Tuesday = Bad.
Tuesday, I was going into work and got up to get ready to go. Since Laura was also going, I thought that we could share a cab to the train station. Gary had said that I didn't have to be there till 10am, while Laura had to open up at 9. I had been awake since 5am because I couldn't get to sleep and although I was feeling pretty tired when 7:45am came around, I knew I had to get up so I did. However, while I was getting ready to go out, I heard the front door open and then close. Laura had gone already! I was confused. I mean, if we're both going to the same place, why not go together? I walked out of the house and I could see her standing at the bus stop. I walked back inside and called her on her mobile, telling her that I was getting a cab to the station and that she could get it with me. She said no, however, saying that the bus was quicker all the way to town. I disagreed. She wouldn't listen. I gave up. I thought it was pretty horrible of her to just do her own thing when we could go together.
So, simply to get one over on her, I decided to prove to her that I could get there before her by getting a cab to the station and then the train into the town. I thought of it as a race. I'm sure she thought I was just being weird old Neil. Once on the train, I texted her, telling her I was on my way. She had already had a 15 minute headstart in getting to the shop so I was quite wary of the fact that maybe she'd prove me wrong. Still, I knew exactly how much time it would take for me to get into town and how much time it would take for me to get to the shop and I was confident.
Once in town, I rushed to get a drink and then carried on to the shop in a hurry, eager to get there before her. And I did! Infact, I was a whole ten minutes quicker than her. Of course, the required "I told you so" was said to her. She wasn't bothered, but it made me feel good!
Gary arrived at the shop about 35 minutes later, as did Colin. Gary said that today I would be helping Colin and a guy named Paul move furniture out of an apartment Gary owns. There is a guy named Peter who was living there, but Gary has told him to move out because Peter was stealing.
So, off me, Colin and Paul went to the apartment. And of course, as luck would have it, the lift was out. And the apartment was on the second floor. Not worry though, I thought, this will only take a few minutes to get the stuff and we'll be gone.
Oh how wrong I was.
You see, when Gary had said he wanted everything out of the apartment, he really did mean everything. Everything as in all of the furniture in the rooms too. Chairs, tables, matress, couch, TV, etc. Everyfuckingthing. I was happy to help though and began carting something I could actually carry down two stories of stairs, put it in the van, and then back up the two stories of stairs to get something else. By the time I had completed two laps of this, the sweat was absolutely pouring off me. Although I was trying my utmost to actually keep going, by the 5th time I had completed the circuit, I was exhausted, and took a break by the van, trying to catch my breath and wipe the sweat away. My mouth was absolutely dry, too, and I had nothing to drink. Nor did I have any money to buy a drink with.
After a five minute rest, back up the stairs I went, this time at a subdued pace, and back down again with more stuff. By the 8th time I started walking down the stairs, I could feel my head spinning and my legs giving way and if nothing else, was worried that I could end up breaking something I was carrying. Thankfully, I never.
Also of note is the fact that Peter had two HUGE cannabis plants on his balcony, as if they were your every day plants, overlooking the street below. I was amazed that he was so open about them, I mean, you can see them from street level. I'm amazed he hasn't been picked up by the police. The two plants were one of the last things to go down. Colin asked me if I'd take one down. While both Peter and Colin made their way downstairs with more stuff, I picked up the huge plant and began my journey towards the stairs with the ceiling-high cannabis plant in my hands. I got it to the top of the stairs, and then wondered what the fuck I was doing. I was about to take a ceiling-high cannabis plant out onto a public street at 11am in the morning. Fuck that. So, before Colin and Peter came back up the stairs, I carried the plant back into the apartment and left it there. When Colin and Peter returned, Colin asked me to move one of the plants again, and I refused this time. I'm sure he thought I was being difficult, but I don't care. I don't approve of the stuff so why should I carry it anywhere?
Finally, after about 2 and a half hours of going up and down stairs with heavy stuff, we had finished and I was so glad of it.
I was so fucking exhausted it was unbelievable. My lower back was killing me.
After that, we went back to the shop and I slumped into a chair, quietly dying. Sadly however, not for long, as Gary then said he wanted me and Paul to go to the warehouse to unload all of the stuff that was currently in the van. Fuck. Unable to really say no, I went with Paul to the warehouse. He needed to put it all onto two palettes and said that I should get in the van and hand him the stuff off it, which was thankfully a much easier job than going up and down stairs 10 times. However, the soil from the plants had been knocked out of the container and it stunk, because it wasn't just soil, but strong compost, so the van stunk of shit. Once the van had been emptied, I then had the honour of holding a box at the end of the van, while Paul brushed the shitty compost my way and into the box, and all over me in the process. Great huh? Back to the shop and another dying session in a chair for me till 3:30pm, at which point Gary said I could go. My mum came in the shop too and for the last 30 minutes just sat in the shop with us talking, while I sat there looking dead. Tuesday = Bad.
Wednesday = Awful.
In a complete turnaround from doing strenuous work the previous day, Wednesday consisted of exactly this: Nothing. Nothing at all. For 7 hours, I simply sat in that shop or walked around it aimlessly. The only words out of my mouth throughout the day were "There's more furniture downstairs", to customers. By 1:30pm, I was so bored that I called Dave to come and save me from this boredom. He said he couldn't, however, so I then called Stan for reinforcement and thankfully, he said he was coming into town at 2:30pm and he gave me some much needed company, if only for ten minutes.
You see, even though I work there, I don't have a JOB there. Laura does so much better than me. She does more. She set up a display, talked to customers - and knew what she was on about, and didn't look half as bored as I was. There was absolutely nothing for me to do. Granted, I get paid �30 to be there for basically sitting around doing nothing all day, but at the end of Wednesday, you have no idea how shit I felt. Seriously depressed. No amount of money is worth destroying what little mental health I have. Although the shop closes at 5pm, I decided that I couldn't take any more of this and ended up leaving at 3:30pm and going home. I sat in the living room, and tried to communicate with my mum about how I was currently feeling and why I was feeling like that. She said that Laura had felt like this too when she first started. But, even what Laura is doing now is not enough to merit working there. My mum said that if I wanted to stop doing it, then stop doing it. That she wasn't bothered. I said I felt guilty because Gary had given me a job and I was going to leave it. She didn't really offer me much comfort, but I guess did try to address my concerns. After 30 minutes of sitting in the living room feeling absolutely depressed, I went to bed for three hours and thankfully, by the time I woke up, felt a little better. Wednesday = Awful.
And now FINALLY, some good news.
Introducing Sasha.
I've never mentioned Sasha before in my diary, but today she is most definitely worthy of a mention. Sasha is 19 and she's from Scotland. I've been talking to her for about 18 months now. I like her, she likes me.
Today, Sasha is coming to stay at mine for five days. Yay!
We had been talking about it for about 4 months prior to today and it was agreed a few weeks ago that she would be coming down today and now she is! Right at this very moment, she's on a coach on her way here. A coach instead of a train, because a coach costs �35 return and a train would of cost �91! She said she actually prefers coaches to trains, however, although I don't see how that's possible. If she had got the train, she would of had a four hour journey. Because she's getting a coach, she's travelling EIGHT hours! Eight fucking hours! That's a long time travelling. I'm very much looking forward to seeing her, although i'm terrified of us not getting on with each other. She'll be arriving in Liverpool in two hours and then we'll come back to mine. She'll be here till Monday, hopefully, although she's said that if we don't really get on, that she'd rather go back home the next day.
So, for the next five days, I may just well have a pretty Scottish girl here all for myself! :D
