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So I’m sick. I don’t like being sick, mainly because it tends to affect or inhibit other things I do often, such as walking up flights of stairs or going to work. This particular illness seems to’ve circulated around a few different people thus far, resulting as follows:- Nicholas: A rather wretched case of bronchitis, now abating.
- Katie: A few sniffles and such, apparently, but luckily nothing major.
- Joey: 48-hr.
Rom curse flu.
- Dave: A few sniffles and the desire for a 5-hr.nap the other day.
- Allison: Pneumonia and a hospital visit.
- Matthew: A reminder to take extra vitamin C.
...and I got Type A flu, which I mistakenly thought was bronchitis as it feels much the same. Good thing I stopped by the iNova on the way back to the apt.last night. The symptoms are much the same except my lungs are just a wee bit clearer than most bronchial infections & it’s a viral strain, not bacterial. On one hand that’s nice because no one wants bronchitis. It’s a terrible piece of business that makes one feel like battered Hell. On the other hand it blows a bit because it means I can’t take antibiotics to knock it out; I just get to sit here & wait while dealing with most of the same kinds of symptoms for bronchitis and the common cold. That latter part’s for choads. While I don’t *like* being sick, I know it’s going to happen, so for the most part I can deal. What I actually don’t like is not knowing when it’s going to be done.
SIDE NOTE: By the way, care to try something terribly uncomfortable? Anyone else had to have a “flu swab” done? I haven’t. I was not aware that this means the nurse takes a 6”-long Q-tip & tries to slide a good part of it up your nose in order to tickle your brain, torturing it into telling her what’s wrong with you. This was...unpleasant. I felt sort of like a dog on a vet’s table. You’ve no idea why the person in the funny-patterned shirt’s speaking in soothing tones while simultaneously scratching your frontal lobe through your nose with a stick. She seems nice, so you don’t want to hurt her, which means you’re left trying to be patient while shifting further back on the exam table and making scrunched, discomfited snuffling faces after escaping said stick.
Doctor said I’d be smart if I stayed home for about a week, got as much bed rest as possible and just waited it out. I reminded Doctor of current job market and said that was not an option. Doctor offered staying away from work another two days, I counter-offered going back Wednesday, Doc wrote the note. Followed up with work again this morning, told my supervisor what the doctor said and was informed I was *not* to come in today whatsoever, that she might see me tomorrow. I told her she would see me tomorrow because I’ve too damned much to do. Warned her ahead of time that I’d likely be hacking like no one’s business and would sound horrible, but that I’d come armed with Purell and Lysol and that if people were going to be sketchy about my presence she’d best tell ‘em all today that I’m coming in tomorrow so they can stay the Hell away. Bitches be crazy if they think I’m stayin’ out of work for a whole damned week.
Now I go to the grocery store high on cold syrup to obtain anti-coughing pills and an inhaler the doc prescribed last night. Maybe some juice & more tea, too. Oh, by the way? 3 parts blueberry green tea, 1 part lemon green tea & 1 part pomegranate tea + honey & lemon = really quite good.
More later.
~E.
Had a rather long day yesterday, but it was good. Worked some overtime again (big surprise, may happen again today), but made a concerted effort to get to the gym afterwards. Succeeded, then had my ass handed to me by said gym. Politely, but firmly, declined to pay an extra $300 - $600 for a "Personal Trainer Package" as (barring profit from the sale of my organs) I am not made of money. For the time being I'll simply have to try & muddle through figuring out the machines & their use on my own.
Raced back to the apt.to clean up & change, then sped over to meet people (albeit late) for wings. Didn't have a whole lot to eat earlier in the day and after the gym I was SO very hungry. Had grilled chicken fingers w/the sauce, though, instead o/buffalo wings. Go me.
Slept better last night than I have in a really long time. I think I only woke up once, which is kind of a big deal considering I usually do at least twice, usually three or four times a night. Got up this morning and, though I was a little tired for about the first 1/2 hour, felt great after that and have since. If this is what going to the gym makes a person feel like every time they visit, I can see why it's so addictive. Can't wait to try out the yoga class next week. :)
Have a ton to finish today before I leave work. Depending on when time that is may actually be able to hang out w/Katiedid for the first time since last week to run around Georgetown & do some window shopping, which would be supah-keen as I've not been down there in awhile.
All righty, must head back to work before I become all distracted again. More later.
~E.
My supervisor's a very nice woman and I like her a lot. She's an attractive lady that's maybe 'bout mom's age, very sweet and thus far, though more reserved than me, has a pretty good sense of humor about most things that go on in this office as well as my personality and ways of dealing with said things.
I also like her because she has a tendency to comes over to my desk, hand me whatever paperwork I need, say something random like, "Hm...guys are takin' a longer lunch than normal. Must be Hooters day," then returns to her office and continues on about her day. :)
More later.
~E.
Few quick things, then back to work for me:
- Petunia's to give birth @ some point today and I'm trying very hard to concentrate on work because I'm terribly excited to meet the little man. She was originally scheduled for inducement at 7a, but it was pushed back a bit & (I believe) it should all ready have taken place about an hour ago. I can't WAIT to see the Cups after work. :D
- I have one HELL of a lot of expense reports to do today & am really, really, *really* hoping I don't have to stay late to process them so I can still make it to the hospital after work by a decent hour.
- I also have as much procurement to handle. Good Lord.
- I'd really like it if my co-workers would quit dropping things off on my desk, (ranging from empty shipment boxes to computer parts to discarded batteries of all kinds), expecting that I will simply "take care of it" and make it go someplace magical they apparently can't possibly visit themselves...like the trash bin. These are grown men. Usually they've longer legs than mine as they're often taller, which means it *should* be even easier for them to traverse the extra 10' it takes to put whatever-that-is in its proper place and not in my workspace. Geez o'flip.
- I’m excited to do fitness things this week. Also, depending on my paycheck & subsequent bills, I may be able to overhaul my diet which would be excellent.
- I'd also like to actually hit the club this Sat.as I've not gone the past two weeks.
That is all. More later.
~E.
Yesterday was *far* too long a day. I came into work about 8:15a to work on my "To Do" list, but was somewhat unpleasantly surprised with what really ended up filling my schedule. In the end I was only able to complete 2 of my planned tasks and knock 'em off my list, instead spending the majority of my time on last-minute emergency projects that were all due either before I left work yesterday or before noon today.
Didn’t get an actual lunch (this is becoming a more common occurrence), opting instead for working through the break at my desk with coffee on an IV drip & a microwave Bucket O'Ramen from the emergency stash in my supplies cupboard. The latter was supposed to taste like beef & tomato. It did not. I ate it anyway.
5p rolled around *far* before I was expecting it and with it came the desire for real food, so spoke to Nicholas & IM'd/texted the usual crew. Found out everyone was either tired, working late, had other plans or just wasn't feelin' wings. By 5:30p I realized Nicholas & I were the only ones left even thinking about it, and with the amount of work sitting in front of me I decided to just stay put, figure out what to do about food later & keep working 'til my current project was either done or I was too tired to stay anymore.
Was saved from consuming all Doritos snack packs in the office by a co-worker who offered to get me Popeye's while out for herself. After several more hours, I finally completed designing, building & formatting the incredibly complicated, multi-tabbed, backup cost breakout spreadsheet I'd been asked to pull out of thin air earlier in the day. At 10p, completely drained, I finally got up out of my chair for the last time that evening, stretched, packed my stuff & said, "The Hell with this place, I am *out*."
By the time I got home, goofin’ off on my laptop with a beer, from my bed-cocoon, after finally shedding boots & work clothes was my idea of Heaven. While talking to Cynthia last night, she told me she’d accidentally consumed moldy bread recently. She’s fine, it apparently just tasted like college-girl wine apparently and F’d up her hummus, HOWEVER it spawned a discussion.
I started calling the mold Harold (it’s fuzzy, it’s growing, it should have a name) and it was decided he should run for mayor. While she worked on a limerick about him (which turned into haikus, which evolved into a mass haiku effort having nothing to *do* with Harold involving Nicholas, Cynthia *and* me), I started using my grade-school-ghettotastic incredibly impressive MSPaint skillz to draw him. Promised Cynthia I’d post him up today to brighten her day, so here we go.
After briefly searching for a proper picture of Aflatoxin, I finally found this one, thanks to Wikipedia:
...and within about an hour had decided Mr. Harold Aflatoxin should probably look something like this:
He comes complete with promotional pin, power tie, detached eyebrows & sinister, twizzly mustache (that’s how you can be certain he is EVIL). Babies and bread products not included.
Now I get back to work. More later.
~E.
I’ve a lot to do & am re-prioritizing as I type this, so I've got a few minutes. First off, I can't believe it's all ready freakin' Thursday. The Hell? Could someone please tell me where the rest of the week went? Damnation. I need an extra day or so before everyone & their mother comes back to the office. Come Monday, soon as they all walk back in that door, I'll be immediately swamped with last-minute requests and "crises" (which almost never are) and everyone will again be under the mistaken belief that they are each the most important and unique little snowflake on the planet right then, when the only one who's ever really right about that is the über-boss. But I'll have to pretend like they're each #1 on my list (they often are, different list), which means getting a ton out of the way before that starts.
I feel like being quieter for the next few days. Was considering club stuff this weekend, but I've been out an awful lot lately. Even though I didn't go out at all last weekend, I still haven't spent enough time back @ the apt.on personal stuff or just dumb, quiet things I like to do. Think the only plans I'll make will be wings this evening (probably), seeing my family @ some point this weekend, and a friend's b-day party Saturday night.
Aside from those three things, I need to do/would like to do at least some of the following before next week starts:
- ALL of my laundry as opposed to little snippets of it here & there.
Clean the bathroom again.
Vacuum my room (it's been awhile).
Find all of my pajama pants, then wear them (not all at once). I don't have that many, I've misplaced two pair, it's winter, I miss them & I've just ripped a hole in the leg of one of my favorites, damn it.
Spend an entirely unacceptable amount of time on my computer doing things of absolutely no importance whatsoever.
Reorganize files on laptop, delete extraneous crap, and move as much as possible off the hard drive & over to my external.
Use part of previously mentioned, completely ridiculous amount of time on comp.doing nothing but adjusting, renaming, and uploading a bajillion & 1/2 LJ icons, because messing around with pictures and icons is one of my favorite things to do.
Adjust music currently loaded onto my iPod, then acquire more as I do not have enough hip-hop/rap or classical, but I DO have too much 'Blondie' and I don't know how that happened.
Play ‘Guitar Hero’ (I will not get to do this). Staniel taught me how to play bass and even though it’s only a fake, plastic, mini version of a bass AND I have to put it on the “5yr.olds play better than you” level (yes, this means the only thing I do is strum in time with the little clicky thing) I still had fun and felt a little like a very silly living room badass. :)Okay, now I am hungry & have to go back to work. That is all! More later.
~E.
Today I've spent most of my day working out conflicting travel arrangements, flights, cars, and all sorts of extra crap in addition to my pre-scheduled routine for the day. No big, really, it keeps me busy & I'm prioritizing. While I was booking a National car rental for my boss's stay over in Hawaii, however, something caught my eye during a booking and prompted me to backstep on the site, make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, then I started giggling, because apparently I am 12:
The image is a bit clearer if you click on this link....hee hee hee.
More later.
~E.
Here’s to being gainfully employed. Dude, one of the things about being w/out a steady job for an unHOLY and fully unacceptable period of time (temping most certainly does not count, particularly in this economy) is that even if you do not have any money of which to speak yet, you are excited simply about the upcoming check, even if the first check is only for a few days and still isn’t due for a little bit yet. You still know that it is coming. One needs no longer fuck about mit das Gub’ment for unemployment payouts weekly to obtain the barest means of covering one’s car insurance, gas, any other bill you can sort of squeeze in there and the weekly ration of ramen, frozen veggies and tuna that become creative “casseroles”. Man, it’s a relief. I remember telling someone a while ago that I really missed being able to bitch about my day at the job. Know why? Because doing so is a luxury. It usually means your job isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and you need to vent before going in for another day of work, because it will all be there again for you tomorrow. Correct me if I’m wrong, but people who are sincerely concerned about the stability of their positions don’t bitch so much. They talk about it a lot and they freak out, but all in all they’re too worried about what’s going to happen tomorrow because they don’t know what’s going to happen next. I think for the most part, people who are sincerely concerned don’t bitch. They stress, they get headaches, they obsess, they smoke and/or drink too much, all while on the lookout for a new position. People who are secure enough in their positions bitch because they know they can and still go in the next day. Random thought, there.
Yesterday I left the apt.about 7:20a to get to work. Had one HELL of a long day. Y’know the kind, just one thing after another and even if you wrote everything down that you did all day long, it still doesn’t seem to justify all the time you just spent in the office. Spent a good chunk of the day reprioritizing everyone’s “emergency” projects while calling all over the better part of the eastern seaboard in order to track down all the missing receipts I needed to process the thick stack of expense reports I wanted off my desk with a passion. Right near the end of the time I’m actually supposed to leave the office (4:30p), the president of the company comes up, tells me he needs last-minute reservations for one o/our guys to go to San Diego next week at a reasonable rate (oh, Lord) and that Duder needs an aisle seat and whatever non-stop flights might be available. (This was a difficult task.) In the end I did what I could, finally calling it quits around 9p (yup, that’s another 12hr.day, hooray for OT!), but with a lock on a decent fare, though not quite the right schedule, and only a few expense reports to tackle today. ::sighs:: Hopefully that’ll be enough to work with for the time being.
For the most part I’m getting my body used to a fairly normal sleep schedule, being about 5 to 6 hrs., depending. I usually get up somewhere between 5a & 6:30a now, depending on whether or not I can afford to sleep in a little. Last night was rough, though. Even going directly home, dropping my bags, changing into pajamas, curling up under warm blankets & watching ‘Tropic Thunder’ I couldn’t seem to get to sleep. Maddening, that. You know damned well you’ve little time left to sleep before you get up, and your mind’s obsessively workin’ the countdown every time you check the nearest timepiece re:how much more time you’ve just lost thinking about it, but you still can’t force yourself to crash out. Urgh. ::sighs again:: I finally decided to just type this entry out, have the last New Castle I’d stashed in the fridge a couple wks.ago & smoke a little before trying again. Eventually it worked, I just wish it’d worked a little earlier. Luckily I am not a surgeon of any sort, so no one shall die or become disfigured even a little on my watch today...they might just end up w/an unexplained über-order of colored Post-Its and rubber bands when next we receive supplies. :)
All right, I’m off to my previously scheduled tasks for the day, but before I finish up do me a favor at some point today, even just for a second or two. Some people reading this have jobs they really dig, some have ones they don’t love but will more than do for the time being, and some people have jobs that blow goats and make them want to drink heavily even before leaving the cube farm behind for the day. Just take a second, though, and remember that no matter how freakin’ frustrating that shit might be at any given moment, you actually *have* a job. It may not be much to speak of, and you might even curse it every day you go in, but you actually HAVE employment. The economy’s fucked, unemployment’s at an all-time high, and honestly even if you’re moppin’ up Slurpie guts and switching out that 5lb.chili bag right now you have *something*, which is one Hell of a lot more than a lot of other people have right now. Just think about that for a brief second at some point today before shoving another pin in the rubber band voodoo doll you made of your boss or co-worker last week. Could be worse.
...then shove another pin in near the head, ‘cuz that guy should *really* learn to chew with his mouth closed. I mean really.
:)
More later.
~E.
All right, so all the guys are back from the Con today, which means I'm not going to have time for a full-fledged entry when everyone's likely to read it. Instead, I'm making another one of my picture entries. See I've all ready received a few texts/IMs today, one of which was a reference from Nicholas to an abandoned jar of peanut butter in the hallway of his work, which he suspected of being a trap, which then reminded me of bear traps, which of course brought to mind bears and THAT, ladies and gentlemen, brings me to...BEARS WITH CHAIRS!!!
Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
I saw this lovely display, which is apparently used to advertise a business called "Bare Woods" (yes, that's the correct spelling) while driving around yesterday during my lunch break. From what I can tell, the bear seems to've been sculpted out of rather pointy pieces of metal that have since rusted, which basically makes it a giant Tetanus Bear. Also, if you look closely, you will note that both the bear AND the chairs have been chained down...for safety. If the bear doesn't get you, the chairs will for damn certain.Now I go back to expense reports.More later.~E.
In case you were wondering, I've been listening to a lot of Clutch in the past few days, specifically 'Blast Tyrant', 'Beale Street' and 'Robot Hive/Exodus'. Day before yest., "The Mob Goes Wild" got stuck in my head for no reason & wouldn't leave, so I've been playing the band since (interspersed with various bits of punk and faster-paced indie) while driving around and running work errands.
Things've been busy as Hell in the past several weeks, which is great but hasn't given me a lot of time to catch up w/people I haven't talked to in awhile. I've started a new job doing admin.& operations work (similar tasks to my last job) with an engineering company over in Chantilly that designs and builds flight simulators for the Navy & USMC. It's a smaller company with the HQ in Chantilly and three other offices in Jacksonville (NC), Orlando, and one that's basically just a guy in CA working from home with occasional outside help. They’ve pretty keen benefits (medical, dental, vision, 401k, PTO, etc.) that started 12/1 for me, which is fantastic considering I’ve not even been here a full mo.yet & I been w/out for almost a year. The pay's not bad either (or won’t be once I get my first check) and my supervisor seems to be pretty nice so far.
The keen thing about starting here around this time of year is two-fold. First, there are a lot of company holidays right now, like the 4-day weekend I got for Thanksgiving right after starting, then being off from 12/25 - 1/1 for Christmas. (Sweet!) Second, there's not really anyone in the office at the moment. See, right around this time of year, every year, there's a big convention down in Orlando called IITSEC where all the owners of the co.(and a good number of our engineers) go to promote what we do, which means that for about 4 or 5 days straight there are very few people in my office.
When I'm starting in a new place, something like this is freakin' fantastic. I get almost a full week to put in as much OT as I like while I overhaul whatever space I'm working in, reorganizing everything to suit me, and starting on personal projects and initiatives I'd like to get going in the office while everyone's away. In short, I'm not interrupted often (unless the guys call from the Con, which does happen sometimes) and I can work on WHATEVER.I.WANT. Love. Also, though I've made sure to keep her updated on whatever I'm doing, my supervisor seems to trust me thus far to find something useful to do and get things together, pretty much leaving me to my own devices, which is ALSO something I appreciate more than I can say in a workplace. (I despise micromanagement and have never understood the thought process behind it.) She goes for a couple of hours at a time w/out coming by or calling at all, so I’m able to get a jump on things I normally might not be able to touch if I were constantly interrupted. Hopefully this won't change completely when the guys come back tomorrow/Monday.
There are some other nice things about this place, too: Being able to listen to music (though at a low level) on speakers by my comp., even when I'm covering phones; the insistence that even if we choose not to take a break away from the office ea.day, we at least step away from our work & do something on the internet for a little bit so we don't get cranky and stressed; and getting mileage reimbursement for any work errands we do (which is not nearly as common as you'd think). All in all, not bad thus far. We'll see how things progress.
Aside from that this weekend should be nice. Tonight is wings for the first time in forever (provided it's happening this evening), Friday I'm celebrating a friend's birthday and Saturday I'm to head to a third Thanksgiving gathering, which should be pretty keen. No clue what else I might be doing, but it’ll probably be local as I’m not getting my first paycheck for a bit yet. If you’ve any ideas, hit me up.
More later.
~E.
