Weird fishes

When I came to work this morning, Kim started complaining about a strange smell. Kim complains like a rain shower. At first, it's just a couple of drops on your head, but looking up at the sky, you know there will be more. And, sure enough, the rain intensifies to the point you need to seek shelter from it. Because it's Saturday, I knew she wouldn't make it through the day, that she'd concoct a flimsy excuse to leave work early (Last Saturday, when she had to rush to her daughter's side it was, I later found out, because their cat nipped at her. Kim immediately took her to the hospital because, as she put it, "cat bites can be fatal". They can if they rip your throat out, but from a nip?).

I didn't smell anything, but I was a little stuffed up. I asked Gio and he said he detected a faint burning smell. Kim's complaining escalated to the point where, if she was as bad off as she said she was, she was about to drop dead, or at least into a coma.

I went out back for a few minutes and finally caught a whiff of what they were talking about. There indeed was a burnt smell in the warehouse. I talked with Gio for a bit and both of us started feeling a little light-headed. I came back to the showroom and the smell was stronger there. So Kim was right, at least about the smell.

I called Nstar and our heating company to see if they could diagnose the problem. They showed up around the same time and, though each guy smelled it, gas wasn't the cause. Kim had already bolted at that point, which I was happy about. Thirty seconds wouldn't go by without her saying something like, "Oh, my eyes are burning up" or "God, my chest has tightened up so much I think I'm going to pass out". It's true, I timed her. Finally, I looked at her and said, as levelly as I could, "If it's that bad, then why don't you go home." She was out the door before I finished my sentence.

Just to be safe, I had the fire dept. stop by. They couldn't detect anything amiss, so that was that. Since shutting off the heat a couple of hours ago, the smell has dissipated considerably. Don't know what it was. The strange thing about it was that we could smell it outside, too. Well, I don't feel nauseous anymore, so maybe it's gone.
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We have special ed. kids from Leslie College work with us two days a week. Usually, I'll have them do simple things, like clean chairs or sweep the floors. Last Thursday, I had two guys instead of the usual one. The new addition was only going to work the one day. Everything went fine. I had the two guys clean chairs all day and that was that. I barely saw them.

Yesterday, Gio told me confidentially that the school had called Karen and told her that one of the guys, the one who only worked that one day, had reported back that a fifty year old guy was selling pills out of the warehouse. Right away, I thought of Bill, our mechanic. But Bill wasn't there when this guy worked, so that left me, as I was the only other male working that day.

Gio did some detective work for Karen and found out from Eric, one of our warehouse guys, that Bill had sold him some prescription pills one day . Eric suffers from severe ulcers, so his purchase wasn't for recreational purposes. However, his sharing a joint with Bill and Jeff, one of the Leslie guys, on the roof one day, most assuredly was. Why Bill would do that is beyond me, but it looks like he's going to get the hook. Just as long as I'm not the one accused of hustling pills. I wait until I get home for that. The fact that Karen hasn't shared this information with me, though, has given me pause. Perhaps I am a suspect. Well, I'm already sexually harassing people, so I may as well peddle drugs to my staff.
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Watching the Celtics play this season has been an absolute treat. Not since the days of Bird,Mchale, and Parish, have we seen a team so good, so destined for greatness. Whether they win a championship this year, I'll still look back at this time and know I was witness to something special.

I look forward to sleeping in tomorrow, especially if the weather is as crappy as it is right now. I hope to visit my grandmother early in the day and later accomplish some songwriting. Or maybe I'll purchase some curtains. I've been putting off that chore for too long now.
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Ok, it's back to work with me. It's slow today and with Gio at home on break, I'm all by my self. Not so bad, actually.