Robert Manners

Ah, That's Better

I feel so accomplished today! I did all these little internet-type things that I've been meaning to get to for quite some time. First I had to get a new ISP, since I've been using an unauthorized dial-in from the District and they've finally done a system audit and blocked my IP address. So I did a quick Google search at work today (since I couldn't access from home at all) and found ISP West, which had all the services I wanted at a rather low price. They also had a truly beautiful site-design, which had a great deal more to do with my purchase than the owners of the other, less prettily-designed ISP providers might think.



Then I went and renewed all of my domain services at EasySpace (my main draw there? It has an elephant for a logo, and it's an English company... England and elephants are two of my favorite things). And finally I downloaded a new free FTP manager from Internet-Soft. I had been using CuteFTP, and bought a site-license on my work computer, but I didn't think it was worth paying another $40 for a second site-license on my home computer. If the freebie FTP Commander doesn't work out, I will of course go back to the product I know and shell out the ducats.



On top of these, it has been a very busy day. Lots to do around the office, in particular a flyer and newsletter that had to go out to all the campuses, which made for a 2000-sheet print job and a lot of running around... difficult enough by itself, but after printing all the flyers and delivering some of them, I discovered that I had gotten the dates wrong on the flyers and had to reprint the entire thing and retrieve and redeliver the flyers I'd already taken out. Most exasperating! And then the phone was ringing off the hook, and everyone was in the office today, and each of them had a member come in to talk to them at one point or another. It was quite the little whirlwind.



What made it more pleasant was that this busy day has been surprisingly full of cute guys. When I went this morning to the office-supply store (we use Arvey-Xpedx, an account that was set up before I got there so I don't know why it was chosen) to stock up on paper and file-folders and pens and what-have you, the check-out clerk was a major cutie... tall and nicely proportioned, dark hair and pale blue eyes, very Irish-looking with a square face and straight, slightly delicate features, freckles and a tan at once; his name-tag read "Daniel" (one of my fave names) and he wore a silver thumb-ring and several silver chain bracelets. His hands were a trifle small for my taste, but his laughing eyes and devastating smile more than made up for them. He was also very new and still in training, and his inexperience was very charming... I am always drawn to vulnerability.



Later still, a sales representative came to discuss a new photocopier with me, the president, and the bookkeeper. Another hottie, this one in a suit (I love young men in suits). Not so tall, but blond this time, with vacant-blue eyes the color of the sky and beautiful gold-and-peach skin. His name is David and I look forward to seeing more of him. Of course, I find myself wondering if David is cute because he comes attached to a digital photocopier with four paper sizes, duplex capabilities, a built-in folding machine, and ten times the sorting capacity of my current machine... or if he's really cute by himself. When I was drinking, I used to wonder if the bartenders were actually attractive or if it was their proximity to the Divine Elixir that made them attractive; nowadays I wonder if the counter-men at Sweet Inspirations are really cute, or if it is the exquisite pastry they give me that lends an extra aura of tastiness.



Later still, at Safeway, I was walking out of the canned foods aisle and almost walked right into the hottest Highway Patrolman I've ever seen. He had an oval face so pretty as to be almost girlish, with dense bronzed skin overlaid with a faint apricot blush, amber-streaked brown eyes and dark gold hair, on top of a really tight body in the skin-tight tan uniform, and those shockingly sexy boots they wear. From a distance he was drool-inducing, but taken in at collision-close quarters, he was so hot I choked on my own spit. How come I never get pulled over by CHiPs like that? It's not like I don't speed.



So, all-in-all it's been a very nice day. I've even managed to get some laundry done since I've been home. I've finished a white load of underwear, socks, and t-shirts, and have started a load of pants in various shades of cement, khaki, and tan. If I can shove through a load of reds or blues (the main color-themes of my tops), I'll be set for a while.



Tomorrow I am going with Caroline to some resort (whose name escapes me at the moment, or I'd provide a link) up near Yosemite for a little overnight R&R. I'm very much looking forward to it... not only a day off work, but Caroline has been singing the praises of this resort and its restaurant ever since she went there about a year ago with some boyfriend or another. She pretty much already ordered her dinner, having called the restaurant serveral times to make absolutely sure that they have rack of lamb on the menu for tomorrow night. I've never known anyone so obsessed with lamb. I'm pretty fond of pork, of course, but I don't spend my time thinking about it... I just love eating it. Perhaps they'll have venison on the menu... I never get to eat venison, very few restaurants in my price-range carry it, and it's absolu delish.



Aside from the lamb, Caroline has been obsessing over the luxury of the in-room Jacuzzi. She loves hot-tubs the way I love jewelry. One would think that she'd just buy one (the portable kind that you can set up in your kitchen or wherever), or join a gym that has one, the way she schemes and works to get access to a hot tub (she once dated a guy for weeks just because he had a hot-tub in his condo complex). I enjoy a nice soak in a hot bath, and the bubbles are certainly nice, but I think I can pretty much take it or leave it alone. I'll be sure to bring a book and some magazines with me (I just finished The Pursuit of Love and am part-way into Love in a Cold Climate, and the newest issues of Town & Country and Vogue just came today), to amuse myself while she parboils herself for the duration of the evening.



Well, my darlings, I have to get up early (eight!) to shower and shave and pack and what-not before Caroline picks me up at 10:30 for our little trip, so I guess I'd better skedaddle off to bed. I hope your Friday is Fabulous!