Book of Days: asher553

June 2, Sunday 19:00. Bunny winding down after a busy day. I did actually manage to drag her to the Israel event for a short time. She went out to the pool with babysitter L. for a while, came in and had a bath, and then - when I'd given up hope of persuading her to go downtown with us - L announced that they were ready to go. After overcoming the logistical challenges (Lee had a bike, and no longer has a car as it turns out - so she biked and Bunny and I shadowed her in a taxi) we got to the event at around 14:00 and stayed for a little under an hour. We didn't manage to rendezvous with [librarian friend], but we did run into TNG and his mom, Ms. X. I love seeing TNG and Bunny together - they have such a terrific rapport. They spotted one another and high-fived immediately.

June 3, Monday 21:21. My last Monday in the BigPharma mailroom, yayz. I don't mind BigPharma as a work site but mailroom work is not for me, even absent the foot problems. Wouldn't mind continuing my flirtationships with C. and/or S., but I need a break from that gig. Guess I'll have to deal with it.

BP has the advantages of being a big-name employer (one of the biggest businesses in the Bay Area) and having lots of people - so, better odds of finding a dating partner on the job. Unfortunately it's the one site (that I know of) where OfficeCo has no document production function - only mailroom, and hospitality (that means wiping the counter in the fucking coffee rooms twice a day).

And I want to give my feet a break, but I don't want to exclude myself from document production gigs, which is after all what I have the most experience in. Best chances of promotion would be in that field.

June 4, Tuesday 21:10. So I'm 40 percent done with my last week - for now - at BigPharma. I find I'm both relishing and dreading the time off.



21:10. So I'm 40 percent done with my last week - for now - at BigPharma. I find I'm both relishing and dreading the time off.

On the one hand, I do want some leisure time so I can get stuff done: writing, activism, studying, and Krav. I haven't been lying about my feet - they hurt like hell at the end of a work day, especially the left one, and they're sore all day long. Plus the drudgery of mailroom work is making my brain hurt. I could never do this kind of work as a permanent job - I'd end up being one of those postal workers you read about in the news. I just have no tolerance for the particular kind of tediousness that goes with sorting mail.

On the other hand, overall the OfficeCo gig is a very good fit for me, and office services is the one area where I have enough experience and competence that I could reasonably shoot for a supervisory position in fairly short order. Then a managerial role. (Then I might finally get to sit down once in a while!) Plus I really, honestly do like a lot of aspects of the job: I'm good at production copying, and I like the mix of autonomy and teamwork, craftsmanship and people skills. It's demanding in a good way - forces me to deal with problem-solving, multi-tasking, customer service, and so on. Those are things I'll need for any worthwhile job, regardless of the particulars of the work itself. And I could even tolerate working in the mailroom as long as it was broken up and mixed with other kinds of work.

Besides which, I think it's good for my personal development, as well as for my work history, to spend some time continuously committed to a single job. In fact it's probably good that it's kind of hard and unpleasant - you know, Nietzsche and all that. So I'm going to suck it up and embrace the suckitude.

Bunny on her way to slumberland. Her bedtime story tonight was Genesis, chapter 1. I used the Artscroll translation, occasionally ad-libbing a simpler word here and there but basically sticking with the text. She did not complain!

The last couple of nights I've been reading from "Bible Stories for Jewish Children" and she seemed engaged and interested. Sometimes when I don't think she's paying attention or understanding the words, she'll surprise me with a very specific question about the story.

Earlier today we were talking about her school schedule - Was she going to school today? Yes. Why? Because today is Tuesday. - and so on. I thought this was a good time to review the concept of the week, so I explained that the week has seven days. She proudly recited the names of the weekdays from Sunday to Saturday.

So then I asked her if she knew why the week has seven days; of course she did not. I said it's because there is a story in the Bible that describes G-d making the world in six days, and resting on the seventh day, Shabbat. I explained that the Bible is a very old and very important book, and that we learn from it about right and wrong, wisdom, traditions, and history.

So tonight seemed like a good time introduce her to the actual Bible. I am not a scriptural literalist but I do believe the Bible is important and that, in some way I won't try to exactly define, it comes from G-d. I want Sophie to be raised with an outlook that is rational and humanistic, but also has a place for G-d and the Bible.