la vie allet

the other night at work, during a rare lull, i found myself in the 'staff lounge' with two coworkers. we were all slightly glassy-eyed and drained from the day; it was about midnight and the television blared inanely in the corner. we had just recieved the news that one of the other technician's sister had just been killed in a car accident. this tech, who is salty and wonderful but whom i never get to work with (she only works wednesdays) is also about seven months pregnant. we sat there soberly, none of us really saying much, until i blurted "and did you hear about t's brother?" one of the assistant's brother had been randomly jumped whilst riding his bike in seattle- some drunk fucks had thrown a bottle at him, knocking him to the ground, and proceeded to beat the shit out of him- breaking both cheekbones, six ribs, probably more- he had surgery yesterday. has this been anywhere in any newspaper? of fucking course not.
"what is in the water here?" one of the techs i was sitting with asked. and we started listing the litany of horrid instances that has beset the clinic of late. one of the doctors was in the hospital for several days. two techs were taken to the ER for seperate, non-work-related ailments. someone's grandfather died. hell, my grandfather died (and my great-aunt died on saturday, i learned- i was never close to her at all, but it's still another name on the list- fucking mortality). there were other tragedies brought up, i'm sure. we ended up quietly filing out of the room, back to the treatment floor, where animals with intractable diarrhea and opiate stupors and weak wags awaited.
and on the way home that night (i think it was sunday) i turned up the music very loudly, and i sang along on the empty 2am interstate.
and yesterday, one of my other pregnant coworkers had her baby. his middle name is 'navin', hindu for new beginnings. there are 'yahoo!' signs all over work. that made me happy.
in more annoying news: the white stripes cancelled their ENTIRE FUCKING TOUR. i am really, really saddened by this. i found out last night (like a proper nerd, i am on their mailing list) and grimly removed their cd from my car for the drive home, replacing it with "alterna-daze: the best of the '80's." this cd contains the 12" version of 'tainted love', which is quite apropos in the blear of night.
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today seattle smells of blackberries, lavender, and garlic, though not all at once.