I love my job!

I’m not in danger of losing my job at the moment. Things are pretty calm, which is awesome. Except for the imminent new boss, which … meh. I’ve been there 10.5 years now. I’m pretty much Grandmother Willow of CourierPostOnline.com.

Those comic-print umbrellas at the booth behind me are very cute. I’d swipe one for myself, but my C-P jacket draws enough attention already. As in “You guys hate (liberals/conservatives/teachers/Camden/stoners)” and “I had to put shoes on to get my paper today because it was 2 inches further out than usual!”

I’m thankful for my job. Truly.

Friday!

1. When did you take time this week to play?

Funny, I really haven’t played ANYTHING this week. I haven’t logged into WoW since Sunday, believe it or not, and Farmville is more of a Zen garden experience than actual play.

2. This past week, what would you have liked to rewind so you could experience it again?

In keeping with our “Summer of Cheap”* we went to the Camden Riversharks game on Tuesday thanks to free tickets from work. After a rainy day it was a GORGEOUS night and we had a great time!

3. What happened this week to give you pause?

My boss gave his 2 week notice on Tuesday. Yeah. I’m bummed about that but I understand his wanting to move on. No, I’m not applying for the job. Been there, done that. Besides, I’m no longer qualified for the job I used to have because they added “proven sales experience” to the requirements. I have proven sales experience. It was proven to be bad.

So yay for more change! Zing. Since I’ve been asked to be “Acting Manager” during the transition period (Boss’s boss thinks I’m great), I asked for Monday and Tuesday off to snooze on my sofa, play with my beads and maybe hit the beach? Maybe? We’ll see.**

4. From what situation this week would you have liked to eject yourself?

Finding that Max had…accidents…in the kitchen while we slept one night. A bit of rice mixed in with his food pulled him back on track. But that moment when you FIND that kind of mess? EJECT!

5. In what situation this week did you cede power to someone else?

Erm…I signed my lease for another year here at the dee-luxe apartment in the sky. So my livelihood is somewhat-controlled by the whims and whimsies of the apartment management.

Example: Our air conditioners (both) have been broken since August and we FINALLY got them both replaced. At first, we were victim to a less-than-honest maintenance manager — “The List” we were on did not exist. Once she was let go, I tried to open a new ticket, but they stop replacing air units in the winter and told us to wait ’til spring. Two weeks ago I started calling the maintenance office every other day. Last week I started calling every day. On Tuesday I showed up at the maintenance office. The new manager promised she’d be SURE to get someone out yesterday. Yesterday I called and assumptively asked when I could expect someone to show up. (This is a level of persistence I’d have NEVER had in my 20s, by the way.) The living room unit was replaced yesterday afternoon. The bedroom one was replaced today.

At the moment, we have this place so cold I’m wearing knit socks, pants, t-shirt AND A SWEATER. I’m drinking hot coffee and am enjoying life.

***

* WM out of work + big family wedding in August = 2010 being the Summer of Cheap! We’re filling in our free time with free/cheap excursions. The summer festival season is awesome here in South Jersey. There’s always something free/cheap to do.

**I’m looking for a beach in Central-to-South NJ where I won’t be blanket-to-blanket with the rest of humanity. Probably without a boardwalk. Just a simple beach, y’know? I don’t even need lifeguards. Any suggestions?

This week’s Friday Five topic is one near and dear to my heart: SLEEP. I love my sleep. I am a champion sleeper. I can sleep pretty much anywhere and through anything. It’s a gift!

Away we go!

1. How many hours’ sleep do you need in order to be at your best, and what’s the minimum you can get on a regular basis and still be functional?

To be my best, I’m an 8 hour girl. Used to be 10. But in order for me to get that 8 during the week, I have to be in bed by 10:30 and I’m usually wide awake at thet time, so I usually get about 6.5 hours.

The bare minimum I can have and be functional is 4 hours. I’ll be functional, but unhappy.

2. What’s your favorite sleeping position?

On my right side, with two artfully stacked pillows. I don’t like to be flat…ideally I’d be like this __/ but I don’t have bed pillows with enough gumption to get me to that angle. I sleep better on the sofa, if you can believe that.

3. What was the cause of your most recent difficulty sleeping?

Worry.

Sunday night I worried about getting back to work after furlough. Monday afternoon I received a call about some blood work I had done – my “thyroid” is “low” (that’s all I was told) and I have a followup appointment with my doctor this coming Monday. I don’t WANT to have a bum thyroid. I don’t WANT to have to start taking medicines to regulate it. I’m AFRAID to start mucking around with my body’s basic functions. I feel FINE. I AM fine. So I’ve been worried about that.

Also, I have two teachers in my life whom I care about greatly. One can’t find a teaching job and the other might be affected by the statewide cuts to school districts. I worry about both of them. I have a huge project I’m supposed to be working on at work that I can’t find the time to work on due to other things on my task list.

I am one writhing ball of worry right now, Mister Friday Five. It is a wonder and a marvel that I can actually converse with people right now.

4. When you can’t seem to drift off to sleep right away, what are some things you do to bring about sleep?

I love visualization. I imagine floating out of my window and down the nearby major road, looking down at all the little shops. I imagine being back here. I imagine the action-movie screenplay that’s in my head that I’ll never write because I have no idea how to write a screenplay. But it’s kick-butt.

5. When did you last doze off at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate place?

Days before I quit being a manager here (still the right decision) I had to go to our corporate office for a meeting. It was 2006 and I was dealing with the separation/divorce & the impending job change. The meeting was held in a large auditorium and I dozed off in my seat. One of my manager buddies woke me up. It was VERY embarrassing!

***

Wt: 164.0. Down 16.4 pounds.

Dream: I woke up to find a coworker in bed with me. I had no idea he was there, as he snuck in after I went to sleep and nothing happened. WM was not pleased. Nor was I.

See, I’m not a sales rep, so while I don’t have to deal with sales goals, I never get to do anything fun.

So we went bowing at Pinsetter in Pennsauken, one of the nicest bowling alleys I’ve been to in SJ. And I’ve been to MANY bowling alleys (Having been a VARSITY High School bowler and all).

I hadn’t been bowling for … 4 or 5 years now. Wow.

The first game was gimmicky, with instructions like “throw the ball down the alley backward between your legs” and “use this blindfold.” My score in the first game was a paltry 58, bolstered by a strike I rolled after spinning around three times.

The secret to that? Spot your turns like figure skaters do. Less dizzy.

Anyway, I bowled a 110 in game 2. Far from my old average of 169, but I’ll take it.

Have I mentioned I haven’t been bowling in 4 or 5 years?

I am in SUCH pain right now. Ohmigoshouch.

If you need me tomorrow, I’ll be crumpled up underneath my desk.

***
Chip is doing well. His blood tests came back okay. Now it’s just a waiting game to see it it happens again. It may never happen again. Which is what I’m praying for.

Morning in South Jersey

Why promising?

Because at work, if things continue to go well, I’ll be where I should be on my Task List by the end of the week. Except for that huge project due 10/31 that I haven’t started. Haven’t even looked at it. But I’ll take the fall (or be gleefully pushed under the bus) for that when the time comes.

Promising for other things, too. Nonbloggable for a bit, though. Bear with me. No, I’m not pregnant.

Dreams:

1), I have to ride on a rope swing and crash through a plate glass window. I do so on the 3rd try. The key was apparently to ball up really tiny on the rope swing so that my body doesn’t absorb all the pressure of impact. The energy is transferred to the window pane instead. (apparently my brain remembers some physics from years ago)

2) We sign up for a “World of Warcraft” cake decorating class. The first workshop is on how to pipe an orc onto a cake. We can’t find anyplace to keep the dogs, so we get a pet friendly hotel and bring them with us

Download ads, schedule ads, track down missing ads.

It also is slowly eroding my “Marriage is an outdated societal institution that exists to turn a profit” attitude of the last five years.

What cracks me up about the listings is all too often you can tell whose family wrote the announcement.

For example:

Announcement has been made of the engagement of John Doe and Jane Smith, both of Anytown, NJ.

Jane is the daughter of Rob and Mary Smith. She was Little Miss Anytown in 1992, graduated first in her class at Anytown High, and went on to graduate summa cum laude with a degree in chemical engineering from Anytown University. She’s currently a senior chemical engineer at AnytownChemCo and spends her spare time working in Anytown Soup Kitchen or playing with her gorgeous nieces Emmaleeigh and Soffieyiah.

John works with cars.

Best of luck with those inlaws, John.

**
Does this mean I should put up a big ol’ Paypal tipjar here?

He’s having a loud conversation on his cell phone as he wanders over to the racks of newspapers and picks up the competitor’s paper. I’m wearing my Courier-Post jacket and I say in a quiet-but-audible voice, “Noooo!”

“Yeah, I stopped to pick up a paper,” he says to the person on the other end of the line. “I got (insert competitor’s name here). You want a copy of the Courier?”

I say in my quiet-but-audible voice, “Get the Courier! Save my job!”

Still engrossed in his conversation, phone dude goes back to the rack and grabs a copy of the Courier-Post.

In my quiet-but-audible voice, I cheer, “Yaaaay! Yay Courier-Post! Thank you!”

As we leave Wawa, WM says to me, “You need to stop wearing that jacket.”

Friday Five: Turning

1. To whom do you normally turn when you need to complain about something?
My mother or WM, depending on the content of my complaint.

2. Which annual season-turning do you enjoy the most?
Winter into spring. It’s happening now. The teensy buds on the shrubs and trees are starting to appear. Easter flower signs are sprouting up everywhere. And it’s lighter later in the day (though I’d rather still have that in April – March to me was too early for DST). Yesterday, a bunch of dump trucks came by and landscapers spread new mulch all around the Dee-luxe apartment in the sky. (Ollie: For me to poop on!). The mulch stinks to high heaven, but it stinks like spring, and I’m okay with that.

3. Where can you get a really good turnover?
I don’t have pastry turnovers often at all. But there’s a place called Pizza Express that the ladies at work order from that makes great pizza turnovers.

4. What’s employee turnover like where you work?
They’re all running like rats from a sinking ship, thanks for asking!

I should probably mentioned that we all have to take a second unpaid furlough week this year; this time between April and June.

With my four weeks of vacation I already earn (great, isn’t it? If I were management, I’d scale that back before I started taking the private printers off peoples’ desks but what do I know?), the three personal days and the now two weeks extra unpaid time, I’m terrified they’re going to forget who I am.

But I’m still sticking with it, even though my shoulders are starting to bow from the workload and I dream of my task list with most of its items an angry red. Sharon and I used to be able to turn things around in a day or two. Now I’m 4-5 days behind. The sales reps laugh like I’m joking when I say, “I’ll get that to you next week.”

Do they not see the empty desk? Do they not remember?

Same workload / (old staff size/2) = Twice as long to get things done.

Forgive me, the last Friday of the fiscal period is generally the worst workday of the month for me.

Aren’t you glad you asked, Mister Friday Five?

5. One of the Wonder Twins could turn into any form of water, while the other could turn into any animal. Which of these powers would be more useful to you?

The Wonder Twins were lame, but I’d be a lioness over a puddle any day.

**
Thanks for still stopping by. I know it’s been dry here for a while, but I have nothing to write about. The Florida trip was great and is perfectly captured by the beach picture below.

I’ve been working on my jewelry making, but there’s really nothing I think that’s worth sharing. The World of Warcraft blog is growing like gangbusters (despite it not being worthy to promote above the scroll on the C-P site like the newsroom-written blogs are*), but I never really put that stuff here anyway.

Spring is here, though, which means more adventures out-of-doors and more things to write about. I have a 4-day Disney trip coming up, but I hate blogging about vacations in advance anymore for fear of jinxing them.

Hang in there. At worst, you have six years of archives to keep you busy.

Ding! Level 1

In case you didn’t know or couldn’t tell by the big honking link in the top navigation and the picture in the side rail, I write a World of Warcraft blog for the Courier-Post.

(pro bono)

Anyhoo, that blog is one year old today!

I’m very proud.