Thing 2 (Day 5)

I am all alone now.

My mom flew back this morning. When I dropped her off at the airport she was teary-eyed, and the only thing I said was, “Can you throw this out for me?” as I handed her my garbage.

She laughed, but I was sad, too. She was my only lifeline in North Carolina. Now all I have is Baseball America, and hopefully they embrace me as tightly as I hope to embrace them.

I heard the editors talking about sending someone to Arizona this weekend for the fall league futures game. It didn’t sound like anyone would be able to go, and I think they decided to try and turn to finding someone local. Would I have been a fool to bring myself up?

It might happen tomorrow. Once I am finished my newest task, making blurbs for the broadcast about each of the players in the futures game, I might suggest myself. I could be that brazen. It’s not likely, but possible.  

I completed the charticle that I had started on the Indians, and as it turns out, it is something they are going to use. Editor 1 tweaked it and made his changes, but my handiwork was off to production just like that. I actually did something that will be in the next magazine and it’s only been three working days. I will try to keep my excitement to a minimum, at least when I am at work.

Editor 2 then handed me a task that he had apparently tried to email to me earlier in the day, but had a problem when he spelled my name wrong. It’s a tough name.

AND, I had lunch today! All around, today was a good time.

The kerfuffle and muss of my birthday was over, and by that I mean the Facebook messages being posted on my wall, and all that’s left is a giant birthday cookie.

But when Editor 1 came around telling people that he and Editor 2 were going to grab lunch and wanted to know if anyone wanted to join them, I practically jumped out of my seat ready to go. Not only was this an opportunity to eat, but it was also an opportunity to talk to people!

Don’t get me wrong, the workplace is a great environment, and if I were spending my day talking to people, I wouldn’t get any work done. But it’s hard to be in a new place all alone and not want to have some interaction with people some of the time.

And being afraid that I might never run into Thing 1 or Thing 2 unless I wait outside their doors, I need to try to talk to people somewhere else. There actually was a run-in with Thing 2 today though. I met her for the first time, and we had more of a conversation than I previously had with Thing 1.

After work, I didn’t really know what to do with myself, and I didn’t want to go to the apartment, so I stopped and signed up for a gym membership.

That took up some time, and I got a six-week membership at an overpriced fitness facility with an overenthusiastic salesman who was very convincing. But that might just be because I am kind of desperate for people to talk to at this point. If he ever talks to me again, it is likely that I will ask him to take me to a football game or a basketball game.

But I got the membership and made my way back to the apartment. I decided I should probably start to unpack at least a little bit, so I started with the TV. I got it out of the box and tried to set everything up, only to realize that I need a screwdriver for that. Problem. I don’t have one.

So then I moved to the clothes and books and got everything else away. I felt like I was still a little light on my things until I realized how many more bags were still in my car.

While I was putting stuff away, with my bedroom door open like a normal human who craves interaction, I heard the front door of the apartment open. My ears perked up like a little puppy and I went to see who was there. Since I didn’t recognize the person coming inside, I figured this was Thing 2.

Indeed. She introduced herself, and since I know the name of Thing 1, it would make sense for me to switch to using their names now. Unfortunately, I could not pronounce, nor could I spell her name, and since the introduction, I have also forgotten it. So Thing 2 it is.

I don’t think she wanted to talk to me, but I dragged her in. I asked her what her major was, where she was from, how long she lived here, and kept her as long as I could. As it turns out, her family lives in Raleigh, but she is from Ghana, in Africa. She is majoring in psychology and is a senior at UNC, but wants to go into nursing, so she has more school ahead of her.

She eventually went back to what she was doing and I kept unpacking. She came by before she shut herself in her room to say that if I needed anything I could just knock. So that was a nice enough gesture, even though I don’t believe she would shut it if she really did want to hear from me, so I think it was nothing more than a gesture.

I decided to go back to the gym to actually use it, since I couldn’t put my TV together and it was missing a cable, so even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to plug it into anything. And I thought I could make a pitstop on the way home to get those things, among others, so that I could be better off tomorrow.

The gym was uneventful and unexciting. I got my fill of American television for the day and poured sweat while doing it.

From there I went to Target to try and get the things that I was missing. I ended up getting a bunch of things that I didn’t need, and the only thing I remembered that I did need was a screwdriver. But I forgot the cable, so it becomes a moot point.

But I think I made progress today, talking to Thing 2, and I even learned Editor 2’s name! I only know it now because he sent me an email, but at least I know it. We’ll stick to using Editor 1 and Editor 2 though because it makes life easier than learning names. As we all know now, learning names is a tough task for some of us.

Maybe tomorrow I can actually go to the store and get the things I require. I made a list to help me.