from Blue Ash

Mondays are my easiest days, with only one short shift in the middle of the afternoon. I like to treat myself to a little "something something" on Mondays; usually it's Dusmesh buffet, but this past Monday I went to Zola's Pub & Grill and did some paperwork and read Shelby Foote's The Civil War while sipping a couple beers and chowing down on red meat. The rest of the week isn't too conducive to treating myself: I work until 9 PM on Tuesdays, 8 PM on Wednesdays, and till midnight on Thursdays. By the time I get off work on Fridays, I'm too exhausted to do anything except take a nap before heading to my overnight in Northside. Saturdays are always packed with shifts, and every other Sunday I have a few spare hours before my midnight shift in Blue Ash. 

Work has been wearying, and I'm feeling stretched thinner with each passing shift. There's a certain dread that falls over me on Monday nights, knowing I'll be working nonstop with hardly any form of a social life. My patience wears rather thin by the end of the week, and by the time I get off work and return to my Hobbit Hole, it's sweltering hot without AC. That only adds to the frustration and lack of sleep. Lately I've been soaking a shirt in cold water and wearing it around the apartment. It's a colonial trick to keep the body temperature down. A lot of evenings I just sit on the sofa and stare at the wall, waiting for sleep to overcome so I can get up long before dawn and begin work anew. 

Talking to the Wisconsinite is one of the few brief respites I have throughout the week, and our conversations keep me going. She's great at putting me in a good mood, and she's sympathetic and understanding to my stress, my impatience, my exhaustion. She's a huge support, and working this much would be so much harder if I didn't have that support from her. I'll be moving up to Wisconsin in just a short time now. June will become July; July will become August; and then I'll be making the plunge. Already many of my belongings are waiting for me up there. The Hobbit Hole has become rather sparse.