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2001-08-21 / 7:19 p.m. ~A Change in the Weather, the Greek Festival, and Work~ I just realized that I went a whole day yesterday without hearing Linda hum. What brought it to my attention was hearing her start, today. Oh, and it had been so gloriously silent! Today I'll listen to my radio, turn it up when she gets too loud, look out the glass door, at the blue sky, dream of winning all that lottery money tonight, dream of a better place. We're having system problems today, as we did yesterday. I seem to be the one to figure things out and I enjoy sitting back and watching everyone else scramble. I feel cocky and superior like Will, the evil doctor on "Big Brother 2". Some weather phenomenon has occurred and the sky has cleared, it's blue again, in fact it was almost chilly in my car on the way here. It makes me realize Autumn is near. Soon will be cooler temps, I can turn off the a/c, sleep with the window open, go to festivals, etc. The Greek Festival is huge, one of the best we have, occurring late each September, early October. It lasts four whole days, occupying the Greek Orthodox Cathedral, inside and out. I love it, try to go every year, drink tons of Retsina, eat lamb sandwich after lamb sandwich, lemon and oregano flavored potatoes, flirt with the guy who grills the lamb on the spit every year, listen to the music, watch the dancers, sit in the cathedral to stare at the ceiling and walls covered in mosaic tiles, wish I were Greek, or at least religious. It's all an Autumn ritual for me. Last year at the Greek Fest I saw a guy I went to high school with. I was with my friend Mark, the one with whom I can no longer be friends because he wants to sleep with me, or he's in love with me or something, and I just wanted to pretend he was gay. But anyway, there was Cary, and he saw me and I saw him and I wanted to crawl under a chair. He gave me his card and we wrote a couple email letters afterward. He used to give me Valentines and little necklaces and things, in 9th grade, but I never returned his affections. This year I may go alone again, just eat and drink, and try not to spend all my money on icons, magnets or otherwise, like last year! I have this weird fetish for Greek icons. Maybe in a previous life I was Greek. I really can't explain how it makes me feel to be surrounded by Greek people, or any Mediterranean people really, how it feels to be at that Cathedral, or outside listening to Greek music, drinking the wine, the strong sweet coffee, eating the pastries, smelling the lamb, watching the children frolic in time to the bazoukis. Heaven. Soon� Yes, the weather has changed, a little indicator that the haze will soon be gone for another season, and there is hope after all, I think. Later: Publix at lunch, not to pick up a Cuban, but a regular sub, and it was excellent. Come back here, though, and it smells like fingernail polish or something else equally toxic. It's strong, and I ask everyone around if they're painting their nails, I'm smelling everywhere, trying to find the source, and mostly I'm ignored, nothing new. Finally other people take me seriously. They smell it too, it is serious, some of us feel sick from it. Doors are opened, people are called in, it's being looked into. Thank god. Meanwhile, Linda hums, so loudly I can hear her over Fatboy Slim on my Walkman. When I asked if it was she producing the chemical smell she could barely speak to me, only shook her nails to show she wasn't painting them. Evil. This place is evil, isn't it? After we opened the emergency exit door for ventilation and turned on some fans the smell dissipated, of course, and the repairman couldn't find anything to repair. Several of us had one symptom or another, eyes burning, chest hurting, nausea, lightheadedness, but with the odor gone it seemed moot. The humming grew louder and louder and louder, and it's taken every fiber of my being to not scream out, "Stop with the humming already, you're driving me crazy!!!!". I know I can't, and I already asked her as nicely as possible to stop, weeks ago. There's nothing I can do on that front, but now I'm listening to Me'Shell Ndegeocello on the Walkman, and it's only about 25 minutes before I go home. Such an exciting day! Cost of the War in Iraq
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