Sunday, August 17, 2003

I went to a party at LW’s last night. She and her husband have parties all the time. They rent a Moon Bounce for the kids, and the people are a mix of their neighbors and deputies with wives/girlfriends. It was a lot of fun, but I knew that things were just getting going when in a serious rain the guys hooked up the Slip-n-Slide to the hose and started sliding down it. It was a good time. I enjoyed meeting the neighbors I had heard so much about as well as some of the deputies with whom her husband works.

I left at about 9pm, because I needed to be at church at the usual 8am for worship band practice. We didn’t have the full band, just our worship leader playing guitar/singing and three ladies singing. We were having communion this morning, so we had a couple new songs specific for that and they were great. Actually all of the music was great and with the harmonies we worked on we sounded really full, even without the entire band. It was a good time of worship. And the message was good too - our new pastor is going through Acts 2 - this morning was about what it really means to be in community within the church and it was good. I wish our full congregation had been there to hear it, there were some folks that were out that I think could have benefitted from the message. I know I did.

And that’s about it for the weekend. Exciting reading, I know. Tonight’s plan is to blog for a little while and then watch The Mayor of Casterbridge on A&E, I read that book in high school, so I’m interested to see how it’s translated to a TV movie.

Saturday, August 16, 2003

Tony is pondering a blog name change and is asking for your help in the form of a contest. There are some really creative suggestions so far. My personal favorite comes from McGehee: Rosen Rants (without Guildenstern).

The women’s ministry of my church hosted an night out with the gals last night.  We had a potluck dinner followed by the viewing of A Man Called Peter - the story of Dr. Peter Marshall, a Scottish man who emigrated to America after being called by God to the ministry, he completed seminary, served in churches in Georgia, married his wife, Catherine (who wrote the book of the same title), moved to Washington, DC - where he served as the pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (the church of the Presidents), and then served as the Chaplain of the Senate until his death. The website I linked is his son’s - Peter John, who is also a minister today.

My mother has been trying to get me to watch that movie for years. I’m glad I finally saw it - it was an excellent retelling of his life and just the little bits of the sermons they did made me want to find out more. I may have to add the book to my list of “must reads.”

It was a fun evening, it was a late evening. I need coffee…

Friday, August 15, 2003

The Marshal brought in the making for ice cream sundaes!

This means I won’t be leaving at noon as originally planned.

I’m taking the afternoon off from work, so I’ll only be here for a couple more hours. Yay!

Read here for the scoop on Mrs. Cooties’ adventures in getting home last night. We’re still awaiting Mr. Cooties’ story to be posted.

Thursday, August 14, 2003

Our whole computer system was down for most of the day. I posted that one entry this morning, visited a couple other blogs and then our internet died. And all other network programs were also down. We didn’t know it was the worm virus from the other day until about 2:30pm. Turns out our IT folks decided to shut down the whole net to stop the worm from spreading, then they started checking each server - one by one - and bringing them back up when everything was clean. I got internet back at about 4:30pm.

Hmmm…

I heard about the power outages in the northeast at about 5:00pm, when LW and I were talking with The Marshal and he casually mentioned it and assured us it wasn’t the result of a terrorist attack. So we went to watch TV in the conference room - and it was eerily reminiscent of 9/11. And I found myself with the same minor anxiety I had on that day - the Cooties work in Manhattan - and I knew that if the power didn’t come on quickly, they would have a hard time getting to their day care to pick up CootieGirl and then home.

We haven’t heard from them, at least I haven’t yet.  I can’t wait to read Jaynee’s post tomorrow (or whenever she’s able to do it) about their trek home. If you pray, please pray for them and all who are without power tonight.

UPDATE (8:15pm): OK, I’m a little concerned. Denis called Mom, he managed to get to Hoboken, he’s hooked up with some fellas - one has a car. So he’s gone to get the car and is going to return to pick up Denis and another guy to take them home. Denis will then pick up CootieGirl from the day care center.

We have no idea where Jaynee is. She hasn’t called Denis or us at all, so we’re thinking that she doesn’t have a working cell phone for some reason. I’m guessing that she’s pretty unhappy now, worried for Denis and CootieGirl, and wondering how on earth she’s going to get home from mid-town to New Jersey. Fortunately, she’s a smart lady, she will find a way home. I just worry more for her emotional state than her physical safety at this point.

And they have no power at home too - Mom tried to call their home phone to leave a message on their machine. The machine didn’t pick up.

So as I said, if you pray, please pray for Jaynee (and all affected, especially as it gets darker) and Denis, he’s worried about Jaynee too, of course. I’ll keep you posted as I get news from Mom.

ANOTHER UPDATE (9:15pm): They’re all home. Yay! I can’t wait to hear their odyssey.

I really have to get cracking on this payroll project. I’ve worked on it dribs and drabs this week, but today is the day I want to get most of it input into the system with the idea to fine tune and catch an errors tomorrow morning (I’m taking the afternoon off) and transmitting the data next week.

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Bryan writes proverbs. Today’s #120 was written for me, I think (in my own selfish way):

if you spent as much time praying as you do griping, you’ll find yourself without a reason to gripe.

Courtesy of Ith, I found this story about Mt. Rainier, an active volcano that can cause much more destruction than Mt. St. Helens did in 1980 if she were to blow.

Having lived not too far from Seattle in my childhood, I have a fondness for the Cascades and Mt. Rainier. That’s a really large volcano. Mt. Baker is smaller and more obviously active, it steams every once in a while, but we always knew that Rainier would be the bigger threat.

It’s an interesting read.

On the drive home, I had a CD in the player, but I got bored with it and decided to listen to something on the radio other than talk. So I tried to tune in the Christian music station I listen to with no success - they have a weak signal. I wasn’t in the mood for country. Nor was I in the mood for Christian talk. So I got to the Don & Mike show.

I used to love D&M, back in the day (before they were nationally syndicated and a lot less crude) I listened to them everyday. They had some funny bits and Mike (a fantastic impressionist) had fun characters. They also had a weird cast of listeners who called in so often that they became part of the show.

One of those listeners is Dennis Murphy - a guy who must have ridden the short bus and has a serious speech impediment. I still am on the fence about whether he’s legit or if he’s just acting. In any case, he’s fun to listen to when he’s on.

***warning - in a picture at his main page, he’s holding a copy of a pr0n mag***

Today was some of the funniest stuff I’ve heard in a long, long time. I was laughing out loud so hard that I:

1. Almost wet myself
2. Almost ran my car off the road.
3. Almost wet myself because I almost ran the car off the road.
4. Almost ran the car off the road because I almost wet myself.

Dennis has a new CD out (it’s available at his website) of his song stylings in karaoke. It’s an eclectic collection of tunes - all love songs - even a couple duets with Kelly Sofa. I wish there was a way for you to hear it - it’s wonderfully awful and their rendition of “Unforgettable” is priceless.

Anyone else hear this tonight?

Mr. Cootiehog posted a family foto from several years ago. It’s most unflattering to moi, although everyone else seems to look fantastic in it.

In the comments to my earlier post on annoyances, I was accused of taking a “double dose of cranky pills today” - fair enough assessment, although I’m not really cranky today generally speaking. Those particular people caught me in the middle of a task and I was annoyed by the trivial interruptions.

I get interrupted a lot - it’s the nature of my particular job. I wear a few hats in this office, but I’m also the receptionist. And there are a lot of things about the receptionist’s job/desk that others who haven’t held the position may not understand.

1. My desk isn’t my own. My desk is EVERYBODY’S desk. This means that the pens, paper clips, post-it notes, etc. that may litter the desktop are fair game for anyone who happens to pass by.

2. I am the friendly office welcome wagon/greeter. As my cubicle is right by the front door, I’m the first person everyone sees and the last. All who pass feel the need to greet me in some manner when passing. This is a nice thought, but when I’m immersed in a task, it’s just another interrupter that causes me to lose my train of thought, lose track of where I am, etc.

Related to this is the front window. I am the person who handles the public first. This means I deal with agents, cops, lawyers, clerks, baddies, maintenance people, technicians, serial suers, family members, etc. And the CSOs (Court Security Officers - there are about 2 dozen who man the security area in the lobby and hang out in courtrooms) come in and out constantly. When the outer door opens, I have to check to make sure who it is - because who it is determines whether or not I’m required to get up (I need to get up for most people - certain courthouse staff have badges that will allow them entry to the inner door). That door opens hundreds of times a day. Just more interruptions.

3. Then there are the phone calls. I’ve said it before, I hate the phone. Passionately, despise the phone. Aside from my family (and we usually email) and a couple other people, I rarely call anyone just to chat. If I’m calling you, it’s because I need information from you or to convey information to you. I’m not calling to ask how you are and hear your life story.

Fortunately, we have an automated answering system in the office now. This has greatly reduced the number of calls I get, although many push that magic button to get to “the operator” - me. And I get all kinds of calls - family wanting to know where their loved one is, what his charges are, what’s his bond, where’s he being moved to, why hasn’t he been moved, where’s his money, where’s his property, why isn’t he getting his meds, why this, what that....

I have a rather long list of where to direct calls if a certain question is asked. In most cases, I am to refer them to the defendant’s attorney or the Clerk’s office. And I get huffy sighs coming back at me when I try to do just that. I understand their frustration, believe me. I’ve been on the other end of the phone with a government type, feeling like I’m getting the run around.

Truth is, I might be getting the run around. But the sad reality is that the government type may be giving you the only answer s/he has - because they don’t know anything further than that or they may not be allowed to give anything further than that. I know it’s true for me.

And, apparently, it’s also true for Dave. His post is great and prompted me to write this lengthy post of my own. So I’ll finish up my half-rant by referring you to his post. Go read it, please.

Annoyance #1

CSO: Jen, may I borrow your white out?

ME: I don’t have any in my desk, someone took mine. I’ve been meaning to get some out of the vault, hold on.

I get up to go get white out from the vault. Yes, we keep our supplies locked up. Yes, I work in law enforcement. That means that supplies regularly disappear, didn’t you know that cops are the best worst thieves? As I am the supply orderer, I keep them locked up so that I know when I have to reorder stuff. So neatly stacked in the vault along with seized jewelry & fur coats and government checks are the toner cartridges, copier paper, pens, tape, and white out.

***Pause to answer phone while typing this post - Annoyance #2 will follow***

CSO: Oh, don’t worry about it. I have something I can use.

Then why did you ask for white out if you had something you can use? I still got the white out from the vault for the next person who asks.

Annoyance #2

Phone rings, I answer: US Marshals Service.

HER: Could you give me the number to the Atlanta Marshals office?

ME: inwardly huffing a rather large sigh. Sure, hold on.

There’s a long pause while I search in our phone directory for the number.

It’s 404-DONT-ASK.

OK, that’s not really the number, but as I’ve said here many times, I am not Directory Assistance. Please, look in other places for the number before you call a field office of an organization for the number to another field office of the same organization. There’s a wealth of options out there: Dial “0”, internet yellow pages, etc.

UNMOTIVATED

I don’t feel like doing anything today. How about you?

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Driving home from my meeting at church, I was treated to an amazing electrical storm. Lightning everywhere with no thunder or rain. I love lightning, so it was fun to drive along and see the occasionall bolt flash from the sky or the vague brightness of pseudo-daylight.

And I forgot to mention the big, fat full moon I saw this morning while walking Annie. I walked out from the breezeway and almost immediately in front of me, hanging low in the dark denim blue sky was a pale yellow orb, wispy clouds drifting in front of it. It made me wish I had a camera.