner voice: *sigh*

Samsara: But what do I do now?

Inner voice: Oh, I see. Now you want my help. Last night you gave me all that tequila and told me to beat it.

Samsara: I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have sent you away like that. Just tell me what to do.

Inner voice: Alright, look. He's not a bad guy. He's nice, he's not ugly. Why not just go with the flow, act normal, and if necessary, you can give the "let's just be friends" speech.

Samsara: You think that will work?

Inner voice: Why not? And keep in mind: he was drinking, too. Maybe he's getting a talking-to from his inner voice right now.

Samsara: You're right. Should I call him?

Inner voice: Yeah, I think you should. That would be the polite thing to do. You both said you're going out of town for the holiday, so you can call Tuesday evening when you get back. Just thank him for Friday night and see what happens.

Samsara: Okay. But what if he thinks we've started something and he's all "personal" at work? People will know.

Inner voice: From what I could tell before I was unceremoniously dismissed, I think you can trust him to be discreet. And if he's not, you can tell him to be. Not that hard, really.

Samsara: That's true. Well, I guess I'll enjoy the rest of the weekend and face next week when it comes.

Inner voice: Yeah, and lay off the margaritas for a while. Dummy.

Cataloging, how I love thee

Yesterday I had a super fun cataloging quest. I am so glad I'm back in this field!

Warning: Extreme library nerdiness follows!

The Library Assistant IV from Special Collections came over to ask for some help cataloging an unusual book. He had gone to the Dept. Head and she referred him to me (how's that for confidence! Yay, me!).

So, the book was called Llano, Gem of the Hill Country, Revisited. It had a title page referencing the author with a line "edited posthumously by his children." The t.p. verso said "First edition, 1970. Second edition, 1988." No problem so far, but after 193 pages there was another title page with the same title but referencing only the children as the authors. It had 56 pages of new information.

We were unsure if the children were calling their 56 pages the second edition or if the whole thing was the second edition. Maybe they wrote the added part considering it a second edition and bound it with the original edition. The original author died in 1967, so the 1970 first edition was the thing edited posthumously. If the children were calling their supplement a second edition, that's not really correct and would cause us to create a misleading record. Then I discovered the preface to the 56-page part in which they referred to it as a supplement and referenced reprinting the 1970 edition.

Another clue was that the cover had the title of the book and only the children as authors. I picked up on the word "Revisited" in the title and decided to check OCLC to see if there was a record for the 1970 edition. Sure enough, the 1970 edition was just titled Llano, Gem of the Hill Country -- no "Revisited." Therefore, the book we had in hand with an added supplement was the second edition.

We decided to use the cover as our primary source of information and I instructed the LAIV to include a note about its being a revised edition. I suggested he go back to the Dept. Head and let her know what we came up with and asked him to tell me the results. She agreed with my approach and here's the record: Llano, Gem of the Hill Country, Revisited

She's back!

I told Lass that my chickening out had gotten out of hand and if I could just do one thing, maybe I'd break its hold on me. Sure enough, it was true!

I went to a sports bar in New Braunfels to watch the Cowboys play and although I was a little nervous going in, once I sat down it wasn't bad at all. It was a nice atmosphere, not too crowded, super friendly service. It was freezing cold in there, but an old guy came over and started talking to me, so I mentioned how cold I was and he loaned me his jacket.

I've been volunteering at the public library and when I was there last week, I talked with the cute guy who works the circ desk. This week when I came in, he was busy with a patron so I went straight to the back and started working. When he finished with that patron, he found me in back to talk to me. We talked several times during my shift, one of those times being about chess wherein I told him that I don't know how to play. As I was leaving, he said, "So when do you want to learn chess?" Smooth. Heehee. I gave him my number. He asked if I ever go to the coffee shop down the street, I said yes, he said he'd call. So exciting!

Today a co-worker suggested we go out for a drink after work (just as friends). He started a week after I did, so we've gotten to chat some during orientations and such. It was a nice way to start the weekend.

Tomorrow is breakfast (by myself, because I'm not scared anymore!) movies and shopping (because I'm not poor anymore), bank business (again, not poor), and cleaning (because I'm still a slob, lol). Sunday is church, Columbo, and a nap.