Nothing like having your head stuffed up to convince you that everything you should be doing is more effort than it's worth. It's all Oysters and no Pearls today.
The new account I'm working on is something of a mess. The client, let's call him Sunny Jim, is one of Louie Louie's bunch.
The business has been advertising on a DIY basis until now--and doing everything simultaneously in a way that virtually guarantees spending the maximum amount of money for the minimum return.
Somewhere inside my stuffed-up head is a simple way to start over--I've done this before--but those brain cells don't seem to be functioning today. Every time I try to follow the process through to the logical conclusion I run into the abyss of their completely useless website.
It's like building a house without putting down a foundation--no matter how fancy the windows you design or how many bathrooms you decide to add on paper, every time you put two boards together, it all collapses. Online? Website=foundation.
I'm not really in a position to turn down clients yet--the cost of COBRA each month is decimating my savings--but I am very frustrated by clients who don't get the concept.
So distracted I burned my lunch in the microwave. Apartment stinks.
Posted by AnneZook at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)Lookee! Here I am--back again in less than a month!
Today's schedule includes doing laundry. I do like working from home--the ability to get some of these little chores done "on the side" is a gift. I took time this past weekend (still working 7 days/week, yes, but slowing down a lot on the weekends) to go through the newest Pile (misc mail, mostly junk) and get rid of what was get rid-of-able. What's left just needs to be filed--but that means opening the door to the Storage & Filing half of the closet which means facing the three Piles I shoved in there two months ago, promising myself I'd deal with them "very soon."
Newest account went live today. I'm dubious. Doubtful. Dithering.
I have no objection to a d i e t program, but I'm not a fan of this particular one so far. Although the cost is low, what you get when you opt to pay is (IMO) not worth the price. They need three or four times the amount of information to justify asking people for money to access it.
Louie Louie (it's one of his clients) is taking my objections to them--if they don't decide to provide content worth the cost, I may have to take an ethical stand.
I hate that.
I don't know, though. There's some content behind the paywall, and some of it is of value. I'm going to have to decide just how much to let my own opinion of clients' businesses affect my decision to work with them. (I suspect, knowing me, the answer will have to be "quite a lot.")
Before the holidays, I had a Big Client Nibble but it seems to have been just that--a nibble. Haven't heard a peep from them since.
I got a nibble for a mediumish (is too a word) account yesterday. I'm letting Gidget and Vela take point on that one--I suspect most of the work the client will wind up wanting will be in their areas of specialty. It could produce a modest initiative in my own area, though.
That plus the new account, the newest account, and the second-oldest new account, all of which have and/or will activate this month, will add a nice increment to my income. (At the moment, I'm making so little that these 3-4 new accounts will almost double my income. Still--I tell myself that I never expected to be raking in big bucks a scant 60 days after opening my self-employment doors.)
I've also been dithering about my annual trip to CA. It's time and past time that I made plane and hotel reservations and whatnot, but I haven't been able to make up my mind whether or not to spend the money, what with my current income and all.
The cost of the trip, no matter how economically I try to do it, winds up being about equal to a month's rent & utilities. A fair-sized chunk of dough. And yet, the point of being self-employed was partly to leave me time for more of a life, right? To loosen up my schedule and leave me more time to do a wider variety of things? Still. Enough money to cover R&U for a month?
This morning, with great reluctance, I decided to pass on the trip.
Makes me sad.
Part of me is still dithering and deciding.
It's Friday! This coming weekend I anticipate finally having the time to watch the new DVDs I got for Christmas!
Also, to beat the final boss monster in one of the games I got, so I can let myself open the second game and start on it. (Current game: Final Fantasy III. Next game: Rune Factory 3.)
A day or two ago I knocked off work early and had an amazon.com blowout, spending a gift certificate Santa brought me and then this morning, in my email, lo! another one appeared! Blowout #2, here I come--filling up my Kindle!
New books! I can't tell you how excited I am--buying an armload (even a virtual, electronic one) of new books all at once--that's not something I ever let myself do any more--first from a lack of shelf space and later (after the Frugality Program set in, during my last bout of unemployment) because of the cost.
At the moment, though, I'm re-reading Dickens, though. It's a real advantage to be in love with authors whose works are in the public domain. Not necessarily because I was able to download all their works for free, but because doing so inspired me to re-read the books.
If I ever wondered why I kept giving them shelf room all these years--now I remember.
In the middle of David Copperfield at the moment. The villains are a bit over-drawn, especially for modern sensibilities, and Our Hero is a bit of a doormat, but those faults are offset by the endless battle of the donkeys and by the immortal Micawbers.
I don't know why I thought you'd care about any of that.
Hello, hello.
So much time has passed--so little to report.
I'd like to add a bit of drama--Louie Louie doesn't seem to have liked my last couple of projects for him and is requesting advance access to the next account (a new one, signed up yesterday) before it goes live, so he can check it first.
Although I'm a touch bitter about people who demand a week's worth of work in 48 hours, then carp about the quality of the product--or who provide vague instructions and are subsequently surprised not to get what they pictured--I'm not feeling crabby today, so we'll let it pass. (Also, I just received the check for last month's work for him and am reminded of why I do this.)
I'll also pass on whining about getting yet another client who wants to "help."
It's what I call Edit Syndrome. When faced with a blank page (or empty account), no one is willing to commit to--or even has a clue about--what they want. Once someone else creates a draft, suddenly everyone's an expert in what it should have said or how it should have been done and they're all eager to edit to show off what they know.
Bah.
It snowed last night, but didn't amount to much. An inch or less. The roads were a bit icy this morning (or, so those who have to commute on them have told me) but the sun is shining and it's all warm and beautiful out there today.
I've been spending what seems to be a ridiculous amount of money recently--90% of it at the grocery store. Stepping onto the scales reveals that yes, I did put on a holiday half-pound or pound, but not more than that, so it wasn't some kind of junk food binge.
I suspect it's the diet. Eating "healthy" food is much more expensive than eating junk. You often see bags of potato chips on sale BOGO (Buy One, Get One free) but you don't see bunches of celery or bags of oranges on sale that way. Produce only goes on sale when it's at the overripe "eat it today or throw it away" stage.
Fresh fruit--I've been on a watermelon kick but it's out of season now and getting pricey. Have to stop indulging in that.
Partly I've been stocking up on ingredients (if freezable) for new recipes I'm pretending I'm going to try. (My leisure reading, when I'm on a diet, is often cookbooks. I search for appetizers or healthy food combinations that have reasonable nutrition stats per portion.) (Also, I find cooking very entertaining. I'm not good at it, but I find it entertaining.)
I tried a new recipe this weekend--a shrimp-based appetizer, that turned out to be quite delicious. Shrimp, cucumber, avocado, red onion, tomato (the recipe called for red bell peppers, but I loathe those, so I added tomato for color instead), green onion, cilantro, jalapenos. Sounds like it would bite back, but the 'bitey' ingredients were used in very small quantities so it turned out very flavorful instead.
I've been eating that and RAT sandwiches alternately for the last 48 hours. (Leftover ingredients--Red onion, Avocado, Tomato. Put 'em together on a crusty roll with a tiny smidgeon of cilantro paste and some black pepper and chow down.)
I like a nice veggie sandwich although I find them challenging. Because so many veggies have high moisture content, they're slippery. I do hate a sandwich that, when you bite it, half the ingredients slide out the other side. Maybe I should buy some of those "pocket" rolls with no open end for things to escape from?
I didn't really have anything to say today. You know that's true when I'm talking about sandwiches.
Oysters
Remember when I said I didn’t know what was wrong with my head the last time I posted? I know now. My transition from the corporate cubicle world to self-employment, though it seemed to be seamless and simple on the surface, had the back, bottom, and sides of my brain in some turmoil. Had a tiny meltdown there for a few days.
I quit my job!
In a sinking economy where even the corporate-owned nightly newscasters have started mentioning, quite matter-of-factly, that while unemployment and poverty rose in the last quarter, the rich got a lot richer, I left the dull but secure safety net of a stable job for the uncertainty of going it on my own.
At an age when I expected to be anticipating an early, and well-funded, retirement, with my retirement funds stagnant—as they have been for the last 11 years—I decided to give up my paycheck?
Not all my preparation—thinking about it for two years, talking about it incessantly, having enough funds on-hand to keep me going for a few months, etc., seems to have convinced all of my brain that, (a) this was going to happen, and (b) it was okay to make the decision.
I think it was three or four days ago that it all actually fell in on me—the idea that I was going to quit my job with only a tiny and unstable income in sight, I mean. Since that was easily two months too late for me to change my mind, I went ahead and adapted.
I’m better now.
It’s much too later to bore y’all with the work details of the last month. Highlights include one account that I didn’t expect to come on board actually taking the plunge, adding a small amount to the aforementioned tiny income, a new account from Louie Louie materializing yesterday, adding another critical mite of bill-paying funding, another Louie Louie account lurking in the wings, a moderate account from the Sandwich Man (another agency), that could sign on this month, and a solid nibble from a stand-alone account that would, if it develops, double my current income.
There. In a nutshell and drama-free.
Pearls
My holidays were fantabulous, as they tend to be. I got the usual mix of games, books, toiletries, and foodstuffs, all of which delighted me.
I took a chance and asked Santa for the new version of Final Fantasy III they released for the DS. I was a bit concerned—I’ve been doing mostly just farming games for the last 2-3 years and wasn’t sure if I was “up” to anything more challenging any more, but I’m moving right through it, and having a ball.
Santa also brought me Rune Factory 3, but I’m saving that one. I haven’t even finished my birthday game (Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns) yet and bouncing between two games at once is as much as my brain can handle.
I made holiday cards again this past fall—store-bought ones are cheaper and nicer but making cards gives me something to do with my hands in the evenings besides eating. Because I didn’t get them actually mailed, family members can expect to see theirs as “new year greetings” showing up in the next week. No one else I know actually sends cards, so I’m going to let them off the hook and stop sending those. The R.C. wrote a holiday letter, which inspired me to write one of my own for inclusion. (I’m a big copier of others’ notions.)
Now, post-meltdown, I’m back to what will become my “regular” work schedule. Today, so far, I’ve showered*, attended a regular idea-sharing chat session by way of “professional education”, finished one load of laundry and started a second one, and run an armload of reports for the new account I need to reorganize and get working by Thursday. All very productive and peaceful.
Also, I made a pot of tea. I’m becoming very fond of sipping a civilized cup of tea throughout the day. A pot of tea—something that would be very difficult to make in an office, is becoming symbolic of my new freedom.
Freedom. Not leisure.
There is more--but I'll blog again soon. Right now, I need to go do some work.
Hope your holidays were the most wonderful ever, and that 2012 brings nothing but peace, prosperity, and joy to you and your loved ones!
_______________________
* Not a thing I can take for granted. I’m finding that the water in this building tends to be off unexpectedly once or twice a week. Not always for long—often less than an hour—but long enough to make the morning pot of coffee and shower a bit unpredictable.
It's now been almost three weeks since I struck out to explore the waters of Entrepreneurial Life.
So far--well, nothing to report. I'm still working on the same clients, all of whom are still being stupid in the same ways.
The two new agencies who appeared with clients in hand have not so far produced any billable work but with the holidays approaching it's normal to see a bit of a slowdown. I guess. I think. I hope that's what it is, anyhow.
Vela is still around--I think I mentioned that she also decided to go freelance after she was laid off and that she and Gidget have been working on a number of projects together? She comes up with the weirdest stuff--it's mostly her clients that Gidget winds up working 60 hours a week on for 5 hours worth of pay.
Vela sent me one recently--a holiday account that should have been planned and launched a month or more ago. It was a desperate, urgent, urgent project for--wait for it--no pay. Because she's a friend, I didn't mention this, I just sent her a list of what I need. That was six days ago and the client's already short 3 week window of opportunity is shrinking fast while I twiddle my thumbs and wait.
I don't mind helping them out, they really are very dear friends, but I do object to what I do being treated as something not worth paying for. When I ask them to help me, I always pay them. The projects I do for them--they never seem to think that offering me money is necessary. (Not a big issue at the moment--the stuff they come up with is pretty small-scale, but still.)
I have a 10:00 chat session (education) today, a 10:00 client conference call tomorrow, and a 2:00 educational seminar tomorrow. It was my hope, when I struck out into Entrepreneurial Waters, that time to keep up with the industry, educate myself a bit, and generally learn more about what I need to know, would be easy to find. This is not, thus far, tending to be the case. This week's two educational events are the first ones I've had time to schedule.
In an industry prone to changing rapidly, almost daily, and dramatically, education is not a luxury. I need to get my days better organized.
Sorry--when I sat down to write this, I didn't realize my head was in such a plodding, blah place at the moment. I'll try for a more upbeat tone in the next post.
Posted by AnneZook at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)Today it's all oysters and no pearls. and it's barely afternoon.
This morning I have overslept (tch-tch), done three loads of laundry, and moved the Closet Project at good 40% toward completion with the final weeding out of a few more garments and the sorting of "things I will wear a lot" from "things I might wear occasionally," complete with bagging the "occasionally" section to keep it all clean.
This is not because my compulsive work ethic is taking a holiday.
No, it's the aforementioned Crazy Component--still the Magical Mystery Machines account.
When I sat in the cubicle farm, the need to step back for an hour or two and let my subconscious work out how to accomplish whatever impractical demands were being made of me meant doing a lot of smoking (hardly healthy), staring at data until my head was going in so many circles that rational thought was impossible, and, not infrequently, finally doing something not because it was the right thing to do but because I was "at the office" and I felt compelled to do something.
Now, when someone demands the stupid, the illogical, or the downright absurd, I can go do something productive while the back of my brain works on the problem.
It doesn't necessarily make arriving at the "right" course of action easier--ridiculous and unobtainable are still ridiculous and unobtainable --but it's certainly much less aggravating.
So, maybe that's a pearl.
Posted by AnneZook at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)Got a little distracted from the topic in that last post, didn't I?
For the record, I shopped yesterday and at the Container Store I acquired the bounty of not one but two small bookcases for half price! (Floor model sell-outs. Score!) So I got extra shelving in my home office and also three more shelves for the closet, to assist in the never-ending task of organizing the space. I also cleaned out old and unloved garments and took them to a donation station, another huge step toward getting it under control.
I still have boxes and bags full of stuff--the cubicle stuff and presents I've received from Webstrainer that I can't decide what to do with--stuck it all back in the closet until I have time and energy to go through it all--but aside from that heap, I made major Organizational Progress yesterday. I feel good about that.
So--that 72 hours we were going to talk about.
Well, first, two oysters.
I celebrated my new reliance on freelance income by threatening to fire one client--the JasonWife account--if they don't provide me with the site features I need, and smacking another one across the chops for "helping" so relentlessly that a pipeline to the almighty wouldn't allow me to produce success for them.
I can't stand clients who want to "help" and especially those who demand major structural and focus changes every 10 days.
A review of past performance shows that their results have been poor all this year. You would think that would be enough to convince them that they don't know what they're doing and that they should leave it to the experts, wouldn't you?
I mean, granted, their Magical Mystery Machines product makes my head hurt when I try to understand it enough to advertise it all, but the kind of "help" that would be useful--like a website with clear destination pages and less reliance on industry abbreviations--would go a long way toward "helping" me and the Webstrainer software understand what they're doing.
Aside from that, the first client from one of the two new agencies (hereinafter referred to as Mister Dillon) bailed, so that project is dead in the water. I'm not sorry--another client with ridiculous expectations and even more ridiculous demands for how quickly their expectations needed to be met. The agency swears there will be Real business some day soon. Whatever.
Haven't heard back from the other agency (hereinafter identified as Sandwich Man) about that proposal for the first of three accounts they were thinking of offering us. but that's partly my fault--they needed one additional bit of info and it took me until Friday to get it to them.
Things with Louie Louie, my original pearl, seem to be reasonably smooth. I have five active accounts with him (and one on hiatus), three of whom seem to be happy clients. One of the others is the aforementioned Magical Mystery Machines problem child. The other is the FastFinder company who used to do different things on their website that produced massive success but who aren't doing that any more and won't stop complaining that their massive success melted away.
And, finally, there's UglyFruitSoftware, a definite oyster, my most recent client and (unusually for me) a direct account--no agency involved. Possibly the worst--certainly the ugliest--site I'm trying to work with--and that's after I sent page after page of suggestions for improvement to the lunatic client who inexplicably insisted on doing all his own coding and design. He made about 1/3 of my changes before he got bored. I do not predict a long-term relationship or any measurable success. If I found myself on that website, I'd hit the back button instantly and go find a more professional company to work with.
I'm not regretting my decision to go it on my own--not at all--but I'm not immediately seeing any decrease in the level of Crazy I'm dealing with.
On the other hand, I did work in my pajamas one day this past week, so, fun there.
Posted by AnneZook at 09:50 AM | Comments (2)I thought my recent Life Change was significant enough to warrant a new category of adventures on the sidebar--thus, Oysters and Pearls.
From here on out, I expect to spend a fair time dissing the slippery oysters or polishing the perfect pearls I gather in my journey toward entrepreneurial success.
But first--one last complaint.
This was not my dream. Living as just one of the anonymous rats powering the corporate wheel for the occasional pellet of food didn't really bother me. It's what I was raised to expect* to spend my life doing.
Now? If I fail to succeed, it's not my fault. That's all I'm sayin'. I don't have a toolbox for this situation--my coping skills are around workplaces filled with people less-intelligent, less-motivated, and less-committed than I am. If it's just me--and success or failure rests only on my own efforts--I don't really know what to do with that situation.
/digression
No,wait. First, a side-note about storage.
I really need one more bookcase--I need more shelving. I need something no more than 20"-24" wide that will go with the carefully selected (matching) bookcases I already have in here. (Sadly, they are 32", so another one of them won't fit.) The home office corner needs that last critical extra few feet of space to get things properly organized.
So. 72 hours into it, how does the adventure progress, you ask?
It's been--normal.
But weird.
The first two days I bounced between doing Actual Work and trying to tidy up the disaster I made of my home office by dragging a couple of boxes of stuff home from my cubicle and dumping it all here. That's going to be a week-long project--getting things set and settled to let me work from here for the long-term, and not just the occasional day--so, for the short term, I dumped it all in the closet and out of sight.
Sigh. That closet is the bane of my existence. I've been cleaning it out, I swear, for five years, and it's still stuffed. What is all that stuff? I can't possibly need all that stuff!
_________________
* Well, no, really I was raised to scrub floors and wipe dirty noses--but I came to terms with my disinclination to become a Soccer Mom a long time ago.
Posted by AnneZook at 09:09 AM | Comments (2)Tomorrow!
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow. You're only a day a-way."
I've never seen the musical, but that snippet of that song has been singing in my head all day.
So, what's been happening?
#1 - The announcement to the 'Nuts afield actually went out Friday afternoon. It went to a small, selected set of email addresses which struck me as odd. (For instance, it wasn't sent to my co-workers in this this office.)
It contained no reference, no matter how implicit, to suggest that any of the 'Nuts would be welcome if they wanted to contact me about management.
#2 - Nevertheless, I heard back from one 'Nut almost immediately with a request to contact him on his personal email account. Who it was surprised me--not one of the ones I'd expected.
I haven't contacted him yet--without at least tacit approval from the Corral, I'm not really certain what to say to the guy. Back when it was the Argonuts in charge, we didn't allow people to go off the reservation (dated, racist metaphor--sorry) in all directions whenever the mood struck them. The Corral seems to be more laissez-faire about the whole thing but I don't really know for sure.
#3 - Sent proposals to two agencies this morning. Anywhere from two to six new accounts.
Without any additional accounts, I now have my expenses covered and, thanks to underbidding the first five accounts*, am getting close to my maximum workload.
I don't know that I'm happy about this. I mean, I haven't even started being self-employed yet.
Where are the months of nail-biting and account juggling to keep the bills paid? Where are the hours spent staring longingly at a phone you need to ring with an offer of new business? Where are the days spent bonding with other entrepreneurs who are facing similar challenges? Where's the struggle?
Me, being me, I look at this and suspect I must be doing it wrong.
I was looking forward to a bit of leisure each day. Time to clean the kitchen, scrub the bathroom floor, do a load of laundry every day or two, keep up with the dusting, etc.
A bit of exercise in between massive bouts of analysis. Time to read the latest articles, view the videos, keep up with developments in the field, chat with the experts. That sort of thing.
Oh, well. I remind myself that, if nothing else, I should at least be getting my weekends back. I can dink around then.
__________________
* I'm not going freelance to get rich. I never wanted to be rich. I want to get up every day and look forward to work. I want to find my job interesting and challenging. And, yes, I want to make enough money to cover the bills with a bit left over for entertainment and amusement.
"Rich" is overrated. Rich people have nothing to do all day. Human beings need purpose in their lives.
I thought it was worth an update to say that today, over a week after I submitted my resignation letter, I actually heard from NewerBoss Peter on the subject.
He had little to say other than than they're looking to hire a replacement to work out of the CA office, which I expected, and that the announcement to the 'Nuts Afield will be sent out today. (Good morning for me to be working from home, I think.)
He surprised me my saying they'd "reached out" to Webstrainer's Help system. The sensible thing to do would have been to advertise or ask around for replacement. Webstrainer cannot and will not help you hire internally. (They will recommend you set everything on automatic, which will produce disaster, but they mean well.)
Surprised me as a first step, that's all I'm saying. I mean--this isn't rocket science or some alien endeavor. You hire for it like you hire for any skill-centric job. Find the best mix of skills and personality you can.
Anyhow, he said he heard I've put on more clients in the last week. That puzzles me--not sure who he's been talking to who would have passed that info on. I don't care that much--it wasn't a secret--but it puzzles me.
Anyhow. I have a 90-minute online meeting with the new agency in half an hour. As soon as I can get him off the phone, I plan to make an appearance at the office. 'Cause they're still paying me, though Tuesday, so I think they might like to see my face each day.
When last we talked, I was moaning about--well, all the usual stuff plus the Being Old thing.
So. Quick update.
#1 - Spoke to Gidget about her inexplicable refusal to work w/my clients. All a failure in communication. She's on board.
#2 - On Tuesday, November 1, I handed in my resignation. My last day at the office will be Tuesday, November 15. HOOray?
#3 - The agency I was hoping to hear from did contact me--and offered me three accounts. So, that's okay.
#4 - AARPer information acquired--not yet submitted. I'm having a little trouble getting over myself. Aged, geezer woman that I apparently am.
#5 - The only response NewerBossPeter had to my letter was to ask if I was going to be freelancing full-time and would I like them as a client. I think that was very nice of him and suggests that maybe he had a higher opinion of my skills than I thought he had. Don't you think?
Anyhow. I wrote back and explained that I already have a pretty full schedule but that I'd be willing to take up to half a dozen of the 'Nuts, for $250-$300/month each. Since I know for a fact that the Piggyback Corral is only collecting $75/month from each of the 'Nuts, I figured that wouldn't fly, but I'm not becoming self-employed so I can starve in a gutter.
I haven't heard from NBPeter since. Not a peep. I've had occasion to send him an email or two on various topics. Not a sound out of him. Dunno what he's thinking.
Another of the Corral Bosses was in town this week for a training class we're holding at the moment. He didn't say anything to me (aside from the usual hellos, I mean) until right before he left, when he pulled me aside to say "thank you" for--well, he didn't say, but the inference was sort of for the work I'd done, so I'm thinking that's where he meant to be going.
He wanted me to understand that no bridges were burned.
I dunno. You think he thought I was thinking they'd offer me $$ to stay? 'Cause I wasn't thinking that and he knows it now so if he was thinking it then, he's not thinking it now.
Anyhow.
Dealing with the flood of new clients, trying to get just enough work done to string them along for a week or two while I try to shake myself free of this place explains why I've been quiet, right?
The big issue for going self-employed full time is, of course, health insurance coverage.
Today, I had a depressing epiphany.
I am old. I can join the AARPers and sign up for health insurance through them.
I'm so depressed now.
Posted by AnneZook at 04:09 PM | Comments (2)Good afternoon, Residual Readership!
How's life been treating you? No little disasters or traumas or roadblocks on your path to a happy life, I hope?
Now that we're into the holi/holy day season, with various new years, days of atonement, days of dedication (Hanukkah, right?), Thanksgivings, Christmases, etc., I wish you and all your loved ones peace and prosperity.
--Sometimes I forget these little gestures that mean so much. Remembering that people, for instance, have their own lives and priorities.--
In the category of "random fun stuff," we have Old Friendships Renewed.
A friend I haven't seen in something like 20 years contacted me last week--she was in town and wanted to meet up. We got together for dinner, I got to meet her daughter for the first time, and her daughter's fiance, and then we had some one-on-one time to catch up on old acquaintances and each other's lives.
She has some health issues for which the prognosis isn't good. Terminal, in fact, but considering they gave her 2 years about eleven years ago, she's doing remarkably well.
She was in town to see another old friend's newest grandchild, born a couple of weeks ago. (Sadly, that friend passed away last year--a heart condition.)
These things remind us to cherish our friends, past and present.
Sentimental today, aren't I?
In the category of "keeping up with Gidget," there are bits of news you couldn't possibly care less about, so I won't bore you. Suffice to say that, once again, I'm grateful to be childless.
Workwise, she lost two "bankroll" client accounts in the last month and is now grabbing at any project she can find that will pay her money--working for 1/2 or 1/4 of her normal rate.
Oddly enough, she isn't accepting the projects I offer her. I mean, they're all one-off projects but my clients pay and the work isn't that complicated.
Just yesterday, she turned down a project that would have taken her three hours and paid her $500. Why? Because she's in the middle of a 50-hour project she took on that's going to pay her $1k.
The new client I mentioned in my last post, the one she'll rake in a minimum of $1,400 on? She hasn't had a chance to get back with that client yet.
Boggles the mind.
I'm thinking--okay, I'm not sharing these clients with you if you won't follow up with them promptly, because you're not only losing the fees you would have made, you're eliminating my future client base when you blow them off.
I dunno. I'd thought of having this conversation with her when we met for lunch but her Family Crisis story was so complicated that we didn't have time to really get to business subjects.
Anyhow.
Moving on.
Me-wise client-wise, things are--busy. I've brought on one new client since last I posted. I have one more on the verge of signing.
A very good friend who passes me leads is handing my name off to another agency who has the kind of accounts I'm really interested in--the kind where if I had four or five of those, I'd be financially solid as a full time, self-employed person.
Which, of course, brings us to the employment issue. Right now, I'm teetering on the verge of a casual sort of meltdown. I have too much work for the "Saturday morning & all day Sunday" freelance schedule I've been using for the last year. I really need to add one--maybe two--evenings a week to current accounts.
Which is more hours in a single day than either I or my 5(x) year-old eyeballs are really interested in spending staring at a computer screen.
So, I'm clutching my scant supply of courage in both hands and, if this third agency contacts me and offers me even one new account, I'm going to draft up and submit and polite but firm letter of separation from the Argonuts and the Corral.
If I get hungry, I can say so and you'll send me a sandwich, right? I'm not picky--just sustenance to keep life in my wasted frame. (No mayonnaise.) (No rye bread.)
(I like multigrain bread without rye, though.)
(Something hot. I like a hot sandwich.)
As you can see, I'm not hungry yet. I had a very nice lunch today--stewed chicken and mushrooms over rice--so I don't need a sandwich yet. But I might someday.
(Seriously. No rye.)
Pursuant (so long since I had the opportunity to use my favorite word) to the onset of my more frugal lifestyle, I cancelled the preorder I'd placed for the Amazon Fire tablet. (That sounds very financially responsible and mature but the truth is, I had a 80% firm intention of cancelling the order two seconds after I placed it. The idea of a tablet interests me but I have no use for one.)
The R.C. thought we might need to let the Grinch steal Christmas but I've got a savings account and a holiday fund and anyhow, she's only asked for one very inexpensive gift. There are already too few days in a year when anyone feels like giving me a present. I'm not giving up a sure thing for anything as lame as being financially destitute.
It's been almost 24 hours and that agency hasn't contacted me yet, so this is all still pretty theoretical.
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* A "bankroll" client is one of your big ones--the ones who provide enough income to give you breathing space.
Posted by AnneZook at 01:06 PM | Comments (5)My right knee is stiff. I don't know why.
Last week's head cold lingers--mostly in the form of a slight cough and an intermittently drippy nose.
I don't know why I thought you'd want to know that.
I don't think I'm going to do much work today.
I mean, I've been here for almost three hours already and I haven't done any yet which is, I think, a pretty clear sign.
Mostly because it's right before the end of the month--I've created all the turmoil I can think of in the 'Nut accounts and am now awaiting, with baited breath, the outcome of all the activity.
The two new Corral accounts I mentioned last time aren't online yet--probably because I've been insufficiently "proactive" about nagging the people to get started. I should contact them today. Management has sent a demand that I contact one of them and I generally acquiesce to that kind of thing.
Yes. I might.
I might not. The amount of enthusiasm I can muster for taking on two more underfunded accounts with crappy websites that don't allow any kind of success tracking for me to optimize against is pretty limited.
The last Corral account I took on--those people call me every week to say they're getting nothing for their spend. I make polite noises and promise to "adjust things" but their webpage sucks and I could drive all the traffic in the world and they would still get nothing--a thing I'm not allowed to say.
Two new freelance accounts, though. One's online (last week) although I still have a major data analysis project underway for them. That's going to be a sizable one when I get it lined up and running--so complicated I was able to bid double my normal fee.
The other signed up just a couple of days ago and I'm still waiting for the client to tell me what day and time are good for him for me to call--to lay out the scope and timeline of all the projects he wants Gidget and I to handle. (I stacked the deck for Gidget on this one--the initial set of projects will be a $1,400 invoice, of which $1,200 will be for her.)
She and I are supposed to have lunch tomorrow--I'm going to demand that she tell me exactly what projects she's working on (she seems to have a lot that I'm not aware of) so that I can stop worrying that she's about to go bankrupt.
(She had an Offspring Crisis last week that wiped out her savings account, I know that for a fact. $20k at one stroke.) (I'm so glad to be childless.)
I--lack enthusiasm today. All the things I need to do can't be done because Corral websites don't support those things. I've done everything else I can think of and now, as already mentioned, have only to await results.
I'm bored of hanging out in the forum, answering people's question and anyhow Webstrainer finally started offering some customer service for newbies and there are a lot fewer questions than there were three or four moths ago.
I'm just blah.
It could be the cold, taking more out of me than I know, but this really wasn't a bad attack, as these things go, so it seems unlikely.
Yesterday, Amazon held a press conference to announce the long-awaited release of their tablet, Fire. They also announced the release of the touchscreen Kindle.
I was tempted and I fell--I placed a pre-order for Fire. I may yet reconsider--I have until November 15--but I might not. Lacking, as I do, a "smart" phone, I am woefully behind the curve on "apps" and "mobile browsing" technology. As these things become ever-more important to my job, I'm getting uncomfortable with my ignorance. (It's practically a business expense!)
After some consideration (at least 30 seconds), I decided that a tablet was a better investment than a smartphone, proper activation of which would entail doubling or maybe tripling my monthly phone bill. I don't quite understand how the tablet gets online except that I know that if I use it at home, I can use it through my already existing wireless network, so no extra charge. (Presumably I'd have to pay for access elsewhere.) (I really need to figure this out before Nov 15.)
I might reconsider. All the things people want a tablet to do--play games, listen to music, read books, check email, stream movies, watch television shows--these are not things I'm interested in or not things I'm needing a table to do.
I mean--I'm not going to have a sudden, desperate need to watch a movie while I'm out to lunch one day, you know? I don't have spare time to spend on computer games. I rarely listen to music--really, almost never--and if I did, I'd choose a better experience than a built-in computer speaker. I don't roam around town aimlessly, so I don't need GPS or Mapquest at my fingertips. I spend so much time working that the few hours I'm out, away from my computer on the weekends, are more of a welcome break from email access than a deprivation.
I strongly suspect that my life isn't complicated enough to justify having any new tech gadgets to help me manage it.
Maybe I'll eat breakfast.
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P.S. I ramble on sometimes and I never use cut tags. Is anyone seeing this through RSS and needing me to make cuts?
I really do - and I feel badly that I never have anything interesting to blog any more.
I could blog about the trip to Webstrainer but since the material was all protected under Non-Disclosure Agreements, I'd have to kill you.
My refusal to compromise said NDA by repeating all the sekrit things I learned along with my attempts to explain to NewerBoss Peter how I can't manage all the online marketing initiatives* (most of which he still has not defined for me) including the corporate relationships with the outside SEM and SEO agencies because I'm already doing more than a full-time job--well, let's say I'm not that popular with him at the moment.
My already full-time office workload of 25 accounts has expanded to 27 with at least two more on the near horizon.
I told Louie Louie two weeks ago that I needed to stop taking on new accounts for the next 30 days, to let me stabilize what I already have on my plate. He's added two accounts to the mix since then.
Sheesh.
There is only one of me.
On that same theme, there are a few things distracting me from getting Real Work done. A two-hour 'training' session (conference call) I should be scheduling for tomorrow The requirement that I help set up and host a meeting for the local chapter of Women In Businesses I Don't Care About next week. Preparing for a four-hour training session for new 'Nuts next month. Two new office mandates - one for a monthly "webinar" to discuss vague "topics of interest" and a second to start supporting the intranet user-to-user forums.
I'm thinking it's about time I set an exit date for this job.
Until the Corral came along, I was reasonably successful at fending off time-wasting distractions and responsibilities that took me away from doing my core work. Oh, sure, there were occasional failures, like my inability to get the 'NutNews off my desk in a permanent way, but for the most part I sat at my desk and did my job. Results kept improving and most people were pretty satisfied.
I'm having trouble with this new bunch, though. Since they work out of an office in CA, I can't get to them in the same way, to lay down my point of view. Turning down work your boss is pushing at you is, in my opinion, something much easier done in person. (As is explaining the true scope of the projects already living on your desk.)
At the same time, Webstrainer's continuing insistence on rolling out new stuff every two weeks means that my actual work is getting more complex all the time--needing more time and thought.
Between my boss's noticeable avoidance of me at the Conference, his snippy reception of the notes I wrote up and sent (by request) detailing the feedback I'd gotten from the 'Nuts et. al. at the conference, and his demand that I "add value" to what I already do for the company (as complained about in paragraph three above), and I'm really thinking it's time I started working out an exit strategy for myself.
Anyhow. Sorry I haven't been blogging.
Posted by AnneZook at 01:33 PM | Comments (2)Dear Bunny:
I saw you.
I came out to stand there and enjoy a minute of warm weather and there you were, sitting six inches from the spot I was headed for. You loped a lazy step sideways, then stopped to watch me to see if I was going to give you a wide berth but I, tired of--to mix a petting zoo of metaphors--being buffaloed by brazen bunnies, kept on coming.
So, you scooted under the bush and sat there, smugly certain you were hidden from the Dangerously Tall Creature.
I could still see you. You got your head under the bush but your butt was still sticking out. If I'd have been a hawk, you'd have been a dead rabbit.
Just sayin'. You want to live to be an Old, Gray Bunny, you need to learn to tuck your butt under.
Dear Residual Readership:
I am still alive. Working a lot--first to get caught up before the stupid conference I got back to the office on Aug 30 and was instantly reburied under the avalanche of things that had accumulated while I was gone and the projects I heard myself insanely volunteering to take on during the trip.
Also, end of month reporting last week and NewerBoss Peter has me on a deadline now--I have until the end of the workday on the 2nd to get it all done. That's not normally going to be a problem but having been out the week before meant I didn't get the preliminary reports done, so it was a scramble last week. I was doing EOM reports with one hand and checking on accounts with the other.
Next week I'm out again, all week this time, so this week I'm playing catch-up-in-advance again. Already. (Schedule-wise, I'm losing 30 minutes today to get my hair done--it needs it--and two hours tomorrow morning for a mandatory "post-conference staff meeting" that needs my attendance as much as the pre-conference staff meetings did, which is to say, not.
Four new accounts in the last couple of weeks--three freelance for Louie Louie and two for the Corral. Added to that workload is Webstrainer, rolling out new data views that not only give me appalling insight into what's going on but that each require about 15 minutes more management time (per client, per week), meaning that I'd have been tearing my hair out, even if I weren't leaving town again.
Still. Visiting Webstrainer should be fun. (I hope it's fun, since I'm using every minute of my accumulated vacation time on the trip.) Educational and interesting, which is more than the Corral conference promised (or delivered).
From all reports, they're going to have netbooks available for us all, too. What that means is that I might be able to travel without hauling my computer along! Only those of you who travel can understand what a luxury that would be.
There was a bunch of advance info and prep stuff they wanted--none of which I got around to doing. I feel badly about that but I learned today that the 25 accounts I handle for the Corral are, in the estimate of a bunch of agency managers, the maximum they think any one person can manage with any degree of success--so if you add the half-dozen freelance accounts to those--well, I'm not just whiny, I'm busy.
I had so many things to blog--random adventures, boring thoughts, passing complaints, even occasional triumphs. Sigh.
Posted by AnneZook at 02:36 PM | Comments (2)Too much going on!
That new client meeting with Vela tomorrow at 11 (Seriously. Must do the prep work for that this evening.) and then Louie Louie has yet another new client he wants to talk about so I scheduled that call for tomorrow afternoon.
Tomorrow's gonna be a day I need to work from home--I can start early and work late to make up the time.*
Another account I'm handing for Louie Louie goes live later this week, and let us all hope it performs better than the one I'm already handling for him. (Performance metrics are fine--it just doesn't produce sales.)
Gidget and I met with OldBoss Anais Friday morning so she could explain that that account is a gross disappointment. I agree--but at the moment I simply don't have the brain cells needed to do the kind of analysis needed to figure out the problem.
I've got the coming weekend earmarked, though. No play, no going out running around doing random things. The entire weekend has to be spent on freelance stuff. Between performance diagnosis for my two under-performing freelance accounts and monitoring performance on the one going live the end of this week, and whatever work comes out of the Vela meeting tomorrow--I just don't have time for a day off.
Corral-wise, things are equally as active.
Remember that training session I was going to produce some stuff for that I thought was taking place in early September? It's happening on August 1. Better put something together.
The presentation for the Corral conference? Is going better, now that I've stepped back, stepped back, and stepped back, to focus on preschool-level information. I'm kind of stuck at the moment but I'm sure something will come through my brain eventually.
The Corral is corralling yet another group in a week or so. Although it ain't got nothing to do with me, I keep getting dragged into 'information' sessions to tell me all about it. I don't care. I've spent 3-1/2 years with the Argonuts without finding a need to know anything about them so I think I can get along fine without a lot of extraneous information about people whose lives will never affect mine.
Webstrainer is driving me nutso. Not only are they changing things again (still) every two seconds, but they're providing more insight and details around performance--details that have shown a lot of us that things are not as good as we'd thought.
Also, they're very needy. I like being one of Mother's Little Helpers--it's fun to be recognized and have people think I'm smarter than I am--but not at the expense of my sanity. It's a volunteer gig--I can't commit to spending X numbers of hours a week on it. Some weeks I have time for XX hours and others I have time for 1/3X or less.
Also, I can't do a lot of calls and meetings and I certainly don't have time to check out and become expert on ten other Webstrainer programs. I have a job, people. Two jobs, in fact. If Webstrainer would like for formalize our relationship with some $$, I'll give up one of my current jobs and work for them. Otherwise, they get what part of me is leftover after my other commitments are met.
And then a microvolunteer site I post to occasionally is nagging me to be more involved and do more. I visit a couple of those from time to time. It's all an industry name-recognition thing for me, of course but I'm helping folks so I figure it's a fair trade. I like spouting off so it's not a trial but, again, I don't appreciate being nagged to give them more time than I can actually spare.
Professionally, I belong to three or four forums, have three 'professional' social networks to maintain, and a list of about 25 websites that offer analysis and insight and that I should be reading at least once a week, if not more often.
And then there's my actual life, such as it is. I haven't touched my quantum physics course in three weeks, I spent a scant 10 minutes crocheting and knitting one evening so I'm behind on those projects, I'd promised myself I was going to get back to sketching practice--that was six months ago and I haven't touched a pencil yet.
Fortunately I have very few friends, at least locally, so I'm not often tempted to spend time in that arena. *sigh*
I don't know how people who have, you know, family--kids and stuff--manage to get through it all. All I have is me and keeping my life under control is almost more than I can handle sometimes.**
I have a lot of life but not enough time to live it in.
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* I need one, or maybe two, work from home days anyhow. I need to run some massive reports and study the resulting 25k-line Excel spreadsheets in minute detail.
Those changes I mentioned that Webstrainer has made--I need to understand what they mean.
** Okay, if I didn't require 3-4 hours a day for reading, I could get through a lot more, but reading is what makes life worth living and I ain't giving it up.
Maybe I go to bed too early?
Posted by AnneZook at 10:00 AM | Comments (4)I had so much to say!
I was going to talk about building models of the Eiffel Tower and how the new Zelda game reawakened my love for RPG and how very amusing I'm still finding the Kindle (although I'm not longer allowed to mindlessly surf for inexpensive new books--not since I saw the grand total for the first such session).
I was going to go on and on about the craziness of freelance clients (not to mention the ones at the office) and my random satisfactions and dissatisfactions with the Corral Crew (not the least of which was being asked to give up my entire evening yesterday for the bonding experience of a group outing to a baseball game).
I wanted to celebrate a bit because I finally got my certification finished and moan and groan because the newest Must-Have Knowledge isn't covered by either of the exams I took, so now I have to start studying for two more exams.
I wanted to talk about my most recent MoPT adventure, wherein the machine refused to ticket me and the onboard inspector confirmed that during one recent weekend, as many as 50% of the available ticketing machines were out of order.
(Apparently the official procedure is for you to board the train, get off at the next stop, buy a ticket there if there's a working machine, then wait about 15 minutes to board the next train.
Should there be no working machine, you're supposed to repeat the procedure for the next stop.
A rough calculation shows that it would take six weeks to cross the city by this method--and up to six months if it's late in the evening and the trains are only running every 30 minutes and completely inactive from 1am-5am.)
I had complaints and compliments and all kinds of stuff but it's all old news now.
Also, there's no way I'm typin' all of that out.
Suffice to say I'm still me.
Still working a fair number of freelance hours--less than I should be more more than I want to, considering the number of hobbies and leisure amusements I'd rather spend my time on. New clients still coming every so often--have a meeting with one next week that could turn out to be a pretty big account. It's Vela's client, but one big enough for her to bring both Gidget and me in on if she pulls it off. (And she might land this one.)
Running interference for Gidget--she's been helping with one of my freelance accounts and, I'm shocked to have to say, making quite a few mistakes. (There's a reason everyone isn't good at what I do. You really do have to pay attention every, single second.)
Thinking about putting together a presentation for next month's conference sessions--they want me to and I said I would and and people expect it. I hate doing it, because showing slides and screen presentations really just distracts people from what you're saying but you can't expect to keep the attention of the television generation for more than 5 minutes if you're not showing pictures.
Have to put together another presentation for another session to be given during new owner training a week or two after that. Bleah. This comes directly under the heading of "things I do not do" but I'm sick of arguing with people about whether or not I'm allowed to spend my time on the work that needs to get done.
A couple of weeks after that, another conference in California but luckily I'm not presenting at this one. I'll be assuming my usual role as a back-seat heckler and I don't need advance prep to do that.
I just sent off for my last two COBRA reimbursements--another $800 or so for my "freelance emergency balance" savings account. I have three checks I need to deposit--but I've forgotten the account number for my brand new(ish) savings account and can't deposit them until I get actually get in to a bank during business hours, something I've been completely unable to achieve in the last two weeks. (Remember the goal--to have six months of living expenses in savings before I take the plunge.)
That, in a nutshell, is me these days.
It would all have been very amusing if I'd blogged it as I went I think.
Posted by AnneZook at 03:14 PM | Comments (2)The office did not NEED a new network and certainly we didn't need to be 'virtually' part of the new corporate office's network halfway across the country.
And we--or at least I--absolutely and positively did not need to be so-called "upgraded" to the latest disaster Microsoft Windows is foisting off on the brainless buyers of software for companies.
I've been beating my head against a wall--and my fists against the computer--for two weeks, trying to make this new software STFU already, stop popping up memos and reminders to do things I'll never want or need to do, and let me actually open the only three programs--and five documents--I really actually need to use on a daily basis. As too often happens, the people at Microsoft have decided what users want to do, how they want to see things, and what they should not be allowed to change--and those decisions seem to have been hard-coded in to the most recent version of their lousy Office suite.
Add to that the joys of having every, single document, report, and piece of data I've been accumulating for the last three years mysteriously wiped out in the migration to the new network and you can just imagine the kind of rage-induced psychosis I've been suffering from today. Given anything remotely resembling a weapon, I would have joyfully beaten this stupid computer into confetti. (Okay, it's not fair to blame the box, but software is ephemeral and can't be clubbed into rubble.)
OMG, do I hate Windows. It astonishes me, how strong this hate is. Especially considering that a recent version of the OS, the XP one, was really quite a pleasure to use.
Anyhow.
Crabby.
Posted by AnneZook at 03:41 PM | Comments (1)So many pointless thoughts, so little inclination to bother typing them onto the page….
First, let me update you on the Dipshit situation. No, I have not yet informed the offending party (i.e., NewerBossMan Peter) that his "fixes" weren't populated to the system. I decided to play stupid and pretend it never occurred to me to go check.
I just--you have to pick your battles and I decided I just wasn't up for that one.
Second, I am disenchanted with a heretofore unnamed Café crony, to whom we will probably not have occasion to refer again. She's been revealed to be considerably less mature than I'd believed. In spite of her age (22-23) and the fact that she's dating Bert, who is technically her boss but no one here seems to find that inappropriate, I've had nothing against her for the last six or eight months that she's worked here.
That changed yesterday after she was informed* that she will not, as she anticipated, be attending the Corral's annual conference in two months. She reacted--badly.** (Footnoted for those who just don't care.) I think so much less of her today than I did before--and I'll admit I'm having my own problems getting past that.
Third, although informed that a S'S'West nut (previously discussed as a significant example of DIY FAIL) took advantage of the acquisition to run out and start DIYing again while management was in transition and although agreeing, in principle, that this is a bad idea all the way around, NewerBossMan Peter has decided that this is not a current "issue" in his eyes.
So now, we not only have another DIYer playing in my sandbox, but I don't even have transparency into what he's doing, so any lunatic thing he does that might reflect badly on the rest of the system can be--not diagnosed, but guessed at--only via the disastrous effects it has on the system.
Fourth, although it's probably moot by now, I was going to blog a triumphant record of the record-setting (really this time--I double-checked the figures) number of leads the overall network generated last month. It wasn't necessarily due to my efforts, it was a variety of sources, but my projects were part of it, with a modest 24% increase over last year. With the actual "busy season" still ahead of us, I was looking forward to a successful summer.
Not so much now. Not only do I have to fear the negative impact of an invisibly destructive campaign but the Corral BOWG who heard the news got snippy about the really modest 1.5% increase in actual sales from last year. Since closing leads--booking jobs--isn't my problem or responsibility, I felt that was unfair.
I did not, however, throw a temper tantrum and stomp out of the office. Because I am not twelve.
Fifth, freelance. I think I overbid a project earlier this week. Someone asked me for an estimate for managing one rather large-scale project and I quoted them $1500 a month. Their reply was, essentially, thanks and we'll get back to you--maybe--some day.
I don't care for me--it wasn't that interesting of a project from my perspective--but I regret the loss of potential income for Gidget. (Also, I'm firmly reminding myself that I may have bid more than the client was prepared to pay, but I also bid less than the project was worth--or would be worth, once Gidget and I got it performing properly.)
Sixth, 'net access issues! The in-house 'Nut network got hacked Monday night, we had intermittent access problems all day on Tuesday, and my little, Chromey toy won't connect to the office wifi any more. I only have 17mg of data left to last me the rest of the month, so I'm having to use it sparingly, if at all. As always, the loss of a tool I've come to rely on makes me feel crippled.***
Seventh, and the most urgent today although I very nearly forgot it. This morning my old (I'm guessing, 10, maybe 15 years) hairdryer finally gave up the ghost. I managed to get my hair dried before the motor burnt out but I smell strongly of--well--burning. I have to pop out at lunch and buy a new hairdryer.
I'd like to point out that, in spite of all this, I'm not really crabby.
I just have a lot going on in my head this week.
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* Don't even get me started on the inadvisability of the onsite management, CougarNot, breaking bad news to people in the kitchen instead of in her office--I give her credit for not having anticipated that this child would react so badly.
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** I had the misfortune to enter the room two seconds after she'd gotten the news. The girl was--angry. Massively pissed off.
Instead of seeing it as a business trip she wasn't participating in, she chose to interpret it as a personal affront--the latest in a perceived string of slights and oversights. Since she's young, inexperienced, and cute, she's actually been coddled and spoiled and indulged both at her previous job (for a local 'Nut's operation) and since she got to the Café but the trouble with spoiling children is that they come to look at that treatment as the norm.
Anyhow, in her eyes, she was being mistreated. Everyone else was--wait for it--going on a company sponsored vacation and she was being left behind--and what was more unfair in her eyes was that her boyfriend would be on vacation without her.
In fact, she was so angry about this she announced she was going to quit her job, buy her own plane ticket to the city, and sit by the hotel pool, waiting on her boyfriend to be done with his work and come and party with her.
! (And !!)
Yes. She was prepared to throw away a stable job--in this economy and without real cause--for the chance of sitting outside the door of a convention for two days and hoping her boyfriend would be able to slip away from work for long enough to talk to her occasionally.
Because I am Not Smart, I did try to point out to her that working a conference is a far cry from her only experience of such functions, which was attending one as a guest. That it means long days, tiring work, boring conversations, and that the only sport involved was Extreme Exhaustion.
That it should mean something to her that all the people selected to go, including her boyfriend, were doing so reluctantly and only because it was being required.
That this should tell her something about the level of "fun" involved in working such a function.
Nothing I said got through to her. In fact, she went back to her desk and continued to fume until, in a temper tantrum worthy of a six year-old, she actually wound up storming out of the office in tears.
I spent the rest of yesterday afternoon being grateful--being oh, so incredibly grateful that I am neither 21 any more nor that, even when I was 21, had I ever made such an infantile exhibition of myself in the workplace.
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*** The cause, you ask? CougarNot, who freely admitted that the laptop she brought in to the office had no virus protection software. That she uses no antivirus program at all at home. That she brought in the infected laptop and hooked it up to the network in spite of knowing there was a problem with it.