Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. Being moderately Irish, as most Americans are, Faye and I had our annual St. Paddy's Day feast and screening of Darby O'Gill and the little people last night. Faye made veggie “meat”balls smothered in a delicious Guinness cream sauce. I made vegetarian Bubble and Squeak (the leftovers of which I'm enjoying right at this moment). Black and Tans (or half and halfs, if you want to be politically correct about things), were had by many, and laughter by all. Gotta love any holiday that celebrates drinking. (Well, I suppose technically, it celebrates a snake-free Ireland, but, like most holidays, history and tradition have obliterated the original intent of the holiday almost entirely. Yahoo!)

I spoke to my boss about the internet situation today. He denied any knowledge of it at first. Later, he sent me an email coming clean about having ordered the Big Brotherization of my computer. We have been engaged in email discourse ever since. I am arguing that I don't let the internet get in the way of my work (which really is true, for the most part. I always get my work done). He is arguing that people should never have any down time at work. I am arguing that I had thought we had a good system of open communication here that should have allowed him to feel comfortable enough to discuss such matters with me, rather that blocking things and denying it. I am also arguing that I shouldn't be singled out (to which he replied that he will make sure no one has access to email). We are still working things out. The bottom line is that I definitely feel a rift here. I always thought I had a pretty good relationship with my boss, but I guess I was wrong. It's still all about making money for him. He also seems to have a hard time realising that even though this company is HIS life, it isn't necessarily anyone else's (and it certainly isn't mind…I'm not getting paid enough for it to be). I know it's probably too much to ask that I have access to personal email here. I'm sure most companies, if they scrutinized the situation carefully enough, wouldn't allow it for their employees. But it still feels like unnecessary regulation. Afterall, how am I supposed to feel loyal to a company that doesn't trust that I am getting my work done? In a company this small, it really hurts business to have those kinds of rifts between employer and employee (and co-workers, for that matter). Furthermore, employees who aren't necessarily INTO the job they perform, NEED little outlets like email and LJ to keep from getting disgruntled enough to become violent. FURTHERfurthermore, if I wasn't able to work on my movie career whilst working my day job, I would be stuck here forever. And then someone really would have to die.
Blah! BLAH, I say!

In unrelated news, I REALLY wish I'd written this.

March 18, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

This morning I got on the elevator with three other (two ladies and a man) people who seemed to work together but were getting off at different floors. The interaction was as follows:

Lady #2: Good morning!

Lady #1: Hi.

Lady #1 exits elevator

Lady #2:(calling after lady #1) Go get 'em!

Doors close.

Lady #2: (to man) She is on my deathwish list.

I found this interaction strange for several reasons. First of all, who says “Go get 'em” in earnest to a person as a way to start the work day? The answer is probably no one. Because she was being sarcastic and actually hates the woman. But it also made me think of how many people I have to pretend to like in a work (or social) situation and how many people might also be only pretending to like me.

March 1, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

WEEKEND RECAP

This will be one of the last posts for a while, as I will be in London. I might post in short spurts while I'm there, but I've already promised to check my work email and internet time is expensive in cafes. Anywho…

Friday
I was in for a mellow night after one of the worst work weeks in recent memory. Faye and I watched Super Size Me and Holes and enjoyed them both. We also enjoyed beers. End of story.

Saturday
I started helping Faye move around 10:30 am. We were going from a second floor apartment to a third floor apartment (with twice as many stairs as a normal apartment because the floor levels are split for some reason). It was definitely some hard work but luckily there were 6 of us and Faye doesn't really have a LOT of stuff. Also, Faye's parents (who are THE coolest parents in history) were sensitive to my wonky knees and so I did more helping Faye pack than I did hauling stuff up the stairs. Somehow I'm STILL sore from it all though. Yoga is great for general exercise but it doesn't involve a lot of heavy lifting. (Only as much as lifting my own body…which is certainly heavy, but apparently not as much as a box full of old English anthologies).
After finishing up, we had a beer starter and then Faye took us to Charlie's as a reward. Later, we ended up back at Casa Zookster to watch movies. We ended up getting a weird hankering to watch Total Recall. I hadn't seen the full version of it in a while (just the television edit) and I had forgotten how needlessly, graphically and awesomely violent it is! Paul Verhoeven's films are definitely among my favorite guilty pleasures. Especially since he has NO IDEA how ridiculous he is. We listened to a bit of the commentary and he was actually explaining the fact that the movie is a dream over and over and over again. “You see here, zis is the woman he chooses to be in his dream and then later you see zis woman again so you know he is still dreaming…” We GET it, dude. This isn't Eternal Sunshine we're watching here. (Although the plots do have their parallels).

Sunday
I skipped yoga because I was so rediculously sore from moving stuff and Faye and I partook of the time-honored Tacoma tradition of going to Target for no reason. It wasn't that exciting for her because she works right by it, but for me it was a joyful novelty. We ate taco bell (thinking, all the while, about Super Size Me) and then proceeded to fill our cart full of things we sort of needed but not really. I didn't break $100, though, which surprised me. I think it's because of the clothes. Target used to have great cheap clothes and now everything they sell looks like work-out clothes. I blame Jessica Simpson for making leisure-wear hip. No cute little spring dress for me.
Later, we attended Brian's Oscar party. I had planned on dressing up like Clementine to support Kate Winslet who was sure to be snubbed, but I couldn't find my Pippi Longstocking wig. We drank just the right amount of Cook's to make us slightly belligerent toward the actors on TV and a good time was had by all, even though the Oscars are bullshit. (However, I was very tickled and exited about Charlie Kaufman winning for Best Screenplay. Go Charlie! Way to break into the mainstream much to your apparent embarrassment!).

And now I'm back here for what will probably be three very stressful days of work. Lil D. is already acting put out by my future absense even though she hasn't had to do ANY extra work yet. I was explaining to her about the various outstanding issues and she was slumping on the couch and closing her eyes as if my words were giving her a migraine. I'm sorry you will have to take extra time out from shopping at Nordstrom.com to do a little of my job, beyotch.

Hooray for Mondays!

February 28, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

This office is in the process of making absolute sure I don't want to come back here after holiday next week. Go on, co-workers, pretend I'm not brain-hemorrhagingly busy and give me another time consuming job. I fucking dare you.

February 23, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

Lots to write about from this weekend, but no time to write it. Hopefully tomorrow.
I just got a huge mailing sprung on me for which I didn't budget any time before I leave for London (in a little over a week). Meanwhile, Lil' D. keeps asking me if I've taught the interns how to do this or that, leading me to believe that she plans on doing exactly NOTHING to help me out while I'm gone. I guess when, she said that in this office “everyone needs to fill in when necessary to meet a common goal” she actually meant “EveryJessica” needs to fill in.

February 22, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

A work-day inspire haiku:

I wonder how much
force it takes to kill someone
with a three-hole punch.

February 9, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

I just wanted to transcribe the introductory paragraph(s) from the quarterly letter we send out to our clients here at my day job. Let me remind you of what I do so that you can fully understand the gravity of this letter. We manage individual investment portfolios. In other words, we help rich people get richer through the stock market. There are two owners of our company. One of them writes the quarterly newsletter designed to assuage any fears that our clients might have about fluctuations in the market or economy. He is, at least on the surface, a conservative man in both demeanor and politics. And with that in mind, read on:

“Help me, Rhonda. Hurtling through a blur of traffic like a misguided missile, why, tell me, is it that most taxicabs don't have seatbelts? It makes you feel as vulnerable as a mosquito contesting highway airspace with the grille of a Mack truck. After all, we live in a 'safety belt' society where warnings, precautions and advisories are as ubiquitous as a multitude of moose milling around Manitoba. Examples of today's ever present alerts would be:
WARNING: Flexible Flyer sleds have recorded very poor crash test results in collisions with sidewalk curbs.
WARNING: This space age toy include 5,254 parts, requires self-assembly and a 315-piece professional tool set. Batteries NOT included.
But there is a way to make decisions and live life free of being constantly 'on guard' for fear of making a mistake. Over the entrance to the public library is the inscription that 'knowledge will set you free'. And information is knowledge. Information brings understanding which in turn brings a sense of security or trust. It is that information about [Company Name] that we want to impart to our clients and prospects so that there is a knowledge of what we stand for and what we can be expected to deliver.”

Granted, by the end of that, I SORT OF understand what he's trying to say. But I'll be damned if a client can get past the first paragraph without thinking they are reading the ravings of a lunatic.

February 8, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

I just got on the elevator to go downstairs and was accosted by the most horrible whiff of B.O. There was no one on the elevator so whoever is responsible for the offense had just left. But as I held my breath during the trip, I got to thinking. In our building, you will never be on the elevator for more than 2 minutes. That means Mr. or Ms. Stinkypants is positively SOAKING in this stench. How, in a high class office environment like this, can a person live from day to day smelling like that? I would think that co-workers would complain to the boss, or, at the very least, leave an anonymous gift of speed stick for their odorous colleague. Unless this person was a client, in which case…I don't know. Surely SOMEONE must say something to them. If strangers on the street feel comfortable enough to tell me they like my ass, they surely shouldn't be shy about telling someone else that they need a bath.

I'm just sayin'.

January 27, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I'm Working . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment