I went.
(Posting hilarious sober pics w/ clients & bosses sometime soon. Okay, okay! Intoxicated ones too).
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
A glimmer of light?
Here we go again, I'm about to be optomistic and hopeful about my future at Freight Lanes International, only to probably once again be crushed by the odd couple (they've been properly dubbed) and their moody ways.
Today was a great day. There, I said it. I ate my oatmeal at 8am with no commentary from the peanut gallery who often pipe in with "what are you eating?" which I find somewhat annoying, if I'm honest. I didn't feel sick or dizzy like I usually do from 6am-8am either, I actually felt pretty normal. Also, the sky was becoming lighter during my two minute long 5:58am commute (race) to work (at 6am), which REALLY put me in a great mood from the get-go because IF it actually does get light at 6am, I'll be happy to be at work then. And I have a vague recollection from some other lifetime (before I was a writer and a stay-at-home girlfirned, and... you get the picture) that the sun does come out around 6am during the late spring and summer months. Anyone willing to vouch for this hypothesis? Surely, there must be a 6am spinning class addict among my group of friends?
Anyway, I think maybe it's all about attitude, like most other things in life. My smile (Steven says its a constant smile but I say that's only around him --cause if he saw me at work for the first three weeks, there were no smiles) maybe made the day go by faster, the work easier, the downtime more fun than in weeks past. Maybe my smile was the reason that Dino (who, up to this point, seems displeased with the whole world) actually said 'good job' to me! This after several hours of "f-in sh**" and "mother f*cker" directed at either the fax machine or else no one in particular--was a really big step forward, for what its worth. I guess the question remains though, what is it worth?
Still kind of fumbling over the decision of whether or not to go on the trip to Vegas for the Aviation Conference which runs February 16-18. I feel weird travelling with the odd couple but I LOVE Vegas for the three S's: sunshine, shopping, and seediness I guess, so it's kind of a toss up. Also, hoping that a friend or friends might tag along with me (which is why I put the dates out there people--dont be shy!) and have fun with me during the downtime when I'm not at the Aviation Expo thingy.
Hopefully, the glimmer of light that shined in Dino's eyes today will resurface tomorrow and the next day, because honestly, if I can make this job work, it'll really make life easier and more enjoyable in so many ways! Then again, if an opportunity comes along that is more aligned with my interests, I'll gladly kiss my career as a ground transportation broker good-bye.
Today was a great day. There, I said it. I ate my oatmeal at 8am with no commentary from the peanut gallery who often pipe in with "what are you eating?" which I find somewhat annoying, if I'm honest. I didn't feel sick or dizzy like I usually do from 6am-8am either, I actually felt pretty normal. Also, the sky was becoming lighter during my two minute long 5:58am commute (race) to work (at 6am), which REALLY put me in a great mood from the get-go because IF it actually does get light at 6am, I'll be happy to be at work then. And I have a vague recollection from some other lifetime (before I was a writer and a stay-at-home girlfirned, and... you get the picture) that the sun does come out around 6am during the late spring and summer months. Anyone willing to vouch for this hypothesis? Surely, there must be a 6am spinning class addict among my group of friends?
Anyway, I think maybe it's all about attitude, like most other things in life. My smile (Steven says its a constant smile but I say that's only around him --cause if he saw me at work for the first three weeks, there were no smiles) maybe made the day go by faster, the work easier, the downtime more fun than in weeks past. Maybe my smile was the reason that Dino (who, up to this point, seems displeased with the whole world) actually said 'good job' to me! This after several hours of "f-in sh**" and "mother f*cker" directed at either the fax machine or else no one in particular--was a really big step forward, for what its worth. I guess the question remains though, what is it worth?
Still kind of fumbling over the decision of whether or not to go on the trip to Vegas for the Aviation Conference which runs February 16-18. I feel weird travelling with the odd couple but I LOVE Vegas for the three S's: sunshine, shopping, and seediness I guess, so it's kind of a toss up. Also, hoping that a friend or friends might tag along with me (which is why I put the dates out there people--dont be shy!) and have fun with me during the downtime when I'm not at the Aviation Expo thingy.
Hopefully, the glimmer of light that shined in Dino's eyes today will resurface tomorrow and the next day, because honestly, if I can make this job work, it'll really make life easier and more enjoyable in so many ways! Then again, if an opportunity comes along that is more aligned with my interests, I'll gladly kiss my career as a ground transportation broker good-bye.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Still in Office Purgatory...Day 14
Just when I felt like Dino and I were making headway, I just received an email through work that was accidentally sent to me. It was intended to be from Dino to Rick, but somehow my name was on it. Here's the part that's upsetting to me, and the only mention of me in the email. Dino was updating Rick on what was happening while Rick was in NYC. FYI, I got in at 7am yesterday!
Here's the quote from Dino's email:
"As far as Amy B goes, she didn't offer an excuse to why she was late (7:15AM) and I didn't bother asking her. We had a bunch of calls that Susan took for us and I got in at 6:35AM. Its frustrating when the phones are ringing for either you or Susan or anyone in general* and she just lets it ring. Not sure what she does on her computer all day but I'd bet that it isn't anything to do with Freight Lanes. It would be interesting to look at the history on her computer. I want it to work out, but so far I'm unhappy with her assistance and overall work. Hopefully she'll get a clue as my days are like yours or about 10 hrs. At 2:00PM, she is ready to leave. Giving her an automatic 40 hrs feels like shes taking an advantage of us. I wore the battery out again on my headset> 2nd time this week and haven't ate anything which is my fault for not taking a time out for lunch."
One final note, Susan told me, if the phone isn’t for Dino or Rick, I don’t need to pick it up. If the broker isn't picking up, better for it to go to voicemail and for the broker to get the msg directly.
I thought about saying something face-to-face. I thought about saying 'how can you be upset, I’ve created orders and dispatched probably close to 40 loads with absolute accuracy to the specs, dims, weight, locations, talked to drivers state-to-state, without any training from you...And you're complaining that I don’t answer phones?
Or I thought I could email -
Dear Dino,
Was this supposed to come to me? If not, when were you planning to share this with me? My resume listed lots of talents, but mindreading wasn’t one of them.
The history on my computer just may be the most interesting, thought-provoking part of your day, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you, I'd hate to see that headset pop off of your brain as it explodes from knowledge.
Sincerely,
Amy
Here's the quote from Dino's email:
"As far as Amy B goes, she didn't offer an excuse to why she was late (7:15AM) and I didn't bother asking her. We had a bunch of calls that Susan took for us and I got in at 6:35AM. Its frustrating when the phones are ringing for either you or Susan or anyone in general* and she just lets it ring. Not sure what she does on her computer all day but I'd bet that it isn't anything to do with Freight Lanes. It would be interesting to look at the history on her computer. I want it to work out, but so far I'm unhappy with her assistance and overall work. Hopefully she'll get a clue as my days are like yours or about 10 hrs. At 2:00PM, she is ready to leave. Giving her an automatic 40 hrs feels like shes taking an advantage of us. I wore the battery out again on my headset> 2nd time this week and haven't ate anything which is my fault for not taking a time out for lunch."
One final note, Susan told me, if the phone isn’t for Dino or Rick, I don’t need to pick it up. If the broker isn't picking up, better for it to go to voicemail and for the broker to get the msg directly.
I thought about saying something face-to-face. I thought about saying 'how can you be upset, I’ve created orders and dispatched probably close to 40 loads with absolute accuracy to the specs, dims, weight, locations, talked to drivers state-to-state, without any training from you...And you're complaining that I don’t answer phones?
Or I thought I could email -
Dear Dino,
Was this supposed to come to me? If not, when were you planning to share this with me? My resume listed lots of talents, but mindreading wasn’t one of them.
The history on my computer just may be the most interesting, thought-provoking part of your day, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you, I'd hate to see that headset pop off of your brain as it explodes from knowledge.
Sincerely,
Amy
Monday, February 8, 2010
Mondaze - from Urban Dictionary
I'm sorry, I owe you another chapter. Instead, I give you this:
February 8: mondaze
a daze you find yourself in due to it being Monday
I locked my keys in my car because I was in a total Mondaze. I hate the start of a new work week.
February 8: mondaze
a daze you find yourself in due to it being Monday
I locked my keys in my car because I was in a total Mondaze. I hate the start of a new work week.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
To get me through...(from McSweeney's)
Well, it's not yet noon and I've been at work for nearly 6 hours. Normally, I'd be in my home office (bed) til about now. Anyway, I'm here, being productive, surfing the web for content to get me through today's "slow" day. My friend Chris re-introduced me to McSweeney's today, an old favorite. Here's the type of thing that's getting me through:
Hot Emergen-C Raspberry-Flavored Drink Mix
Submitted by Michael Pesant
Never mind the empty bag of Maxwell House in the break room, just pour this potent vitamin mix into a steaming mug of water. Some powder will escape into the air, enveloping you in a cloud of mineral goodness. Breathe it in. The drink looks like Star Wars, but the taste is a berry tea. Allow the soothing warmth of your fruity libation to ease you into the day.
As you sip, seven mineral ascorbates blast into your bloodstream with the veracity of a seasoned woodsman. Guess what? You just got 15% of your recommended daily intake of magnesium, 13 % of your Zinc, and a cool quarter of your Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Manganese, and Pantothenic Acid. Feel your cells tingling as they absorb 417% DV of Vitamin B12. Take ten deep breaths. You've just ingested over sixteen times the amount of Vitamin C considered reasonable by leading experts.
Can you feel it? You've left the mere mortals behind. You're now a superhuman entity. Feel free to roam about your office bathroom sans the usual facemask and gallon of anti-bacterial sanitizer. Let your hand linger on the toilet handle. Drink heartily from the coughs and sneezes of your coworkers; kiss them where they pee. Challenge your bolstered immunity. It will not be denied.
Try moving something with your mind. Nothing major, maybe just that empty desk. Some light telekinesis. It moved. Did you see it? I thought you did.
Have you defied the laws of physics? No. You're tripping balls on non-essential minerals.
Good morning, World.
Hot Emergen-C Raspberry-Flavored Drink Mix
Submitted by Michael Pesant
Never mind the empty bag of Maxwell House in the break room, just pour this potent vitamin mix into a steaming mug of water. Some powder will escape into the air, enveloping you in a cloud of mineral goodness. Breathe it in. The drink looks like Star Wars, but the taste is a berry tea. Allow the soothing warmth of your fruity libation to ease you into the day.
As you sip, seven mineral ascorbates blast into your bloodstream with the veracity of a seasoned woodsman. Guess what? You just got 15% of your recommended daily intake of magnesium, 13 % of your Zinc, and a cool quarter of your Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Manganese, and Pantothenic Acid. Feel your cells tingling as they absorb 417% DV of Vitamin B12. Take ten deep breaths. You've just ingested over sixteen times the amount of Vitamin C considered reasonable by leading experts.
Can you feel it? You've left the mere mortals behind. You're now a superhuman entity. Feel free to roam about your office bathroom sans the usual facemask and gallon of anti-bacterial sanitizer. Let your hand linger on the toilet handle. Drink heartily from the coughs and sneezes of your coworkers; kiss them where they pee. Challenge your bolstered immunity. It will not be denied.
Try moving something with your mind. Nothing major, maybe just that empty desk. Some light telekinesis. It moved. Did you see it? I thought you did.
Have you defied the laws of physics? No. You're tripping balls on non-essential minerals.
Good morning, World.
Monday, February 1, 2010
First Day/Daze of Work...
I could write this blog one of two ways. One, I could let everyone in my office know about it and use it as sort of a fun, social forum for all of us to connect and comment and generate ideas and funny office clamor. Or two, I could chose a path that might be fun at first but may ultimately come back to bite me in the ass. Isn't it always a choice between a high road and a low road? Wow, I'm starting to speak in trucker cliches after only my first day as Executive Assistant--and I take that as a sign that I'm taking the low road, whether I like it or not. So welcome, friends, family, and total strangers...to my rant.
Disclaimer: Oh, nevermind. I can't really justify this except for that it just makes me feel better after a challenging eight hour day.
Thoughts on my first two days, comprised of a Saturday "company-wide training" on new software, and my "first official day", Monday Morning. I'll attack each behemoth of bad experience individually and then perhaps bridge them together with common themes.
First impressions: I'm working in a frat house for beer-bellied adults that are far to old to be acting this way.
Now picture this: It's 9am on Saturday morning, I walk into the office with a whirl of stares at every inch of me, as if I was part of the breakfast buffet, which consisted of enough food for the 16 male bodies in the office, and a few scattered female faces. There were burgers and hot dogs, too. There was so much food. Gallon-sized condiments sealed for freshness. Eggs, bacon, tortillas, hash browns, everything was being cooked on skillets. Then there were muffins, orange juice, vodka and beer, tomato juice...wait, wait. Back up. Vodka and beer? At 9am? Half of the Costco-sized bottle of Absolut was already missing, and I don't think it went into the recipe for the eggs. Now, I am not a prude when it comes to drinking (truth be told, I'm a lightweight because of my eating, exercise, and pill-popping necessities, and therefore, I was feeling a little under the weather from the previous night's margarita (singular). After the stares subsided, the first round of verbal greetings, to me, the new girl, began:
One of the brokers, the one who always talks about religion (this guy really rubs me the wrong way): "You'll fit in around here if you drink"
Brokers 2-13 (all men): "Wanna beer/vodka/beer/vodka/c'mon/beer/vodka..."
1 of my 2 bosses: "I dont think the other guys like me very much because I don't really like to drink on the job. I don't really socialize with any of them"
Broker #14: Your boss is an asshole, Amy. Oh shoot, you didn't know that yet?
Me: It's not even my first day yet, and you're seriously telling me my boss is an asshole AND asking me to drink alcohol at 9:15am? Are you kidding me?
Brokers (all): (silence as they stare).
Me: I heard I get a gym membership?
Mostly, I kept my mouth shut and retreated to my chair nestled in the corner with a fake bright green plant.
My first insane thought: I should make it a ritual to water the fake bright green plants everyday. Maybe if I just water the fake plants every day, they'll get a little taste of how I feel--kind of nuts for taking this job in the first place.
Crazy for taking this job. There, I said it. Crazy for caring so much about Steven and Paris that I'd rather work at my new job (name will be kept secret!) than spend another day scraping by, unable to pay my own debt, let alone help out with our monthly expenses...
I can't decide which was worse, Saturday or Monday Morning (aka, my first day). Now, you may be thinking, "why is she calling her first day "Monday Morning"?" Here's why: Brokers voluntarily come in at 6:00am. Come in! I come home at 6:00am sometimes. What gives? 6:00am is indecent. It's wrong! And it's pitch black in January. It felt like I was going on one of those unwanted high school trips to Boston again, getting up wicked early, giving myself an Italian Shower (body splash everywhere), and heading to the school to climb into a charter bus for the long haul. Realistically, my fate that day was far worse, as I entered the office, and tried to hide in my corner with my chair, my fake plant, and a new desk, complete with a broken computer. The computer was fixed by 6:45am. I should've been in bed. The coffee was brewed at 6:55. I should've still been in bed. The calls were made to the other applicants that the Exec Assistant position had been filled by yours truly. I should have still been in bed, and I shouldn't have tossed their resumes so soon.
Anyway, I'm not even going to edit because I'm too freaking tired. Don't get me started about the rest of the day. I'm such a kvetch whem I'm tired (look it up, I don't want to do another reference to my religion and sound like Cliff...oops, I revealed his name).
Maybe I'll take a jog around Craigslist job postings before bed tonight...
Disclaimer: Oh, nevermind. I can't really justify this except for that it just makes me feel better after a challenging eight hour day.
Thoughts on my first two days, comprised of a Saturday "company-wide training" on new software, and my "first official day", Monday Morning. I'll attack each behemoth of bad experience individually and then perhaps bridge them together with common themes.
First impressions: I'm working in a frat house for beer-bellied adults that are far to old to be acting this way.
Now picture this: It's 9am on Saturday morning, I walk into the office with a whirl of stares at every inch of me, as if I was part of the breakfast buffet, which consisted of enough food for the 16 male bodies in the office, and a few scattered female faces. There were burgers and hot dogs, too. There was so much food. Gallon-sized condiments sealed for freshness. Eggs, bacon, tortillas, hash browns, everything was being cooked on skillets. Then there were muffins, orange juice, vodka and beer, tomato juice...wait, wait. Back up. Vodka and beer? At 9am? Half of the Costco-sized bottle of Absolut was already missing, and I don't think it went into the recipe for the eggs. Now, I am not a prude when it comes to drinking (truth be told, I'm a lightweight because of my eating, exercise, and pill-popping necessities, and therefore, I was feeling a little under the weather from the previous night's margarita (singular). After the stares subsided, the first round of verbal greetings, to me, the new girl, began:
One of the brokers, the one who always talks about religion (this guy really rubs me the wrong way): "You'll fit in around here if you drink"
Brokers 2-13 (all men): "Wanna beer/vodka/beer/vodka/c'mon/beer/vodka..."
1 of my 2 bosses: "I dont think the other guys like me very much because I don't really like to drink on the job. I don't really socialize with any of them"
Broker #14: Your boss is an asshole, Amy. Oh shoot, you didn't know that yet?
Me: It's not even my first day yet, and you're seriously telling me my boss is an asshole AND asking me to drink alcohol at 9:15am? Are you kidding me?
Brokers (all): (silence as they stare).
Me: I heard I get a gym membership?
Mostly, I kept my mouth shut and retreated to my chair nestled in the corner with a fake bright green plant.
My first insane thought: I should make it a ritual to water the fake bright green plants everyday. Maybe if I just water the fake plants every day, they'll get a little taste of how I feel--kind of nuts for taking this job in the first place.
Crazy for taking this job. There, I said it. Crazy for caring so much about Steven and Paris that I'd rather work at my new job (name will be kept secret!) than spend another day scraping by, unable to pay my own debt, let alone help out with our monthly expenses...
I can't decide which was worse, Saturday or Monday Morning (aka, my first day). Now, you may be thinking, "why is she calling her first day "Monday Morning"?" Here's why: Brokers voluntarily come in at 6:00am. Come in! I come home at 6:00am sometimes. What gives? 6:00am is indecent. It's wrong! And it's pitch black in January. It felt like I was going on one of those unwanted high school trips to Boston again, getting up wicked early, giving myself an Italian Shower (body splash everywhere), and heading to the school to climb into a charter bus for the long haul. Realistically, my fate that day was far worse, as I entered the office, and tried to hide in my corner with my chair, my fake plant, and a new desk, complete with a broken computer. The computer was fixed by 6:45am. I should've been in bed. The coffee was brewed at 6:55. I should've still been in bed. The calls were made to the other applicants that the Exec Assistant position had been filled by yours truly. I should have still been in bed, and I shouldn't have tossed their resumes so soon.
Anyway, I'm not even going to edit because I'm too freaking tired. Don't get me started about the rest of the day. I'm such a kvetch whem I'm tired (look it up, I don't want to do another reference to my religion and sound like Cliff...oops, I revealed his name).
Maybe I'll take a jog around Craigslist job postings before bed tonight...
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