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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 02:00 pm (no subject)
Current Mood: amused
Tags: ,

When people in my office have things to give away (food, spare supplies, etc.), we leave them on the counter in the mail area. Usually we add a note to clarify that these items are up for grabs.

Today, one of my co-workers left out a series of gift boxes. They are simple, but a little elegant: small, nicely colored cardboard boxes with shiny cloth lining the insides. As the day has progressed, here are the notes that have been left with the boxes:

Note #1: "Take me, I'm yours!"

Note #2: "What a good box I am! Take me home!"

Note #3: "These are not gerbil coffins."
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 09:40 am The verdict
Current Mood: relieved
Tags: ,

I got it!

Edit: If anyone in the area is looking for a job and wants to know about my current-soon-to-be-former position, drop me a line. I can give you full disclosure about the good, the bad, and how to apply.
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Jul. 2nd, 2008 @ 04:43 pm meep
Current Mood: nervous
Tags:

I have an interview tomorrow morning. o_o

This is for the job development that I mentioned (obliquely) before. I applied for a newly vacated position in my current department, and I found out this morning that they'd like to interview me. It would definitely be a step up, in responsibilities, authority, and pay. Part of me worries that I'm not cut out for it, but most of me is sure that this would be a good advancement.

Wish me luck!
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Jun. 30th, 2008 @ 07:53 pm More happy things
Current Mood: hot
Current Music: "The Poet and the Pendulum," Nightwish
Tags: , ,

1. I just got a call from [info]ratzeo. ♥ Rock Camp has swallowed him whole, so I'm happy to hear from him.

2. I ran into [info]zinjadu and [info]lunapome at the gym today, and got to chat during my workout. It's been a while since I've been at the gym at the same time/day as them.

3. Tomorrow is our biannual staff retreat, which means a) no answering phones all day, and b) getting home a little earlier than usual.

4. This weekend looks to be busy, in a fun massively social way.

5. I'm going to see Nightwish in September!
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Jun. 30th, 2008 @ 02:06 pm (no subject)
Current Mood: pissed off
Tags:

Why the fuck do I keep attracting phone calls from physicians full of condescending bullshit?

DON'T throw a shitfit about the limitations of the options I'm presenting to you, when you don't LET ME FINISH TELLING YOU ALL OF THEM. DON'T lecture me about how we're wasting all the money our students pay us, without taking a look at nursing versus medicine tuition rates. And you might want to admit that you have either a poor phone connection or an actual hearing problem - because people without one of those do not require that I repeat things three or four times in a row - instead of talking down to me like I'm stupid for not catching what you said ONCE OR TWICE. Got it, you SHIT EATING COCKBRAIN.
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Jun. 29th, 2008 @ 06:25 pm I am weak to summer weather.
Current Mood: hot
Tags: , ,

A house full of stuffy heat makes it awfully hard to do things. Or, rather, it's awfully hard to do things that I should be doing (laundry, vacuuming my floor) instead of things that are - well, potentially useful, but not how I should be spending my time right now (sorting my books). On the plus side, I have a lot more free floor space now that my books are no longer in random piles, and are I have been able to begin the process of culling things for selling and/or donation.

My to-do list remains undone, and has mutated from a "do today (Saturday)" list, to a "do this weekend" list, and finally, a "do this week please" list. XD;; But that's okay. I still have time to get done what I need to. And taking a day or two off at the beginning of summer is all right in my book.

And it's been a pretty good start to the summer, so far. After I returned from the conference, I floundered a bit, not sure how to redirect my energies and get back to everything I'd shoved aside in the past couple of weeks. Unsurprisingly, being unproductive made me feel discouraged at first. But things turned up as the week went on.

To keep those good things in the forefront of my mind during the coming week, here's a happy 5 list:

1. Finally catching up at work from the days I was out of the office - take that, backlogged inbox!

2. Successfully donating blood on Friday - the last couple of times I tried, my iron was too low to donate, so I'm extra-pleased it worked (even if it did leave me feeling worse than usual).

3. Being roused out of my heat-induced stupor yesterday and spirited away to Uwajimaya by [info]kyonkun and [info]aznridah - which allowed me to stock up on my yellow-girl foods (like grass jelly and sticky rice). Does my little heart good.

4. Getting spirited away again to [info]casaval's house, where we Rock Band-ed the night away - I finally got back to feeling comfortable on the drums, and ready to work through Hard level again.

5. Pride Parade today, followed by lunch with [info]redbird, [info]laylah, [info]mahokiwi, and [info]cadence.
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Jun. 11th, 2008 @ 12:04 pm Hump day happiness (er)
Current Mood: hungry
Tags: , , ,

1. My CDs arrived yesterday, two days earlier than scheduled! I've only had time to listen to part of "The Heart of Everything" last night, because I couldn't let myself get distracted from my reading ... hopefully I'll get a chance to sit down and listen to them all soon.

2. I made a big ol' batch of lentil soup last night, and it's delicious. (Soup, you say? In June? Why, sure, when it's colder here than in Siberia!)

3. There was a work event last night that resulted in lots of leftover flower arrangements, two of which are now adorning the reception area, so my work area smells lovely and floral.

4. This.

5. Work-related good news. More details as things develop.
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Jun. 4th, 2008 @ 10:56 am Return of the happy list
Current Mood: blank
Tags: , , , , , ,

I've totally dropped the ball on my daily happy lists, though that's because ... er ... well, riding the emotional wave of the end of Warmakers has kept me consistently happy (if wooby) and distracted from most other things. <--loser

So anyway! Today's list of happiness! Which is ... only mostly about Warmakers!

1. Various time-sensitive things at work that were mostly out of my hands (and thus I was uncertain whether or not they would get done on time) have been resolved. That was a relatively minor stress, but I'm glad to have gotten it off my back.

2. Because of the rush of taking care of those work things, the morning has passed by quite quickly, and it's almost lunchtime.

3. [info]shadawyn has tempted me (yet again) with new shinies. :3 I'm dipping my toe into symphonic metal music because of songs she's shared, and have ordered Within Temptation's The Heart of Everything, Nightwish's Dark Passion Play, and Krypteria's Bloodangel's Cry. All of which have songs that were used for Warmakers fic and FSTs. XD;;;

4. I have been writing and drawing for Warmakers every day since the campaign ended. Okay, yes, that's horribly dorky, but - I'm writing and drawing every day! This has been helped by the fact that other people (mostly [info]shadawyn, but also the other players and GM) have been willing to keep talking with me about the game and develop a broad outline of the future plot developments, which keeps the characters alive in my head.

5. Tonight I get to go to [info]jfrog78's house and hang with almost all of the Warmakers crew!

Maybe I'll even get back to setting goals soon ...
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Jun. 3rd, 2008 @ 01:41 pm Random quotes from work
Current Mood: amused
Tags: ,

Co-worker 1: "Oh, I see, you're not here to visit me. You just want to sit on my couch."
Co-worker 2: "I don't love you, I just love your couch."
Co-worker 3: "Really? That's what my whole marriage is based on."

Co-worker 3: "You don't like PDFs? Just use the 'Microsoft Word' button. It's the big green one on the front of your computer that's lit up. Press it and hold for about ten seconds."
(After listening to Co-worker 1 talk about someone complaining about needing to use PDFs.)

Student: "You have tiny wrists!"
(This one really was random, because I was waiting for the student to get his paperwork together, and he just looked at me and blurted that.)
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Jun. 2nd, 2008 @ 11:17 am (no subject)
Current Mood: frustrated
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So you know what bites? Having to put out fires first thing on Monday morning for no other reason than the fact that people did not share important information with me.

It wasn't intentional, and this doesn't happen regularly, so it could be worse. It's just very frustrating.

And I still haven't solved one of the problems. Grrr.
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May. 16th, 2008 @ 02:15 pm It worked!
Current Mood: om nom nom
Tags: ,

I love it when a determined effort to bring yourself out of a black mood pays off.

[info]ratzeo came to my office to meet me for my lunch break. I was late getting back from a meeting, and so he had to wait a while in the reception area - cue speculation about "that cute boy" from co-workers, mostly married and/or older women, who were delighted to meet my boyfriend. Because apparently my boy makes quite a splash. ♥

We spent the hour walking around campus, enjoying the gorgeous sunshine and fresh air (and, of course, talking about Warmakers).

And then when I got back, a co-worker sliced up a watermelon she had brought to share with the office. Delicious. :D~

It's not that these things wouldn't have happened without me telling myself to cheer up. But determining to make myself happier put me in a better mood to receive good things, which in turn made the good things even better. And now I ♥ the world.
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May. 2nd, 2008 @ 04:28 pm (no subject)
Current Mood: infuriated
Tags:

When you call my office and just tell me you need "advising," I have no idea what that means. So then I ASK YOU what YOU need, so I can figure out how to help you.

When you don't answer my questions, and I tell you that I don't know who can help you BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME WHAT YOUR QUESTIONS ARE, you do NOT get to ask me, "Who are you? What do you do? Oh, just front desk."

Fuck you, you little SHIT.
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May. 1st, 2008 @ 03:52 pm Staying happy at work
Current Mood: okay
Tags: , ,

1. Things at work are a little craaaaazy right now, but in a good "we are undertaking a big project in order to make things work better" kind of crazy, rather than the sucky "people are mean/stupid/disruptive" crazy. This is the kind of work I'm willing and happy to do, and I wish it made up a greater percentage of my workload.

2. Another bit of happiness is my small group of favorite students, whom I like because they're consistently friendly or solicitous when they come into the office, or they're funny, or (in one notable case) delightfully odd. Yesterday one of them offered to bring me flowers for "bugging" me all the time. That's hardly necessary - it's my job to do things for students - but being appreciated for doing that makes me happy.

3. The salesman who gave me a Starbucks gift card a couple of weeks ago came back for his big presentation/pitch, and thanked me for organizing it by giving me more gift cards. Plus he left the leftover cookies and coffee from the presentation after he was done. :D~

4. Chatted with a coworker over lunch about anti-harassment training in the workplace, and idealism (why can't all such training involve anti-oppression education?) versus practicalities (most companies just want to make sure they don't get sued, rather than pursuing social justice). Things like that - casual discussions about anti-oppression where I don't have to worry about getting accused of being "over-sensitive" or "PC" (in the negative sense, of course) - just make me happier and more comfortable in my workplace.

5. Not work-related, but - going over to [info]ratzeo's tonight! Much geekery will ensue.
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Apr. 30th, 2008 @ 11:38 am Like a Monday, but better
Current Mood: calm
Tags: , ,

I record my life in list format. Behold:

1. Yesterday's retreat was pretty good. The sessions were motivational speaker-style, but even though there were a couple of smarmy "unlock your potential" hand-wavers (with bonus cultural appropriation of "exotic wisdom," yay), most of the speakers had solid, straightforward styles and were great to listen to. Also, the food was great, and I got to eat pretty much nonstop all day. 8D

2. Since I was completely away from the office yesterday for the retreat, coming in this morning felt like coming in on a Monday. Which (hopefully) means that it will feel like the weekend arrives very quickly.

3. I decided to wear "Rosalind" today, even though the first time I wore it I was worried at how much it smelled like soap. I discovered that it's less soapy this time around, which lets the pretty fruity floralness come through better. I don't know the reasons for the change (diet? stage in monthly cycle?) but I'm glad of it.

4. Last night I slapped together an improvised solution to salvage the lentil soup whose recipe I mucked up. This also increased the volume of the soup, so I have the next week or so of dinners taken care of (which is my preferred method of cooking: make a giant batch o' stuff a couple of times a month).

4. Getting back on track with my reading. Just gotta keep it up.
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Apr. 28th, 2008 @ 11:29 am Reclaiming my day
Current Mood: blargh
Tags: , , , ,

30-second compressed rant: My sickness, which has seemed to ebb and flow all weekend, has seized control of my throat and head this morning. (Probably the fact that I had to wake up early and go to work, rather than out with friends, is exacerbating the unpleasantness.) I'm way behind on my "homework" reading. I left my lunch in [info]ratzeo's fridge. People on the phone continue to be stupid.

*deep breath*

I am determined to do better, though. I indulged in some listless laziness at the beginning of the morning, poking around at work without getting much accomplished, but now I'm getting back on track. Here are five things I'm focusing on to boost my mood:

1. Warmakers yesterday was lots of fun. I didn't do much roleplaying myself, but people around me did, so I got to observe some interesting conversations (which I often miss out on when I'm roleplaying my own character). Also, we ran out of time before reaching the big combat, but that means that next adventure opens up with our battle against a tarrasque. 8D Also that means both the games I most recently played have ended on cliffhangers. *shakes fist at GMs who have me addicted*

2. I still have untested BPAL imps from my previous order, but instead of trying out a new one this morning I decided to go with something I know I like, and put on Szepasszony, which has thus far emerged as my favorite. It starts out as a light, aquatic, just-barely-soapy floral that is quite pleasant; after an hour or so on my skin, it deepens into a less-soapy, fuller scent that I want to describe as musk (but I have no idea if the perfume actually has musk in it, so that may just be how it reacts with my skin). A nice little comfort/mood-enhancer.

3. My coworker, whom I sucked into Adagio, shared with me a tea blend she ordered from there, called "Firefly" (yup, that Firefly). Tasty and geeky!

4. Being sick and having no lunch suck, but they give me an excuse to hit the Ave for pho.

5. I'm not actually coming into the office tomorrow, because my supervisor is sending me to an all-day retreat for "support professionals." I hope to get some good things out of it. And, hey, no answering phones all day!
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Apr. 25th, 2008 @ 10:40 am Sick day happy things
Current Mood: sick
Current Music: "I'm Still Here," John Rzeznik
Tags: , ,

Home sick today, blargh. And, of course, this is the day before I planned to go shopping for the last ingredients necessary for my attempt at making lentil soup (which is great sick food).

Honestly, I probably could have made it through work today, but I just would have been hosed for tomorrow and possibly the rest of the weekend. And when it's a choice between one more day of work while uncomfortable, and a date with [info]shadawyn + Warmakers adventure?

Yeah.

So! Today is not so bad. Here are my happy things:

1. Since I'm not incapacitated, I should be able to be productive today. I don't want to push myself, but I want to get most of the way done with The Macho Paradox when my brain is feeling functional. When it's not, I'll break out my markers on drawings that have been inked and waiting around for coloring.

2. I'm not quite out of sick leave yet. Which is impressive, considering I've been accumulating it for less than a year, and I have a -2 CON penalty. XD;;

3. Payday!

4. I got approval from the big boss for my vacation time for the NWSA conference. I was pretty sure it would be okay, especially this far in advance, but it's nice to get the final word.

5. Wearing "Aeval" this morning. Too early for a final verdict, but right now it's gorgeous.
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Apr. 17th, 2008 @ 09:03 am (no subject)
Current Mood: hopeful
Tags: , , , , ,

Yesterday was ... well, it was good throughout the afternoon, but then near the end of work things got bad enough that I skipped my trip the gym and went straight home, feeling unfit for human interaction. After indulging in spirit-soothing creature comforts (comfy sweats, nap in warm bed, caramel butter pecan ice cream), I was somewhat restored.

I still have a tendency to let work difficulties weigh on my mind at home. It wasn't as bad as last time something like this happened, but I need to keep working on it.

So I'm focusing on the positive things this morning:

1. I took a step towards fixing the work difficulty this morning. Additionally, outside circumstances are such that the difficulty will not last for much longer. (Sorry for the vagueness, but I don't think I should go into detail in a public post. I figure anyone who's actually curious can ask me in person.)

2. Emails from [info]shadawyn! She's actually awake and online when I get to work, so she provides most of my social interaction and makes my mornings more fun. Although she's also a bad influence on me and dangerous for my credit card bill. ;)

3. Poking my GM and having game info pour out! Great for someone as bad at character creation as I am, who needs extra inspiration.

4. Last night, I progressed from passive comforts (like sleeping and DSing) to more active comforting activities, like drawing. I now have two of the Warmakers 4-koma ready for coloring, and am sketching out a third one. Like I said before, it's slow going. I'm about as good at drawing "funny" or "cute" as I am at writing them, which means I have to try really hard even though they're just dinky little chibi figures. But I'm happy with how the first two look so far.

5. And finally, the big thing to remember: my life is good. Very, very good, in fact. I'm healthy, I have a house and a job, I have great friends, I have engaging hobbies, and I'm in love. I want to remember this - not to make myself feel like OMG a horrible ungrateful person for feeling down sometimes - but as a reminder that I always have something available to make me feel better.
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Apr. 8th, 2008 @ 03:02 pm 5 happy things at work
Current Mood: full
Tags: ,

1. My coworker brought in homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Mmm, cookie for breakfast.

2. I had a superhero moment at work today. It was a small thing, but it's been too long since I've had one of those, and it was a great boost to my work-related confidence.

3. Having my lunch break moved to later in the day (due to phone coverage issues) means that the last half of my day moves really quickly. I go home in less than two hours!

4. Hot water tap = easy tea brewing!

5. When the phones are crazy and I get only a minute or two in between calls, it's difficult to concentrate on a task. So I can write blog entries without guilt, because I'm just waiting for the next phone call. :D
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Apr. 3rd, 2008 @ 02:15 pm (no subject)
Current Mood: irritated
Tags:

Is it too much to ask people to say "thank you" after I've helped them - particularly when helping them involves more than the usual visit/phone call, such as looking up resources and tracking down people for them?

NO IT IS NOT.

I am not a fucking tool, for you to use just to get what you want, and for you to take out your frustrations on when things don't go according to your exact specifications. I am, in fact, a person, and I - surprise! - like a little acknowledgment of that.

Say "hello" when you arrive in the office or I answer the phone, rather than immediately launching into your demands. Say "thank you" when I am done helping you, rather than just hanging up or walking away. That's all I ask. More is nice, but this is the minimum I require in order to feel helpful and friendly towards you. You'd be surprised how little politeness it takes to make me happy to assist you - and, conversely, how little rudeness it takes for me to stop caring about your needs.

Edit: Thank you to [info]kyonkun for giving me the brownie out of her company lunch yesterday, because now I get to boost my mood with chocolate.
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Mar. 28th, 2008 @ 11:14 am Some basic rules for customers
Current Mood: annoyed
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1. When you call my office, do not greet me with, "Who's this?" If you are looking for a specific person, ask for them. If you don't know who you need to speak with, ask me and I'll direct you. If you want my name, "Can I get your name?" is a good way to go. "Who am I speaking with?" is also acceptable. Demanding my identity when you called me is not, you asswipe.

2. When I let you use my office phone for your own phone call, rather than making you go across the hall and use the payphone (as I am within my rights to do), you say "thank you." You do not hang up and walk away, without saying anything to me or even giving my phone back to me, you asswipe.

These are just two that occurred to me within the last hour. Please add whatever rules you can think of.

Please note that "you asswipe" is not a necessary suffix for these rules. It is true that not all customers who commit offenses are actually asswipes; some of them are just ignorant or clumsy. But damn if it doesn't feel good to say it.
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