well awwwwwright! April 25, 2006

I’ve managed to get one major project finished (my BER 632 project) and I’m halfway through writing a paper for my French film class…in French. This has got to be seriously sharpening my language skills. Now I just need to finish it and pack for NOLA since I’m leaving in less than 36 hours. Oh hell! Where did the time go? The week after I get back is going to suck because I have three major assignments due the next week and there’s no way that I would be able to get them all done in one weekend. Let me clarify, there’s no way I could get them done in one weekend and be sane enough to talk about it afterwards. This whole juggling two jobs thing while taking 3 grad classes is totally, utterly frying my brain. I forgot how to spell “color” just a few minutes ago. If my English is that bad I don’t even want to think about my French. It could be painful. I’ve been kind of flaky at work the past couple days, but I’m sure all the boring seminars and training sessions have something to do with it. I spent over three hours today in Benefits Enrollment (yawwwwwwwn) and then the entire afternoon (3 hours) in a really poorly done training session for the “new” computer system. I really feel like they could have saved 2 hours and 50 minutes of my time by handing me all the handouts and booklets and saying “OK, go play.” The servers kept going down and since I don’t yet have my access token, I had to depend on someone else to continually log me back in after things went crazy. I’m so f-ing sick of these stupid training sessions, but they’re mandatory so I can’t do anything about it other than just sit through them in order to certify that I did, indeed, attend them. No big deal. I think things will be much easier once I have access and can do all this stuff myself.

LOL. I just thought it was Wednesday and I freaked out because I thought I had missed bellydancing. Perhaps it’s time for me to just go to bed.

April 24, 2006

So this morning was spent in a boring-ass orientation session (mandatory, unfortunately). I got to watch a super swell sexual harrassment video that was made sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, complete with requisite big hair and excessive makeup. LOL. The leader was obviously a big fan of the University, almost to the point of absurdness. Whatever. I still get paid and I don’t have to go back again.

My boss hasn’t given me anything else to do, so I’m just kind of sitting around. I sort of wish that someone would ask me to go to lunch, but everyone seems to have their little cliques, and I’ll just have to assimilate into one. I don’t know whether I want to run out for some Taco Casa or stay here and have pierogy, a Hot Pocket, or a frozen lasagna. Maybe I could treat myself on Wednesday when I’m here 8-5, because today I leave around 3:15 anyways. Tomorrow I’ll be here all day, but half the day will be benefits enrollment and the other half training, so I won’t really be “at work” at all. I AM happy that I don’t have to be in until 8:30 the next two days, and I’m taking off early Thursday morning for NOLA. Yay!

This weekend completely passed me by. I HAVE to get my BER 632 project finished by Wednesday night to turn it in by Thursday. I can’t believe she’s asking for our final projects a full two WEEKS before the end of the semester. Next week is dead week and the following is exam week. Luckily there isn’t too much involved, it’s just a matter of sitting down and doing it.

OK, I think I really am sad about not getting to go out to lunch. How pathetic.

April 22, 2006

So I have a great many things to do and get accomplished by various deadlines. What do I do instead? Update, of course! My dad came today for a visit and it was a lot of fun. We had lunch, had dessert at the German bakery (black forest cake-gasm!), hung out w/ the puppy dog a bit, drove around some Tuscaloosa area landmarks, and then looked at pictures from my various trips. Brubeck really, really liked my dad. Now I feel like just hanging out and generally enjoying myself. So sue me.

Next week should prove to be interesting because I’ll be doing very little work. I’m going through orientation on Monday and doing benefits enrollment on Tuesday, then going to a training session Tuesday afternoon (I had to get a sub…yay!). Luckily I’m in all day on Wednesday, so I can get a lot accomplished before I jet off on Thursday morning for NOLA. Yay! Monday, I have no class but I’m teaching 4 students back to back (for a total of two and a half hours). I have one student on Tuesday evenings that I teach, but I’m so happy that I don’t have to schlep out to Huntington to teach. It’ll be nice to save those 50-something miles worth of gas.

I think I accidentally got three Luna bars for free at Target. Ooops.

April 21, 2006

Everyone talks about “a case of the Mondays” after the movie Office Space but I think I have a case of the Fridays. I didn’t get up until nearly 7 and I got here just barely on time. The last 4 days I’ve been here at least 10 minutes early and waking up wasn’t really very hard. Last night I started typing my autobiography for a class and I think remembering a lot of things I tried to forget was a little too much for me. I went to bed absolutely exhausted somewhere around 10:45. It’s amazing how much stuff I’ve pushed to the back of my memory in an attempt to forget it, but I haven’t been really dealing with it and that’s where my problem lies. I think typing out my life events as I remember them will help me better deal with some of the less than pleasant things that have happened to me.

I’ve officially completed my entire round of B12 shots. I hope now that my body can sort of catch up and that I’ll remember to eat the things I should be eating to stay healthy. I’ll be taking iron for the next 3 months, but I’m trying to work on that aspect of my diet as well. I think with summer coming up it’ll be easier to eat healthily because there’s so much more (and better) produce. Yesterday the nurse told me that my color was really improved, which I found funny because I don’t have much color to begin with. I think I see what she means, because I was using a lot of blush to give myself the appearance of health, but now I don’t really need it.

When I got to my office door this morning there was a big box in front of it. My air purifier! Yay! I’ve got that sucker cranked up in an attempt to cool this place off. Still no A/C. Still no green parking decal. This f-ing sucks. I think/hope/pray that these problems will be solved by the end of today. I have a training session to go to at 10:30 (which means I ought to get to working soon) and then I have class at 2, so I don’t anticipate getting a whole hell of a lot of stuff done today. Oh, well. My dad’s coming tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to seeing him. I haven’t seen him since December (!). Considering he’s the parent I have the much better relationship with, I find that problematic.

I probably should work before my boss gets here….ha ha.

OK, proper entry starting…now! April 19, 2006

I feel like this is going to be a long day. I’ve yet to actually talk to my boss although I know he’s here…somewhere. I feel like I should be “doing” something. I have plenty to do, but it’s more in my own interest (organizing, refiling, etc.) I had one minor project to do yesterday that I completed in record time (before I left @ 2:15), much to his delight, I’m sure. I’m trying to get a sub to teach for me next Tuesday because I HAVE to go through training for some part of our finance stuff. Of course I didn’t tell her that…I said I had an appointment. Yes, it’s bad to lie, but it’s worse to have to deal with her. No way in HELL am I giving her my work #. That’s just asking for it.

Ok, back to work and then to the Health Center for another B12 shot. Huzzah!

Evaluation of the last couple days April 19, 2006

+Getting all the extra furniture out of my office!
-No A/C until Friday
-Getting a ticket parking by my own office because Parking Services is dragging their feet and won’t give me my damn decal.
+Boss saying “Well done” twice
+All the files in my computer are organized, finally!
-Person who used to have my job was obsessive freak
+Yummy Hot Pocket for lunch today
+My friend Ted got tenure and we all had a little get-together for him last night
+Going to NOLA next Thursday!
- Hate my freaking teaching job
+Love my new job
-Stuck in sh*t job until May 16

More stuff to do. Maybe I’ll update for real later.

April 17, 2006

So, my first day of my new job. I think this will be a very good fit for me. I did a LOT of organizing/cleaning around my office. I’m looking to rid myself of at least two pieces of furniture, possibly more. I had to get my A/C fixed (a window unit…how crap) so I am going to be a bit toasty for the next few days, but at least my computers work and my printers do too. I should be getting a nameplate for my door, which is sort of cool. My boss is so, SO nice. He’s offering to buy paint and help paint my office, get my carpet cleaned, and get me a whole new computer. I think I’m in good with him (he is, among many things, a lawyer) because I was carrying Scott’s “Westlaw” mug into work today and he saw it and had a fit. He also asked me a lot about my teaching job, which is cool. He’s really personable and I feel like we’ll get along.

Sue told me a lot of stuff about Dr. Bishop, the guy who started the whole UASA, who died this past fall. What I didn’t know is that he died just down the hall from my office. Yeah. He actually dropped dead in my co-worker Edward’s office, on his way into the mail room. I was under the impression that he had died at home or something. I had NO idea that he’d actually died at the University, though he wasn’t pronounced dead until he was at DCH. The whole story is so sad, and a lot of people I work with are still taking it pretty hard, most especially my boss.

My 3:30 student didn’t bother to show up, which pissed me off because I so could have done some more work  (i.e., get paid more) and they didn’t even bother to call. Urgh. I taught my 4:00 student early and then went back to work for half an hour and then to class from 5-8. I just got home a few minutes ago. 12 hour days are NOT cool. I anticipate the next few days will be rough because of all the juggling I’ll be doing and all the organizational stuff that HAS to be done before I can really get to working. That being said, my workplace is really, really laidback so I don’t anticipate sh*t getting too crazy.

April 15, 2006

So…this morning Scott and I decide it would be fun to walk to the bakery for some goodies (like we did last Saturday) and then we decide to walk from there to the Strip where his car was from last night. He met some students of his for general hanging out and I was the D.D. We get there (2 mile walk) and his car isn’t there. Apparently where he was parked just started towing people this week if they parked overnight. My question is: What in the hell was he supposed to do?! Drive drunk? I don’t think Tuscaloosa needs anymore of that than it already has. The cost to get his car back? $160. Re-freaking-diculous. The reason it was so high (and I blame it on the lot, not the towing company) is that they insisted on towing his car at 1AM rather than wait until the morning and then he had to go fetch his car on a Saturday, which was also an extra whack. From here on out we are refusing to patronize any of the businesses at the “University Town Center,” which means no Bad Ass, no Qdoba, no Coldstone, and I am probably going to cancel my mailbox (because I’m paying a shitload for it and there’s no reason to have it any more) because the UPS store is in the same plaza. If they’re going to penalize people that severely for doing the responsible thing, I don’t think I should be giving them my money. I don’t blame the towing company in this case, because even if there is no “overnight parking,” 1 AM is a bit pre-emptive. It’s not like there’s a parking problem any other time except for during the weekday lunch hour. Certainly not on a Saturday morning. Why would they never tow people who parked illegally when I couldn’t get in to check my mailbox or go buy a cup of coffee?

I got sort of sunburned in the process, just on my arms, so I hope that clears up by tomorrow.

April 13, 2006

Today was, overall, pretty good. I managed to knock not one, not two, but THREE things off my “To Do before end of semester” list that I have conveniently situated on my desktop (so that it can’t be ignored/forgotten). I submitted my AESA proposal, finished my FR680 Powerpoint and found out I don’t have to turn in a full transcription for my final project in BER 632. Rock on! By the end of the month I hope to have fewer than 4 items left. I’ve knocked 4 off already and I have 8 left, some of which are pretty substantial (hello, 8 page research paper in my French film class and two book reviews for BEF 641).  Even still, if I make slow and steady progress I’ll be ok. I may shoot to eliminate 2 items this weekend, seeing as how I start working on Monday (!) and I know I’ll be busy. I’m dreading having to juggle two jobs and classes, but it’s only for a few weeks. Right. When I get a relatively sweet paycheck on April 28th, I’ll be glad I did it.

I rectified the money situation by a)Hawking some CDs and DVDs at Oz and Replays and b) My sister generously loaned me $50. I went grocery shopping to buy enough food for me to last off of for two weeks (I’m going to feed myself for under $30) and I filled up my tank since I’m driving to Granny’s on Sunday and will definitely need gas. Now I’m set. As long as I can eat and have enough gas to get me to work/class, I’m cool. I need to see about getting my bike fixed, because I’d like the chance to bike places that aren’t too far away (downtown, Winn-Dixie, the park) rather than waste gas. I’ve heard talk of gas hitting the $4/gal mark sometime this summer, and I think a bike would help lessen the blow.

As much as getting shots every day sucks, I must say that I have a lot more energy and strength than I’ve had for a long time. I think the iron pills are helping. When I went grocery shopping today I checked every label to see how much (if any) B12 and iron everything had. I had some good finds, including some 4 cheese Hot Pockets w/ 20% of your daily quota of B12.  It’s kind of embarrasing to hear people say, “Oh yeah, my grandma had to go get B12 shots.” I feel like a pathetic old lady. I’ve completely eliminated tea because I’ve read in a number of places that tea leeches iron and B12 from your system, so I hope that helps keep me normal.

Ah, the messes we get ourselves in April 12, 2006

So today I went over to meet the people I’ll be working with and to see my office. My office is a huge freaking mess. There’s just shit lying around everywhere, some extra tables crammed in there and junk all in the shelves and the closet. I anticipate having to do a lot of work on that. I have two computers, one that’s nice, new with a flat panel screen and another one that should be donated to a historical society. Or the dump. Whatever. The printer that goes with the new PC is sweet. It’s the printer of my fantasies, really. Maybe that’s going a bit far. The other printer is a huge piece of shit that can only be topped by the printer in my GRA office (affectionately known as “Satan’s Printer”). Apparently some of the ladies in the neighboring offices want me to have a “painting party” because they enjoy painting and think that my office needs color. They are totally right, but I’m not sure if I want to invest the time/money when I’ll be moving out of that office at the end of the year. Maybe I’ll feel differently when I’m in there 8 hours a day. The upside is that the office is rather large and I have a couple of windows, so it’s not some hellacious claustrophobic nightmare. There’s also some crazy shit going on with the phone lines, so I’m not entirely sure what my number will be and what humbers I’ll be answering. I may end up setting up three separate voicemail boxes. That ought to be fun. The people I met today are all very nice and insisted that if I need any sort of help that I ask them. I think I’m going to be very, very busy for a couple months.

In other titillating news, I’m broke. I am going to go through my CDs and DVDs and see what I can sell. If my iron and B12 weren’t so low I would donate blood or plasma. I doubt I could just go donate my eggs or something, and I’m not sure why anyone would want mine. I reviewed all my bank charges and there was not a thing in there that made me cringe in regret. It’s one thing to overspend your means, but I’m just trying to meet my needs without going broke. Scott has offered to help me out, but I don’t want to take him up on it. Even if I had just $50 I would be set for the rest of the month. As it is, I have about $10 to make it until the 28th, and I still need to buy ingredients for pasta salad for Sunday and buy gas so that I can actually make it to my granny’s. I had hoped to go to the store and buy some frozen dinners to take to work, since I’ll be working through lunch until the middle of May, but that just isn’t going to happen.