Thankful?

     4:55 pm, probably not the time to have breakfast, but Sunday is my day off and let's be honest, it is just a tad cold outside.  There is something to be said for not getting out from under the covers on a day where I real didn't have to.  But I am tired of not doing anything on my days off, it is time I do something even if I don't really have to do it.

     So I am sitting here at IHOP, having breakfast for dinner and writing this entry.  The last time I was here was probably when Ruth was here back in June, we came in part because they offer a free breakfast for your birthday and it was my birthday so we took advantage of it and came here.  I haven't been back since, not that I have anything against being here, quite the opposite in fact, but IHOP is in the exact opposite direction of work, so for me to come here on a Saturday morning would be to make a detour before work.  Sundays are a different animal, i don't know if it is just laziness, depression or a result of being worn out from the crazy work hours I have, but usually I find that I have almost no desire to move on Sundays.  It is almost like if life were a job, on Sundays I would think about quitting.

     I do not expect this week to be an easy one.  On one hand I doubt we will be all that busy at work, it is the week of Thanksgiving, so the students will leaving as they complete their classes before the holiday on Thursday, and Black Friday as it is called, is also usually slow.  Not many people work that day and those that are out are usually shopping, just not in downtown.  Few people want to pay to park just to go shopping, and given the few retail selections in downtown Pittsburgh it is easier for most people just to go to the malls in the suburbs and do their shopping there instead.

     Just because the store will not be busy does not mean I will have it easy however, the new register system we ordered will start being installed on Monday.  I say start because we will begin by just using one register as well as the back office, then as we get to train people on the new system and work out any bugs or issues with the general operation of it, we will start to take down the other registers and replace them with the new system as well.  So for a few days we will be operating two completely different systems at the same time.   Plus there is the holiday to deal with, I would like to spend time with my family but honestly I doubt my mom would be doing much for Thanksgiving even if I were off of work, so I can't say that there are any holiday plans that I am missing out on.  My default option then is just to work, what else should I do really?  Make a giant holiday meal just for myself, or worse be one of those people who go out to eat on a holiday all by themselves because there is nothing else to do?  Far better to keep my mind occupied with work than to sit around my apartment moping.

     Harder will be dealing with the days after Thanksgiving though, since that is when the city has its Celebrate the Season parade, a decent enough spectacle but one that also marks the one year anniversary of Ruth's first visit here, she arrived the Friday after Thanksgiving and the parade was the first thing we did together.  Lots of pictures were taken, she said they were for her son, but really, who knows who they were taken for and what type of lie she used when she explained them to someone else.  I guess in the spirit of Thanksgiving I should be thankful for the fact that I am extricated from that web of deceit.

     Well I should stop complaining, after all I am almost done with breakfast or dinner or whatever it is that they call what I am having here.  Time to see if I can make something from what remains of today besides the nothing I usually accomplish on Sunday.