Labor Day Weekend (so far).

So far, it has been a pretty good Labor Day weekend. I have been playing my new (technically, it's used, but it is new to me) video game "X-Men Legends II." I have completed the first two acts of the game in the past week or so. My current team consists of Gambit, Iceman, Juggernaut, and Storm. I have switched in a few characters--Bishop and Jean Grey--but only out of necessity.

On Saturday, I spent time with Harry. We went to see Death Race, then had lunch with Liz and her sister at a Mongolian grill. Afterwards, Harry gave me a lift to a Best Buy, and I was able to use the gift card I got for my birthday from Norman and Gwen.

Speaking of Norman and Gwen, I had lunch with them, Cosmo, and Wanda today. We went to Famous Dave's (a barbecue place), then hung out at my townhome for awhile. They had other stuff going on, so they left. I played more of my game, then had dinner.

Betty sighting, X marks the dream.

Well, after nearly a week, I finally saw Betty again. I happened to encounter her on the stairs as she was leaving for lunch on Thursday. Our conversation went something like this:

David: "Hey..."
Betty: "Hey, David. How's it going?"
David: "Pretty good."
Betty: "Ready for the long weekend?"
David: "I'm not sure I'm ready, but I'm eager for it."

Apparently, Betty had today off of work, so I won't get to see her again until Tuesday (assuming she doesn't have it off. We both have Labor Day off since it's a company holiday.).

Early this morning, I had two dreams with common factor--the letter "X." First, I had a dream about teaming up with the "X-Files" team of Mulder and Scully. I don't remember much about the dream, other than me having super powers and something being amiss at a hospital. The second dream was me watching a trailer for X-Men IV. As far as I know, there isn't one in the works in the real world. Here's what I remember seeing in the dream: Cyclops is on a satellite during some experiment. Something goes wrong, and the satellite's reactor is going to blow. Cyclops wants to zap it with his optic blast (somehow that will minimize the explosion), but is told not to. The reactor blows, killing a number of nonmutants and mutating three or four people. The people on the satellite (it is still intact and functional, despite the reactor blowing) are told by ground control that they can't return to Earth due to the possibility of them being contaminated somehow. Meanwhile, one of the nonmutants mutated by the explosion discovers she has the ability to break her body into pieces, then pull the pieces back together......

Tropic Thunder, cleaning.

I didn't see Betty at all on Friday, which was kind of a bummer. I've been watching more of my tape of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." The episode I am currently watching features the movie Terror from the Year 5000.

Speaking of movies, I got together with Harry and Liz and saw Tropic Thunder. Aside from the rampant swearing and some gross stuff, it was a really funny movie. Tom Cruise was barely recognizable as the hot-tempered producer, and Ben Stiller's action hero character was hilarious. Before seeing the movie, I got to play with one of Harry's new kittens (Athena) and visited PetsMart and Barnes and Noble with my friends.

This was also a weekend of cleaning for me. I did the laundry, handwashed the Spider-Man 3 towel I got from Harry and Liz, and swept the laundry room. I also swept the kitchen and handwashed a pot I use to make macaroni and cheese. Later, I plan to clean the floor of my shower.

More Betty sightings, captive spider.

Well, I got to see Betty a couple times in the last few days. Yesterday, I spotted her entering the stairs moments after I did. I said, "Hey!" and she said, "Hey, David." Today, I spotted her in the break room while I was at lunch. She popped in and was talking to someone else. I didn't realized she was in the room at first because I was reading, but I heard her voice and looked up. Later today, I passed her during a company-wide event a motel a block from the office. I would have said something to her, but I was with another coworker and trying to find a place to sit.

Yesterday morning at work, I happened to spot a large spider (possibly a wolf spider or maybe a wandering spider) on the wall near the lobby. I realized that if anyone else spotted it, then they would probably try to squash it. I raced up to my area, grabbed a plastic cup that I have at my desk for just that sort of situation (I used it last year to catch a huge beetle), and raced back down. I caught it in the cup and took it back to my desk.

It occurred to me that this spider was so big that I could keep it under a mesh basket I use at my desk to keep rubber bands in without any chance of it escaping. After the spider nearly escaped while I was trying to switch containers, I got it under the mesh basket. Sure enough, the spider was too big to squeeze through the mesh, so it just ran around on the mesh and across the folded Kleenex that was serving as a floor for its cage. I left it in the cage until lunch time, then transfered it back to the plastic cup before letting it loose outside in the grass.

Joe Dirt and the Clone Wars.

For the most part, I had a nice weekend (so far). I watched my DVD copy of Joe Dirt in segments over the past view days. Friday night, I did some vacuuming around the townhouse. I also checked out this website Liz e-mailed me a link to that lets you assemble online puzzles. It was pretty fun.

On Saturday, I got together with Harry. We stopped briefly at a comic book store, then went to see Star Wars: the Clone Wars. We had lunch at Burger King, and he took me back to my place. I worked on laundry, then rested briefly when I started feeling sick. I felt better later and had some dinner. I ironed a few shirts for work.

Today, I finished watching Joe Dirt and vacuumed my room. I have a meeting later with Diana and her friend to discuss our business website efforts. I'm hoping to watch a repeat episode of "Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles" later tonight.

More Betty sightings, Peter III is dead.

Well, I've seen Betty a few more times since my last entry. I saw her early on Thursday morning in the elevator area between her department and mine (I was still in my area and saw her through the window), but she didn't seem to notice when I waved at her.

Today, I saw Betty on two more occasions. The first was in the break room while I was taking my afternoon break. I said hi to her and asked her how things were going in her new department. She seemed happy to be talking with me and said things were busy and "different" (than they had been in my department). I mentioned things were busy for my area, too with another of my coworkers on vacation. When I was leaving the room, she told me she would see me around. I came back a short while later, and she was still there. We didn't talk this time, we just looked at different sections of the paper. I sat at a different table than she was at so she wouldn't feel crowded. The second time I saw her was as she left for the evening. I told her "see ya, [Betty]," and she told me to have a nice weekend. I was walking on air as I headed up the stairs to my department (I had been in the lobby speaking with a courier when I saw her leaving).

Sadly, my latest spider catch, Peter III, is dead. I found him dead in the jar this afternoon after work. The ant I had given him last night to eat was still alive and trying to escape. I doubt the ant killed him. I wonder if there was a chemical residue in the jar (I had stored a bag with soap in it in the jar before) or if he simply wore himself out trying to escape. I put a small amount of water in the jar with him on the day I caught him so he wouldn't die of thirst. I don't think he would have suffocated, since I left the top of the jar open a crack. I may give up on the spider- catching-for-a-pet business for awhile.....

New spider, saw Betty again.

I caught this spider in my laundry room this morning right as I was getting ready for work. I have decided to keep him and to name him "Peter III." I threw out Peter's (and Peter II's) jar since I wasn't sure if any living spiderlings were still in it and since it was in bad shape (dirty, stained on the inside, containing the remains of several dead arthropods, and filled with Peter's old funnel web). This picture is of Peter III in a jar I found stashed away in my room. If possible, I may move him into a shorter (but nearly as wide) jar some time in the next week. Assuming he doesn't build a web in this one in the meanwhile....

I was pleasantly surprised to see Betty again this week. I was running some paperwork upstairs and happened to see her and some other gal leaving for lunch. She went to the stairs, too, reaching them before I did (her department is right next to the stair access). Our eyes met briefly when I looked down between the hand rails to see her descending to the first floor as I began my ascent to the third.....

Glimpses of Betty.

Well, today is the first day since a week ago yesterday (Monday) that I have actually seen Betty. I actually saw her twice today. When I was re-entering the section of the building where my department is, I happened to glance toward her department and saw her through the window. This was near the end of my lunch hour, and I was sure she saw me as well, though I had trouble seeing her due to the glare on the window. Later, as I was leaving the building for the day, I turned around and saw her leaving as well. I'm sure she must have seen me (she was behind me by several feet), but I didn't catch her eye this time when I noticed her.

Between these two times, I found myself wondering if I should tell her how I feel. I don't want to freak her out, but not talking about it (at least not aloud) is driving me nuts. At the very least, I would love to just see her and talk to her, even if it was only a casual catching-up sort of conversation. I think now that I should tread carefully so that I don't make things awkward.....

So-so weekend.

It was a so-so weekend, following a long week. I only got a brief glimpse of Betty last Monday morning (when she was leaving my department to start working in another one), which is kind of a bummer. One of my other coworkers was on vacation, and my team leader left early a few days as well, so we were short-staffed most of the week.

Nothing terribly exciting happened this weekend. I spend most of it reading. Part of that reading involved me researching some ideas for Diana's web business. I got my hair cut on Saturday morning. Harry and Liz were busy, so I didn't get together with them yesterday. I made some macaroni and cheese for my dinner last night, then had some of the leftovers for lunch today in case Harry called about doing something tonight. So far, no calls.

The Mummy and Batman.

On Saturday, I had breakfast with Cosmo, Wanda, Diana, Gwen, and Norman at Norman and Gwen's place. Afterwards, I met up with Harry and went to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I helped him move some stuff from his folks' to his place. The new kitten he and Liz had gotten recently had died, but the Humane Society was kind enough to give him and Liz two free kittens. Which seems like a good deal, since the original kitten had some respiratory issues when they first got it. I got to see the kittens, and Harry and I spent time playing "DC Heroes" (the Justice League game for Playstation 2).

I had a great time playing as Batman and Zatanna, while Harry seemed to enjoy himself as Superman and the Martian Manhunter. We only got through the first few levels, but we still had a great time. Fortunately, we had cheat codes to keep us alive and powerful enough to beat down the robots and giant bees we encountered in the game. I am eager to play more of this game with Harry when the opportunity presents itself.

Speaking of Batman, I finally got started watching the Batman: Gotham Knight DVD Harry and Liz gave me for my birthday. I am impressed with the quality of the various animated segments, as well as the use of the voice talent of the guy who voiced Batman/Bruce Wayne in the "Batman: the Animated Series" (Kevin Conroy, I think?) in all of the segments.

Today, I took things easy at home after the usual Sunday morning routine. I took a nap and watched part of a DVD on website marketing stuff. I did some reading and swept the laundry room.

Betty's Last Day.

Today was Betty's last day with my department. I was feeling pretty bummed about her leaving our area, but I didn't want to make a scene about it. I pondered telling her that I liked her and that I was sad she was leaving. I thought of all sorts of things to say, but I decided it would be better to keep my feelings concealed for now....

I didn't say much to Betty today. I spoke to her briefly to let her know I had put some work on her desk. She only brought stuff over to me once today (unlike yesterday, when she came by at least three times). I looked her way whenever I got the chance. I think she looked at me a few times as well when I was in the room. I saw her come in the break room while I was having lunch. I hoped that she would sit by me, but she just got something out of the vending machine (a snack-sized bag of Funions) and left. Before I clocked out for the weekend, I went over to her desk to wish her good luck at her new position:

Me: "Hey, you start your new position on Monday, right? Good luck."
Betty: "Thank you, David. Have a good weekend."

That's pretty much what happened. It wasn't everything I could have hoped for in our last conversation of the week, but at least I retained my dignity and kept the tears and emotional outbursts at bay.....