Tuesday, September 04, 2007

BACK TO IT

Things seem to finally be getting back to normal. After my planned vacation I returned to work to hear that I was getting an unplanned vacation because the new office building we were moving into wasn’t ready. We were given three days off and asked to report in Friday the 31st at the new location. On Friday we worked for about half the day because things still weren’t really ready to go. When I came back to the office today I still had no power and no phone at my workstation.

Notice how I said workstation and not office? That is because I no longer have an office. Despite constant reassurances and the fact that my office was on the floor plan it no longer exists because there wasn’t room for it. There are, however, about 8 storage rooms and one empty office. The empty office is, I believe, an overflow area for the executive team to work in when their offices, the board room, and the executive work area just aren’t doing it. When I complained about this in an angry email I got called into the Deputy Director’s office and was told I was unprofessional. Huh. I would have thought it was unprofessional to neglect to tell an employee that they no longer have an office and let them find out when they go to tour the new facility, but maybe I am wrong.

When I came in this morning there was still no power and no phone. I helped unpack some other rooms and sat around until about 12:30 when I left with a co-worker for a nice long lunch. When I got back both the phone and the computer were on. Hooray. That means I can get back to the important things like my job and my blog. I start teaching my Customer Service class again next week. That should be awesome.

Over the holiday weekend my parents were in town for the Chicago Jazz fest. It was a great time. While they were here we listened to good music and ate good food. In fact, we even hit up The Gage where Johnny Yen works but I didn’t see anyone there that looked like him. The food was just as awesome as he says it is on his blog. YUM. It was so great to have them here, even though I just saw them the other week in Minneapolis. I love those guys.

At Jazz fest there were a couple of jerks and I love to talk about jerks on my blog. Jerk #1 was the no smoking lady. While I am a huge supporter of no smoking in areas where there are no smoking signs or where it is socially expected that no one light up, I am not a huge supporter of asking people not to smoke when there are none of those things going on; like at a free outdoor concert in the park. She first turned to some young folk and held up a fake cigarette to her lips while giving them a disapproving wag of the finger. It wasn’t just what she was doing but the way in which she was doing it that made me want to die. After they put their cigarettes out (nice kids because if it was certain folk I know they would have blown smoke in her face or used her head for an ashtray) she turned to a grown man a row in front of her. He looked at her like she had lost her mind so she went to security. The guard she approached was smoking, which was pretty funny. Although I couldn’t hear their conversation the security guard did a lot of shrugging and shaking her head while the lady waved her hands about and looked upset. On her way back the lady spoke to the smoking man again and he got up and left the seating area to finish his cigarette. This leaves me with a question, did she lie to the man or was he just fed up with her?

Then there was the self-important jerk sitting all alone in the row in front of my parents and I. This guy turned to some young people who appeared to be tourists from Japan who were sitting next to us and did the talking motion with his hands at them. They weren’t talking very loud because I couldn’t hear them and I was right there. In fact, my Mom and I had to be talking just as loud. He didn’t say anything to us though. Again, it is a free outdoor concert, get a life guy. Then some kids came and sat in the row in front of him despite the fact that he had five empty seats on one side of him and about seven on the other, he tapped one of the kids on the shoulder and asked if he would trade seats with his shorter friend so that this guy could see. The kicker is that they moved. Maybe I am an ass but I would have looked at him and said, “Why don’t you see if your view improves in one of the twelve empty seats surrounding you?” How rude.

To continue with things getting back to normal, here are some songs to guess.

1. I went all the way to Paris/ To forget your face/ Captured in stained glass/ Young lives long since past/ Statues of lovers everyplace

2. Tie yourself to me/ No one else knows/ You’re not rid of me/ No you’re not rid of me. Rid Of Me, PJ Harvey. Identified by Eve.

3. No you didn’t just leave/ I actually kicked you out/ I couldn’t hardly believe that the words came out my mouth. In The Way, Ani DiFranco. Identified by Brooke.

4. I don’t want to wait in vain for your love/ From the very first time I set my eyes on you girl/ My heart says follow through. Waiting in Vain, Bob Marley. Identified by Phil

5. Baby your magic is working/ I lose control of myself/ Whenever you are near me/ I feel myself changing/ From a guy thought too cynical for love into a hopeless romantic

12 comments:

Eve said...

2. Rid of me! Yay! I can always count on you to include a PJ Harvey song.

I hate rudeness. What jerks. Especially the non-smoking lady. If it bugs you, move!

Blog Antagonist said...

Oooh. I'm so envious! I bet the Chicago Jazz fest was so awesome! Aside from the jerks, of course. The older I get, the less patience I have with jerks. I wouldn't have been as gracious to either one of them.

Traveling Matt said...

Riddle time!
Q: what's worse than a bitch?
A: a dumb bitch

Q: What do you call a dumb bitch who doesn't know she's dumb or a bitch?
A: Your deputy director.

don't forget lunch tomorrow w/ Lindsay and the potential friend.

Phil said...

#4 is Waiting In Vain by Bob Marley. Yeah! My first one right.

Anonymous said...

Dude, office moves are hell. So sorry about your office shafting. And I'm proud to be one of those 'certain folk you know'. Her head totally would have been my ashtray for the night.

3 - In The Way - Ani DiFranco. That whole album contributed to my final decision to break up with Ed. Particularly this song, and Icarus, which made me want to cry when I realized we were that couple.

Remind me to tell you about the dream I had about you. Dancing Hobo nightlight. Ha.

CS said...

The no smoking woman is clearly the sister of the no smoking man my son and I encountered at the outdoor concert here!

Katrina said...

I'm sorry to hear about no longer having an office. That's completely bogus!

And then to have to deal with such rude people. Ugh!! Hope the rest of the week goes better.

Foofa said...

Eve- In her defense there was nowhere to move too but still.

BA- It was simply wonderful. The last band of the festival, The Mingus Big Band, was simply perfect sounding. I also really liked the Latin Jazz band who had a guy playing conch shells.

Monica- You could be the riddler. I can't do lunch, I am at home and think I am dying. I suppose I should call you and mention that.

Phil- Yeah! I knew you would get one. It's only a matter of time. \

Brooke- That dream sounds fantastic and I can't wait to hear all about it. Will be talking to you soon.

CS- I just don't get the whole treating a free outdoor concert like something you paid a ton of money for. It may not be as perfect as you like, deal.

Katrina- Well seeing as I woke up at 5am this morning with a 99.8 fever (and I run low), a nose that wouldn't stop sneezing, and a throat that can't swallow, maybe those other things aren't so bad after all.

Anonymous said...

Feel better, Natalie!

...This year was the 29th annual Chicago Jazz Fest. I'm betting that the 30th, next Labor Day Weekend, will have even-more-incredible musicians.

Nuka said...

I like that you spoke your mind in the email and managed to not get hopped about about it when they called you into the office. I get nervous about that stuff - I always think someone is going to fire me!

Johnny Yen said...

I was in Minneapolis this weekend. Glad you stopped in, though! Did you try the Semollina Dumpling? Or the Calamata Pasta? Those are a couple of veggie-friendly dishes that are great.

Foofa said...

Mom- Don't forget to get your hotel early!

Dynamo- The thing is that I don't think they would fire me unless i did something particularly crazy. What I did was totally normal, even though they thought it was unprofessional. I think they think people disagreeing with them or telling them they are wrong isn't good.

Johnny- My mom had the dumplings and the gazpacho both were very good. I wasn't super hungry so I had the crispy potato salad MMMM and we split some blue cheese potatoes. Dad had some steak.