Thursday This n That

PSA: Hubs is taking my car to run errands today.  He's a very good driver, but I have control issues when it comes to that car*, so I'll be having a slight nervous breakdown until he picks me up from work tonight.  Please don't make any sudden movements and keep your hands and feet outside the cage until then.

The other day, Hubs was making his morning Malt-o-Meal and I asked him why he was stirring it with a knife.  I mean, he had a spoon right there.  His answer was that he uses the knife to stir it and to cut the fruit he puts onto the cereal, then he uses the spoon to sprinkle sugar on it and to eat it. I figured he probably had a good reason, he always does, but I asked because I love the way that man thinks. Maximum optimization, minimum dishes.  =o)

My wrist thing is acting up again.  :shrug:  If it follows the course it's been following, it'll reach maximum ouch and then suddenly it'll go away and be normal again.  Nope, I will not be seeking medical advice about this.  I don't do doctors.  Once upon a time, one of my sisters had cysts in her wrists.  She'd get them removed and then a while down the road, they'd come back and she'd have to have them removed again.  I'm totally not interested in that.  I'm used to pain and I have enough scars, tyvm.

Besides, I totally hate spending money on stuff that other people can and do screw up.  That's why I cut my own hair.  I got tired of paying people to butcher it.  I can butcher it myself for free.  

I probably need to start getting ready for work.  I am unmotivated, but work doesn't care.  I'll make my lunch, get dressed, and then Hubs will drive me to the office where I will miraculously acquire gumption (coffee helps) and do my job to the best of my abilities.  Go me.

Have a great day, everyone.  And if you feel like it, drop some comments before you leave.  =o)

*Quit laughing. I know have control issues about other things, but the car is the worst one.

Thursday This n That

The lack of people who've been properly trained to do their jobs is depressing. (No, that thought does not sprout from my place of employment.  I DO do other things besides work, for petesakes.)

I found someone the other day who was most excellent at his job.  When he was finished, I looked him in the eye and said 'You're a god among men, Floyd."  After spending the morning dealing with incompetents, he was.

With the drop in customer service (especially when you consider how rare it is to encounter a real human being these days), I shouldn't be surprised at the number of customers who are surprised when I recognize them on the phone and treat them as friends.  If I've spoken to you more than a couple of times, chances are I will recognize you.  If you're nice to me and we've chatted, it's like 'old home week' when you call.  Customer service... it's a lost art.

I'm moving kind of slow this morning.  But that's okay, I still have an hour before I have to leave for work.

I've been helping out and feeding the deer more often lately.  They're starting to accept me as 'not scary' and don't even run when I walk down there.  They casually walk back a few paces.  Lumpy is damn near tame.  I want to scratch her ears.  I won't and she won't let me, but I want to.

Okay, I think that's about it.  Not that I have to rush off, but I can't think of anything else worth talking about.  Have a great day, everyone!

Thursday This n That

When your job requires a great deal of typing and mousing and other hand work, it's probably best to watch that you don't hurt your wrists.  Eh, my wrists were screwed years ago.  They wanna hurt?  Well, fuck 'em.  I've got shit to do.  So there. =op  Like the job I had where I had to be on my feet all day, but my legs are screwed.  Did I hurt?  Hell, yeah.  Did I do my job anyway?  Well, of course I did.  I'm not independently wealthy for pitysakes.  I think even if I was, I'd still be doing something.  Like writing, which lord knows is not easy on the wrists.  Can I get a what-what?

Why yes, I am full of vinegar this morning.  Why do you ask?

If you type FUCK or F*CK, it's the same thing.  You're not fooling anyone.  People don't think you're meaning FACK or FICK.  They know there's a U there.  Yeah, it's not a nice word.  That's the point.  Derp.  Fly and be free.

I try not to swear at work.  It's unprofessional.  So, I try to be creative.  Son of a motherless monkey is my favorite.  When I rack my knee on the edge of my desk... SON OF A MOTHERLESS MONKEY.  Although, I still catch myself saying 'shit' under my breath when something goes wrong.  It's sounds more like ssht but anyone within hearing distance knows what I'm saying.  

I got home from work to 4 spreadsheets that needed doing and today is payday at the side job, so if I wanted to get a check, I needed to get them done before the office opens at 7 (my time) this morning.  I did three last night.  Another one came in while I was doing those, so I finished the last of that and the new one this morning.  Yes, I am a working machine.  Got my timesheet in on time. Yay.

One good thing about the job is that although I am super busy, so is everyone else.  It would royally piss me off if I was this busy and someone was sitting around playing Candy Crush.  I've been in jobs like that.  I'd be there busting my hump while Little Miss Entitlement sat on her ass, doing her nails.  Know what effect that has?  Eventually, I stopped busting my ass.  Then I felt guilty.  Then I found a job where everyone was busting their asses, like they were supposed to, and the previous employer was stuck with no one busting their ass.  Good luck with all that.

Okay, it's getting close to time to get ready for work.  Have to make my lunch, and get dressed, and sundry other pre-work things.  Have a great day.  And feel free to drop your comments.  I'll approve them when I get home.  

Have a great day!

Thursday This n That

Remember that Jon Lovitz character from SNL who always had a story about how he did whatever the other characters were talking about?  I think I've reached the point in my life where I am that character.  I mean, I'm 52 and I've been all over, doing all sorts of things, so yeah, I pretty much have a story for loads of situations.  And I'm my father's daughter, so I tell the stories.  The difference between me and Lovitz?  My stories are true.  :shrug:  

Yep, Dad was a talker.  He had a story for any situation and they were true.  And if he didn't have a story, he told a joke.  Dad's jokes... totally NSFW.  

So, I'm working full time and I'm still doing spreadsheets for the office.  This was busy spreadsheet week.  Eight spreadsheets.  Well, 7 spreadsheets came in Mon-Wed and those were worked into 15 other spreadsheets.  So, another 4-5 hrs worth of work.  Plus another single spreadsheet came in with 3 tabs that need to be worked into 6 total sheets.  I gave up last night and sent my time sheet in.  I'll do that last bunch tonight.  Woohoo.  No seriously.  It's good to be busy.  

Speaking of busy, Hubs has been deep cleaning the house and rearranging to make things tidy.  Not furniture.  Like closets and junk.  Well, he's moving furniture to clean under it, but he's putting it back where it was.  It's all good.  He moved all the extra pillows and blankets out of the closets, put them in their own bags, squeezed all the air out, and slapped labels on them.  Then he took a shelving unit and put all the bags on it in the storage closet.  It's genius.  And we now have scads of room in the closets.  I tell ya, Hubs is better at this than I ever was.  LOL

I've been searching for clothes online.  Shirts are easy.  I found some nice breathable polo shirts for like $15.50  each.  Huzzah.  And I raided Hubs' closet, so I'm good until I get new shirts.  Trying to find pants that I can wear to work that will be comfortable enough to wear all day, that won't cost both my legs to buy, isn't easy.  Between day-job and pay-job, I have the money.  I just hate spending more money on something than I think is necessary.  I may have to suck it up and spend more for pants.  Blerg.  The tightwad in me is squealing like a wee piglet.  

I'm wondering if I should change the name of this blog.  I'm not really writing much anymore.  Eh, that may change, so I'll leave it for now.

Okay, I got a late start today, so I guess I'd better get my buns a-movin'.  Have a great day wherever you are.  And drink plenty of fluids.  It's a scorcher out there.  Yuck.

Working Hard and Hardly Working

Years ago, in what seems like an entirely different life, I was working an hourly job making $6 an hour.  And since no one told me differently, I was showing up at 6am and working until 5pm.  Working.  Not fucking around.  Then one day, the boss shows up and tells me he feels really bad about my working so many hours and I really need to stop.  So, I tell him to make me a salaried employee and then he doesn't need to worry about it anymore.  We negotiated a dollar an hour raise for me (at 8 hours), made it salaried, and I was left alone to do what I needed to do.  Problem solved.  For me anyway.  I think he still felt bad, but since he no longer had to see a timesheet, he really didn't need to think about how many hours I was working.  

Flash ahead a bunch of years to another hourly job.  Shit needed to be done and it took more than 8 hours a day to do it, so I worked from about 7am to 5pm.  Then one day, the human resources chick wanders into my office and tells me to cut it out.  So, I tell her to make me salary and not worry about it, like I'd done in the past.  She tells me she can't.  There are laws and non-management positions can't be salaried any more.  And the company can't work me that many hours without getting fined or some such nonsense.  Well, fuck.  So, I tell her 'okay, fine' and start making my timesheet say 8am-5pm with the standard one hour lunch.  Because I still had more to do than I could fit into an 8-hour day.  

Then she caught me doing that.  'Sorry, you can't do that.  Against the labor laws.'  Informs me that if I keep working like I want to work, they'll have to let me go.  

Think about that for a second.  A company would have to fire me for choosing to work harder and longer.  

Oh, I was a good girl and I did it for a while.  Then things started to back up and weren't getting done in a timely fashion.  Then I went back to my old ways.   The HR chick, who was also my smoking buddy, took me aside and quietly told me to knock it off.  I asked her who I was hurting.  She told me that if they got caught working me like that, there would be hell to pay.  I wondered how they'd get caught because I sure as hell wasn't telling the government what I was doing.  It's none of their damn business, after all.  She was worried one of the other workers would report them to the government.  Well, fuck... again.  

Once more, I went back to working 8 hours a day and trying to cram 10 hours worth of work into it.  I was one harried little monkey, lemme tell ya.  You see, I was the secretary to the president of the company.  He worked from 7-6 (because salaried people work until the work is done) and he needed me there, doing my magic, while he was there.  And there were the things I needed to get done when I wasn't working directly with him.  

When I gave them my month's notice - because I got married and was leaving the state, not because I didn't like working there - it was the best and most freeing month ever.  I worked like a dog and loved every minute of it.  I no longer had to worry about what anyone said or did, and I didn't have to watch what I said or did.  No more pussyfooting around.  Ahhh.  I was cranking and spanking more efficiently than I had in my life - unfettered by regulations and rules.  By month's end, everything was cleared off my desk and finished, all my processes were detailed in various word documents, all the files were pristine, so the gal taking over my position wouldn't be caught in an avalanche her first day.  And if the company got tagged by the government, I was ready to denounce ever working more than 8 hours a day.  Like I said, my choices were none of their damn business.  

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  You know, if someone was willing to pay me to do anything again.  I really need to apply that work ethic to my writing.  But no one's paying me to do this and if it doesn't get done, no one else will suffer.  Oh, I can still get cranking when the necessity arises.  It just rarely arises anymore.  Heh, I was working hard and now I'm hardly working.  

What about you?  

Do It Anyway

I have a new mantra.  Every time I think to myself 'I don't want to do it', I'm going to tell myself 'too damn bad, do it anyway'.

Don't want to wash the dishes.  Too damn bad, do it anyway.
Don't want to backup the computer because it takes so long.  Too damn bad, do it anyway.
Don't want to file the bills.  Too damn bad, do it anyway.
Don't want to take furniture polish to the cabinets.  Too damn bad, do it anyway.

Actually, it's been more like 'too damn bad, get off your lazy ass and do it anyway.'

I got a whole boatload of stuff done on Wednesday that way.  All of the above listed 'don't want to' things were done.  Plus, I dealt with some insurance stuff for the new year, took down the Christmas tree, sorted receipts into 'need for taxes' and 'trash', and cleaned some unnecessary crap off my harddrive.  And when all that was done, I spent some time reading in front of the TV, took a shower and made dinner.

Then I got back to work on edits for Ugly and the Beast.  Lord knows, I didn't want to.  I haven't wanted to for months.  But it needed to be done and I needed to get off my lazy ass and do it.  And frankly, I've been tired of my crap for months, too.  Time to get mean with myself and get serious.  I was too slack in 2019 and the lack of accomplishments shows it.

Thursday wasn't quite the gumption spectacular I'd hoped for, but I did get stuff done and finished the day by writing a new ending for UatB.

New year, new attitude.  No letting myself get away with whining about the things I don't want to do.  And I'm channeling Ben Franklin - don't put off until later what you can do right now.

We'll see if I can keep this up.  So far, so good*.

What are some things you've been putting off?   What's on your to-do list?


*Slight road bump... when you hit the ground running, expect to be sore the next day.  I'm pretty sure it was the cabinets that did it, but I didn't let it stop me on Thursday.  Slow me down a little, but not stop me. 

Thursday This n That

I spent most of yesterday doing spreadsheets, so I was kind of a toad.  I stopped for a while to take a walk.  Then I stopped for lunch and a nap.  Then I took a break to watch some of The Chase and do dinner.  I finished up after dinner.  It's days like that that show me what I could do writing-wise if I put my mind to it.  Of course, spreadsheets use an entirely different part of the brain, but it's the endurance I need to work on overall.

Yesterday, I was thinking about NaNo again.  I even went to the site and logged in a book called No Freakin' Clue.  LOL.  And then I looked at the last time I did NaNo.  It was kind of shocking. More about that tomorrow.

There's a dog at the animal rescue I really want.  His name is Theo and he looks like a super cool dog.  But right now, I've got all I can handle with Geriatric Cat.  I'll just settle for rooting for Theo to find a nice home.  It's what I do.

For some reason, the fish aren't biting.  The local reports are that fishing is slow.  Some dudes we talked to out at the lake said fishing was slow.  At least it's not just me.

The World Series is going on right now.  I predicted the Astros in 5, but since the Nationals took the first game, I'm glad I didn't actually put any money on that prediction.  As of typing this post so its ready for you now, the second game was tied 2-2.  Maybe the Nationals just want it more.  Since the Yankees aren't in it, I don't really care who wins.  (Update: The Nats won game 2, too.  Whomped 'em.  So much for me predicting the future.  Of course, if I could do that, I'd be rich.)

Still no eagle sightings.

Okay, time to get your day started.  Go have some coffee or something.  I know I will.  And leave a little this n that on your way.  ;o)