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i woke up at 5:30 so i could get to the office an hour early at 7:00 instead of my usual 8:00 start time. there was a steady ran as a large group of construction supervisors waited for the bus to arrive at 6:30. one of them even recognized me and asked why i was doing up so early.

mr.lee was surprised when he saw me, that i was in fact actually a few minutes earlier than him in showing up for work. i had some work to do so it was nice to have the office so quiet for a change, at least for an hour before all the other people arrived. XL messaged me once she arrived at work, surprised and impressed that i actually came to work early, since the last time i said that i failed to live up to my promise. "you must love weddings very much," XL said. "weddings? not so much. hanging out with you and making sure you're okay going to another wedding, that's more important," i told her.

in the span of an hour, my whole work area suddenly changed. that annoying instruments manager simply won't vacate his cubicle, even though he's totally not supposed to be in our department. he just likes sitting there because the air quality is better since it's closer to the entrance. instead of fighting him anymore (he self-confessed that he has "skin a meter thick") mrs.gu ended up asking lihui to move so his cubicle could go to a member of the expanding turnover department. instead of moving to where mrs.gu told him to go though, he decided he'd occupy the cubicle area next to mine, which has been used as a spot for a printer ever since i've worked here. his old space went to pansusu's former secretary, who switched to the turnover department. and then during the shifting of spaces, i ended up grabbing another LCD screen so now i have dual monitor action, all the better to get my spreadsheet action on.

i was surprised when zengfei messaged me. i haven't messaged her in months, not since we became QQ buddies and i realized her english isn't very good. but she took the time to write me in english today. apparently she was worried that i might've missed the bus this morning because she didn't see me. this was an unexpected expression of concern, but one that was much appreciated.

later zengfei texted me again, this time with an unexpected request: she wanted to borrow my camera. for a day? for the weekend? no, for an entire week, while she went on vacation in hainan island. was she expecting to borrow my dSLR? because no way would i trust a newbie with that thing. i told her i could let her borrow my smaller panasonic lumix camera. later she wrote me back and said she ended up borrowing a camera from another friend.

after work i hung around outside, waiting for XL. we don't have that much free time, so i like to spend it hanging out with her if i can. she continues to be aloof, which may be an act she puts on in front of our coworkers. who knows, but she went on one bus, while i went on another. i can't quite figure her out. all the way home i had this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach, something like disappointment mixed with confusion, a feeling i've been experiencing a lot these days.

back in town i went to the supermarket to buy some oranges and a sandwich for tomorrow morning, where i plan on going into work early again. i went to the smaller supermarket with its adjoining stationery store to find some red construction paper (RMB$1) - i plan on making my on origami hongbao to put the wedding money.

i made rice porridge for dinner. afterwards i called my doctor again, but once more he wasn't available to take my call. i did reach a nurse, who will relay my message.

i had my phone on vibrate so i didn't hear it, but XL sent me a good night text message. just when i was thinking i might want to skip the wedding on saturday, she does something that makes me reconsider.