Restored | Th 12/15

My morning was busy, mostly eating and getting ready. I had to pack my volleyball stuff since I won't be going home after work today. Before leaving I tried to pick up my new shoes, but the desk was hectic and I didn't have the time to wait for the package.

I was still a bit late for stand-up, but I don't think it's a huge deal. I realized Nonso is pretty late every time, but he's not officially on the team anymore so he may be a special case. The drive over was relatively smooth, but I realized that I never have a stress-free commute, which blew my mind. Waking up earlier, preparing everything, taking the time to drive, the act of driving, and finding parking are all overhead that I have to put up with only when I come into the office that I don't have when remote. I suppose I'm more productive in-office, but it's not worth it to me. I guess this kind of thing isn't usually the worker's choice, but I have some leeway in this job and can find a fully remote position later.

I brought my laptop to a private nook on floor 2 that James showed me, except it was pretty popular with people eating, chatting, and walking laps. There I managed to get some errands done over lunch and set a plan for today: stay at work until after 5 PM, go get my health screening redo done, eat my glorious free Taco Bell, stop by mom's house to get the TV cables, and drive down for volleyball. This is exciting as my life gets nowadays.

I also saw someone in the cohort chat comment on a hackathon project presenter's browser bookmarks, which incited some laughing reactions. This hurt to see; poor woman just wanted access to her weight loss and anime resources, but she's getting laughed at.

This situation made me realize how I'm personally against passing judgement on others essentially no matter what, which I now realize I just want others to do for me. I feel like all my life I've been wondering if I can be accepted for who I am, hiding varying amounts of my hobbies and personality. This came to mind with the scenario yesterday too, but I guess I'll have to keep wondering.

The rest of work was okay. I got tired after lunch, but kept slogging through little tasks. Yumei talked me through why customers contact us and how they learn about Arcus, which was informative but kept me at work longer than even I expected.

I was late for the wellness screening and wasn't even sure I'd weigh less than for the last one, but when I pulled up to the address there wasn't even a target in the location anymore. This was a disappointment, but it wouldn't match the one to come.

After realizing that I scheduled an appointment at a clinic that doesn't exist anymore, I navigated to the Taco Bell near mom's house hoping that it could at least console me. Too bad that I couldn't get the Tech Elevator gift card to redeem for Taco Bell no matter what I tried. I sat waiting in agony for my shoddy data connection to not do anything when I hit the confirmation button for a while since I at least had time to kill.

Eventually I gave in and paid, but it wasn't so bad since the box's value is powerful. I was surprised how different Taco Bell tastes when you eat it alone, sober, in the dark, in your car though. I guess I should've been staying up late and starving instead.

At that point I went to mom's house to pick up the TV cables and remotes, which was a good surprise. She gave me some leftover squishmallows that she bought for her coworker's kids, which I gladly took. Along with those, she had some snacks and random goods like potholders she pushed onto me, but I resisted most of them since none of it was that useful.

By then I was already late for volleyball, so I booked it to Premiere. Playing was a lot of fun, but it was strange learning how the group scrambles teams often. I didn't play my best, but I made some friends and had a lot of fun since Sherry, Emily, Min, Sara, and Albert were there too. At the end we even played all together with a few friends who the others know, Alex and Annarose, which was a blast.

Afterwards we went to BBQ Chicken and I got to know the new folks over food. It was fun realizing how most of my side of the table prefers boneless to bone-in chicken, talking about how long we've been playing and how we're gunning for DIVA, and later discussing dyeing our hair together. It was especially funny hearing how the new guys thought I was going easy by not hitting hard, but I guess that's how it is until I practice it.

The evening was a bust, but volleyball and hanging out made me remember why I love spending time with others. I guess I can't control if they want to hang out with me, but I'll take what I can get.