I Don't Feel Like Posting Today

Work is a pain in the ass. But we might get some snow and ice tomorrow. Which means we might have a snow day on Friday. Yippie.

Holy smokes, did I just swear and breeze on by it? Work really is a pain in the ass! They're making us send an e-mail to the bosses three times a day that details how many Remedy tickets are in the queue, how many we assigned ourselves, how many we've completed since the last update, and the tracking number of each one. And two of us (including me) have to put the group's totals in an e-mail. Because, apparently with 4 e-mails in front of them, they can't add up the total themselves. I could be doing actual work during that time. And you know it just creates some 10+ e-mails a day that they're going to ignore. If I don't do any Remedy jobs between the 1200 and 1500 updates, I get asked what I'd been doing all day. Hello!! One of the 50,000 other things you expect me to do in a day, morons! Pain in the ass....

How many times can I type 'ass' into one blog? You all know I usually use 'arse' instead of 'ass' right? Wait! It's not a swear at all! It's a body part! And it's attached to my managers faces... I think that makes it a swear....

**this is a tone change**

All hail the fighter, Barbaro!

News News News!

Not exactly set in stone happy news, but maybe!

I just learned that the person who does the work that I wish I was doing might be moving on to another position (the one that I was talking about applying for but never actually did it). This means I'll have to take that work back for their trial period next week, and indefinitely if they accept the position.

This means less Remedy, less phone calls (I hope), and lots of days where no one bothers me!

We'll see how that goes, but I'm excited. Even if it's just for a week.

Not the Wisest Choice

I'm going back to working overtime after my week hiatus from it. That probably wasn't the best choice for today, because it's Monday and first of the month equivalent. Where did January go, anyway?

So, it's after 1400, and I'm already work-tired. I didn't get my break until 1330, I usually go at noon. What a great way to start the week!

It's hard for my paycheck to be OT motivation at this point. Sure, I made a lot in those two weeks and it showed on my paycheck, but it also showed in the taxes they took out. Half of what I made was garnished in taxes and other deductions. Sometimes, the government really sucks. I'll see some of that back in my return next year, but I'd like it to add up faster than that.

That's life. Death and taxes, they say. And since I'm planning on Death visiting me a long time from now ;) I'll deal with the taxes.

Adventure

Let's see. We played a lot more blackjack this year than we have in the past. If it were actual money, I would have won more than $74,000! But it was not actual money. There are prizes that the company gives for the top three winners. My dad and Turtle gave me their chips to boost our total (most of those winnings were my own, I bet the whole lot on the last hand and won with a 20). That may sound impressive, but it's nothing to my mother, who one third place with $150,000 worth of chips. We didn't even know she was playing! She picked a table in the back and went to town. Like me, she bet the lot on the last hand and won with Blackjack. Go mom!

We danced a bit too. Not nearly as much as in years past. I will say there's something unnerving about seeing the majority of my coworkers (peons, HR people, CFO, CEO, takes all kinds) drunker than drunk. Then there were after-parties throughout the hotel. I didn't go to any of those, and it's probably best. Turtle did though. I guess she had fun. Seeing people I work with get drunk and bed each other like teenagers isn't really my cup of tea.

The room was very nice. I have a few pictures that I'll have to get on my website at some point. I am sorry to say we never got a decent picture of us in our dresses. Oh well! Maybe someone else in the office did.

I must say, and I'm not sure why. I have this strange feeling that I've been robbed of my weekend. Maybe it's because much of yesterday was party preparation, and much of today was getting back into the groove of home, and I've seen coworkers for 7 days straight and still have 5 or 6 to go before I'm free of them for a time. I didn't get this feeling from the previous office parties. It's very odd.

Well, tomorrow is another day, or something. And it's one when I have to drive.

Party Time!

I only have a second. Tonight is the annual office party, which WAM will not be attending. My friend Turtle will be joining me as she has for the past three years. This year, we have a room at the hotel so she can drive back to Richmond with a bit more ease.

It's going to be fun! There's money-less gambling, and food, and dancing. I'm ready to party!

I Almost Killed my Car

You know how it is. Busy. Working 50 miles away. Mechanic closed on weekends. Before long, that oil change you were supposed to get just didn't happen. And it didn't happen again. And again.

Yesterday, halfway to work, Hedwig started clicking. Have you ever taped a playing card to your bicycle so it would click in the spokes? That's the sound my car was making. It wasn't a problem with the axle, it still clicked when not moving. It seemed to be louder and faster the more RPMs. I don't like my car clicking, so I called the mechanic and arranged to drop my car off last night and I'll get it after work today.

My dad said it was probably a 'valve lifter,' whatever that is. And I mentioned that I didn't remember when I last changed the oil, so dad said it might be low on oil.

The prognosis? It was low on oil. Less than a quart, actually. You know how coffee burns if you leave the carafe on the burner with just a tiny bit of coffee in it? If you don't it's super disgusting, the coffee gets all burnt and sludgy. That's the mental image I got when the technician was telling me what my car's engine looked like. The click was the valves, rubbing from lack of lubricant. Burnt oil is all over the engine (I guess that's more like in the engine, or under it, or something), but they were able to clean out some vital parts.

Yes, this was all due to my lack of oil change. My car hit 101,000 miles yesterday. Do you want to know when the last oil change was? Oh, it pains me to report this, I'm so much better at taking care of my vehicle than this. It was in the early 90,000 miles when I last had it done.

Today's advice: NEVER DRIVE 10,000 MILES WITHOUT AN OIL CHANGE!! If I pushed it any longer, I could have locked the engine. I just paid it off!! :.(

My car will live. My mechanic will yell at me. I'll counter with "that's what happens when you don't give me a sticker!" And I will concede. My car drives more than 1000 miles a month. I predict that early March we'll be due-up for another change.

And Hedwig has earned herself a nice bath and some expensive premium gas for this. I'm sorry, Hedwig! It won't happen again!

One of Those Days

I was explaining to Willow the other day the joys of working with customers. My friend Monty (remember Monty? I haven't spoken of him in a while!) and I used to trade 'customer of the day' stories. These involve the customer(s) who sticks out above all others in stupidity or annoyingness.

A few years ago, we had a meeting here with the whole department and the managers, and even Boss²'s boss. I don't remember much of the meeting, but I do remember Boss³ saying we had to do something special for our customers and asking why. One of my coworkers, who's name was Doug (and I'm using his actual name here for two reasons. One is that he no longer works with us, and two is that Willow and Glen might read it and laugh for an obscure reason that no one else would understand) answered Boss³ by saying "Because customers are stupid!" All the peons laughed and agreed and we've never forgotten it!

This morning, all before 0800, I have confirmed Doug's admonition (not like there was ever a doubt) and ended up with two Customer Of the Day stories. I haven't even been here for an hour!

The first person should not be using a computer. Finding information on our website is apparently a very difficult thing to do, even though other people find the information they needed all the time.

The second person had a problem that was admittedly our mistake. Thankfully, the individual who did it no longer works here (thankyouthankyouthankyou!). This customer had 3 problems; the initial, easily corrected human mistake, the fact that the phone line my department monitors is not done so 24/7, and that they can't understand English. (This is not because it is not their first language, but perhaps because they chose not to read the thorough response I gave them.)See, after I replied that a person made the error and it doesn't happen often but can happen, and that the phone has to have a voice mail for the times when we're not here and provided the 24/7 number that they can use, they replied that they still didn't understand why the mistake was made (you're not perfect, neither are we!!) and that they were upset that they had to leave a message (too bad!! if you called the right number, you wouldn't have had to!). So, I just had to repeat myself in their reply.

Then, before 1000 this morning, I found another stupid customer who has been making multi-hundred dollar payments in less than $2 increments, but all on the same day! So the poor merchants are getting 50+ checks a day from this guy. Make one payment, dude! You've done it before. Of course, we can't tell the customer how to use their bill pay service, but their merchants can refuse to process their checks.

Now, get this. I've been so busy with stuff, I started writing this at 0815 this morning, and it's now near time for me to go that I'm getting to post it! I didn't even get to tell you about the rest of my day!

It's Nice to Not Work Overtime

Well, I'm already glad that I woke up this morning and decided that today's card, Justice reversed, was not going to be the start of a bad day. This card reversed indicates and unfairness, bias, or uncertainty. Sometimes, I really hate reading reversals!

Yesterday's nothing project didn't get done exactly, so I was preparing to be yelled at for it. I work my special kitty-gifted calcite to help me accurately communicate why I didn't get that project completely done. So far, I haven't been yelled at.

I've been getting complicated e-mail after complicated e-mail all morning though. It's taking all of my Libran diplomacy to get through them, and it's not over yet!

Yesterday, I decided to not stay overtime this week. I still plan to come in on Saturday, though that may change. It's nice to take a little break, maybe exercise some more. Get ready for the party. All that jazz!

I wanted to get a picture of the mysterious bridge and battlement structure for you. Maybe I can employ the cell phone camera to do that!

That's all for now!

WHAT IS IT???

The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, the bane of my 50 mile commute, is being rebuilt. They're making two spans of the drawbridge over the Potomac River. The old Maryland/Virginia connection has almost been completely detonated, so now we're driving over one half of the completed project. This is a very involved project, more than just the Potomac crossing, but a lot of ramps and interchanges need to be altered too. This riddles the whole area with a ton of bridges that go no where, and us unable to figure out where they will end up.

On the Maryland side of the bridge there is a structure. It looks like one of those bridges that go no where, like an overpass where there never was an overpass before. But it's really really strange because there's no road even remotely nearby on either side. In fact, there's a whole lot of marsh and water on either side. The length of this bridge is only the width of the current new WWB. Now, if you're on the WWB coming from Virginia heading into Maryland, there is another structure on the right, that seems to be attached to this mysterious overpass. This structure is even more peculiar than the funky bridge, because if I didn't know better, I'd say they were building a castle turret there. So, right now, as my dad so eloquently put it, "they're building a bridge that goes no where and the battlements to defend it." I must discover what this thing is!

So, I used to read tarot cards. I am way out of practice now. I mean way out. I spent time focusing on other things, you know how it goes. Let me tell you, tarot reading is not like riding a bicycle (and how they say you never forget, though I've been told you can forget how to ride a bike). Yes, in general, if you don't practice, you may find yourself having to relearn the skill.

That's where I am now. It's been about 7 years since I did any major reading for anyone, and one year since I've used the cards at all. This is silly, since I probably have more than 50 decks in my collection. Now I feel like a novice again, I have to resort to consulting the LWB. I hate that! (LWB is the Little White instruction Book that seems to come with every deck.)

There's nothing to it but to do it!

I pulled a card this morning, feeling angry from yesterday in anticipation of that project I'm going to have to do today, and it was the Wheel of Fortune reversed. This indicates an ill turn of fate or unexpected obstacle. Basically, the card was reflecting how I had already started my day.

We all know the future is not set in stone right? I decided I was not going to have that kind of day. I was going to complete that project and the one I had forgotten about, and everyone was going to say "you did great work!" That is how I wanted my day to go.

That's pretty much how it's been. That project I was stewing over ended up being near irrelevant, though it's not done because Acting Sup is out today. The other project, I just finished it and sent the file off to our client to update. Go me! Also, I answered everything that came in that annoying e-mail box within an hour. I was even feeling fine when, after I had sent a reply to one of them for more information, the only Supervisor in the department sent a reply saying it was done. Yup, still in a good mood even after blurting out "I guess my response wasn't good enough." It doesn't matter, I was doing more research, and if the contact gets back to me, I'll show the Sup that they should have paid attention.

And I'll leave you on this note: LaDiDa!

I'm sorry!

I couldn't get a picture of our pretty snow.

It wasn't enough to give me a snow day either. Everything was going pretty great until the last 30 minutes of my day.

Acting Sup sent an e-mail to our little group asking if anyone else was experiencing slowness with the Remedy application. I was every now and then, but I've gotten used to it, and it wasn't freezing up totally. Just as I was ready to hit reply, WAM turns around and asks the two people who usually work Remedy (which includes me) if we noticed any issues. I turned and said "I'm on the same e-mail list you are, I see the message, you don't have to tell me about it." So WAM focused on the other person, 'acting sup wants to know if you guys are having any problems.' or something. The other person who primarily works Remedy said "I'm the only one in Remedy right now!" What the @%*$#(&^#& do you think I've been doing all day???

Then, about 10 minutes later, Acting Sup sends me a project. I didn't think I was project girl, and I don't want to be. I decided not to apply for that position because it would mean looking at spreadsheets all day and I don't think my eyes can take it. So, I don't want to be given the special projects. Part of me wants to do half a job on this so they won't give me any more. I have enough stress in my life, I don't need client deadlines added to it.

Don't worry, I can't do half a job. It's just not in my nature. I'd have to do more work than it would take to do the actual job. Ok, ok, I know that's why they want me on the project. But I still don't have to like it. It's not like this place is a career for me, nor do I see myself working here in 4 years or so. In fact, I see myself moving far far away. So, unless they let me telework or plan to open an office in far far away, it's a means to an end and only a matter of time.

The side street we take to get to the office was a sheet of ice this morning. And the office park drive. And the parking lot. I was certain the side street at least would have been plowed, because school buses have to go there, but I guess they figured everything would melt by the end of the two hour delay. I can't say if it did or not, because I don't have a window, but that last bit of my commute was the worst of it. Maybe everything will freeze tonight and I can have an excuse to not go in tomorrow (and that would get me out of the project). It's doubtful, but one can always hope.