Yesterday in Book Two: The Fifteenth Year of the Third Millennium of the Common Era

Random Photo Beauty Tip: Duck lips often look silly, comical, and unflattering. If you want to take a truly sexy picture, very gently bite your lower lip. Works almost every time.
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Preface: To understand elements of this story I have to share Wardrobe Requirements for the job. Felony Court: Business Formal. Misdemeanor Court: Business Casual. Law Library: Nothing that can be used as a weapon; ie, no neckties, necklaces, heavy bracelets, etc.

So… yesterday got funky quickly. After leaving the Law Library, I walked over to the office. There, I discover Work Crush almost completely buried by paperwork and drowning in stress. I quickly grab some of the paperwork and burn through it to give her at least a brief moment to catch her breath when suddenly: her phone rings. The person I was supposed to train that day in misdemeanor court had blown a tire on the interstate. No worries, just meant that I had to rush over to court solo. Except as I ascend the stairs, I see the Public Defender… an individual who never attends Misdemeanor Court. So I ask her, “Are we doing felonies this afternoon?” To which she sighs and says, “Apparently! Something they didn’t tell me until 11:00 this morning.” I heard her last sentence only vaguely for as soon as she gave an affirmative answer; I about-faced and sprinted back to the office. I would look damned foolish in only a button up shirt and Khakis… but if we were doing felonies, I also had to grab paperwork from the office. So I get to the 5th floor, sprint back to court and… now sopping with sweat and out of breath… I stand at the Judge’s Bench, the only one without a suit coat or tie… trying to do my job.

When all of that was over, I went back home so that I could respond to some personal e-mails before lunch with my friend. Except… my home PC is acting up again. Doing that same damned thing where the screen works fine; but the computer won’t transmit to the screen. We’ve checked it before… screen isn’t broken, cable isn’t defective… something inside the CPU itself simply doesn’t want to play nice. Frustrating. Aggravating. Problematic. Because… e-mail and internet are downright necessary for job search. Growl.

Then I start getting Texts from Work Crush. Our superiors and their douchery have absolutely broken her. Like… she was at a private meet and greet with some judges for school… and she broke down. Just exhausted physically and emotionally. And why not?! Our superiors are 100% accustomed to having people beneath them that either (1) don’t give a fuck or (2) are too incompetent to do anything. Now that they have Work Crush and I… they’re going hog wild. Tripling our work, halving our resources, eliminating our support… and (direct quote from Work Crush) when she e-mails our bosses to say “This is too much for me to do on top of my other work responsibilities and school work” not only did they NOT give a fuck… but they attached more work to their response e-mail. Absolute dickheads. So she was texting furtively last night venting and of course, I wanted to help her out… cheer her up… make her feel better. But clearly… there really isn’t much I can do. Not as an employee or as a friend or as anyone. Because ultimately, this is an issue that isn’t going to change. As long as she and I work for these epic-level assholes… they are going to continue to expect more, give less, yell more often, and listen never. Ultimately, truly… I wanted to just go pick Work Crush up and have her hang with Wife, Friend and I but I knew that wouldn’t work on a number of levels.

Suffice to say; I don’t mind taking certain liberties anymore. Like today. I plan on doing as many housing units as possible… but I won’t break my back (not that I could tell, it feels like it is already there) trying. Plus… not that I’d be the first Law Librarian to do this but… I will have NO qualms about doing personal business on the clock. Search for jobs, fill out applications? My computer at home is down so I have to do it somewhere… and if these assholes are going to treat us like their department’s abata, then they should expect me to take certain liberties.