25.09.2001
feeling kinda
so, i'm not really sure what i did to piss someone Up There off. first, i get banished to the upper balcony for the opening Orpheum show, and nearly sweat to death. then i get the Marine Corps haircut. now, i'm apparently being sent to a customer site this week.
doesn't sound so bad, you say? what's the big deal about that, you wonder? it's in Worcester.
if you're from around here, 'nuff said. if not, understand that Woo is the armpit of the state. this, from my sister who went to school there. it has it's own weather system in a scary freaky way. we get 6" of snow, they get 3 feet. no joke. and you need special platform bar stomping shoes to go out there, because otherwise you'll end up in the wading pool. also? Spags. need i say more?
so, Woo it is. and i'm concerned about the code we're taking out there. it's... well, let's just say it's less than predictable. most delicate way i can explain it.
and why am i going? i'm being sent out there to install our product. now, i'm sitting with the manager of the project and the director, and they tell me this. i bite back the 'you must be joking' comment, look her straight in the eyes, and say 'any one of the people in this department should be fully capable of installing our product.' it's not rocket science, people! really and truly, it is not. if you're the least bit familiar with mainframes and our product, you should be all set. and yet. and yet, i've been assigned this bit of corporate handholding. i have to go out there, look pretty, sound professional, and do what any trained monkey could do, while making it look complex enough that our engineers don't look like dolts for not being able to do this themselves. but i'm not bitter.
on top of all that, we're talking about driver schedules, and when people should be turning over source code. the project manager says it's a shame that we can't get in a driver on Thursday (when i'm in Woo). i say, 'just as well. no point in doing one then when the final source freeze is Tuesday.' he looks at me with a combination stunned mullet/deer in the headlights expression. i say, 'you did realize that the final driver is on October 2nd, did you not?' come to find out, *his* calendar has an extra week in there for September 35th. he truly did not realize that we were that close to the finish line.
just goes to show you the effect that a little stress can have on a normally organized person.
so. so in addition to the purgatorial trip to Woo, we have a last minute driver tomorrow. right. always good to give the engineers less than 4 hours notice. gives 'em plenty of time to get things squared away.
since it's such short notice (as in, 5:00, end of business), we (read: me) won't start until noon. i'm going to come in late and stay late to get the driver done, then get up at the ass crack of dawn to head out to Woo the next day. whee freakin' ha. *mutters* i love my job, i love my job...
*sigh* anyway, caught up with mom and dad to tell them about the B.B. King show. really wish dad could have been there for that. he would have loved it. well, at least the last set. and it would have been really nice to share that experience with him. next best thing, i guess, is calling and taunting him with the details. ;)
he's had some court stuff going on - the person who did their front landscaping sold them dead trees. so dad went to get the money back. rather than apologizing and giving him a refund, the guy has been jerking him around. ooooo. bad move, buddy. my dad is so not the person you want to cross. the landscape guy has been skipping court dates, and rescheduling hearings, claiming he never got notice, all that hoo ha. idiot. so now? there's an arrest warrant out on him. and dad has a few other cards he can play. so dumb. the damages are now at least twice what they were originally, and i have a feeling it's going to get more expensive for Tree Boy before the story is over. *shakes head* oh, well. at least dad doesn't have to do anything else but wait for it to play out.
i have a note here (transcribing from paper journal, because my memory is for shit) that ChicaBeanie and i chatted. must have been interesting, otherwise i wouldn't have written it down, since we talk nearly every day. i'll be damned if i can remember what it was about, tho. huh.
managed to catch The Daily Show. it's so good to see them back on the air. really and truly. one of the constants of my life, my TV boyfriend, is back. more somber, 10% less funny, but there. and that feels nice.
caught up with a friend that i haven't touched base with in a while. so you'd think we'd be catching up on where we've been, trying to figure out when we can get together... no. nope, we spent over half an hour arguing about politics. man oh man. this is what happens when you put an only child and a first born in a room with heated opinions. Discussions Happen. :)
