I woke up this morning in the shittiest possible mood. I went to bed last night with a bunch of different thoughts running through my mind. I figured sleeping at around 11pm would help me stop thinking for awhile, but it didn't work. I woke up thinking about the same stuff. On top of that, my body was sore when I woke up and I could hear one of my weird neighbors from across the street yelling something, which was extremely annoying. I went to work somewhat cranky. Ugh...

When I got to the office, there were messages on the answering machine from a bunch of workers. Today is Monday which means people are going to call in sick so they can extend their weekend. I had to pick up clients today since so many workers were absent.

I picked up three clients today. Everything was fine until I was at this one stoplight. There was a homeless man sitting at the corner holding a sign and asking for money. One of the clients I picked up started pointing at the homeless man, so of course, that homeless man came up to my car. I asked the client to stop pointing but by the time he stopped pointing, the homeless man was already standing next to my car with this frustrated look on his face. I guess he was mad because my client had pointed at him and didn't give him money, so he threw his cardboard sign at my car. Luckily the light turned green at that moment, so I just took off. Sigh...

I've been at work for less than 3 hours and I already want to go home. I've still got 5 or so hours to go. Maybe I'll get to go home early since so many workers are absent. I'll probably be asked to take clients home, which means I can leave the office about an hour early. *crosses fingers*

When I get home, I need to re-write a paper, work on some Italian homework, and do some math. School blows. But hey, only 6 more weeks until this semester is over.

You know what I'm looking forward to? Modern Warfare 2. It's being released tonight at midnite. I'm not going to wait in line for it, but I did pre-order the game so I'll be picking it up on the way home from school tomorrow. Maybe shooting things and making things explode will make me feel better.

Okay, back to work.

I realized that many people come to me because I'm some times seen as an "ice breaker." It's actually pretty funny.

People have come to me saying things like:

-"Alex, [insert name here] asked me to go out to eat with him/her but things have been weird between us lately. I told him/her that I'd ask you if you could go too. Can you please go? It'll be less awkward if you're around."

-"Flip, I need your help. I invited this girl to go to a bar and I want you there. She's bringing her friends and I need someone to help them feel at home. You get along with everyone, so please back me up."

It's hard to say what I do to break the ice. Honestly, I just talk a lot. I talk about whatever comes to mind. I ask a bunch of questions. That's pretty much it. I guess it also helps that I have a wacky sense of humor. *shrugs*

I usually don't try to break the ice... it kind of just happens. There are exceptions to how I usually act though.

Some times I actually try very hard and execute a plan in order to break the ice. There are times when I guess I act as a wingman. I work very hard to keep things normal, and then at the right moment, I work with whoever I'm wingman-ing for and try to make things amazing. I'm not an expert at breaking the ice or being a wingman, but I've picked up a few things to make me less of a noob.

The main thing I do when I've got to work very hard is ask a lot of questions. When I want to get to know someone or make it known that I'm interested, I keep asking questions. I avoid talking about myself as much as possible and focus on the person in front of me. While doing this, the person I'm getting to know might think I'm a really nice guy [which I am of course .] I ask questions and when that person gives an answer, I ask follow up questions. After breaking the ice a bit, I drop the whole charade and just be myself. Remember, in the end, it doesn't matter what you do or how you act because your real self will eventually come out. Might as well reveal it early on, right? Might not work for everyone, but it works for me.

I really don't know why I put this entry together. Oh well.