quickly from work

Feeling so absent from this medium lately. Writing from work, in a stolen moment in a hidden office on the only computer I can access that hasn't been punitively slowed by our IT department to punish us for frivolous internet use. *Sigh* The wonders of technology.

I work across the street from the Chinese Gardens in Portland. We have an annual pass and we can go over with two guests at a time if we want. I just went over with a guy who used to live here. It was cold. The fish are in hiding and the water is murky. The Chinese Gardens was hemmoraging water at some ungodly rate for awhile, like a million gallons a day. It was leaking. They spent tons of money to fix it, but it still isn't fixed.

I listed to my companion who is "batshit crazy" in a really subdued sort of way talk about the various conspiracies aligning in his life right now. He's a sweet guy, always barely hanging on, though seeming to do well. I care. And then I stop caring. There's a cut-off for my empathy. Then I just start thinking how cold I am and how fruitless our conversation... except that it makes him feel a tiny bit better to think he can trust me, talk to me, etc. Maybe in an hour he'll decide I'm "in on it" and he won't talk to me again for months. Who knows.

Corn dogs and chili for lunch today. Not vegan. But free-gan. SK leaves tomorrow. I'm sad.