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!