First Volunteer Session

Song: “Get Over You” by The Undertones

Mood: 7

Nightmares: 0

Ghosts: Several

I was feeling a little rough again yesterday but instead of going to bed really early, I stayed up for a while to see if it would help me get to sleep, stay asleep, and avoid nightmares. Unfortunately, I stayed up far too late trying to get some memory modules to work with an Arduino.

I think I slept pretty well, though. No nightmares last night (soooo much better), and while I woke up three or four times, I only had to check my phone once and didn’t have to get out of bed at all. I also felt a lot better today – pretty much back to my normal 28% I think.

J took today off to handle the new windows we got installed this morning, and it was wonderful having her home. We don’t even need to talk – it’s just… really nice when she’s home and we’re together.

As the morning went on, I started to get a little nervous about going to volunteer just down the street. By the time I left, I was doing the flop sweat thing again. I got there a little late, made my way into the church, and was met by the people I was there to see.

We went down into the basement and found some seats around a table in the dining hall area. I unpacked my bag, made sure everyone was okay (more for my own peace of mind, really), and then we got started. The people I’m working with are very nice, and they seem pretty patient which is great. We had some communication difficulties at times, but they’re determined to learn and I’m determined to help, and between us, a pile of blank paper, and some pens, I think things went pretty well. Well enough at least that they thanked me many times and told me they’d like me to come back.

I got home almost two hours after I left – tired, but feeling pretty good about how things went. The highlight was when I gave them a laptop. It was one of two old machines that FA had kicking around and was gracious enough to give to me (THANK YOU!!!) to see if I could whip them into shape so they could go to a good home. It’s not often you see tears over an old laptop… but yeah.

I think it was two hours well spent. Plus, it was raining so I drove there… although if I’m being honest with myself, I’m pretty sure I would’ve driven there anyway since I was carrying a bag full of stuff. I think that is really good, too.

I started watching The Expanse, and I’m afraid that I’m going to be hooked on it. Spaceships, slightly more realistic-ish (i.e. no ray guns or hyperdrive or insane robots), Space Mormons, and some hapless ice miners who watch as their big ship gets the beat-down from a much better ship from another known faction that in turn gets the beat-down from a MUUUCH better ship from a mysterious new faction. To me, spaceship battles – unless it’s between little fighter-sized ships – should be much more like WWI and WWII naval engagements. Two ships face each other, move around a little bit, and then just beat the crap out of each other until one of them either blows up, falls apart, or runs away. I’m a big fan of Star Trek, but the idea that a ship that has a mass of four or five million metric tons is going to zoom and swoop around… well, it looks pretty cool but it’s not right. Now, take one of the slug-fests in the 2004+ Battlestar Galactica show. While these huge ships are pummelling each other, the captain gives orders, which take time to execute, and the ships slowly pivot or roll and lumber around each other.

Okay, scratch that last part – I just spent waaay too much time talking about how I like the realism of one particular thing versus another thing, neither of which exist.

So yeah, today went pretty well. We have new windows, I think I may have helped someone today, and J was around. Not too shabby at all.

I don’t think I have any appointments or anything scheduled for tomorrow, and I’m not certain what I’m going to do yet. Probably spend too much time watching TV and not enough time doing other, more useful things.

Stay safe.

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