After some thought, I decided to hang on to my former Nigerian co-worker Ola until after the trip to Nigeria in December. He can still prove useful because, no matter how well I can create someone in my mind to practice Yoruba with, nothing beats the challenge of linguistically keeping up with a real fluent Yoruba-speaking person. He also has very good ideas about varying gym workouts so I'll try to learn as much from him as I can until December. And, when I do finally get rid of him, I’m not gonna do it through taunting or anything. I’m simply going to tell Ola that I don’t want to see or speak to him again and wish him well. I think I’m beginning to outgrow the taunting thing, and simply telling the truth is something I’ve become quite good at. Not saying what is on one’s mind is a sign of weakness, a trait I never like being associated with.
I’ve adjusted my morning routine considerably since Ola’s departure and now have a new normal. I leave the house at 6:15am instead of 6:25am. In order to keep away from people, I eat at the diner across the street instead of the one in the building. In fact, I’m reverting (in a way) to my old diet that I was doing in 2011, described in a blog I wrote back then called Lasting Effects of P90X. It took a while but my body is finally used to the changes. One thing that I found interesting was the fact that, with Ola gone, I’m the only black male working in this building. In this building of lawyers, bankers, tellers, doctors, and just about every professional under the sun, I’m the only one. The only time I see an influx of black men (and trailer trash white people respectively) in the business area is on the 1st of the month to cash welfare checks. It doesn't bother me really, it's just... interesting. Even in a town that’s mostly white, I see tons of black men early in the morning when I’m going to work. They just stand there looking around. Yet somehow they drive much nicer cars than me. The other day I checked…
I would like to finish my thought but I feel that would be impossible since I just received this email from my lawyer Marvin Wassle:
“Roger,
Closing is scheduled for May 15th, 11 am in our office; please confirm. As soon as I have figures I will let you know. You should do walk through of the property before closing. Also please make sure you get final water reading.”
Finally, a date! I texted Prius and she set up a final walk-through of property Charlie for next week Tuesday. If the tenants are home, I may give them the tenant packets that I created while I’m there. Being the only black man working in the bank job building seems very insignificant right now and I forgot the point I was trying to make. I'll go in depth about African Americans in the workforce at another time, when I actually give a damn. I guess I was trying to say that it looks weird being the only one working that looks like me in Smalltown's business area. Well screw them all. Let everybody who doesn’t want to work do whatever they want, I don’t care. I’m here, and I’ll be an 8 unit property owner in just 5 days. Black or white, I’m the best--- and it’s usually the best ones last left standing.
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