Leaving Ashevegas for a conference in Las Vegas. Apparently, I’m supposed to be super excited to go, but I’m not. Looking forward to the content of the conference itself, but not interested in Vegas. Not interested in casinos or bright lights or noise or crowds…or hookers or strippers. Las Vegas is on one of those “last place on Earth I’d ever want to go” lists for me. Not my thing. I like quiet. And darkness. And personal space. Everyone I’ve mentioned the trip to is all “you’ll love it, what happens in Vegas…” snorty snort snort laughter. It just doesn’t sound fun to me, sorry. Maybe Vegas will win me over with its charms, but I am skeptical.
Category: work
Paperwork Kills: Don’t Do It
When I got to work this morning, I had so many piles on my desk, so many notes everywhere, that I couldn’t even decide how to begin. I decided I had to go through the piles, figure out what had been done, what hadn’t been done, what was really important and so on.
I spent a good part of my day going through notes, making a master list, putting my piles in order from most important to least important. As I organized, I made neat piles to my right on the side of my desk and on top of the 2 drawer filing cabinet that sits beside my desk. It was beautiful, so tidy, so useful in all its order.
I need to look something up to carry on with my process, so I opened the filing cabinet to find the folder I wanted. The filing cabinet pitched forward and tipped over, throwing my beautiful organized paperwork everywhere…everywhere! I can’t decide if it was a stupid move or a smart move to try to grab the filing cabinet as it fell (my wrist still hurts!) but my thought was if the filing cabinet hit the bookcase, the big tall bookcase and its contents would come crashing down on my head…thus I grabbed the tilting cabinet and wrenched my wrist…but on the plus side, the bookcase didn’t hit me.
My hours spent organizing paperwork were promptly undone by this disaster. My once orderly piles were now just a huge disarray that I scooped off the floor and threw on top of my desk. Sigh.
The moral of the story is that filing can harm you, possibly kill you or someone you love. Paperwork kills, man; just don’t do it.
this afternoon…
…was one of those kickass afternoons where you get so much done you wonder why you even bothered to show up the rest of the week if all you really needed was today.
It was like I was all jacked up on Red Bull and iced coffee, but without the Red Bull and iced coffee. I got things scheduled, got issues resolved and actually (gasp!) used the telephone!
For those that know my work style, I never use the phone if I can help it–my office desk phone ends up in “out” mode for days because I forget to turn it back on, and I like the out mode: straight to voicemail, no ringydingy. I’m an email or in-person kinda chick for work things. I either want it in writing, or I want to see you face to face. I hate playing phone tag! But today, in my hard-working good cheer, I used the phone, and I used it more than once: shocking!
I crossed items off to do lists. I worked off the tasks on the post-it notes all over my desk. I made new lists. I smiled at people. I visited a few folks and bounced around finishing things. It was like the tidal wave of energy to finish projects you get right before you go on vacation…only I’m not going on vacation. Maybe tomorrow at work will be just like a vacation since I was a whirlwind this afternoon… (a girl can dream!)
tell me a secret
so today, i challenged someone to tell me a secret. i know, i know, i’m an emailing pain in the ass looking for entertainment during an otherwise sucky work day. everyone who’s had to amuse me with song lyrics and bad puns knows there are days i must be distracted, must be entertained through my entire work day to get from the morning to the time when i can walk out the door…today was one of those days, as i started out fairly flippin’ irritated and needed some levity.
what was interesting when it came down to being told the secret…the person was sure i already knew it. but i didn’t! not a freakin’ clue! really! and i’m usually pretty intuitive about things, but seriously, not a clue. that’s the thrill of telling people things, of putting things out there, no matter how small. you can never really be sure that anyone really knows anything or understands any situation unless you’re willing to spill the beans.
today’s lessons are
1. email me and amuse me
2. never assume anyone knows what the hell is in your head, put it out there!
3. i can answer the front desk phone, talk on the cell phone, remote access my desk to work on a memo and smile all at the same time, proved it today!
4. tell me a secret! i might tell you one back. but i am the notoriously elusive, evasive answer-a-question-with-a-question kat after all, so i might not…
My moment with The Rock
Ok. So it wasn’t actually The Rock, but as close to it as I’m going to get. One of the technicians for a company we do business with is bald and burly and inked, and very The Rock-like. He’s hottttttttttttt.
The law of hot men visiting my workplace is that they only show up if I look like and/or feel like shit. Today was sort of both, post-Daisy’s-bday soiree. No one interesting ever shows up when I’m looking all put together, well moisturized, fresh smelling. Hotties come out of the woodwork when I’m recovering from neon green sinus infections or when I’m sweating yesterday’s Jager shots out of every pore…lovely.
Let me clarify: I’m not trolling the workplace for dates, ohhhhhhhhhhh no. No no no. But a little eye candy here and there just makes the day that much more bearable. I don’t care who you are, what your status is: a little cuteness makes the workday tolerable.
So anyway, I wasn’t expecting The Rock today; he only appears at my office a couple times a year as a fill-in guy for overflow work. I was expecting our regular technician, a funny good ol’ boy that I’ve been working with for about 7 years or so who is super smart, super efficient, really knows his stuff. When I rounded the corner and saw The Rock-alike waiting for me, I wanted to run back to my office, scrounge for some lipgloss, a breath mint, a hairbrush, a fresh shirt and possibly some deodorant. But it was too late, I’d been spotted and greeted and I put him about his task. And smelly creepy me went back to my duties, invisible to him in my grossness.
I had lunch with an office gal pal and she talked me back up, convinced me that I was hottttt all day every day, and to have some backbone in this matter. So as The Rock ended his day, he stopped by to have me sign off on his work as is the norm. And I engaged him in witty, zingy Kat banter as only I can, all relating to the project at hand, but still sassy. And he laughed and I laughed and oh, we laughed. And I tried to pry a little, nudge a little, to keep the conversation going after I’d signed the paperwork, and we were having a grand old time. I made The Rock blush. That made me blush. Oh, we were having the best time, and I was trying to decide how to carry on this conversation a little longer…and my assistant appeared out of nowhere and stepped between me and The Rock, bursting the bubble of fun immediately. All fun, all mirth and frivolity were sucked into another dimension as if they’d never existed. Sigh. And The Rock rolled on outta there and back into the real world.
I suppose the moral of the story is that I should eat TicTacs all day every day, moisturize once per hour, re-gloss every 15 minutes and keep a cocktail dress and heels in my desk drawer just in case…and doing all that should keep every hottie in a 50 mile radius from ever showing up at my office.