So Christmas came and went. It's really nothing for me - it's just another day, albeit a no-work day.
For everyone who celebrates it, that's great. For me, and others who don't - well, we just don't.
Monica was going to have a bbq tomorrow (early afternoon). The plan was we were going to go to work (supposedly to work) and then leave at lunch for the bbq. I did not really want to go - not because I'm being anti-social, but because I don't feel like waking up at 6am and taking the bus when I don't need to.
I considered telling Monica that I was sick and couldn't make it but I hate it when people renege on plans. Either follow through or don't make a promise you can't keep.
Anyway, Monica called me this afternoon - apparently her daughter is sick, she is sick and her husband is sick. Plus they haven't had a chance to buy food for the bbq (being sick all weekend), etc. I called Rachel to let her know the bbq was cancelled and apparently Rach is sick (since the weekend too). She wasn't sure she was going to be able to make it to the bbq so it all works out that Monica cancelled.
So I will have a completely free day tomorrow. And then all day ballet rehearsals on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I have to set a ballet that was performed in 2000 and 2004. It's not a technically difficult ballet, but it does involve acting (which I stink at, and having to coach people how to act is even worse).
I wouldn't really consider myself a candidate for holiday depression - after all, I am pretty cynical and I'm not all for the "spirit of giving". At the same time, I can't help but feel a little blue these days.
It's a paradox - while my sister agonized over what to bring for her office's holiday lunch, I relished in the fact that we only have 1 holiday event (the holiday breakfast) and it's catered so we don't have to worry about any of it. While my parents worried about finding a gift for people who had given them gifts (somewhat unexpectedly), I laughed, knowing that at most, I would get 1 gift (from one of my bosses). And like the year before, I wouldn't be expected to reciprocate.
I was all set - after all, I have money (not tons, but enough) so if I need something, I'll buy it. Not to mention the fact that I'm never satisfied with presents I get - if it's practical, it's boring. If it's not so practical (like a giant Snoopy one of my former bosses bought me), well, I like it, but it's not really useful.
But sitting here on the day before our winter break, having gotten all but one Christmas card (from aforementioned boss, accompanying his gift that I promptly gave to my mom to re-gift) and one electronic Christmas card, I feel pretty sad. Again, it's not (necessarily) for the lack of presents - money and tangibles mean little to me. No, I'm waiting for people, those people who I help all year, to offer at least a generous thank you. For all the work I do throughout the year, at least I should get something (tangible or not).
My mom laughed when I said this and proclaimed that I do get something - salary. And while it is true from the perspective of my bosses, it's the other people that I'm talking about. People who I do not work for, who ask me to help them out, whether it's monitoring their finances or helping them print labels. I get absolutely nothing from them, aside from a simple thank you when the task is complete, and requests for more assistance.
There WAS one upbeat note today, though. One of the profs who recently transferred away was back on campus - I've helped his group out a few times in the past (when his assistant was on leave). He and another person were walking through the hallway and after he passed my office, he turned around. He made a lighthearted comment about how my office is warm and I'm wearing short-sleeves, while the rest of the building is freezing, and then - he thanked me for all the stuff that I've done in the past for his group.
Maybe because it was unexpected, or maybe it's just because this holiday season has gotten to be kind of depressing (and this has not really happened before) - but it brightened up my day. A little.
I'm still waiting for those other people (including my other boss) but I don't think it will happen.
(Written at 1:46pm)
Dear TBIL,
You would not understand how happy I was that you were willing to take the coffee. I mean, what in the world was I going to do with 12 11 cup of coffee? (I ended up taking a cup)
Though I should have warned you - the coffee tasted a little funky. Now, I don't know if it's because the coffee is old (who knows how long that container has been sitting there) or if it's because I'm not used to coffee - maybe I'm used to using milk rather than creamer... but anyway, it tasted pretty bad. Sour even.
It reminded me of a scene in The Office where Dwight (after receiving a fax from Future Dwight that the coffee was poisoned) knocks a cup of coffee out of Stanley's hand to prevent him from drinking it. I didn't know which was worse - letting you and your visitors drink rancid coffee (and you thinking that I can't make coffee) or having to tell you not to drink the coffee... and having to explain why.
So imagine my surprise when I went to clean up and found that all the coffee had been drunk (drinked?). I'm hoping it was okay... in fact, I'm assuming it was because I can't imagine a bunch of PhD types sitting around drinking multiple cups of rancid coffee. I mean, if the coffee had gone bad, I assume you wouldn't get a second cup? It's just common sense, right?
And since you drink a lot of coffee, mostly black, I trust that you would be able to tell whether the coffee was bad or not.
So anyway, thanks again for taking the coffee. And thank you for not being a flake like "not TBIL".
XOXO
Me
P.S. The XOXO closing is from Gossip Girl... yes, I watch Gossip Girl.
On Monday, we went to a buffet place for lunch. I didn't eat much. Oh, plus ice cream.
One of the things that bother me about office politics is when people start complaining about the competency of others. This really bothers me because I think people are generally not solely competent or solely incompetent. I think most people are a mix of both. I know I am, and most people think I'm competent.
Anyway, TBIL (boss) was telling me that during a recent meeting, some of the faculty members were complaining about a staffer in the contracts office. Something about her taking a long time (like months) to process stuff. Process as in review and sign contracts. I told him that I think she does a fairly good job and he said "oh, she does the best she can?" and I said "no, I mean, she always processes things for me like right away."
It's not so much that she does things for me and delays everyone else's, but my impression of her has been fairly positive. I haven't had to haggle her much because I know that she will take care of things.
But anyway, it got me to thinking. These people that were complaining - who were they (some profs complain a lot about everything) and did they actually interact with said person or did they go through one of the dept accounting people? Because if you ask me to follow up on something with said person and I tell you that said person has not processed it yet, there's a possibility that I'm lying to you (or that I'm the person delaying it) - not said person.
So it just makes me wonder. Also, everyone interacts differently with other people. Some people think TBIL is a jerk. I think he's nice (most of the time). If he needs me to do something, he's especially nice. But towards other people, if he needs them to do something, he gets kind of hyper and pushy. So you ask two people their opinions about TBIL and you will get two different answers. That's the way it is with everyone so I take all opinions with a grain of salt.
There's a part of my personality that is very "I can do anything". It's kind of annoying sometimes but I think I would have accomplished far less in life (not that I've done much anyway) if I didn't have that mentality.
We have a water cooler stand in our area. One of the guys used to replace the water bottles and there was another guy who replaced it at least once before. Well, the first guy left so there's basically no one who wants to change the water. At least, that's what it seems like.
Yesterday, I heard someone apparently trying to replace the water (the sound of the water getting poured into the cooler). Good. Later in the afternoon, this is what I saw.
Obviously, someone was not successful. In fact, did they even try?! All that's there is a humongous wet spot on the carpet, two empty bottles, one unopened bottle and nothing on top of the stand. This baffles me - the guy who I thought was replacing the water is over 6 feet tall. Tall enough to pick up a five-gallon bottle of water with ease.
This morning, I see that someone put the empty bottle back on top of the cooler stand. Seriously, this is the best you could come up with? (I mean, sure, I was just going to wait until the delivery guy came back but my sister and my dad change the water on occasion at their work places, so I don't understand why any of the idiot farfel guys (there's 3 of them) couldn't. Aside from the fact that they are idiot farfels, that is.)
So I did a quick search online on how to replace the water bottle and then went to work. Except that the first time I tried, I had my left hand near the top of the bottle and my right hand near the bottom, but once the water started pouring out, I couldn't control the bottle with my left hand (which is my weaker hand) and water was splashing everywhere. So I had to put the bottle down, try to wipe down the water-splashed walls and desks and start over. This time, I had my right hand near the top which works much better. Except that when I got the bottle completely upside-down on top of the stand, my right hand was stuck in between the stand and the bottle. Luckily I was able to pull my hand out.
In case anyone ever needs to change the water, here are my tips:
- Don't worry that you will spill water, because you will. So just accept that and move on. Unless you are tall and sturdy by which you may not have problems.
- Drain the water in the reservoir (I filled up a couple of cups/bottles so there wouldn't be much water left). This way, the new water will have somewhere to go.
- Pick up the bottle and put it on a table or chair (so you don't have to pick up the bottle and put it on the stand in one giant motion.) Think of it as the clean and jerk, rather than the snatch, in weightlifting. Take off the lid.
- When you pick up the bottle to put it on the stand, have your dominant hand near the top (opening) of the bottle and the other hand near the bottom.
The reason for this is because as the water starts pushing towards the opening of the bottle, that part will get heavy as the back part gets lighter. So naturally, you'll want the stronger hand where you need the most power.
If you hold the bottle when the hand positions reversed, your weaker hand will have to be able to support all that water being pulled out of the bottle by gravity. Which was almost disastrous for me.
So yep, that's it. Not that complicated once you try. Will I try it again sometime? Not sure, but at least I know that I *can*. (It's also more difficult if you're on the short side, which I am).
I got a beef and rice burrito and fries. Rachel got a pastrami sandwich and fries.
My biggest beef with these food trucks is that they don't post their prices. Prices play a large part in my decision-making process. How can I decide what to get if I don't know how much it costs?
I paid $4.75. Rachel's (along with a large bottle of iced tea) was $8 something. For lunch? That's outrageous!
As for the food quality - it was okay. The burrito was a little dry - there was no sauce, though I could have put some hot sauce in it. The french fries were eh. Rach liked them but I didn't. They were kind of wimpy and a little like they were re-cooked (though I don't think they were).
So I think our little experiment of the food truck is done. We can get cheaper, better food elsewhere. I don't really understand the appeal of food truck food. It's not cheaper, it's not all that good. I guess if you're in a location where there is no permanent food place, then yeah. But in our situation, the cafeteria is just a 2-minute walk away.
You know how there are people who believe in the general good of people? I'm not one of those people. Not that I think humans are evil, but in general, I think many people have ulterior motives for things that they do (myself included). This doesn't have a whole lot to do with what happened on the train this morning but it has to do with people in general so that's good enough.
At one of the stops on the subway this morning, some people boarded and one of the guys (a somewhat heavy-set Hispanic guy) started yelling at this other guy (slightly older, I think Caucasian, guy) who had also just boarded. The HG (for lack of a better moniker) was saying stuff like "You pushed me! Don't you ever push me again! Bleep! Bleep! Bleep this! Bleep that!" The CG just sat down and the HG walked to the end of the car and sat down but he kept his ranting. "Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!" All the four letter words and all things associated. Then he said something along the lines of "you think because you work, you have a job, you can push people. Bleep! Bleep!" and also "I'm here legally, you think I'm not here legally so you can just push me! Bleep! Bleep! Bleep! My people were here before your ancestors were! Bleep! I'm cursing you in Spanish too! Bleep!"
I seriously wanted to be like "just shut up!" The CG wasn't even responding to him (just kept reading whatever he was reading), everyone else was just trying to ignore HG, but he just kept shouting. Finally, this black teenager was like "shut the bleep up!" The HG kind of lowered his voice but continued. Then this other Hispanic guy said something to him (I think in Spanish) but HG just kept saying "he pushed me!", to which the OHG was like "just chill out." When OHG was getting off the train, he told HG "shut the bleep up".
Not sure why but HG pretty much said nothing after that. I got off the next stop so I don't know if he started ranting after that though. What an idiot. I mean, yes, I know, people push to get onto the train or the bus (and it is annoying) but just get over it. Instead of the CG looking like a jerk for pushing someone, HG looks like the real idiot farfel for going off on him like that.
So the girl who I've mentioned before (pseudonyms include Miss Primadonna, A, Primadonna, little primadonna, Rising Star) - anyway, she's Sugar Plum and I'm the understudy. Since I know the part already, I basically don't have to be there for rehearsal (well, I guess I'm supposed to be, but hey, it's me! No one will say anything). Anyway, she was out today so I filled in for her, just the opening of Act 2 and then the apotheosis.
Let me just say that doing the SPF part in the opening of Act 2 makes me really happy. It was honestly one of my favorite parts when I did the role before and today, even though I was in kind of a grumpy mood for class (and did not try AT ALL), that part is just easy but fun. One of the reasons why I like it is because I feel all regal and aristocratic (since SPF is basically the lead of that scene).
And then in the apotheosis, I was doing this turn sequence (pique turn, fouette turn, turn in 2nd, pull in to a double; 3x) and I nailed it. Well, the first time, I guess I was a little thrown by the double so when I went to start the sequence again, I felt really off (basically did not do the fouette turn, but did a hop in 2nd around, into the turn in 2nd) but still pulled off the double and the 3rd set was fine. The second time through, the first set, I was spotting the front, but then the double felt shaky so I slowed down just a tad and spotted corner. Success!
Earlier, we did Snow twice (the first time without stopping and the second time, with only one or two stops - none during my sections). It was pretty good - fouettes on the 1st time were solid (start double, finish double) and the 2nd time, I was falling to the left after each turn so I couldn't pull in to a double and almost ran into the people on the left side of the stage.
