Last night we went to bed late, because we wanted to watch HEADLINES on Leno. At 11:35pm we turned on the channel and remembered the Olympics were on! So, we shut the TV off and went right to sleep. Unfortunately, we woke up a little after 1:00pm. There were two idiots (a guy and a girl) in an apartment across the way screaming and laughing. They must have been drunk – at 1:00am on a Monday night. They kept screaming and laughing until finally I screamed out the window “SHUT UP!!”
We then closed our windows and eventually fell back to sleep, but we were up until almost 2:00am. Fortunately, I did sleep this morning until the alarm went off, but I was exhausted.
The woman who has been training me is now on vacation until next Wednesday, but the guy and the boss were in. I kept pretty busy and did as much as I could. He came over a few times and answered a few questions, but I was pretty much on my own.
I went down to HR at noon and worked while I ate my lunch. The building was having an “ice cream social” from 1-2 in the lobby and were also serving lemonade and had lots of gifts to be raffled off.
When I came into the department I said (using my best southern accent), “Who’s going to the Ice Cream Social? There’ll be lemonade and ice cream, and raffles! We just gotta go to the Ice Cream Social! I just thought it was such an old-fashioned, small-town way to describe the event. Who goes to a social anymore?
I kept that up until we actually went downstairs. We were all laughing as we went down in the elevator. They had two stations set up serving scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. I got a scoop of chocolate (what else?). Then, in the center of the lobby, they had crushed oreos, granola, nuts, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, and M&Ms. You just piled on as much as you liked! I had some crushed oreos, M&Ms and chocolate sauce. Okay, so I like chocolate!
They had lots of great gifts to raffle off – mostly summer-type stuff – boogie boards, coolers, beach towels and beach chairs, but they also had an IPOD! One of the girls was missing the social, because her family was visiting from out of town and she had left for the day. So, I got a raffle ticket and told the girls it was for her. When they all went back downstairs for the raffle, I gave them the ticket and stayed at my desk with a few of the others. Unfortunately, none of us won anything.
In the afternoon, I got a call from the guy I work with upstairs. Turns out there was a problem with a spreadsheet I have been maintaining. On 7/14/08 (right after I started in this job) I accidentally made a mistake on the spreadsheet – and it’s a biggie. It could get the firm in trouble with one of our sponsor firms, and could cost the firm money. Oops!
I was horrified, and very apologetic. The guy could not have been nicer, but I could see he was stressed. I guess now they see that maybe I’m not the best person for the job (which could be a good thing), and maybe this will convince them to get someone else. I know I expressed in the blog how stressful this job is. The problem is that I try to be meticulous about everything, but it’s so complicated, and there are so many steps, that I’m really not surprised it happened. I’m just wondering how many other times it’s happened that they haven’t discovered yet! Yikes!
The good news is that Elsa came over to me this afternoon and said, “Peppy, why can’t all the temps be like you? You’re so good and you’re so reliable!” I told her I wasn’t THAT good and explained what happened. She said it was just a mistake and it could happen to anyone and I shouldn’t worry about it. Then, she explained that they were having problems with two temps and had to replace them. It made me so happy when she said that, because she really does appreciate everything I do and likes having me around. I keep hinting that I want to work in HR full time and I know she’ll do everything she can to make that happen – if it’s possible.
Right now, I’m working on organizing their files. There was a guy who left HR right before I started and I’m now doing a lot of the things he used to do. He was HORRIBLE at filing and obviously hated it. I found a bunch of stuff just shoved into a cabinet and had to make folders for it, because they didn’t exist and he obviously didn’t want to deal with it.
He also didn’t alphabetize a lot of forms that are filled out by applicants, so if you want to find one you have to look through all the “L’s” instead of just looking through them alphabetically. So, I have been taking all the piles and alphabetizing them. I’m up to “M.” It’s a huge job, but the files were SO messy and I’m neatening them up, too, so now they look better, they fit better, and everything will be so easy to find.
They’re going to be moving the file room to make another office, and when they do the job will be so much easier if the files are already organized. I know that’s something that could keep me busy for months and nobody else wants to do it, but I really don’t mind at all. I love making things neat and organized and look nice. I much rather do that than maintain spreadsheets that are going to get me in big trouble!
When I got home I just jumped in the car and went to the dressmaker in the shopping center. I tried on the two dresses and she pinned them so that they'll fit better. They both also need a hem (big surprise). She’s going to make them perfect for me and she’ll have both ready on Saturday! I’m so excited, because I love these dresses. They look vintage, but they’re new. Both are sleeveless, floral prints (in pinks and oranges) and are fitted to the waist and then have full skirts. I can wear them to work, or dress them up with some sparkly jewelry for a night on the town. In fact, maybe I’ll wear one on Saturday night to go to the theatre with Ilene!
Ilene and I were emailing back and forth all day today. We’re so excited about the weekend. She’ll be coming in on the train from L.A. at 8:00pm on Friday night. Eric and I will pick her up at the train and go out to eat. Then, we’ll come home and hang out. Saturday, we can do whatever Ilene likes – maybe go shopping, or just drive around and I'll show her some of my favorite spots. Saturday night the three of us will go out to dinner and then Eric will drop us off downtown at the theatre to see SPRING AWAKENING. Eric and I saw it on Broadway last year and we loved it. I can’t wait for Ilene to experience it!
Sunday, Ilene and I are driving to Laguna Beach for the Festival of the Arts. We’ll spend the day at the festival and then her husband, Kyle, will pick her up with the kids (they’re going to be spending the day at Disneyland). Then, they’ll drive back to L.A. and I’ll drive back to S.D. Sounds like a fabulous weekend, eh?
Tomorrow night I’m having dinner with Robyn. We’re not sure where we’re going to go yet (I’m leaving it up to Robyn). I’ll come home and jump in the car and drive north again to meet her. She works about 10 miles north of here and lives another half hour further north. I’m looking forward to dinner with her, but I’m going to be eating out SO much this week, and I’m feeling VERY guilty!! I’ve gained back so much weight. It’s just the stress and aggravation. I’m an emotional eater, so I find myself snacking a lot, which I know is bad, but I can’t help myself. Nothing that I eat is really bad, but they’re still calories and they always find their way to my waistline!
Tomorrow my “morning boss” will be away at a conference and the woman who trains me is on vacation, so it will just be me and the guy on the team. He’s so nice, but he’s so busy that I hate to bother him, so I have a feeling I won’t be doing much the rest of the week – especially after what he found out today!