Cat Ladies: The Threat Is REAL

          I spent another day volunteering in Mrs. A's class at Morse. I helped cut up skeezy old potatoes so that they could be planted, watched kids popcorn read for the first time in ages (so inefficient...), enjoyed a birthday cupcake from one of the students, and re-experienced "the assembly" as "the work of God." Assemblies rocked. Nowadays it's all "come on out to Northeastern's x event" and I'm like no thanks. Anyway, the assembly was a lady from the SPCA (a former teacher) who introduced us to a Boxer named Dozer. She also related a story of a small apartment with 103 cats recently being cleared out in Saugerties. Stop for a moment and try to comprehend living with 103 cats. One thing that's new since I left: students constantly being reminded to be "bucket fillers." "We don't dip!" Here is an informative link, though I'm still kind of baffled by the whole thing: http://myfunteacher.com/bucketfillers.htm
          Another fight with my father. Apparently it's not polite to email people in the afternoon, and my computer illiterate pop knows email etiquette better than me. Moving on, I worked at Red Onion again for the first time this summer. I was a bit apprehensive about going in rusty on a Friday night, but it was surprisingly dead for most of the evening. Along with some holdovers from before -- Jeff, Kait, Ray, Sophie, and fellow busser Nichole -- there are a number of new people too, all of whom seem quite nice. The new runner, Danny, is a riot, and there's a busser named Anastasia who seems pretty neat. (This one guessed that I was twenty-three, which was a fun experience.) The upstairs of the place has been renovated into a sort of private party room, along with other minor changes here and there. My summer here looks to be a decent one.
          Quotes of the day:
"You are a very caring child." - Mrs. A (reminding me of, "What a sweet, affectionate child it is!")
"I ran away from the cigarette because they explode and because I have asthma." - Debbie
"Maybe I'll trickle in their entrees." - Chef
...
Ray: "Are you eighteen?"
Me: "I'm nineteen, going on twenty."
Ray: "Whoa hooo, a whole different website!"
...
Me: "I'll get that in a sec."
Ray: "That's what all the girls say to me."
...
Ray: "I missed you, Andy."
Me: "I missed you too, Ray. I missed your wit."
Ray: "I missed your ass."