Meet Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Wednesday, September 18
Ring the goddamned bell!!!!
I really don’t understand the problem here…If you’re afraid of disturbing someone fear not, that’s the idea, disturb me so I know you’re out there!!!…About 0130 or so I can hear some milquetoast milling about the lobby and soon enuff he appears to be at the sundry stand and moments later I hear him rustling his candy wrapper at the front desk in a pathetic attempt to get my attention.
Regular readers of this crap know the drill here: non-bell ringers wait…Sorry…Not too long, but you will wait…This time I put my falsies in and in due course I go out there and sell him his M&Ms (peanut, the only type we offer)…Turns out he’d with the group of firefighters we have in house and there were other firefighters wandering in and out all night, too…You think they’d be resting up to fight fires but you’d be wrong…Some bought things while some merely wandered around…They didn’t have the vacant stare of the truly psycho – or Navy SEALs – but these were strange people keeping strange hours…But they’re psycho hotshot firefighters…They parachute into the middle of a blaze armed only with a fire extinguisher for a living and I should probably be grateful they didn’t go tactical on ol’ Sparrow…Later, in a show of solidarity, I stopped putting my falsies in the remaining times they came to the desk.
The internet troubleshooters called again, at 0519, wondering “if there might be anyone there who can help with this.”…Of course there is, our 117-room hotel has a whole team of maintenance techs standing by this early…What a dolt…I told him no and then he asked if I could help and I thought dude, I’m a night auditor, not Captain Internet, but instead ke[t it light by saying no, I’m not really qualified for anything more than putting my feet up on the desk.
The big news at the retailer is our old friend Moussa, originally from Senegal, is taking his citizenship interview tomorrow…I am not making that up…Longtime readers of this crap may – or they may not – recall that when yours truly also worked at the retailer Moussa would sometimes ask civics-type questions of me, or give me his citizenship flashcards and ask him questions…He’s pursued his US citizenship with no small amount of diligence, and he probably knows more US civics than some natives…I wished him luck and told him there is no doubt he’ll do great.
Slow at the Veteran Service Office today…I did send in VA Form 21, an application for accreditation as a service officer, to Carissa at the state office…She had emailed me back saying yes, send it to her and she would take care of getting the director’s signature on it and forwarding it to Washington, where I might be accredited by the time this half-century is out, when I’ll be in my 80’s and barely able to say VA, much less fill out one of their forms.
I actually sent Carissa two forms, the difference being in Box 7a, where it asks what organization you represent…One says the state division of veteran affairs and the other says the county veteran services department…I had no idea which is correct…I’m employed by the county – they hired me and my salary comes from their treasury, but the actual VSO position is attached to the state office and rather than conveniently call Carissa and find out, I sent two forms in.
A bit later a gentleman called and, after identifying himself, said he had a 100% disability rating from the VA for leukemia…(It should be noted that a 100% rating does not mean you are bedridden…It means your disability makes it impossible to hold a job.)…He was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and the VA doesn’t bother, it considers leukemia, and other diseases, to have been caused by Agent Orange…They’re universally known in VA-land as presumptives…Anyway, the gent wanted to know if the VA provided/paid for acupuncture treatment and if so, were there any acupuncturists here in town???…Yes, I told him the VA does pay for acupuncturists because they do not keep any on staff, and there are VA-approved acupuncturists here in town, but appointments have to be made thru the VA, who will give you a referral for a civilian doctor.
Because it was slow, I went to the monthly staff meeting of the welfare department…Nothing there concerns me, but they’re nice to me and there is usually a spread of some sort…(I put a sign on the door saying I’m available if needed, along with my mobile number)…Today’s spread was some fruits and veggies with a cream-cheese- based dip.
In scheduling news, on Friday the 27th I will be at the veteran’s flu shot clinic at the community center…It’s all day and I will be asked to receive a flu shot and I’ve never had one and don’t really want to start and I hope I don’t have any problems with them.
Sparrow’s Sleep Log: Per Wednesday protocol, there was no sleep to report today.
The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence.
It was inspired by the 19th century British novel of the same name.
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