I am pleased to announce that my little site has the power to heal modems! Since I posted that my internet was acting all funky, it has been totally fine (ach! knock on wood!). Possibly Starpower read of my complaints and secretly sent a technician in here while I was at work today, and for that I say, thank you Starpower! Well played. Well played indeed.

So did I tell you that my successor at work started on Monday? I am training him. It is hard. I have never trained anyone before - well, I did help the new girl acclimate herself to the milkshake blender that summer I worked at Baskin Robbins when I was sixteen, but this is different.

This is hardcore. This is like, “Hey! Let me explain to you everything I have learned to do, and list every person I deal with frequently, in the ALMOST TWO YEARS I HAVE WORKED HERE.” Gah!

So…yeah. Hardcore training in action. On the first day, we sat down together at my big boat-like reception desk, and I seriously did not know where to start. Plus, I felt really self-conscious about even opening Outlook and going over my emails from the weekend, because he was watching me do everything! I mean, as he should, because, again, training, but still. Jeez.

I think I talked for about three hours straight that Monday morning. Eventually my throat was dry, I was exhausted, and he looked catatonic. So I sent him to root around in the client files, so he could read all our secrets and learn some industry lingo while I did a little work.

Anyway, he’s doing great. We have this complicated phone system and he is perfect at it already. I explained everything to him once and then hid in the storage room and called him on my cell phone a bunch of times to test out random situations. I’d run over to one coworker’s office and be like, “Okay, he’s going to buzz you and say it’s me calling, but you’re going to say you don’t want to talk and that I need to go to voicemail.” Then I would call him, and from down the hall I’d hear him buzz the coworker, and she’d say “No! Don’t put her through! I owe her too much money.” Then he would come back on the line and say, “So sorry! She is…indisposed. Would you like voicemail?” Hee!

I’m making an effort to only go over one major process or task per day so that I don’t burn him out and have to explain things a second time later. We do have three weeks together, so I figured this was a good strategy.

However I am getting a little worried, because we have a big event next week and therefore things are very hectic right now. Each of my four coworkers keep making requests of me every 30 seconds or so, and it’s really stressful. (Between the Starpower guy saying my name 46 times over the phone, and my coworkers calling me constantly, I am starting to despise my name.) The new guy is being GREAT about doing little tasks I delegate to him, but I’m getting worried that he’s having second thoughts about the job now that he sees how needy all our officemates are.

Today there was some down time, so I was doing paperwork and I told him to feel free to check his email. He got up from doing that after a while and left the internet window up, and when I went to work on the computer I noticed that he was looking at job postings! I guess it’s possible that he’s looking for a friend, or just browsing, but…I don’t know. I’m worried that he’s gonna bail. I tried to feel him out a little; I asked him whether the job was turning out to be what he expected, and he said yes, and seemed sincere. Do you think I should probe a little more?

Non-work stories to follow

(Except to say that I am leaving on Sunday for Salt Lake City for work, for five days. But now I am done! No more work talk at all!)

A friend came over tonight to watch Top Model and eat takeout. It was awesome. All of it. The friend, the show (Naima, I love you!), and the pad thai. Food tastes so good when it is delivered right to your door.

Damn, I just realized my apartment is sweltering right now. The weather here has reached that phase where it is 50 degrees in the morning but 80 by noon. Hard to dress for that. Today I wore a skirt and a sweater, as a sort of compromise, and when I got home I was all sweaty so I just lay around in my underwear (as you do). I figured that when my friend arrived she’d buzz in from the front door so I’d have time to put clothes back on, but nothing ever goes the way I plan it.

I was all chillin’ in my underwear and the doorbell rang. I yelled through the door, “WHO IS IT?” and my friend said, “IT’S ME!” and I just unlocked the door and immediately started running away from it, toward the closet, while yelling “ComeinbutIhavenoclothesonsoI’llberightthere!” And then I put my pajamas on and joined her in the living room.

This is the type of classy social interaction one needs to be prepared for when visiting my apartment. Man, it is going to be hard to adjust to having a roommate again.

Other, random crap

I got a new email address: supinefever@gmail.com. I have heard good things about this whole gmail craze that seems to have taken hold of America, so I’m gonna “give it a go!” as the English say.

Historically, I have always been behind the times when it comes to technology. I remember the first time I became aware that email existed. It was 10th grade, so around 1995, and I was all, “That’ll never catch on! ‘Email?’ Pshaw. What’s wrong with letters? You’ll never catch ME falling for this ‘email’ thing.”

(Don’t worry; I am not going to include that anecdote on my application if I am ever in the running for a trend scout job with H&M.)

Also, it was only last year that I got a DVD player. It was pretty much the same story as with the email…you know, “DVDs??! What’s wrong with tapes? Good lord, you people will fall for anything!” Heh heh…whoops.

Well, at least I have finally given up all my old Beta tapes. Baby steps, people! Baby steps.

And in closing

Congratulations to my good friend Peter for winning the Diarist Award for best new blog! I am so happy for him. Go say hi!