We had a summer intern coming in from Chicago to apartment hunt, and we had a “meet and greet” from 8:30am – 9:30am, so the rest of the department could say hello. Since my ride is in HR, she brought in juice, fruit salad and doughnuts, and then she and I went to STARBUCKS to get a box of coffee.
She came to my floor with me and we set it all up in a small conference room. A lot of the people he’ll be working for are in Geneva this week, but everyone he’ll be working with was in (fortunately), so we asked them to please go in and see him, so he wasn’t sitting there by himself!
They spent the entire hour with him (including my boss, when he arrived) and he went off to find an apartment knowing his new co-workers a little better! Unfortunately, it was a horrible day for him to be visiting San Diego. Not only did we have a perfect example of “June Gloom” with a totally overcast day, but then it poured in the afternoon!
The good news is he DID find an apartment in La Jolla (lucky boy) and is already back home in Chicago!
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I didn’t do a darn thing all day, except read about 130 pages of my new DICK FRANCIS mystery. When my trainee came, I gave her a few things to do, went back to my desk and told her to “let me know if she needed me.” In a way, it's a blessing that I'm in my cubicle, because I don't have to listen to her go on and on about her new boyfriend, and I can read instead of pretending to be interested!
My boss called her in almost immediately upon her arrival, and I heard him talking to her about the problem yesterday. I didn’t really hear anything more than him saying, “credit card information,” so I knew what he was discussing. I was afraid she’d be mad at me, but if she was she didn’t show it. Smart girl.
Things went well all afternoon, but I still don’t have a phone at my desk. I called again this morning to ask them to give me one, so I could at least answer my boss’ phone. A woman came in the afternoon while my trainee was still at her desk. She asked me why I needed a phone and I explained that it was just for 3 weeks, until my trainee was there full time on July 1.
Then, she started to ask my trainee if she wanted her number on the 4th floor switched upstairs to her new desk. She said NO, because then she’d keep getting calls pertaining to her OLD job, and she didn’t want to be bothered with that.
I told the woman that it was important that the trainee have the same extension as I had (and the woman before me) because THAT was the extension for my boss’ assistant and people ALWAYS used that number to find out his schedule, or get other information. They don’t care WHO answers, as long as it’s someone who works for the boss!
Again, she asked my trainee if she wanted her number or the number already there and the trainee said she didn’t really care (I think she was sick of telling the woman, because she already said she DIDN’T want her number from downstairs and that she DID want the number already there).
I said, “Listen – I do care and I’m telling you – this extension needs to stay there, at her desk, because it will be really inconvenient if everyone has to start looking up and figuring out what number to call to get the boss’ assistant. So, then she asks me if I’m a recently-hired employee. I think she already knew the answer, but wanted to hear me say it. I told her I’m not an employee at all – I’m just a temp. Then, she said something to the effect that she would “find out what should be done.” So, I said, “I’m telling you what should be done – leave that extension!”
So, what does she do? She goes into my boss’ office and closes the door. Now, I’m thinking, “Is she “telling” on me? OMG – what’s going on in this joint? After about 20 minutes she leaves and my boss immediately calls me in.
In so many words, he tells me she’s some kind of religious freak and “feels funny” about that extension being used by someone else, because the woman who had it is now dying. She wants to “retire” that extension. First of all, let’s not be morbid – the woman is still fighting for her life. She’s not dead yet. Second of all – INSANITY!!!! It’s not her shoes – it’s a telephone extension!
My boss said he didn’t want to argue with her, but he thought she was CRA-ZY and he said he’ll call HR tomorrow and tell them he wants the new assistant to have the same number as the old assistant, because – of course – he agreed totally with ME!
Now, I’m wondering if she REALLY feels that way, or if she was just using that as an excuse to “get her way” and not have me get mine. If that’s true – what a baby! I was just trying to make sure the right thing got done, not throwing around my power. I have no power but, for the second day in a row, my instincts proved correct and the boss really thanked me and appreciates my intentions. He knows I’m trying to take care of him and make sure everything is perfect for him. It only took 4 months, but he really likes me now. We’ve really bonded!
So, on the way home of course I told the WHOLE story to my ride (remember – she works in HR) and she also thought it was WEIRD – that’s the word she used. She said she didn’t even think the “telephone lady” was friends with the woman who is very ill, and thought it was the stupidest thing ever. She said, “We may as well retire her cubicle number, too – and what about her chair?” I mean, is that the stupidest thing you ever heard?
We hit a lot of traffic going home (because of course it was drizzling, so San Diego traffic was practically at a stand-still), so by the time I got home it was almost 6:00pm (instead of my usual 5:20pm – 5:30pm arrival). Eric had prepared scallops and chicken that I had defrosted the night before and we had leftover salad from the big salad I made the night before. He also steamed some broccoli, and made us a delicious dinner.
After dinner, I was relaxing and watching TV and the next thing I knew Eric was standing over me. I fell asleep. I was determined NOT to fall asleep, because I went to bed at 10:30pm last night and felt SO much better this morning, and I didn’t want to nap, because that causes me to go to bed much later. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help it!
He woke me at 8:15pm and I came out and worked on the computer while he worked on one of his bicycles. He’s amazing. When I came out I had to tippy-toe around all the pieces lying on the rug all over the living room. I worked on the computer for a while and the next time I looked up, he was pumping up the tires, all the pieces were back together, and the bike looked fabulous!
I watched SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE and recorded an encore presentation of THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER on LIFETIME. This is the made-for-TV movie of the book I recently read, which was so sweet and lovely. It was on for the first time while we were in North Carolina and I missed it. I can’t wait to watch it – but not tonight!
Tomorrow will probably be just as quiet at work. My boss has been very lucky so far – three days of telephone Jury Duty and he hasn’t been called in yet. I think because he thought he might be on Jury Duty he didn’t really make any client appointments, so he’s not particularly busy. He is supposed to call for two weeks, so it could happen next week, if not this week. My luck, between registering to vote and getting my California driver’s license, I’ll get called soon, too. They used to get me every two years in New York – like clockwork – Eric, too. It’s something we both abhor.
I hope the weather is better tomorrow than it was today. I just had a vintage summer dress hemmed (it was much too long) and I really want to wear it tomorrow, but it just won’t work unless the sun is shining!