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Monday, September 11, 2017

Part 2 Continued.

Work has become a quiet,comfortable routine.Not much happens aside from the predictable,and I rather like that. I work for a company that unloads trailers at the Walmart distribution warehouse in Calgary, and I've grown to like it.It took some time though. When I first started coming here people didn't like us much.And, I would say with some reason. The think about unloading trailers is that each one of them is billed a minimum of half a day, while in reality, some of them take very little time to unload.So I've gone into work and unloaded as many as five trailers and still gotten home at a reasonable time. I try to present myself each day with a decent attitude,and do my work conscientiously, so as to give no reason for complaint. Not all of the people that come here to unload trailers do that.A good many are just there to make a quick buck,so they can retire early,preferably before the liquor stores open. There is a good deal of foul mouthed complaining if a trailer takes what they deem to be too long to finish. I try never to do that,and it's paid off. At work I'm treated with respect.It's taken time for the bosses to see that I'm not there to be anyone's problem but they have, and they treat me respectfully.I believe in giving my employers a day's work for a day's pay. And today,I have, and it's time to go home.

Since it's Friday, I'm taking the C-Train downtown, then I'm headed off to the bank. It's only about two O'clock and I've managed to bill twelve hours for the day. I've got two trailers tomorrow too, but they don't start until nine, so I can sleep in a bit. Lately sleeping in has never taken me much past six O'clock.

I went into the office to pick up my pay.It's located in the basement of a large recruitment firm downtown. I want to get finished here and at the bank before rush hour, or I'll never get home until late. The number three bus will be loaded to the rafters, and I really can't abide those kinds of crowds.I'd just as soon walk home, though it's far, it's for the most part uphill and I'm getting tired.The bones in my feet seem to be always tight or sore and sometimes both.I get a lot of muscle cramps in my legs.Guess maybe I'm getting old. I've been saying that a lot to myself of late. I can remember way back when I thought it was odd to hear my father say that.Now I'm saying it myself.

I arrive home just before four and try to decide what to make for dinner.It's a long way to the nearest supermarket, but I really should go buy groceries before too much of my money disappears.Instead I opt for pizza. I've been doing that a lot since I've moved to this house. Pizza is satisfying,and one of the take-out foods that is reasonably inexpensive here in Calgary. I'd really rather prepare my own meals.I'm a decent enough cook,and not really lazy, but it's a shared kitchen and I really don't like a lot of company when I'm preparing food. Here it's a bit of a man cave, and some of the other tenants will sit around the kitchen table drinking beer.Aaron especially likes company, but he's often half lit and sometimes hasn't showered in days, so I tend to keep to myself.When I cook, it's usually just long enough to fry a cheap cut of steak for three minutes on either side, and to steam some mushrooms,onions and whatever other veggies appeal to me on any given day. Then I retire to my room to watch television until I fall asleep.Never been much for television either,but the rent pays for full cable,so I need to get my money's worth.

The pizza place is a ways back down the hill,and it takes me an hour to wander there after I've decided not to cook.Friday is usually my eat out day, sit down in a restaurant and pretend I'm not such an introvert. In truth, I've become a bit of a wall flower since I first moved here. I really do like people.Some of them at least. But I don't really get out much.not nearly as much as I should.There's jam sessions on Monday and Thursday, but it's about the only place I ever go. One of the girls I jam with has just found her mate online, and now she says it's time for me to find one.Actually she says "it's time for us to find someone for you." I'm not inclined to agree, but she is such a sweet woman and one of my very favorite people.I'm happy for her, but I'm certain that I don't want to walk in her footsteps right now.

Back at home I eat a few slices of pizza and wash it down with some lemonade, while I try to relax on my bed,and find something on the tube.I finally decide on professional wrestling, not because I enjoy it, but because I know it will put me off to sleep.And there really is nothing else on that interests me much. Out my window I can see a long way off into a clear night.I can see all the way to the airport, and the planes coming in, one about every three minutes, seen but unheard helps me relax and be reflective on what life's been like since I've moved here. I've a couple of hours between wake and sleep where I just ponder life in general.Why did I come here, and am I going to stay is what it all comes down too.My original reason for coming to town is not the same as my reasons for staying, whatever they might be.Sometime just before sleep finds me I'm thinking that I'm sure fixated on that airport a lot lately.

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