GAS LEAK AT THE MORGUE

So yesterday we were all ushered outside because there was a gas leak next door. Now we are in a building that is actually three buildings because it is two blocks long. So at 1600 they are building the new morgue, in 1500 is part of my company and 1400 is where I am. So they evacuated all of us. We stood outside right across from the building for about an hour. I didn't, of course, because I went for a walk and talked on the phone. Anyway it was all very exciting and it was a beautiful day outside so that was nice. But we were all just a little concerned that they sent us back in and didn't just send us home... I mean GAS LEAK!

Being the positive person that I am, I told everyone when we came back in that if 1600 blew up we would just be just slightly hurt being practically on the opposite side of the building :)

Today the gas is turned off so we are all freezing.

This place will kill me yet!

300 days

Yes that is how long I have left until I hope to start school. I had gotten away from a countdown during the month of July because I was so ridiculously busy. Today I learned that the person who should have been back actually has until the end of August to come back. So suddenly the huge weight of stress I have been carrying is not going away like I thought. I am currently in shock. I don't know what to do. I could cry but I don't think that will help at all so that leaves me with how do I work well in these overwhelming circumstances that feel like they will never end. Well I might cry anyway just to release some of my anger, frustration and other random unidentified emotions.


Okay. Time to figure out a plan to survive this job.

F I R E D

The biggest stress in my life over the last two weeks has been one of my co-workers... I was thrust into a partner work relationship when I was assigned half of the students in his program. To say the least this guy was the bane of my life for two weeks... everyday was a conflict and usually me telling him the same things over and over again. By the time I finished the day I was ready to strangle someone...

Well today he walked. Official word is that he resigned... but he might have been fired. Overall I don't really care I am actually happy that he is gone... and now I feel guilty for thinking that. My stress level has decreased drastically.

Bored Now

Please don't think that I am complaining... I have had non-stop workingness for the last month and today is the first day that I am not trying to just keep my head above water. It has been so long that I forgot how to waste time. Thankfully I made some notes to help me... websites about filling the void and the like. Currently I am seeing if I can hold my pee until bladder explosion... however if time begins to move exceptionally slow because I am waiting to see yellow then I will abandon the experiment.

This picture is one of my student's work. A wedding cake. We talked for almost an hour yesterday. Yes the week 2 slow down started at about 3pm yesterday so I just let this student talk and talk and talk while I played on the internet. I think wrote up three different scheduling options for her to fill a little bit more time.

I know it won't last as I am sure that I will have a ton more to do by Monday... but for today I will enjoy my boredom.

two posts in one day don't get used to it

So I was writing an email and listening to a tv show while munching on PB M&Ms when I dropped one on the floor. I look to see that it landed fairly close to my feet so I rolled my chair back a little bit to bend down to get it.

This is where the fun begins. As I lean forward my butt slides off the chair... my butt flies to the ground and the chair flies out of my cube. I look around and no one has noticed even though the chair has slammed into a pole behind me. I am dying inside because I want to laugh about it but who do I tell... all my buddies are gone to lunch. Also... I have found a fantastic weapon!!

Sounds of the Office

As I sit here drinking my cup of coffee (and by 'cup' here I mean my third or forth with at least one or two more still to come) I find myself amused by the sounds I am hearing. There is definitely an ebb and flow of loudness... right now the tapping of keyboards sound like crickets on a quiet evening. There is also the low murmuring of people talking on phones all over the place and the occasional phone ring can be startling (especially if there is someone who hasn't figured out how to turn the volume down yet!) Then suddenly there is a loud laugh and 20 people on the phone at the same time talking, coworkers pause in the isles to chat with each other about something outside of work and the printer starts printing a 400 page report. The wave of noise crashes on the shore and as it pulls back you can hear just the tittering of keyboards once again.

Summer Holiday?

So our database crashed today while I was on lunch. Shortly after that the phones went out. Suddenly we find ourselves trying to work a little on the blind side. A snow day in July. Of course I took the opportunity to research jobs overseas. While working in Pittsburgh has been very enlightening and a growing experience... I am beginning to yearn for something else and something different. There is a high school math position open in Morocco this fall and let me tell you how incredibly tempting that is... I mean look at that picture Well I think my mother would kill me if I left before Thanksgiving so maybe January...

Happy Anniversary!!

One year ago today I walked into this building for the first time. At like 7:30 in the morning... only Kevin was here to greet me...

Overall it has been an okay year. I would say that about half the time I have been here I have been unhappy or so lost in a huge load of work I had no emotion.

I hope that I will not see anniversary #2.

In LOVE with the bus driver

Let's just start by saying that I did not sleep in today because I wanted to make sure to ride his bus. wow that sounds a little wrong. but seriously it has been a rough couple of weeks back in Pgh and this one man's remembering me and where I get off while being cheerful and funny has made my whole week. I did almost cry this morning telling someone about him... and of course the woman I was talking to wanted to know if I would date him. This has been one of those weeks where being appreciated means being invisible and being given more work. I don't respond well to those kinds of appreciation. So it is nice when the man who takes me to and from work actually sees me!

Return Flight

Today is my first day back after 2 weeks of vacation. It is not quite as brutal as I thought it might be... except that it is noon and I am ready to be done for the day. There were 255 emails with 65 of them needing response. I have managed to sort through all 255 and responded to 10... did I mention it is only noon.

I only have 3 voice mails... which is good because I do not feel the need to actually talk to people.... students included :)

I am feeling like a beer right now is a good idea and might actually make me work better!

The other thing that is making today tolerable is that if all goes well (aka I get accepted into the OT program at Pitt) I will only be working here another 11 months. The countdown has begun!

Careful what you wish for...

Today is my 'late' night. I come in at 10ish and leave at 7ish instead of my normal 8-5. Part of what I like about late night is people go home starting at 5 and by 6 it is me and my computer and phone having a quiet evening. Sometimes people don't leave and it is true that the one person I cannot stand also sometimes stays until 7ish on Thursday nights and that can get my panties in a bunch.

Today I was thinking on the bus.... I just want a quiet evening to get my stuff together before I go on vacation. My panties are already in a bunch I need a wedgie night. (poor choice of illustration but I am not going back!)

WELL. I got here and 6 cubes near me are empty... let me draw a picture to illustrate...

after much work the drawing did not work... Just think the person nearest me in my department is 10 feet away with her back to me. Not conducive for conversation.

Ok I am going to call a talkative student now...

Bus Buddy with the Boat Hat (also longest post ever)

As the number of people who work here continues to grow at the rate of some bacteria it is not overly exciting that there should be people on my bus that get off at my stop... and also work at my place.

For several weeks I rode the bus with this guy. He would get on in Bloomfield and we would ride the rest of the way together and get off together and walk in the back door together and then I would go in my door and he would continue upstairs. I began to take notes on him to see if I could guess where he worked in the building. He has grayish hair and often wears a boat hat and ear phones. He carries a backpack and has dark, thick rimmed glasses. I came to the almost immediate conclusion he was not an ADA but definitely worked for AiO. He wasn't slick enough to work for South and he didn't work downstairs so not Argosy. I knew he wasn't an IT guy as I knew most of them (oh I need to write about my laptop and the button incident). That really left HR, Web design, curriculum, financial aid and registration. Of course there was always secret option #6 which is there are actually random jobs here that I don't know about!

I tried to enter act without actually introducing myself as that would ruin the game. But even when I said "Good Morning" "Happy Friday" and "Have a good day" he said nothing. So where could a mute person work here.... well any of the non student facing jobs. That takes out financial and probably HR. Also I knew most of the HR people from my administrative days.

Then one day I was going to a meeting on the other side of the world (quite literally it is at least a block away and the address of the meeting room is different than mine.) AND I SAW HIM!!!

He was interacting with people like a normal guy and he was up in the registration realm. (A place that I don't often go as it is unpredictable and a little dangerous) haHA mystery man occupation solved... he is one of the numerous nameless, faceless registration peoples.

THEN the most ridiculous thing happened yesterday! I was not so randomly placed in yet another meeting that had to do with calculating graduation dates for our students. A few AiO advisors, a couple South Advisors, AiO lead advisors, main registration lady and MYSTERY MAN. I about peed my pants!

Not only that but his name is Bill and I currently have 43 emails in my inbox from him. I have had numerous email conversations with him about various graduating students.

So when he got on the bus this morning I got this huge smile on my face. When I got up to leave the bus he was standing right next to my seat. He totally made eye contact (first time) and as we walked in (our old comfortable routine) I said, "Have a good day." and he said,
"You too."

No Idea

So I haven't written in a really long time and so I choose to write. Except that I don't actually have anything to say... or do I?

New things about work:
I finally got a laptop... YAY I can work from home! wait is that good?
I now have two small jade plants to brighten my work space
I have moved cubicles 4 times since my last posting... moving is no longer traumatizing
I still get a little homesick when I walk past my first cube #130
I now bring my own coffee to work