First sickie / NSBA 3-5

So yesterday I decided to chuck a sickie, I think my first in like, three to four years. My cold wasn't even that bad, definitely not as bad as the one I had earlier this year. But the main reason I didn't want to go to work was because I didn't want Mary to feel like I was spreading my germs around, especially after that embarassing incident.

I felt like I would have all the time in the world. I pictured myself taking a long walk down the street. But I spent most of my time on the computer, then had a nap. I woke up and spent more time on the computer, before walking to the Wick to go to the gym. I really wanted to cycle to work on my knee, so I did that, then the benchpress and some weights and abs.

I then bought some wicked wings from KFC to have with bread for lunch back home. It got a bit cold, but it was still nice.

I spent more time on the computer. I thought finally I could experience day trading, but my internet wasn't at its best. Before I knew it, it was time to get ready to meet Any for bball. Time flies. I actually felt a bit worse having stayed at home, it felt like boredom made my cold worse.

I got changed and went out to meet Any at his bus stop. My eyes were so bad I thought he was a white guy. Sheesh. We made some initial talk about basketball and stuff, but then it got a bit quiet on the bus. Part of me didn't feel like talking because of my cold.

We met Phil in the city, then met Bo on the train. I swear once Bo comes onto the scene, everything lights up, and it's like we couldn't stop laughing. We were four giggling guys in sports gear amongst a crowded train.

We walked from the station to the courts, and saw Angelo shooting around while Mike seemed to have been sitting down somewhere else. I called Mike lego man because of the way he did his hair.

We didn't have long before the game started. I had just finished stretching and hadn't really taken any proper shots. Bo told me to fix the starting five, and I just benched Phil,m, which was a no-brainer.

We played the team coming first, JO. They were in nice white and blue uniforms, giving them the white princely knight image. Straight off the bat they hit a tonne of threes on us. They were all tall and lanky, but I could sense a few of them couldn't really dribble properly.

Abi came a bit later in the first half. Angelo was really aggressive offensively, and because of that, I think he scored like 90% of our points. Defending a fast break at one point, I mis-timed my jump and when I went for the block, instead of getting the ball, I slapped the guy in the face, lol. I heard him complain, but I had already shook his head to show I didn't mean it.

Angelo really tried to motivate us at half time, and I could see where we really failed - we let them get ahead of us when we didn't get back on defense. I said that was the number one basic rule every kid in basketball is taught, which is to get back on D.

In the second half I got a fast break and was chased from behind. I proceeded to lay it up from the front, and just as I took off, my left hand flew back to balance myself and slapped someone in the face, lol! I heard the guy complain about that, haha.

We made a bit of a serious run in the middle of the second half, coming within 13 at one stage, but then we seemed to let off, most notably when Phil decided to pass it under his legs...to the other team - fook!

But in the last few minutes, we pressed them and forced a few turnovers, which was really inspirtational. We ended up losing by 19.

I was pretty disappointed and frustrated after the game. I found that my frustrations were mainly directed at Mike. I try to tell him to focus on rebounding properly, instead of slapping the ball into the ground. He told me he couldn't jump. I said he didn't need to, and pointed out to him when Abi grabbed a rebound in traffic barely jumping.

I just don't know how to get through to him. He really is the definition of a loser. I find that he has an excuse for everything - from not being able to keep a job, to not passing his driving test, to playing poorly in basketball. I want to show him that playing half court basketball on the weekends is not going to make him a better full court player. It's not practice, but he seems to think it is. I just don't know what to do. I want to tell him that if he tries, he can be better. I want to show him the difference between successful people and failures.

I watched the next game with Abi as Bo reffed and Phil did duty with Mike. I was starting to cough regularly, and I put my hood on to keep warm. Everytime I coughed, my head hurt, and I could feel like I was getting worse. At times I felt a chill through my whole body and I thought "this is it, I'm going downhill from here", but then I told myself to stay strong and mentally I shook it off. Any patted me on the shoulder and asked if I had taken any medicine. I thought about Mike, and wanted to say something about how he missed a game with a cold, but I played without any excuses or complaining.

We all walked back to the station, and I think Mike felt a bit left out and/or made fun of. He crossed the road when the red light was flashing and the rest of us waited, and he waved and walked off to where he normally gets picked up. I felt sorry for him, but I wondered what else I could do.

The conversations on the train mainly dominated around AFL and girls between Bo and Any. When Any and I got off the train, we went to KFC as usual for him to buy his dinner. He did pay me back $10 which I knew he would.

From walking to the bus stop to being on the bus, we talked a bit about how judgmental people in Sydney were. He said he could feel people giving him weird looks just because he was black. I said I often feel like people are suspecting I'm there to steal something when I'm in shops. He also opened up about being depressed about struggling to learn written English.

I had a bit of a hard time sleeping. Maybe it was because I was sick. Maybe it was due to the nap. Or maybe it was because I had been contemplating in the back of my mind saying I love you to Naby on Saturday. I've also been thinking about asking her out to dinner. I just feel like she was telling me her days off for a reason. I could be wrong. In the end, I concluded I shouldn't think about it too much, and shouldn't put too much weight on her response. I should just ask it casually, and if she says no, then I'll just shake it off.

Today
I did consider taking today off. But I figured I'd at least attend the meeting I had with Mary and the police, and then take the rest of the day off if I wanted to.

I got in quietly and started catching up on my work. Mary said/joked that she may have caught my cold. Geez I'd feel so bad if she did.

I couldn't believe how occupied I was, so much that I ended up having lunch at around 1:20pm (normally around 12:30pm) and I didn't go to the toilet all day until the end when I left.

In the afternoon, DS came to my office and said "I know I've probably asked you this about seven times, but are you an LO1 or LO2?" I told him LO1 and he said something about giving me an acting LO2 - I think even he was surprised I was an LO1. I appreciated it.

I noticed he must've had a haircut during lunch, but instead of his usual all-around cut, he seemed to have only cut the sides - very similar to how I cut mine. Hmmm. And then I remember once seeing him eating an apple as he stared out the window - very similar to what I used to do on level 10. Hmmm.

Ele had messaged me and we agreed to meet after work. She said because of my cold, she wanted to give me some manuka honey.

I went to our usual meeting place and got there about 5:10pm. She called and said she'd be late and asked if I wanted to meet tomorrow. I said I wanted to go for a walk in Myer anyway so I'd wait. I went to check out Myer and David Jones. I didn't see much that I liked, and everything was still pretty expensive.

She called and said she was ready and so I went back to the meeting place. I waited for around 20 minutes. At first I was really confident, standing right at the corner of the kerb, in the midst of the bustling human traffic, waiting for her. But as time passed, I felt like maybe she wasn't coming after all, and slowly retreated against the wall of the supermarket.

Finally I called her and she said she was coming out of the supermarket. I looked in and found her. We met at the door and she offered a hug. I didn't lean in but just sort of wrapped my right arm around her. She seemed happy to see me.

She gave me a small bottle with little lollies inside. I asked if that was the manuka honey and she said it was. I opened it and offered her one. She said after me, so I took one and offered her one and she took it.

We started walking slowly down the street. I noticed that it was a natural pace for me, whereas I usually walk pretty fast. We talked about my cold, she said it seemed like I always get colds and she asked why. I silently wondered if I had HIV which weakened my immune system.

She said she got the honey manuka from Linda, and I teased her about this being the second time she re-gifted, the first time being the blue toy. She was surprised I remembered, and was laughing as I teased her. We talked about her birthday, the fishing trip Bill is organising (don't think I'll go since she said they will all be speaking Chinese), her husband going for an accountant interview just for the experience, and shopping.

We agreed to have lunch tomorrow, and she had earlier said on weekends the place we went to was $3 for a plate. I said if it wasn't then she has to pay, but if it was then I'd pay. I pretty much decided I'd pay anyway.

When she told me about it, I wondered if I could take Naby there if she said yes to dinner.

Despite the recent Naby experience, sometimes I'd watch Ele speak and I'd tell myself that at the end of the day, she was still the one I wanted. I really felt a connection with her, and I silently cursed the way things had turned out.