Just so you all don’t get the idea that nothing interesting has happened at work lately, I offer the following:
after testing a requirement for the third time, and after being told it was fixed twice:
“When asked if he’d worked on this, D.C. responded ‘I’m not sure if anything needs worked on.’ After showing the issue again, he agreed that something needed worked on.”
My team went to lunch at a local German restaurant today. As one person was perusing the menu, she remarked that it was odd to find a Reuben sandwich on French bread rather than rye.
“It’s a Vichy Reuben,” was the immediate riposte from the other end of the table.
“The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question, ‘How can we eat?’ The second by the question, ‘Why do we eat?’ And the third by the question, ‘Where shall we do lunch?’” —Douglas Adams
As always, there was much debate about where to go for our team lunch. We had seven restaurants suggested, and two vetoed, but only three places actually got votes, (or four, if we’re counting “wherever” as a place). As usual, it came down to simple economics.
Sort of.
A: The cheapest place since we have to pay for it, and I usually eat lean cuisine for $2.67 every day.
B: Well, the Wheeler Mission is pretty close to there; I hear the food is cheap.
A: I’m not allowed in there anymore.
A: You cannot get nine women together and have a baby in one month.
B: I did it because I was told there would be extra credit. And when I was a student, if there was extra credit, you did it.
C: There is, but the reward is virtual.
D: Are you saying that virtual is its own reward?
E: It’s a staff meeting. As opposed to a strep meeting.
D: I’ll penicillin it in.
F: Looks like the honeymoon is over.
A: That means I’m moving into spouse mode, and you do not want that. Just ask my husband.
A: Everyone was trying to figure out who should do it, and everyone kept pointing at everyone else. And then [everyone else] left.
B: I was the only one here, so I volunteered because I didn’t actually have to do anything.
C: Let me get this straight…you volunteered to do no work.
D: What’s really funny is that nobody else was willing to volunteer to do no work.
Me: It looks like my back-of-the-envelope math was a little off; if you want to reject the form, I will redo. Thanks!
Accounting Guy: Try using the Front-of-the-envelope math…It works for me!
Me: Actually, I found a nifty little device that will do the math for me…perfect for people like me, who have liberal arts degrees. It’s called an “abacus”.
Accounting Guy: You’ll get your fingers pinched and stuck in those things…not to mention its hard to put in a purse! Those of us with accounting degrees use fingers and toes…
Me: I can’t even imagine trying to do math in base 20.
Me: Here’s my first draft of the May presentation and notes. All feedback is welcome.
Reviewer: I found only one minor spelling mistake (see attached). You know I gotta find at least one.
Me: Goodness knows, I’m awful at finding my own spelling mistakes—I count on your orthographical vigilance.
Reviewer: Who you callin’ orthographical?
Me: Everyone’s a diacritic.
At long last, I have a moment of time and a smidge of wherewithall simultaneously to get caught up…
The past couple of weeks, the other 50% of my time has been spent on a New Project at a New Client. While I can’t go into details, I can say that it’s been a while since I enjoyed the level of job satisfaction that I did upon completing my deliverable. I’ve gotten positive feedback on it as well, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. (There are a couple of meetings next week that will help determine that.) At the same time, I am glad to have a little breathing room until whatever happens next actually comes along; even though I didn’t put in that much overtime in the last couple of weeks, it felt like a lot. At any rate, even though things were a bit stressful, it was totally worth it just for the experience I had. Whatever else comes along will be icing.
Wedding planning is also advancing nicely. Invitations are about 60% addresses and assembled; we’re still collecting some addresses, but I’m confident that we’ll get them out on time. Contracts with the photographers and caterer are coming along. My dress is back from alterations and fits perfectly. We have measurements for the site, so we can plan tent setup, etc. Checklist, blah, blah blah…I am getting to the point where I want to get past all the planning and picky details, and just enjoy the anticipation. At T-70 days, I’m actually starting to feel like The Bride.
The big news this week, though, is the total eclipse of the Saturn. Priscilla, Queen of the Suburbs, has done her last drive with us. The old gal was no longer weatherproof, she was burning oil like a Kuwaiti well, and it was past time for her to go into a well-earned retirement. We traded her in on Friday for a 2008 Civic LX; gray interior and “atomic blue” exterior (I always wanted to be the person who got to name colors). It’s my first brand-new car, and I have to say, it’s kinda weird driving something without any weird sounds or smells. It almost feels too nice for me to drive. I seriously considered the hybrid, but it was about 20% more than I had planned to spend, and the handling felt kind of stiff and strange on the test drive. The LX, though, handles so well (at least, compared to what I’m used to) that it’s almost not like driving. I console myself with the fact that at least I’m reducing my emissoins by not driving the 14-year-old oil-burner. Part of the reason we took so long to get this done was that I hate going car shopping, to the point where I had never bought a car that hadn’t been found for me by a mechanic. However, the dealer was easy to work with, and the customer service was good; they waited while Fiancé read every bit of paper I had to sign, from the financing and warranty to the odometer statement, even though it was well past closing by the time I handed over a check and drove off. When we accidentally left a parking hang-tag in the Saturn, they had it waiting for us when we pulled up.
And now that spring has finally sprung, I’m feeling much better. Since the equinox, we’ve had enough sunshine to go a long way towards banishing my winter blahs. I have a bridal shower to look forward to (Squee!! Getting to see people I haven’t seen in ages AND have cake!) as well as a seder to plan (already!).
Stay tuned for more news, next time I get a break.
There are six people, not counting me, on one of the teams I supervise. After severe storms the previous night, I was happy to wake up with power on and a dry house, even if I had been feeling unwell the past few days. I almost decided to call in, but thought I would give it a try. And it was a good thing, too.
When I got into work I had three voice mail message.
Message 1: Person 1 has a migraine; will medicate and try to come in for the afternoon.
Message 2: Person 2 has water in the house, and will be in as soon as furniture can be moved and carpet rolled up and put somewhere to dry.
Message 3: Person 3 is not feeling well and will be in later this morning.
Then, I checked my email.
Email 1: Person 4 is home sick on doctor’s orders, but working remotely.
Email 2: Peson 5 has extensive storm damage to the house and will not be in.
Person 6 was in, but started feeling unwell mindmorningish. Fortunately, Person 6 is a real trouper and stuck it out. And a good thing, too, as Person 1 didn’t make it in at all as the migraine simply refused to abate.
Today, Persons 1-3 and 6 were in the office, and 4 and 5 were repeats of yesterday.
I’m crossing my fingers for tomorrow. At least we’re on an upward trend.
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