Work is done. Work is yet to come. And I'm wired as a kite.

[Bitscape pulls chemicals out of the closet designed to bring his brain down from the stratosphere, and ingests a dose of each.]

I promise to try and make this quick, because I need to get to bed for sleep, and I'd also like to meditate a bit before doing so.

So...

Rode Serenity to mechanic. Paid mechanic. Picked up car. Inserted Serenity into Tobias's cargo hold. Drove across Lincoln. Tobias exhibits delight.

Arrived at Open Harvent 2 hours before shift began. Thought about going to the library to kill time, but decided it would be more fun to wander in and say, "Want an impromptu volunteer for 2 hours before I clock in?" Went in and did exactly that.

L said, "Just go ahead and clock in. We need all the help we can get right now." A key person had called in sick. The workload was more than normal.

Stocked all evening. Helped build endcaps. (Not normally our job, I learned, but the endcap builder was the sick one.) Had a blast. Didn't get done until well after midnight.

Also: Met coworker stocker girl who also just started last week. Learned that she bikes everywhere she goes around town year round, and told me that getting around in the snow isn't usually that difficult in Lincoln's winters (except on a few rare days). That was highly amusing, as well as inspiring. Conversation with her was generally easy and comfortable, not awkward and forced. Might just be developing crush on said coworker, but have no idea what her feelings might be, if any. Even if there are feelings on the other end -- a big if -- getting involved with coworkers.... that's tricky business. Hell, I'm not even sure what feelings there are, if any, on this end. Decided to just let it be, and not worry too much about it right now.

Gave said coworker a ride home after the late finish. Had an enjoyable conversation during the car ride too, mostly focusing on the finer points of biking around Lincoln.

Arrived back at Mideast Base, ate a nice post-midnight dinner consisting mostly of writeoff food, listened to Yanthor as he waxed paranoid about mysterious entities in the attic.

I opted not to try cancelling my cashier training shift tomorrow. Time will soon tell if this was a mistake.

Now, I medidate. Then, to bed. Then, I shall awaken to return to Lincoln's illustrious beacon of quality food, biking fanaticism, and general all-around empowering vibes.

See, that wasn't so long now, was it?