CafeChatNoir

Well, our work slowdown isn’t going so well. My partner in crime closed 29 calls yesterday, and then I closed 19 today. We kinda suck at this.

I did have one call today that went horribly wrong. Client calls, requesting the mgr (not cause she’s the mgr, just cause she’s a known quantity), mgr is on another call that will go on a while, so I grab it. Client says she’s under a deadline (never good) and is willing to work with me. Wide ranging mess. Very wide ranging. We start at project #1 on the list. I pull data. I see one issue, but miss another one. Have her run update X on this project, as it does indeed need to be run. Running this update brings the issue I initially missed straight to the forefront in a most glaring fashion. To the tune of a change of $85,000. Not that running the update broke anything, it just really brought the brokenness right into the spotlight. Big time. With sequins and a brass band.

Client is starting to freak out, as she is basically thinking I made it worse. This is not good.

I get her off the phone, claiming to need to check something, but in reality trying to think of anyway to not have to say, “Oh my god, you have screwed this up so badly that this is really going to come under the category of abuse of support, and your deadline can go right out the window now.”

And then just flat out panic. I mean, crap, this is project ONE of a multi-page display of her fuckups. In my heart of hearts, I know I can fix it - that’s not the problem. The problem is, she doesn’t remember and/or understand what she’s done to break it to start with and this is going to be an uphill battle every step of the way, with her reminding me the entire time that she’s under a deadline.

Panic completely and utterly won. By this point, mgr is off the phone and I go and beg and grovel for her to please, oh PLEASE take the call. She does, with good humor and kind words.

Said mgr is also going to design on March 14. She is gonna get one hell of a going away basket of goodies from me.

Scarf is done and behind the cut!

Five and a half feet long, a foot wide (she asked for wide!) scarf and a detail pic

Plants In Motion

Time lapse photography of plants - check out the flower section. (Requires QuickTime)

Edit: Check out the tropism section, too….

And the last week of busy season, WOOHOO!!

When I started working at this company, I hit it off w/my buddy T, who was the top closer on the team. I realized this was someone to emulate - and together, we’re now the top 2 closers on the team. We are also very tired. To celebrate the last week of busy season, we’re instituting a work slowdown. No, not to be petty, but more to save our sanity. It went very well today, and I think we’ll do it again tomorrow. (No, we’re not abandoning the rest of the group, we’re just not going blazing through at the usual 100 MPH.) It’s kinda nice to not kill yourself at work. I’m definitely not used to it, LOL.

And hopefully tonight, I will FINISH Mom’s scarf. It’s very close to being done!!!!!!

The best advice I’ve gotten all day: When getting a touch hypochondriacal keep googling ’till you get an answer you like.

The dentist dispensed some antibiotics to me today in preparation for fixing my root canal next week. The last time I had antibiotics, they made me sick as a dog. When his assistant handed me the bottle, I looked at it and it says “Take with plenty of water. May make you sick as a dog…” (well, my words, but you get it…) and I say, “Lovely side effects” He asks if I want the full write up on it, I decline, I can look it up when I get home.

So I do, cause I try to be a responsible & informed patient. Dear lord was that a mistake. From some of the descriptions out there, I might as well be calling in dead for the next week while I’m on these and if I’ve been prescribed them, I should really be dead already.

Finally, I get to the NIH website. Thank god, a haven of sanity, provided by my government, no less. Here, they say “Although side effects are not common, they can occur,” as well as listing the more mainstream reasons it’s prescribed, and the black death isn’t among them. Which is much less freakish than some of the other crap out there.

Then I look at the bottle again, and realize that the “may make you sick as a dog” message is continued around the corner of the bottle and I couldn’t tell that when looking at it in the office. It’s continued with “notify physician if this occurs” which is certainly better than, “so have a trash can at the ready.”

I still don’t wanna take the damn things. (I will, but…)

Well, that was one of the easier trips to the dentist I’ve had - cause he didn’t do anything. Says that fixing the filling is easy, no root canal needed, minor problem, no worries. However, the POS root canal that was done several years back on the tooth right next to it is pretty much a mess and really needs to be fixed. (It has been mentioned before, and had the mess stayed static, he would have left it alone, but it didn’t…)

So, I’ve got a round of antibiotics ahead of me and an appointment on 3/3 to get it all done at once - the filling will be the easy part, fixing the root canal issues will involve stitches and a couple “manicure intensity” follow up appointments. He has promised copious amounts of various mind altering substances to get me through it, so things should be fine.

However, it has taken me over an hour to stop the general panic/shakiness that results from simply having to be at the dentist…

The smart part of my brain kicked in and I realized that preventing a panic attack was really worth a few dollars and I just said fuck it and went and got another little cd player. This one also has mp3 playback on it, which I’ve wanted for quite a long time anyway. So, I can get more onto a cd to listen to while at the dentist, which is a Very Good Thing.

Also made a Starbucks run, because what better to soothe frazzled nerves than ESPRESSO!!

Denist appt is at 3:15, and frankly, I’m starting to panic a bit, because I can’t find my cd player. I know it’s here somewhere, I just saw it in the past couple days, I just can’t for the life of me remember where.

Claim forms have been downloaded, and I realize now I have not lost the insurance ID, they don’t actually have them for this plan.

So, I’ve got a little over 3 hours to find the damn cd player or go to Target & get a new one…which will guarantee that the old one will show up out of nowhere.

On the very rare occasion (and actually, the first at that) that I would like to sit down and actually use my DVD player, it would be nice if it actually worked.

I’ve spent an hour and then some sitting downstairs watching the West Wing & trying to finish my Mom’s Christmas scarf…. (Yes, that would be Christmas 2004).

Now, from the last marker where I started today, there is at least 6 inches added, but I swear, in total it is not getting any longer. I am never going to finish this thing…

Some sleep has resulted in a slightly brighter outlook on life this morning, but the weather is doing it’s damndest to offset it. Grey & cold and generally non-motivating.

Work is freaking me out right now. We’re understaffed, and it’s taking its expected toll. Found out via the grapevine last week that they put out a peer review on me, and I am not due for a review til June - coworker is convinced it’s cause they want to put me to second line, but my thoughts tend to run towards the less than pleasant options, such as ending up in trouble over something or worse. Rather unsettling to know that higher ups are talking about you, but not to you.

Had a dream last night that I was in the Army, and was very happy to be there, and was very ready to do Army things of running, jumping, climbing trees & shooting at things. I had a platoon I was to be responsible for, and I was walking to the barracks to yell at them all to get up and get going, when someone says, “No, you have to do this briefing” and hands me a bunch of power point slides, so I go do this briefing on things I know nothing about, and at the end, everyone is telling me I did a great job and now I get to do it all the time… So much for running and jumping, climbing trees and shooting at things… I was very distressed over the whole thing, trying to explain that I had a platoon I needed to tend to, but no one cared. Very odd.

In other developments, one of my Mom’s friends is coming down for a weekend in March, and my presence is required for a gals night out. Should be fun, she’s like a second Mom to me and I always enjoy seeing her. However, combined with a potential trip to San Diego in June to hang w/Mom & her boss while they’re at a conference there, I see a slightly disturbing trend of spending my free time hanging with 50 something women…

The one thing I have accomplished this morning is doing a bit of rearranging to the photo gallery index, I’m just not sure I like it or not yet. Haven’t overwritten the old version yet, just in case I change my mind.

Headline in Yahoo News: Report: U.S. in Secret Talks with Iraqi Insurgents
Now, I wouldn’t say they’re so secret anymore, would you?

Slept in really, really late this morning and it felt REALLY good. I also took a nap - I am going for the title of “Queen of Sloth” today.

Fetched the mail and there were all sorts of goodies for a change, instead of just the usual junk. Coupon book & recipe mag/catalogue from Wegmans and a catalogue from Patternworks that is filled with yarns & knitting patterns. I have no idea how I got on their mailing list, but Ooooooooooh. I just don’t have anyone to make anything for, though.

In the “oh fucking hell” category, I seem to have a lost a photo album somewhere here in the house, and I really need to locate it again. I know it is here somewhere, it’s just not where I thought I had put it. :-/

I think I’ve found some flooring that I like

It’s a “weathered pine” aka, “supposed to look a little beat up”, which is kinda just like me. Problem is, I am waffling so horribly on this project. *sigh* I can’t even manage very, very small projects, and this would be ever so slightly larger… Eep. I’m hesitant to add this to the list of disasters.

For a variety of reasons, the weekend is not looking to be much better than the week that preceded it, with the sole exception of the fact that I am not at work. I cannot even begin to say that things are actually bad, especially when I think about things that everyone else I know is going through, just that they aren’t really good either, and I just don’t know what to do about it anymore, but I know I’m tired of it.

It’s FRIDAY!!! Can I get a HELLS YEAH???????

Made it through the week in one piece - just barely. Twas a rough working week to put it mildly.

But, I have a three day weekend!!! I was slated to work tomorrow (we do Saturdays in busy season) - me & my boss on, but for Feb we’ve knocked it down to 1 person, and she took the shift, thank god. Dentist Monday, but not til 3:15, so at least I get a good chunk of the day to not do a damn thing.

While I am supremely bummed that hockey season was canceled, pitchers & catchers reported for training camp this week, which means Spring is really & truly on the way!!!!!

I cannot tell you how happy I am to have the next three days OFF!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GROOVYSEGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

50% off candy right afterwards, for no other reason than the wrappers are pink & red. Like ANYONE in my office is going to notice or care, as long as the candy mug is filled. :-D

Hockey season officially canceled. :(

Not that I’ve really been able to get to any games when they were playing, but I did enjoy it, even if it was just on TV.

Always seemed to surprise people that I like hockey. Never did know what to make of that. Just further proof I suppose that my version of normal isn’t anywhere near anyone else’s version of it….

The winner of the Non-Sporting group at the Westminster show was a Tibetan Terrier!

This is the same kind of dog mom has! (Well, we think that’s what most of his background is.)

is the winner, Ch Kimik’s Bare Necessities. I think Moxley dog could look like that. Right until he went and rolled in the mud. :-D

Oh, and here’s the full non-sporting list:
http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/2005/results/group/non-sporting.html