Work Week Summary
Apr. 6th, 2021 10:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Uuugh, what an exhausting week. Despite being a shorter work week, it felt like just more work crammed into four days.
Friday, I had to bring the caterpillars inside due to a cold snap that brought the nighttime temps down to 48F or so. The rest of the country is laughing at me for thinking that's cold, but when you're going from 90 degrees during the day down to 48, it does feel cold-ER. And cold delays the caterpillars' development. So in they came. Hope their loud partying won't keep my boyfriend up nights.
At work I had a horrible start to the week, with literally every computer I touched crashing or refusing to even start up. I had to submit trouble tickets for both computers, then finally got to start my workday an hour late, and on a day where an internal interview was going to take 1.5 hours away from me too. Go figure! I rushed through e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, and then the interview was delayed by 30 minutes so I had to ask someone else to cover my tasks. Sigh, what a wreck.
I *think* the interview went well? Hard to say. It depends on what they're looking for.
If they want some FCC robot with CSS programming, that's not going to be me. When asked how I'd handle conflicts or specific work-related situations, most of my answers involved getting both sides of the story, listening, understanding, and then moving forward. That's how I've handled things as a manager, a union steward, a big sister, etc. But maybe they need someone more assertive and willing to ram CapTel policies down throats with zero empathy. That's fine too, it's just not me at this time.
Anyway, they gave no indication of what they did or did not want, so it doesn't really matter. I gave them me, and they'll want to work with that for this position or not. Regardless I'm somewhat surprised that an entire panel took an hour and a half out of their day to interview me. You don't take five people away from work for that long just for a courtesy interview.
After work I drove to Honey Baked Ham to pick up ham for Easter. Not even sure I've ever had Honey Baked Ham, but everyone raves about it so there I was, trying to do something special for a holiday where I won't have time to cook. I was surprised to see several cops outside when I pulled up, seemingly just there to hold the door for people (that can't be right). A few were nomming some ham sammies that I assume the HBH workers gave them. Maybe they thought there'd be a mad Easter rush for ham? Idk, but they seemed extremely chill and happy to be there. I'd be happy too if someone dropped a free sammich in my lap.
After that it was 20 minutes out of the way to do a plant trade. I've got too many roselle seedlings, so I found someone with native milkweed and offered to trade. She seemed like a really nice person, excited for the roselle and happy to show me her little garden, just as little as mine! And she had monarch caterpillars that are much larger than mine! They were so cute! The milkweed she gave me was VERY well chewed haha. It'll come back just fine :)
Getting home took a long time, then I had to clean caterpillar poop and check the passion vine and eat dinner and make deviled eggs for Easter. By the time I got all that done and had a shower, it was 9pm so I just wasn't going to be getting any steno practice in. Instead I spent a few minutes taking pictures of my caterpillars, half of which are in the 4th instar (I initially thought this was the 5th and final phase, but have since been told it's too soon for that).
Saturday, we are still shorthanded and frankly I'm sick to death of it.
I'm sick of coming in to work to find out no one has helped with coverage or cleaning.
I'm sick of doing the work of three people.
I'm sick of getting interrogated over what my captionists do, which frankly for the most part is out of my control, especially when they're working form home.
This week has felt disgustingly like a retail environment, where it's gogogo and not even time to go to the bathroom or stand up and stretch. I had twinges of pain in my neck and ears all day, probably from tension and stress and sitting in a shitty office chair. SICK OF IT!!
Saying "I need a vacation" over and over unfortunately doesn't make it happen.
After work it took forever to get home thanks to tourist traffic + Easter traffic, so I was extra irritated and immediately started ranting when I got home. Jameson was kind and patient, which is why I love him. I was very careful to rant in a way that indicated I was in no way upset with him, or taking things out on him. I just needed to like, SPEW for a minute, you know? He listened and that's all I wanted. Someone to listen, and pretend to care for a minute.
I checked on the caterpillars and found all eight, good good. I decided to leave them outside since the daytime highs will be in the 70s, but I'm still annoyed that the lows in the 50s are going to slow their development. The garden kind of goes on hold as well when the temps drop like this. I like cold weather but it's annoying when everything was growing so well last week.
Sunday, Easter!
This used to be a really special holiday for me. I have strong memories of my mom waking me up for church with a gentle hand on my shoulder. She was very religious so it was a special day for her. We both thought the birds sang more and more loudly on Easter.
This year, well...it wasn't that special. I wore my mother's perfume, that was all. To help get me through the day.
At least people were actually back at work today. Finally it wasn't just me alone trying to do three peoples' tasks. But because of how this whole past week has been, I was in no mood to interact. I took the desk furthest from the aisle and pretty much just put my head down and worked on all the things that have gotten backed up while scrambling all week. It was nice and quiet. I checked in with my captionists and most of them are doing a good job. That's all I wanted, was to do my job.
Back home my Easter preplanning came to fruition with some HoneyBaked Ham, the deviled eggs I'd made in advance, some asparagus that I quickly blanched, store-bought coleslaw and crescent rolls. I would have liked to make Easter dinner myself, but not when I've got to work a full shift. Premade stuff is a tasty indulgence. I got too much ham and will be eating it for months out of the freezer.
Monday, work was actually relaxing, what a weird thing to say. Since I have an extra day off I've been busting tail to ensure I get my usual tasks completed with only four days, plus losing a grand total of four hours of working time due to two internal interviews and a monitor calibration. Whatever, just glad I got everything done in time. Which is more courtesy than my coworkers extended to me when they peaced out for vacations.
Back home we had dinner, then I cleaned the bathroom since a plumber is coming tomorrow to have a look at our leaky toilet and I don't want him to A) judge us or B) have to touch gross stuff. I stepped outside to pollinate any passion flowers (there were four) and see if there are any "wild" monarch caterpillars left. I saw four, which is four more than I expected to see. I notice they are all much smaller than the ones I brought inside, behind by two molts or so. Temperature makes a huge difference to caterpillar development, so it's not surprising that bringing mine indoors on the cold nights has resulted in a size difference.
Some of my caterpillars are a darker color after this last molt, probably due to the cold snap we had last week and from being raised basically in the shade (darker coloring helps them to retain heat). Another reason a caterpillar might turn a darker color has to do with disease. You'd be amazed how many nasty diseases there are for caterpillars...I'm talking diseases where maggots eat them from the inside out; diseases where they slowly rot and liquify into a black juice; in which their anus falls out while they're trying to pupate; in which they morph into glorious butterflies only to have useless malformed wings crinkled like a used tissue, or a split and useless probiscus so they can't eat, or no wings at all. Or wasp larvae that were laid in them as eggs eat them while still in the chrysalis.
Now with those lovely mental images, maybe you can understand why I saw that three of my caterpillars suddenly have darker coloring, and felt my stomach drop and my pulse quicken.
But remember, I have NO IDEA what I'm doing. This is exactly why I joined a "raising monarchs" facebook group, so I could go "WTF IS THIS?!" and someone could calm me TF down. I took a bunch of pictures and was quickly told that this is a normal color variation, most likely having to do with the lack of sunlight up until now. Phew! I'm still worried, probably will be until they fly off into the sunset, but for now they're still ok.
Anyway, look at their adorable pseudo-feet! ARRRRRGH TOO CUTE THE LI'L NUBBINS
That sums up the work week. Next, The Long Weekend. Not long enough I'm sure.
Friday, I had to bring the caterpillars inside due to a cold snap that brought the nighttime temps down to 48F or so. The rest of the country is laughing at me for thinking that's cold, but when you're going from 90 degrees during the day down to 48, it does feel cold-ER. And cold delays the caterpillars' development. So in they came. Hope their loud partying won't keep my boyfriend up nights.
At work I had a horrible start to the week, with literally every computer I touched crashing or refusing to even start up. I had to submit trouble tickets for both computers, then finally got to start my workday an hour late, and on a day where an internal interview was going to take 1.5 hours away from me too. Go figure! I rushed through e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, and then the interview was delayed by 30 minutes so I had to ask someone else to cover my tasks. Sigh, what a wreck.
I *think* the interview went well? Hard to say. It depends on what they're looking for.
If they want some FCC robot with CSS programming, that's not going to be me. When asked how I'd handle conflicts or specific work-related situations, most of my answers involved getting both sides of the story, listening, understanding, and then moving forward. That's how I've handled things as a manager, a union steward, a big sister, etc. But maybe they need someone more assertive and willing to ram CapTel policies down throats with zero empathy. That's fine too, it's just not me at this time.
Anyway, they gave no indication of what they did or did not want, so it doesn't really matter. I gave them me, and they'll want to work with that for this position or not. Regardless I'm somewhat surprised that an entire panel took an hour and a half out of their day to interview me. You don't take five people away from work for that long just for a courtesy interview.
After work I drove to Honey Baked Ham to pick up ham for Easter. Not even sure I've ever had Honey Baked Ham, but everyone raves about it so there I was, trying to do something special for a holiday where I won't have time to cook. I was surprised to see several cops outside when I pulled up, seemingly just there to hold the door for people (that can't be right). A few were nomming some ham sammies that I assume the HBH workers gave them. Maybe they thought there'd be a mad Easter rush for ham? Idk, but they seemed extremely chill and happy to be there. I'd be happy too if someone dropped a free sammich in my lap.
After that it was 20 minutes out of the way to do a plant trade. I've got too many roselle seedlings, so I found someone with native milkweed and offered to trade. She seemed like a really nice person, excited for the roselle and happy to show me her little garden, just as little as mine! And she had monarch caterpillars that are much larger than mine! They were so cute! The milkweed she gave me was VERY well chewed haha. It'll come back just fine :)
Getting home took a long time, then I had to clean caterpillar poop and check the passion vine and eat dinner and make deviled eggs for Easter. By the time I got all that done and had a shower, it was 9pm so I just wasn't going to be getting any steno practice in. Instead I spent a few minutes taking pictures of my caterpillars, half of which are in the 4th instar (I initially thought this was the 5th and final phase, but have since been told it's too soon for that).
https://instagram.com/p/CNLxck3MqLt
Saturday, we are still shorthanded and frankly I'm sick to death of it.
I'm sick of coming in to work to find out no one has helped with coverage or cleaning.
I'm sick of doing the work of three people.
I'm sick of getting interrogated over what my captionists do, which frankly for the most part is out of my control, especially when they're working form home.
This week has felt disgustingly like a retail environment, where it's gogogo and not even time to go to the bathroom or stand up and stretch. I had twinges of pain in my neck and ears all day, probably from tension and stress and sitting in a shitty office chair. SICK OF IT!!
Saying "I need a vacation" over and over unfortunately doesn't make it happen.
After work it took forever to get home thanks to tourist traffic + Easter traffic, so I was extra irritated and immediately started ranting when I got home. Jameson was kind and patient, which is why I love him. I was very careful to rant in a way that indicated I was in no way upset with him, or taking things out on him. I just needed to like, SPEW for a minute, you know? He listened and that's all I wanted. Someone to listen, and pretend to care for a minute.
I checked on the caterpillars and found all eight, good good. I decided to leave them outside since the daytime highs will be in the 70s, but I'm still annoyed that the lows in the 50s are going to slow their development. The garden kind of goes on hold as well when the temps drop like this. I like cold weather but it's annoying when everything was growing so well last week.
Sunday, Easter!
This used to be a really special holiday for me. I have strong memories of my mom waking me up for church with a gentle hand on my shoulder. She was very religious so it was a special day for her. We both thought the birds sang more and more loudly on Easter.
This year, well...it wasn't that special. I wore my mother's perfume, that was all. To help get me through the day.
At least people were actually back at work today. Finally it wasn't just me alone trying to do three peoples' tasks. But because of how this whole past week has been, I was in no mood to interact. I took the desk furthest from the aisle and pretty much just put my head down and worked on all the things that have gotten backed up while scrambling all week. It was nice and quiet. I checked in with my captionists and most of them are doing a good job. That's all I wanted, was to do my job.
Back home my Easter preplanning came to fruition with some HoneyBaked Ham, the deviled eggs I'd made in advance, some asparagus that I quickly blanched, store-bought coleslaw and crescent rolls. I would have liked to make Easter dinner myself, but not when I've got to work a full shift. Premade stuff is a tasty indulgence. I got too much ham and will be eating it for months out of the freezer.
Monday, work was actually relaxing, what a weird thing to say. Since I have an extra day off I've been busting tail to ensure I get my usual tasks completed with only four days, plus losing a grand total of four hours of working time due to two internal interviews and a monitor calibration. Whatever, just glad I got everything done in time. Which is more courtesy than my coworkers extended to me when they peaced out for vacations.
Back home we had dinner, then I cleaned the bathroom since a plumber is coming tomorrow to have a look at our leaky toilet and I don't want him to A) judge us or B) have to touch gross stuff. I stepped outside to pollinate any passion flowers (there were four) and see if there are any "wild" monarch caterpillars left. I saw four, which is four more than I expected to see. I notice they are all much smaller than the ones I brought inside, behind by two molts or so. Temperature makes a huge difference to caterpillar development, so it's not surprising that bringing mine indoors on the cold nights has resulted in a size difference.
Some of my caterpillars are a darker color after this last molt, probably due to the cold snap we had last week and from being raised basically in the shade (darker coloring helps them to retain heat). Another reason a caterpillar might turn a darker color has to do with disease. You'd be amazed how many nasty diseases there are for caterpillars...I'm talking diseases where maggots eat them from the inside out; diseases where they slowly rot and liquify into a black juice; in which their anus falls out while they're trying to pupate; in which they morph into glorious butterflies only to have useless malformed wings crinkled like a used tissue, or a split and useless probiscus so they can't eat, or no wings at all. Or wasp larvae that were laid in them as eggs eat them while still in the chrysalis.
Now with those lovely mental images, maybe you can understand why I saw that three of my caterpillars suddenly have darker coloring, and felt my stomach drop and my pulse quicken.
But remember, I have NO IDEA what I'm doing. This is exactly why I joined a "raising monarchs" facebook group, so I could go "WTF IS THIS?!" and someone could calm me TF down. I took a bunch of pictures and was quickly told that this is a normal color variation, most likely having to do with the lack of sunlight up until now. Phew! I'm still worried, probably will be until they fly off into the sunset, but for now they're still ok.
Anyway, look at their adorable pseudo-feet! ARRRRRGH TOO CUTE THE LI'L NUBBINS
https://instagram.com/p/CNTc5YcM89v
That sums up the work week. Next, The Long Weekend. Not long enough I'm sure.
