Crash Course in Fixing a Lava Lamp

At work, I have a co-worker that's a garage-sale-aholic. She had this lava lamp on her desk that she rescued after being shaken, but it had started turning itself off and she had to bang it to get it to work again. Finally it turned off all together. We were talking, because she had another and I told her I should really get one for my cube, she pointed to the broken one and said "if you can fix it, you can have it." 

So I accepted the challenge. I took the lava lamp back to my desk and on my lunch hour I started messing with it. I found that if i pressed on the bottom, the light would turn back on. So i pulled off the felt and found a bolt, which i then tightened and voila! the lava lamp worked again. The fix took about two minutes total. 

I went over to her and told her i fixed it. This was met with a chorus of NUH UH!s from the group that had been contemplating the broken lava lamp for months. But even though i offered the lava lamp back (It's very pretty, yellow wax with purple water, makes the wax red when it gets towards the top oddly enough), she said i should keep it since we had a bargin. So i had a lava lamp at my desk, much to my enjoyment.

After about a week, I started noticing that the lava lamp would periodically turn off and back on after about a minute. Pretty soon, I was tapping the base, just like she had described. So i took the felt off again and tried to tighten the bolt again, only this time, the whole thing turned off completely and wouldn't turn back on. Whoops. 

Since i wasn't about to give up on this lava lamp, I tried to get inside. When you took out the bulb, there was a golf ball sized hole where you could see the porcelain socket. But the bottom had a steel plate with a hole the size of an eraser head with the bolt coming through and that was it. The base was not designed to come apart. Probably smart on the part of the manufacturer, but very annoying for me. So armed with a needle nose pliers, a small screw driver, a flat staple remover, an unbent paper clip, and a surgical style clamp (like they use in surgery) I began the very tricky task of fixing the lava lamp base.

Once i unscrewed the bolt in the bottom, the socket fell loose and rolled around inside. It was then that i could see that one of the wires had popped completely off the socket. So that was the problem. Ok, I knew how to re-wire a lamp. Somehow, through this golf ball sized hole, i would have to manipulate the socket, screw, and wire all back into their proper places.

It was far from easy. Took me a full lunch hour and a break, significant muttering under my breath, and getting VERY creative with some angles and my tools. The wire wouldn't slide into the base any further, so i had to work inside the tiny cone. Finally,  the wire was looped back around the screw and re-tightened. I put the socket back into place, tightened the bolt, and put the bulb back in. 

The moment of truth, i spun the switch and....nothing. I couldn't understand it. It was still broken! The configuration wasn't that complex, two screws, two wires, and a bolt. After more fiddling after work, the stupid thing still wouldn't work. So i went home for the night. 

It bothered me, as i laid in bed. I thought about how to fix the lava lamp. I knew that the lamps were only about 20$ and this really wasn't worth the effort. But now it was personal. I was going to fix it. 

So as i went about my morning routine and the routine at work, it continued to infest my mind. If i had been smart, i would have put it out of sight, but i had left it in my line of vision where it normally stood. So on my first break, i started fiddling with it again. Checked the bolt, checked the switch, checked the wires, checked that the bulb wasn't burnt out. 

By all reasoning, the lamp should have worked! Maybe the wire was bad, so i followed it, all the way down to the power strip where it was plugged in. 

Inspecting this led to a revelation. The on light on the power strip wasn't on. It couldn't be that easy could it? A short? I flipped it off and back on. No change. I switched the plug to the other one in the pair; still nothing. Finally i moved it over to the other plug i KNEW worked. The power strip lit up, and as i peeked over the edge of my desk and was blinded by the base since it was facing me with the bulb in it. 

Shortly there after, i had re-assembled my pretty lava lamp and the whole thing worked fabulously. My lava lamp is fixed. And with any luck...will stay that way for a change. 

I'm thinking about changing its name from Trippy the Lava Lamp to something a little less polite.

 

Box breaking

My company is very conservative when it comes to their graphics. From my desk i can see at least ten examples of the kinds of things they like. Orderly, simple, nothing too extravagant, too bright, or different from the layouts they have used since the 1960s.

The annual calendar had been done by the same lady for at least 10 years and each year, she just kept the same layout and just changed the banner graphic. They were...nice. Not amazing, but nice.

When i came on board for last year's calendar, i started playing around without being asked. When i came across the idea to put the graphic behind the calendar and have the date squares be just slightly translucent...all of a sudden, they were amazed. It was something they'd never considered before and they LIKED IT!

This year, something similar happened. They had two ideas and wanted some examples of different ways to go about it. So i gave them what they wanted. 2 examples and some simple variations.

My design :) Planet Saturn with the
Cassini sattelite in orbit. 

And then, something struck me. A perfect design was already there, i just had to clear away what wasn't working (read: the standby layout). So i started playing around...again without being asked. I split the months into two 6-month sections for the top and the bottom. Then i put the graphic all the way across the back, and year and other graphics in the middle. The result was really cool. I liked it. Two co-workers liked it. Boyfriend Jon liked it.

So i went to the presentation meeting and handed them what they asked for. They hummed and hawed over it for a few minutes until i offered my take on the design. It didn't take long for them to agree that my design was their favorite with some minor tweaks, which i had expected to be brought up. But overall they loved it. which makes me so happy.

So now, the Saturn planet is being re-done for color correctness, and the rings will be cleaned up but then i'll start adding the dates, holidays and other necessary information. It's shaping up to be a very pretty year :)

I feel like the Little Red Hen

For those who have never heard the story of The Little Red Hen, i'll give a quick summary.

A hen lived on a farm with a dog, a cat and a duck.

She found some seeds and asked the other animals to help her plant them. They all reply with "Not I". So she plants them by herself. After a while, the seeds grow into wheat. The hen asks the animals to help her cut the wheat. They all reply with "Not I". So she cuts it herself. She then asks them to help her take the wheat to the mill to be turned into flour. Again, they won't help and she does it herself. When she gets back, she asks them to help her make the four into bread. Again, they won't help. Finally when the bread is done and smells delicious, she calls them and asks them to help her eat it. Naturally they all rush to help with that part. When they arrive she reminds them of their refusal to help before and promptly eats the bread by herself while they have to look on.

There is a team at work who constantly is having potlucks and group outings and moral events. Occasionally, my team (which is bigger) gets invited too. Many times, I've been asked why we don't throw our own pot lucks. Finally, with another team member's help...we've arranged for a potluck and given almost 3 weeks worth of notice. Surprisingly...out of over 50 people....less than 15 have signed up. It's two days away and reminders are constantly met with "i can't think of anything to bring".

Something tells me many of them will be happy to show up to help eat the potluck meal so long as they don't have to work for it. I can literally feel the resentment brewing between co-workers as they come over to me to complain about how many people haven't signed up.

And they wonder why we don't have these very often.

Co-workers

This week has been filled with troubles with co-workers. We all work long hours, we're around each other for 10 hours a day. Obviously, Friday is too slow in coming to give us a break. As an admin who has to help everyone...especially if it includes the cursed printer...i make a point of being nice to everyone until they give me a reason not to be. And even then i'll be cold, but still professional. But this week, I'm tired and fed up with some of the ridiculous antics.

You could have fooled me that i work with adults who are capable of courtesy, respect and honesty. Because if i didn't know better, i'd say i worked with 13 year olds complete with cliques, nasty comments, superiority complexes, and backstabbing for no apparent reason.

Point in case, my cubicle neighbor. She monitors my comings and goings and makes a point of looking at her watch when i'm a couple minutes late. (I should note that our company is not a "TO THE MINUTE" company. We're expected to come in and leave around the set times and work 40 hours. If we're going to be really late, we need to let our boss know) If i'm early she comes to my desk and asks in a super surprised voice "What are you doing here so early?" She has taken everything I've gotten (like rotating my desk so she can't look at my screen all the time) as a personal affront that i'm getting special treatment. The truth is, i ask for something, give solid, business related reasons why, and my boss usually agrees to it. What a novel idea. I've talked to my boss and she's been reprimanded twice for this behavior. Most of the time, I can ignore her and give her non-committal answers to her snarkyness or kill her with kindness. But today, i'm so fed up that my mind is plotting exceedingly evil things.

Second point in case: I am not a servant who doesn't deserve Please or Thank You. Sending me an email which states: "The printer needs a new cartridge" will NEVER in a million years get the same response as someone walking up to me and saying "Can you please help me and change the cartridge, i'm not sure how." One of those responses will get me up and out of my chair that very second with a smile and a "no problem". The other will get a much slower response. Oh i'll do it, but it might take me 10 minutes. I made a point of letting the second person know their kindness was appreciated.

And last but not not least. I may be one of the youngest people in the entire building but that does not mean i'll tolerate being treated like you're my mother. Unless your job description has changed recently, you are not my monitor, my snitch, and certainly not allowed to PATRONIZE ME. Don't say "you did such a good job last time, i think you should be responsible for this HUGE task that we both worked on last time while i wash my hands of it." You don't delegate to me. That is not a privilege you have either earned or deserve.

Friday can't come fast enough this week. I'm so done with dealing with certain co-workers.

Other co-workers on the other hand have been great at making me laugh and get through some of this nonsense with a sense of humor.

Puppies, Logistics and Craigslist

This being my first week back, I've been all but dragging myself to work, and trying my darnedest to stay focused and not grumbling about certain (numerous) reasons why i would rather be anywhere else than at work. I haven't gotten back into my usual routine, and the hours at work creep by like slugs.

That was until yesterday morning. I rounded the corner and saw one of my co-workers crouched on the floor playing with a black ball of fluff. Upon closer inspection it was a 14 week old shi tzu puppy named Max. Suddenly, all of my headaches, frustrations, and homicidal thoughts disappeared in the presence of puppy kisses.

It's not wise to upset a Wookie.
Now give me back my chew toy!

Things got even better when the owner needed a quick pet-sitter while she went to a meeting. I was only too happy to fulfill that temporary addition to my job description. Max got a blanket on the side of my desk where he could chew on  me his toys and investigate the tapping of my keys while i still worked. Eventually, he ended up dozing off with a paw draped over my arm. Unintelligible noises of adoration escaped me despite my best efforts.

I'm not usually a fan of small dogs. They have to be unreasonably cute and amusing for me to fall in love with them. This excludes chihuahuas, pugs and miniature dobermins. Those just arent' cute to me with their bug eyes. Shi tzus look so much like Ewoks that i can't help myself. If i ever got a shi tzu (one of the few small dogs i would consider owning) it would totally be named Wicket. But for now i'm having fun with Max.

I want a puppy so badly now. Of course i don't live a lifestyle that could support owning a dog, but it doesn't dampen the desire in the least.
***
So last Saturday, i bought a mattress. A new, queen size, which i was able to lay upon  first instead of dad just bringing it home and telling me this is my new mattress. It was all my choice, and i'm thrilled with it.

Except....

I still had my old full size mattress, old box spring, frame and headboard in the way. And in a 1 bedroom apartment, that doesn't leave much room for maneuverability. So since last Saturday, the new mattress has been up against a wall, while I've continued to sleep on the old mattress, which doesn't feel nearly as comfortable as i remember.

After contacting some of the "wanted" ads on craigslist, and getting tired of their flaking...i posted it and had immediate responses. One of them was even local, and several promised that they could pick up the next day. With any luck, that old mattress will be gone tonight and i can at least put my new mattress on the floor until i finish altering the new frame.

Ever since i worked for a personal organizer, I've always felt that box springs were a waste of space. I wondered why beds didn't just raise up higher and have built in support for the mattresses. At the time, however, i didn't have much of an option. But i do now.

Lindsey's old frame is an Ikea build, with slats. So no box spring needed! Happy day! Now i just have to get around to adding the wood stilts so that it's not sitting 9 inches off the ground....because it's Ikea. When i'm done, it should be sitting 18-22 inches off the ground. I'm so excited to have all that new storage space. I'll finally be able to get plastic bins for my winter clothes instead of massing them together in garbage bags stacked precariously in the back of my closet.

Meanwhile, i tiptoe carefully through my apartment which looks like i just moved in...again.

Geeking out in time for camping

I have an opportunity to play with a Kindle for a few months for free. I'm just as excited to be playing with a new piece of technology as i am to start a few new books. I think I've downloaded about 55 novels to it already. Mostly that i haven't read in years, Science Fiction, and Fantasy novels with a few oddballs thrown in for some flair. It will be a great addition to the camping trip.

As a teenager, with no bills, no work, no obligations...55 books would normally pose little challenge to me. That was a standard summer. Of course they were young adult novels like Anne McCaffrey, Tamora Pierce, Piers Anthony, and Mercedes Lackey. Not...Frankenstein or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I read like my dad, who's been known to plow through a  Tom Clancy novel or Clive Cussler thriller in less than a weekend. My mom on the other hand takes somewhere near a month to read a 300 page novel.

The geek in me is also really excited because it looks like a PADD from Star Trek!!!! I will admit I've daydrempt a little that i was wandering the corridors of the enterprise and might run into Captain Picard. (I'm a geek! Daydreams like this really do come to mind and make me smile).

The same time i got a hold of the Kindle, Boyfriend Jon got a Nook-Color. Which, in comparison...is SOOOO PRETTY! Given the choice between the two, i'm much more interested in the Nook. But the Kindle is free for now. Not to mention i have much better battery life and it's lighter. Now if only i could stop accidentally hitting the keyboard at the bottom.

My future e-reader will probably be color, small, light, with wifi and a minimal amount of buttons. And while i'm busy day dreaming, it will connect with the enterprise main computer and respond to voice commands too. Just kidding.

Our camping plans are moving along a lot faster now that Boyfriend Jon and I are taking the time to sit down and collaborate on meals,  equipment and how to pack everything into my tiny economy car. I feel a lot more confident knowing that we're already on the same page. On the menu is egg, sausage and potatoe hash combinations for breakfast, grilled cheese and soup for lunches, and Mac&Cheese plus hotdogs and Hobo style for dinners. Also going to try my hand at making popcorn in an pot (not my dad's super cool old fashioned popcorn maker with turn wheel and not an air popper). Oh yeah, and the making for smores are a must. Right now, i feel like this weekend can't come fast enough.

I'm so thankful this week is moving along quickly. It's been two and a half weeks since my counterpart left for a trip to Hawaii. And two and a half weeks since I've had a day of work not accompanied by a migraine as everyone tries to convince me that their work has highest priority even though it's not due for a week. The two of us, normally cover an array of jobs that used to be covered by five people. It's just not feasible to expect one person to do the job of 5!

So, i look forward to her return later this week. Mostly so that i can dump HER work back on HER desk and then escape to a world that has neither work nor desks for a long weekend with Boyfriend Jon to celebrate a year and a half long relationship that is composed of frequent Geekery.

Crazy Week

So just this week, I've already had my sister's birthday, and today is my father's birthday. On top of that, my counterpart at work, Diana, is out of the office for two and a half weeks while she goes to Hawaii on vacation. So this week has been beyond crazy. Boyfriend Jon was a sweetheart and mercifully rubbed my feet since i had hardly sat down all day.

I made my sister a cake, which was decorated in less than an hour and a half with icing that was too thin, because i couldn't cool it properly before i started working with it. So rather than covering her cake in icing roses (which decided to flop off the rose nail), i settled for leaves trailing down the sides, and hot pink rosebuds around the top perimeter. I ran out the door and was a few minutes late to dinner. And i was SO rushed out the door, i forgot my camera and cell phone....which could have been used to take a picture. I'm sorry.

My dad, the baker in the family, was very impressed at what i had managed to throw together, and he says he has passed the torch onto me. But for his birthday, he has requested cupcakes. If you read back to my friend's wedding last summer you'll know that i swore i would never do cupcakes again. After two hundred and having to borrow cupcake pans.....yeah, never again. And i'm not breaking that stride yet. Dad doesn't know this, but i'm purchasing cupcakes from a local store instead. We only need three. The thought of having to clean my kitchen, make two dozen cupcakes, make icing, decorate and clean again....i don't have the energy.

This week at work i've been doing the work of two people who are already overloaded. Not to mention i'm helping people who seem to leave their brains at their desk when they come to see me. There is a bright florescent orange arrow on my desk at the entrance that is labeled and points to my inbox. They are still putting things on my chair or on my keyboard...and it's stuff that can wait. When i asked them if they saw the arrow, more than one said "Yes, i saw it, but i didn't understand what it meant". Tell me...does this look like they need the Rosetta Stone?

Yes, this is true. And no, i don't understand it either. Someone reminded me..."no matter how idiot proof you make it, somewhere there's always a better idiot."

The plans for the weekend involve being out in the sun at all times. FINALLY, we're getting a sunny weekend in the Pacific Northwest! Hallelujah! I'm going biking with or without Boyfriend Jon. If there's sun i intend to be out in it.

Work duels

Is it just me or does sending an email claiming "Peace - accept my apologies - sincerely sent" completely erroneous when i hear than an hour later the person who sent it is trash talking me two minutes ago? That doesn't fall into the category of a sincere apology in my book and i hope not in anyone else's.

This whole mess is over a insignificant phrase on that project I worked on. Right, the project that she REFUSED to have anything to do with until after the deadline had passed. And then she went berserk over something she wanted change.

Well, i'm done being brow beaten, bullied and being pulled into the middle of her attempt to skirt around what has already been set in stone. She can make up stickers for all i care to change the phrase.

She's pretty much running uphill without any bullets. I did this as a courtesy to the company. I volunteered my help. It's not like she can make me do it. So why would i go out of my way for someone who's being a SNARKY JUVENILE BRAT?

Nano 2010 day 18

Word Count: 31,675
Today's quota: 30,006

Today was the last day of the Thursday Write Ins at Panera. Next week and the following week are both currently scheduled for Friday.

We had a lot of fun conversation wise today. Someone we got on the topic of Mange cake, and a variety of other there equally weird conversation topics. As such, my brain is a little fried at the moment.

I've found a weakness to my democratic approach to the length of time on the word wars. Unless it's structured, so many people's opinions get thrown in which doesn't make for productivity. And as in the case of today: We end up doing a word war that's literally 27 seconds.

I'm thinking that next time i will need to take charge of the reins again and beef up the structure.

For a change this week i participated in the actual writing of the word wars instead of just monitoring the time and surfing the net. And once again, i remembered why i typically don't write. I'm so distracted trying to keep track of the timer that any attempt to write something with any resemblance to where i wanted to go in my story, just plain ole doesn't work. For some reason i decided that a very sweet and caring friend of the MC was going to force a kiss on her out of the blue.

While we were at break between the word wars, i read what i wrote and very nearly pressed the delete button because it was so bad. I'm not even sure there's a sentence that i can use from there. Perhaps next time, i'll just write at my own pace and add to my story instead of sprinting like everyone else.

Trust me, no one really wants to read my stream of consciousness. They'll get dizzy.

I have managed to hold onto my day's buffer and I'm looking forward to some time tomorrow to pull even further ahead.

In other news: the project at work that was SUCH an opportunity, proved to be quite a headache and I'm kind of glad that it's over and the new calendar has been shipped off to the printers. Done, over with, woo. And in the process of finishing up, i did get one very nifty thing out of it: A personal thank you from the executive director of our site which did not come through his admin. For all that it's not tangibly worth anything... it meant a lot to me.

Nano 2010 day 11

Current Word Count: 17,430
Today's Quota: 18,337

It was time for a freshening up of Firefly's Haven hence all the changes to the design of my blog. This had nothing what-so-ever to do with procrastinating on writing. Really.

Most of last night was spent cleaning, straightening, organizing, and sorting. I did three loads of laundry which have been sitting since before NaNo got started. I also worked on a project for work that has already gotten my skills noticed by the Executive Director as well as a couple of other higher ups. These skills are the ones that range beyond data sheets, inventorying coffee, and fixing printers. Call me crazy, but I do have higher aspirations in life. I'm probably too excited at this opportunity. My boss keeps reminding me that I do have regular duties too.

Between the cleaning and the project I did manage to get some writing done. Ironically I hit my best stride to date, tapping out a crazy 2k words in just under an hour. The TV was off, the writing music was off, and the only sound aside from the tapity tap of my keys was the buh bump of my dryer spinning the last load of laundry.

Remembering that just a few days ago, I was ready to give up the whole Nano experience for the year, i read back through my blog.

Turns out between this and talking with Mark and Colin who have been my sounding boards from the beginning, that every year, I have had a serious breakdown from feeling overwhelmed and weighed the possibility of quitting. Usually its when the rest of my life's normal stress is at it's highest peak.

So as of right now, thanks to Mark, Colin and Boyfriend Jon, I am not quitting. We'll see how i feel once Jury duty time hits.

Oh yeah, I got a Jury summons. The second time in the last two years. And ironically, it falls in late November. While i doubt someone as young as myself has a good chance of being picked, I think it would be quite an educational experience to serve on a jury. Provided that the crime is not one against children that is. That is a case they do not want me serving on.

Write in Number 2 tonight. Cousin Margaret and Cousin Nikki are joining me on the east side for a couple days. Hopefully some more people will show up. This time I'm actually going to attempt to write during the write in which usually produces less than stellar results.

Nano 2010 day 2

So day one didn't go nearly as well as last year. Last year, i rounded the 7k mark before going to bed. It was also a weekend.

After spending 6 out of 10 hours at work staring at an excel spreadsheet, trying to intimidate, scare, coerce, coax, or otherwise make the stupid chart do what I wanted to, i had a massive headache. Good news is, the chart finally bent to my will and started behaving itself.

Bad news is, after doing a workout with my friend Kenny, getting food, and going to the craft shop for mario brick supplies my headache was in full swing. I dropped Kenny of at his apartment and went home.

But i was still about 600 words short for the quota for the day. And i was determined to not let day one set the tone for the rest of the month. I needed to at least clear quota. So i pulled on a robe and snuggled under a blanket, pulled up my laptop and began to write.

I got about 150 words on the first story before my muse gave me the middle finger and promptly stopped helping. So i decided to switch over to my second story and do a little more character development.

My muse seemed to like this idea and begrudgingly started helping again, quietly suggesting that I kill off my MC's father prior to the story so i can make the connection between the first book and the second book right away. So off i went, pounding out another 900 words before my eyes started glazing over.

Looking at the clock, it was my normal work bedtime which might have accounted for the tired feeling. But with the headache furiously battling against the asprin i took before sitting down, I knew it was futile trying to stay up and write even more. The quota was reached, and that was all Nano land was going to get out of me for day one.

So off I went to bed. It did not escape my attention how right it felt to be laying down. My comforter was the perfect temperature, my pillows laying in exactly the right configuration. Within moments, i was dozing off into dreamland bliss.

But it was not meant to be as a fellow Nanoer texted me about an hour later with questions for Boyfriend Jon about a Netbook. I passed the message along and then laid there, suddenly feeling too hot and with the headache finally dissipating to the back of my head.

With both Dreamland and my novel calling to me, I laid there contemplating getting back up to write some more.

Evidently, I laid there too long because the next thing I knew, my alarm clock was going off alerting me that it was time to get up for work and i was left wondering where the night had gone.

Still tired, i managed to get myself to work in a semi-conscious state. And as the morning tasks started, I realized i had forgotten a very important component the day before.

COFFEE!!!!!

Now I typically don't drink much coffee so thus I am very susceptible to it's effects.....

.....as my co-workers are starting to notice........

someone want to try to pull me down from the ceiling?

is there a worse time for this?

So, in my building with roughly 200 people in it. There are three admins. Just three. For the most part, we handled our own business occasionally soliciting some help from the others. We were all pretty busy from what i could tell.

But as it's summer, it was time for Diana's trip to Scottland. The last time she went, her and her husband were in a horrible car accident. By sheer luck, both of them made it back alive. Back then i had been horrified at the thought of being without her as my counterpart. I have said before, and i'll say it again. The day Diana leaves, i'll be on her heels. More than a year and a half has gone by since the last time Diana took a serious trip. And in that time i have learned, i have grown and i've developed the ability to adapt and delegate.

Or....so I thought. This time, instead of begging Diana not to go and leave me at the whims of her boss (my boss's boss), i simply insisted that she comes back on time. Sure i can handle this for three weeks. Difficult, but not utterly impossible.

Again. So i thought. I had gotten through both of our's morning chores with some head scratching, fuming but with my hair mostly still attached. Only to learn quite suddenly that the only other admin in the building had been laid off effective immediately. A quite, little older lady who had been dying her hair auburn for far too long and pretty whimsical glasses would be arriving at work no more. Her pragmatic disposition and patient indulgence of even the most ridiculous requests would no longer be a comfort to me on bad days. And what was worse. I could no longer turn to her for help.

By no means was i more concerned for myself than her, but now that she's gone and all that's left of her are T pins where her family pictures had once been and stacks of paper....i can't help but feel a small amount of hysteria over the apparently insurmountable task I'm faced with. 200 people versus little ole me.

I know the ole mantra "Do your best and no less" but really. That just isn't very comforting right now.

I guess this just gets piled on my stress layers. How long till it teeters over?

A day of "Who Cares?"

Let's play a game. I'm going to spell out a scenario, and then I want someone to answer answer their own opinion of who cares about said scenario. I'll give you an example.

BP's Oil Spill. People who care: Those who think that gas prices will go up, those with investments in Oil who could be affected by negative press and PETA.

Ok? Catch my drift? Let's go then. Edit: And because my temper rose as I was writing this, I'm going to answer them myself as well. Feel free to add your own commentary.

1. There's a dead coyote at the bottom of the driveway to my work. It's along a very busy road which a lot of people drive on twice a day. It's been sitting there for three days. Apparently...not too many people. Because the Animal Control only was notified today.
   
2. Three seconds ago, a child died because they live in a third world country with no access to medical treatment and not enough food to survive on. Probably just the family and the few people who found out about it after the fact. And by the time they've finished shedding one tear...another child is dead too.
   
3. Seattle council members put a ban on the Bodies exhibit because the organizers couldn't prove the cadavers had signed consent forms to be put on display. But then again...neither did King Tut. Those who found the display educational and now can no longer go....and those who thought it was "morally reprehensible" in the first place.....and the politician who is getting more publicity now.
   
4. The coffee urn at work (free coffee by the way) was empty. The person who had to refill it thus wasting exactly forty-five seconds of their precious time to be courteous to another person in the building...and nope....we can't have that! Instead, they'll just walk away and wait for someone else to fill it for them....and the person who did fill it for them: me.
   
5. Lindsey Lohan finally got sent to jail because she didn't follow the laws. Probably just LiLo.....and how unfair it all is.
   
6. Lindsey Lohan has her OWN two bed cell. EVERYONE ELSE who has ever heard of her or been sent to jail before and under no circumstances would have received such tempered punishment. Wait...did i just hear the cries of "justice" just start changing about that "injustice"?
   
7. There are still thousands of people who are homeless thanks to Katrina. The people who don't have homes and those who they are staying with.
   
8. There was a roll-over accident on the Alaskan Way Viaduct which blocked traffic for hours this morning. Everyone who drives to work on the Alaskan Way Viaduct and was cursing the person who made them have to wait.
   
9. That roll-over....was a fatality. Just the paramedics and police who had to deal with it, and the family of the people involved.
10. I taped up a calendar at work on top of a poster next to Miss Queen Bee who didn't like it and had to inform me that I'm not "allowed" to do that. Oh wait....I know the answer to this one.................could it possibly be...No one? Not even me?

That's right. Anne is fed up today with petty nonsense and holly-er than thou art bullshit.

I realize that we're from FIRST WORLD. We only care about things that inconvenience, annoy, or limit us in some way. Stuff that happens far away (unless it's displayed over every media format about a celebrity) doesn't matter! We're not supposed to worry about that kind of stuff.

We'll just brush it under the carpet and pretend it doesn't exist while we bemoan the obscured (out of date) poster or the empty free coffee pot or the snarled commute.

Heaven forbid that we get a little perspective to make us realize how precious life is and just how GOD DAMN GOOD WE HAVE IT.

Getting by unscathed...by way of laughter

It seems like my life hits a lot of lows all at once. It likes giving me the finger like that.
No roommate for me yet. She backed out of the deal last minute (decided to try living on her own instead, so i can't blame her too much). And i'm back to the drawing board.
The worst part is: it's not even literal. I've been running around like crazy. Now I remember why i don't have time to draw like i used to. I'm too busy being an adult!
I believe in the philosophy that you get old because you stop laughing. Well, i guess it's true.
With all the stress i've been hit with the last few weeks, having a genuine chuckle at anything has been quite an ordeal.
This morning however, my own clumsiness finally caught up with me. By the time I was able to take a drink of my coffee, it had cooled to perfectly my body's temperature. I didn't feel it spill over the sides of my mouth and down into my shirt until the air had cooled at long about the time it hit my leg. Meanwhile i was concentrating on reading something and had zoned out so completely, that it took me a second to register back into the real world. At that point; half my coffee was down my shirt and in my lap.
My one stroke of luck though, was that i was wearing black. I couldn't help myself. I started cracking up. Co-workers called over the partitions and made sure i was ok. And soon i realized my shirt must have been protected with scotch guard or something cause it rolled right off and into my lap, the shirt barely gathering a dampness. Except now my cleavage smells like coffee. >.>
Ironically, it put me in the best mood i had been in all month. Having been bitten by a girly cootie yesterday, i went out and bought a purse (much needed considering my old one was 2 years and several re-stitchings old). And in said good mood, I went around to all the girly girls at my work and proptly shoved it at them (at a distance, not like it was touching their noses) proclaiming it to be pretty! My quirky happieness seemed to amuse them and they gave the pretty purse it's much needed appreciation. (You must appreciate the pretty red purse!!)

Sooo if you feel like reading back to Dec 3rd....

There was a possibility of moving into a cubicle I've had my eye on since i took this job over a year ago.
Well Diana moved her cubicle, and she's ecstatic about her new office location. Her old desk is almost completely cleaned out.
So Monday morning, at my weekly meeting with my boss, i ask him what's going to happen with her old cubicle. (and yes, he knew a while ago i wanted to move in there...Diana and I had only mentioned it over the last 6 months since Cathy vacated Diana's new cubicle)
"They're going to break it up into cubicles" is his response (note the plural)
I looked at him dumbfounded unable to stop my mouth from saying "That makes no sense what-so-ever"
Thankfully, my easy-going boss just shrugged overlooking my retort. "that's the last i heard when they were moving the people to the new building" (a building move that has nearly NO connection to this desk area. No one was moving into our area from that move, trust me, i checked)

Here they are going on and on about budget cuts and they want to spend the money to have it converted into 2 cubicles for 2 extra people we don't have and aren't' looking to hire any time soon. Hell, i can move myself! The only thing they would need to do would be to move my computer because the IT department doesn't trust anyone. (understandable for some, but not me. I know my way around the computers)
My entire team is rooting for me to move over there. "that makes sense" they say. So there's no resentment from the team about me getting a bigger cubicle than the rest of them, because my cubical is a service station anyway. If he moved any team member in there, there would be, i'm sure of it.

Once i got the initial shock of the ridiculous proposal out of my system, and got back into my work mode, I let my boss know that I was very interested in that cubicle just the way it was now and that i would appreciate him looking into that as a possibility.

Now all i can do is hope and keep my fingers crossed that they pull their heads out of their hypocritical asses.

Pulling in the reins

My office is set up as follows:

1 - 2 - 3 .......... 2 is the mail area and one office
4 - 5 - 6 .......... 5 bathrooms and the break room
7 - 8 - 9 .......... 8 conference room and print area
10-11-12

I sit in the lower left corner of 6. My team is dispersed through area 9 and 12

Diana, my co-worker/fellow administrative assistant/ thinks she's in charge of me even though she isn't/ sits in area 9

Diana's boss is in area 1. Her team are in areas 7 and 10. There however are two very minor players to her team in section 12.

As to why she's seated in my team's area....i have no fucking clue.

New development!!!!!

Diana apparently is moving to a cubicle in area 4 that has been empty for oh i dont' know....8 months! :-/

Knowing my boss who's been trying to elbow Diana's boss from putting his people in my boss's area for 3 years....it is highly likely.........*drumroll please*

That I'll get Diana's desk! Which is not only bigger but closer to my team. considering i'm the only one not in my teams area now and i'm the admin.........THIS IS AWSOME!

On the even brighter side: I will no longer have to hear her chatting away wasting time when i know that later she will ask for my help because they "didn't give her enough time" to do the job she was supposed to be doing while she was chatting. and though i know that will still be the case, at least i won't have to hear it.

Nano post #6: in which i crack under the pressure

It's Day number 13.

To stay in line with the quota, i should be at 21,971 words by the end of tonight.

Current word count: 17,251

I'm only currently behind by almost 4.5 thousand words.........>.<

I sit here at work Monday through Thursday this month (because i thought ahead and took all friday's OFF! Go me for thinking ahead!) tapping my fingers on my cubicle desk anxiously waiting for 5 o'clock to roll aound so that i can rush home and start writing again in a vain attempt to eventually get ahead of the quota again. Only to be intterupted by massive amounts of phone calls, a desire to go out to dinner for steak, friends IMing me asking to hang out, or me asking friends what they think about a certain aspect of my story or to have them predict the future 30 years from now.
I talk to my sister about Manhattan and the lifestyle the people live with there. Since she's one of the few people i know that have spent an extended period of time visiting and roaming around Manhattan (she's been going there about once a year since she was a kid). She gets there and blends in almost instantly. When i went when i was 18, i spent the entire time bumbling around terrified of the massive amounts of people, watching my sister expertly navigating the crowds.
There's really only one problem with this tactic. My sister is an annalytical thinker with little imagination when it comes to things that could be as opposed to as they are.

I'm frustrated. I know that eventually i can edit my story once i take my own trip to New York in the spring but I'm finding it hard to write things without a clue as to what it's like. I don't know what the streets i've chosen from my Manhattan City guide oragami map (BEST thing EVER if you go to new york to get is a oragami map) So much to my chagrin, i'm basically basing a lot of my scenery off of Sex and the City.

I really want to just give up, but my competative side won't let me and i know that. I have to win this challenge. I'm not the kind of person that gives up even when it starts looking like a futile task. For some reason i'm begingin to get the impression that starting Thanksgiving night, i'm basically only going to leave my laptop for the bread and water and the bathroom because i will be that far behind.

Oh and as far as cracking under the pressure: I told myself at the begining of this that it would be wrong to write while at work. And until today (at least i made it almost halfway) i stuck with that. However yesterday i was surfing the internet waiting for someone to assign me a task and i finally cracked and opened my online version and started writing again. I made over a thousand words throughout the day.
I know this was bad and not a very good indicator of my generally awsome work ethic but in my defense...all of my work was done. Inboxes were empty, task log completely crossed off, and there was nothing more i could do until the next day not even to get ahead of myself. I even went around and checked with my team to see if they needed an extra set of hands to take care of some of their work. When i recived a No response from every single one of them, i began to write furiously.
Sometimes, i love my job. (when i don't have to work with a single moody person).

A post of rants and confusion

I was ready to throw the towl in at 8:30 this morning. a meer hour and a half after i got to work, i was one more catastropy away from grabbing my coat and walking out.
I am too old for Junior high.
I wish certain things were easier to do without hurting someone, pissing someone else off, or in the end not being able to do a damn thing about it.
I can sit here and sypathize with both sides of the parties involved in an argument, but staying neutral drives me nuts. I really want to yell at both of them and tell them they're being juvinile hormonal teenage girls hell bent to cause discord just because they can. They are grown women twice if not more my age. Good GRIEF!
I want to yell at them to stop making everything 10 times more difficult simply because that's the way it's always been done.
But i'm not considered the same level as them because they are exectutive admins and i'm not. i'm the only one who isn't and i'm the next level down. So i need to apparently know my place. Go to fucking hell. You put your pants on one leg at a time...same as i do.

In other news...how do you let down a 19 year old hornball who has been after you fairly agressivly despite frequent gentle rebuffs, for the past two years without hurting him because underneath it all he is a good friend and a genuine sweetheart?
I'm at a loss and i have until tomorrow night to figure it out....

Surviving the worst week in a very long time...

Monday: car accident, getting locked out of car, standing in the rain for an hour till the locksmit arrived, co-workers stopping buy to make sure i'm ok but not a single one offering a jacket or umbrella.

Tuesday: Smashed finger in a door, let out a very loud cuss word and was reprimanded for it.

Wednesday: Color printer is still broken and i'm getting pestered by the same people multiple times in an hour if it's fixed yet. It's affecting my ability to get the rest of my work done. Needless to say, i snapped at them. And was reprimanded again.......

Thursday: Trying to deal with insurance company, and rental company hasn't called me back to confirm my reservation. Dad decides to get mad at me for no apparent reason then ignores me in favor of talking to his brother on the phone. Didn't even say goodbye to me. Go to bed at 8:30 cause i'm just that emotionally drained. At 11:30 my roommate decides it would be a good idea to FRY SOMETHING. I'm woken up with this very loud hissing noise, my heart starts pounding and i race out of my room half dressed to see what's on earth could be going on. And my roommate has this horrified look on her face and is saying "i'm sorry, i'm sorry" over and over as she tries to get the food in the fry pan to be quiet. The black cat is crouched on the white floor looking at me clearly in terror with this look on his face like "if i don't move maybe she won't see me". My heart wouldn't calm down for almost two hours so i really didn't sleep well.

Friday: no word from the rental company, and no reply to messages. Drop off my car at the shop, initial estimate is like 900$. Final estimate is 1700$. The shop had to call in the renal company who finally responded. I took out the extra insurance just in case because of my luck this week. Go home to try and talk to my dad again, he's on the phone again. Didn't say hi, nothing. I was there for over a half hour and he didn't say goodbye again when i left. I have no idea. Broke my high heeled shoe and scraped up my knee.

Saturday: just stayed home and cleaned and did my yoga. It didn't help. My appartment lost my confirmation for my renter's insurance so i had to go through that whole mess again. The cat tripped me and i have rug burn on my hand now. And my manicure didn't even last a whole day.

Sunday: Went home and delt with mom and her hovering, then went and babysat the girls while the parents went out to get errands done. Smacked my bad knee on the corner of a table and got Aleah's head smashed into my nose. Went home and locked myself in my room then went and visited with kenny after he got off work. And poor guy, i started crying and whining to him. I don't whine very often but he was very sweet and let me get it all out of my system.

At the same time, I look at all of this and go "is this as bad as it gets? this is nothing! This is all managable." Yes it's frustrating, yes it sucks, and yes it really wore at me. But in the end, i'm fine. My battle wounds from this week will heal, I've never had a reprimand before so i doubt they'll seriously affect me, my roommate has promised to never do that again, my dad can't not talk to me forever, mom's just....mom, and my car is being fixed.

This is all just part of life; the wheel goes up and the wheel goes down. I think mines just gotten a slight flat and is sluggish this last week. It will get better though.

I know, i know...I don't like gossip either. Consider it a vent.

When I opened this screen at 7:22 this morning (note, i get into work at 7:00am), i really had intended to write something with a clearly defined opinion in regards to something someone wouldn't care about.
However, disaster struck at 7:24. I was sitting in my cubicle, minding my own business when suddenly every gosiperista in my building, not just my floor mind you, decided to descend on me in quick succession of each other.

This person is doing this, and that person is doing that....the usual gossip from those that don't take even the direct hints that you're busy and don't have time to chit chat, but rather follow you around as you run copies and file paperwork and build binders still jabbering at you.

Then i heard one bit of gossip that was more of a vent that actually made me stop.

We have a certain upper manager whom has rubbed SEVERAL people the wrong way, myself included. I've never been quite certain what i did that deserved a perpetual sneer in my driection every time i pass her in the halls, but i get the sneer, attitude,unreasonable demands, and a distinct lack of please and thank you from her. This has led me to be less than cordial with her. With her being upper managment, i don't want to directly piss her off. But never fear, have ways to get even and then some without ever getting myself into trouble what-so-ever.

But if there's one thing in working life i've learned, it's this:
There are three types of people that you never want a hostile working relationship with
1) Custodians: How bad does your three days worth of garbage smell on the fifth day?
2) The IT department: ....office life revolves around computers and technology...enough said.
3) Admins: you want how many copies of a very critical presentation that, woops, a few crutial pages can go missing from? You wantted catering for this all day meeting...sorry, you didn't give me authorization. You need this by when? yeah, i'll fit that in somewhere between my nap and manicure.

And speaking for several co-workers: this woman is so full of herself, we're not sure how she gets her big head through her office door.
Some highlights of her first year here at my work:
*a SCREAMING hissy fit in the front parking lot because the closest parking spots to the door aren't reserved for upper management
*demanding to have entirely new furniture in her office instead of the perfectly good desk and bookshelves in there
*telling an employee to take his work home with him when he was already meeting deadlines.
*telling said employee who was offered a better job at another company, that he was stupid and not worth the money they were offering him for the position.

And now the icing on the cake? (and almost as disgusting as birthday cake at a 5 year old party with a bunch of snot nosed kids)

I find out today, that rather than doing like management even higher than her, and refilling the coffee urns when they run out, just how far she will go to show her dissrespect for her lower co-workers.
Our coffee urs are stainless steel and work on syphon power. When they run out of liquid they make this very noticable noise like trying to get the last dregs out of a cup full of ice, via a straw.

Twice in a row (two days) she has found the urns to be empty after trying them....flipped open the lid and poured the coffee she just got back into the urn and leaves.

Not a big deal IF she ever washed that cup. Which most of us have yet to see.

I'm sorry, but that is disgusting. And i'm mad now. Other people drink from that, myself included on occasion. And who the hell is she to have coffee making beneath her as she clearly demonstrates. If her manager can do it, she can. If I EVER catch her doing that she's going to have and imovable wall blocking her way out of the breakroom and a tounge lashing like she's never had before. HR has been notified now of her attitude noted by myself and others, this situation of pouring the coffee back in has been documented, and i am so angry that i'm sorely tempted to basically camp out at the breakroom tomorrow morning with empty urns and watch and see what happens.