Noises Make me Uneasy
My boss has this habit of muttering things when he is frustrated or angry or even just trying to figure something out. He also hisses swear words very sharply (e.g. shhhhhitch or damn itch).Yesterday he completely stopped using words and started making this growling noise. Now, I have heard this exact same noise before. It came from my keeshond (a medium sized very furry dog) when I was growing up. It meant, "I will not move from this spot and don't you dare try to pick me up and make me." I have no idea what it means coming from a human being.
You know the temperature in your office is too cold when you work faster just so you can print a document and warm your hands on the paper.
Heathen devil weed
I have been feeling quite ambitious at work today. This is mostly due to the interesting subject matter of the dictation I have been typing on the following subject:The law firm I work for attempts to collect money for a medical supply company for their delinquent accounts. Now, I have heard a lot of excuses about why people cannot pay for their equipment, and a few of them sound somewhat valid. Today's excuse tops them all.A lady left a voicemail in response to a letter that merely stated that she owed this company money, and that if she did not make some sort of payment in 30 days that legal action would be started in order to force her to pay.This lady very irately stated that she refused to pay for her wheelchair because her chair "reeked of the heathen devil weed" when it arrived, and that, furthermore, her insurance was supposed to pay for it. When questioned later why she had not submitted the bill to her insurance company, she said that she had given it to the "stoned delivery driver" and assumed that giving him the information would be sufficient.
I am entitled to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
I woke up this morning to the sun streaming in the window and my first thought was, "Oh, shit, I fell asleep on the couch last night and forgot to set the alarm when I went to bed!" I looked frantically over at the clock only to see that I had just woken up at my normal time, so there was no need to panic. Bonus: I didn't hear the annoying alarm clock noise. I looked in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised that there were no traces of mascara making me look racoonish and the zit that I put cream last night had disappeared completely. Thanks to a coffee pot with an automatic start option, I had a freshly brewed cup waiting for me as well as a blueberry muffin that Richard brought me last night for breakfast. I got out to the car with ten minutes to drive a mile and a half, meaning I could sit and start to eat my muffin in the car without having to rush myself in the slightest.When I got to work *on time with no rushing* I grabbed my mug and walked up to the outside door to my office building. The door was locked. Oh, glory hallelujah. I had an excuse to go right back home. No one was inside and I didn't have my boss's home or cell phone number any place except for inside that building I couldn't enter. My boss sometimes didn't get in until after lunch. So I would have no responsibility whatsoever to be working inside of a building I was locked out of and I would have no other place to leave a message about said problem except for on a phone inside of said locked building. It seemed like the time when I was able to skip out on class because Public Safety forgot to open Blanchard in time for 8:00 classes. Well, just to be sure, I'd better try all the bajillion keys I was given and don't know what they're for to make sure I don't have one to the front door. First key doesn't work, second key doesn't work...of course they don't work...there's a bank inside...they can't give keys to the building to just any yahoo like me who works inside...fourth key works...damn. *just a little "damn", though, because it's just so darn sunny outside I can't help but be in a good mood.I sit at my desk and find my paycheck staring me in the face. One more good thing.I cheerily go about alphabetizing the bills, and transcribing dictation until the attorney who is not my boss walks into the office and says, "Oh, I'm surprised you're here." "Oh? Why?""It's a holiday. I just thought you'd have the day off."I was cheery until I was notified that I was being jipped of something that every American is entitled to: a day off of work in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Then the beautiful day turned into something that I was missing out on - not something that cheered me. I felt lucky to have so much going right for me until I found out I was entitled to just a little bit more. What a greedy attitude I have. After about 5 minutes I was in a good mood again. I give credit for that to the sun.
Office Supplies
I am extremely territorial about office supplies. I started noticing this when I worked at the last office. I had this great stapler. It was just a regular sized stapler, but it could consistently staple 32 pages without the staple bending. On a day with the proper humidity, air pressure, etc., it could staple even more. This meant that I did not need to make a trip to the copy room for a document that would send my co-workers on a search for the big stapler. If someone asked to borrow my stapler, I would not deny them. Nor would I allow them to leave my desk area with my precious device.
After returning to work today after a 5 day break, my pretty pile of "sunbrite" colored post-its is half gone. So are all of my pens and my desk is in disarray. Not the kind of disarray that comes from various piles that I have made and know the meaning of, but the kind where I do not know where any of my files or supplies are. I know that the supplies are not really mine. I did not pay for them. If I were to quit I could not take them with me. I really have no claim of ownership whatsoever. But I do not like when people move them or take them from my desk. I like my colored pens, my cheery post-its. I order them for me. And I want them to stay on my desk.
