Thank goodness, it’s Friday

I don’t have many weeks where I get to the end and truly appreciate the weekend. This week has made me really look forward to two days where I can sit and do not much. And I don’t even have a show to make me long for the weekend more.

This week began with a two half-day meetings and an interview candidate. The half day meetings were for the big guys in our group to put their heads together and get a theory for the rest of this year and start looking at next year. Hard as it is to believe, July is next week. Other than setting these meeting up, I really don’t have much to do with it. The interview was also fairly easy, as the materials for it were distributed on time and everyone knew where to go. The rest of the week had nothing officially scheduled for it as we worked on the notes from the first test round of the new database toy.

Monday included an impromptu show & tell of the new toy to the guys. They had some great feedback and the notes were passed on to the developers, who had questions and I had answers. Tuesday was a little more of the same followed by starting to hunt down a hotel in Vegas. Who knew September was such a hot time in Vegas? The rest of the week is really a blur between finding a hotel, getting some administrative work done and fixing broken things. Yesterday when I got home, I just sat in the chair and stared into space after starting the dinner process. The Bald One took a look at me and finished.

 

Race for the Cure

Originally uploaded by Rae Z

I think it is only appropriate that I have spotted a turtle twice now on my walks at lunch. I’m doing the walks with a coworker to get us both ready for the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure. (If you are interested in sponsoring me, click here.) I’m doing this as part of my coworker’s “team” and in memory of my childhood neighbor.

I think the turtle is going to become our mascot. We’re a little slow - definately not the “race” portion of the race for the cure. And this is a disease that we’ll beat slowly but surely. Because slow & steady wins the race.

 

I dream of Eno…

We’re a few months away at this point, but Eno is already flitting into my brain. This time it was combined with a strange dream essentially reminding me how dissatisfied I am with the current state of finances vs. working doing what I want to be doing.

I’m not really sure how it got started, but I was at Eno, but it was unusually open. I remember sitting on the steps of the hospitality station, but it felt more like Squire’s Castle in Cleveland. I was sitting there, looking out at the side of the Meadow Stage and all I could think about was how I’d so much rather be doing this full time than go back to doing my normal job with the agro-chemical folks.

I don’t even know who I was talking to at the time, but I remember talking about the moves we’re working on with my job, making it more of a project coordinator position than a true administrative position and how I was looking forward to that. Then, the music coordinator for the Eno looks at me and says “but that’s not what you really want.”

I remember looking at him in shock. And suddenly there’s all the people I’m used to seeing at Eno - the green-nature lovers in their comfiest, lightest weight clothing, the tie-dyed hipsters and the teenagers in bikinis and shorts. I look back at my stage and there’s a great band on with all kinds of complicated pieces on stage and I helped get them there and started and they’re looking to me to get them off on time so the next group can start. And I have a standing position here where people like me and look forward to seeing me and I them.

My mind starts flashing through to my current cast and how much I’ve enjoyed working with them and how vocal one has been about how impressed she is with me. And then I think of the company that calls me back year after year for tour and has asked me to work on their next project. Or the director who has been trying to get me to work with him for two years now. The director who has emailed me asking me if I’m available for either of his shows in the next season and tells me I’ve spoiled him for working with his students.

I had a discussion last night with one of my actresses and she asked why I wasn’t working with the local Equity house. I explained part of it was stability, part of it was not wanting to get an Equity card and then NOT be able to work anywhere else and part of it was out and out fear. What if I’m not good enough for professionals? What if I’m terrible and can’t do this full time? Will my life really have been a game of me just doing what I can because I like it and I’ve made it a priority like some aging musician and his garage band that plays an occasional gig at the bar? I love doing this and I’m good at it…is that enough?

I remember seeing this flash in my dream as well, through my mind in seconds and then feel the breeze and the trees as I ran. And the buzzing of my alarm waking me up. Waking me to another day of doing something I’m good at to pay the bills and getting to do what I really love for pennies at night, keeping me away from family and friends and hopefully making a different family over an art.

 

Time for bed kids

It’s been fun, but I need a nap.

I found out today that I get a raise. This makes me happy - I wasn’t actually expecting it, since I knew I didn’t qualify for the bonus this year with me not starting there until November. It’s a nice bonus and the fact that I’m rated as “good” is also nice to know. I’ll take my sudden extra money and throw it at something, I’m sure. With my commute, it’ll probably go to my automobile fuel. Sigh.

Rehearsals are going swimmingly, which is quite fabulous. We have a good sketch out there of the first half of the show with the second half being on the schedule for Wednesday. That means we’ll have a bit of an idea of where we’re going after the first week. I’m excited. And I found out today that we’ll have layered scrim - which just makes me squeal with joy. I enjoy some of the most random things. Why do we have a layered scrim, you ask? there’s these windows on the set - which means you have to have one image out them at one point and a different image out them at another. And there’s lighting tricks that will get to happen between the scrim and the window and stuff. I can’t wait to see how that fits together.

I had a “baroo?” moment earlier today though at my day job. I’m chatting with one of my coworkers. She thinks I’m the cat’s meow because I learn quickly, adapt well and can do really random things like fix her printer. She has mentioned, repeatedly, that she thinks I’ll be perfect at her job in a few years and seems to be training me for that eventuality. I mentioned to her that I needed to grab something yummy for lunch because I was having salad for dinner. She asked how my carnivore husband was convinced to fix rabbit food, to which I replied I was going to be at the theater with the most excellent salad bar being in the same building. “You’re still doing that?” she asked.  I resisted the urge to remind her that theater is actually what I want to do and that I look at this as just a way to support my habit and I would walk out in a heartbeat if someone would offer me a decent wage at theater type stuff. Instead, I just looked at her like she had misplaced her brain and went on with my day.

My good news from the weekend? my dear Bostonian is penciled in for a visit next week. He’s not here for me, but for the possibility of being here soon, permanently. While he’s around, I hope to have a drink with him and catch up a bit.

But now, I’m spent. Time for bed.

 

Juggling

Of late, I’ve found myself explaining what I do to people and how my original theory for my career (chemical engineering) connected to what I graduated it (theater production) and what I got my masters in (organizational management) and how all that got me where I am (admin & stage manager). The best way I can explain it is that I juggle now everywhere.

From ChemE to theater I tracked people with stuff through a play instead of chemicals changing through a process. It’s the same thing, but when people don’t behave the way they’re supposed to (as in, the equation created by the director) you can argue with them until they actually do what they’re supposed to. And it isn’t too much “arguing” per say as much as discussion and convincing to do things the way. Chemicals don’t listen too much when you say that they “should” do something…they’ll do what they are supposed to do despite what you think they should. I like being able to get my way.

With theater, I began a juggling career. I actually was given a present for one of my productions a small gift book on juggling, saying after the show I had survived that mastering this book should be a piece of cake. Like juggling, each show has a bunch of things that you have to have going on at the same time but at any one instance you only need to worry about the one in your hand at that moment. As issues develop, a ball may drop out of sequence, but if you’re keeping your eye on all of the things you have in the air, you aren’t surprised as one falls out of sequence and you quickly adapt to successfully get it back in the air. If not, something falls and either you pick it up and get it back in sequence (which may make other things a little hectic during that grab) or you hope someone else picks it up and tosses it back to you or into the air again for you to carry onward.

When I first started working in a normal 9-5 job, I used the fact that I know how to use a computer to parlay my way into administrative work. I’ve been told often that I’m doing a wonderful job and some confusion exists in how I’m managing to keep up with everything that I manage. I just say that I’m juggling. The trouble of the moment is that the juggling is actually getting interesting. I’m not saying I’m going to go back to school and learn about agriculture, as agriculture involves biology and chemistry and biology and I are not friends. However, the juggling is interesting as I am getting woven in to what is going on and feeling not indispensable or irreplaceable but I am becoming integral. It’s an odd experience, feeling like a key partner to the success of a group as an administrative individual. But feeling part of a group? it’s nice.

 

the one who takes apart pens causes trouble

At some point in second grade, I was taken to the room where the Brownies met and given a variety of puzzles to solve. What comes next in the pattern? What piece is missing from this puzzle? I thought it was great fun as I played with the blocks and got to take things apart. After that, my parents were sent a letter labeling me “gifted.” This got me into a different set of classes, with people I stayed with until graduation. We got to know each other well - the military geek, the quiet one, the bookish gal, the goofball and the one who asks the question that pisses the rest of us off. Everyone else however needed to test us to see who we were. We were given the ones that determine your Myers-Brigg type, whether you are good at mechanical skills or problem solving, how well you’re able to deal with problems or your abilities as a leader.

By the time I took my ASVAB, I was fully aware that I could do just about anything I wanted to apply my mind to except maybe rebuild machines. Sure enough, that’s what the Air Force recruiter said when I finally went in for a meeting after so many calls. The inability to be a mechanic was not a big surprise. I had never played with cars, or taken apart the radio, but simple machines were often destroyed and rebuilt while I was growing up. I wanted to see how the four-color pen was put together so that I understood when I pressed one color how I got that tip. And then I’d switch the colors so someone would get very upset when they borrowed it without knowing better.

I blame this kind of activity for why I do some of the crazy things I do. I want to know how the pieces fit together. As a stage manager, I get to see how all the pieces come together for a show. In my day job I like to know how the piece that I play with relates to the bigger picture. Sometimes it’s just a “this widget fits to this which makes the car” and other times it is a question of how we fit into the organization which makes the world a better place…or so we want to tell ourselves anyway. At my previous employer it led to quite a few discussions on why the organization wasn’t working the way it could, how different projects fit together despite people wanting to be in their own little boxes and then finally why what information about people and organizations were important and why others might need it.

Now I have a different set of pieces in a much larger puzzle. Part of my job is also dealing with our pieces and tracking them when others have to deal with them. This gets me to my latest puzzle. I filed some paperwork to get a check cut for someone. The check was cut, but had somebody’s name instead of something. Probably my fault in the beginning for not reading closely, so I took the oh shit moment, apologized to the guy (indirectly) and did the paperwork again. My basic understanding of all this is that my paperwork is in a database which talks to another one that matches the people I want money sent to with vendors. As far as I knew if I put in something new, it doesn’t match anything and the check still gets magically cut being matched later. I have no idea how this happens. This presents a problem for me…because if I don’t know how it fits together, how can I know that what I put in will match what comes out on the other end?

It’s like that darn pen. I wanted black ink and someone gave me blue. Normal people would be just fine with the fact that it wasn’t the green or red and keep going. Unfortunately, that’s not how the world works, because I needed it to be black ink. That’s what I get for changing pens on people all the time.

 

home again, home again…

After the exciting travels of this week, I’m facing my last night in a hotel for a bit. Tomorrow morning, I’ll check out of here and DzB and I will begin the leg home. He’s looking forward to several weeks of making his son lunch and I’m looking forward to sleeping with cats.

I have work facing me though. I grabbed the database and promptly did no work for it. Granted, I was hoping I’d be able to but didn’t really know what to expect. Again, we were taken out to lunch and dinner by our handlers for the libraries and had a great time - which meant that my three hours off in between were spent sleeping, playing on email and hitting the gym. We’d get back late enough that we’d crawl into bed and sleep until we had to get up the next morning. So no data entry was done, despite my high hopes.

I also get to look forward to some time with the Bald One. Miracles happened and he was scheduled for a complete weekend off in the middle of the holiday season. Granted, he worked ten days straight to get it and will work another ten straight on the other side, but we have a weekend. There’s cleaning to do, decorating to be done and a tree to be bought. Our first real tree will go up some time this weekend. I’m so excited, I could cry.

My return will also require a trip to the post office. There, I need to buy a box for shipping a secret santa present, stamps for the holiday cards that are forthcoming and ship off a book for some others I’m getting through PaperBackSwap. Unfortunately, this will just increase my book debt of things to be read - I finished only one book this trip. That is, unless you include the audio book that had us spellbound today during the drive. If you ever want to be introduced to many thriller writers download The Chopin Manuscript. Fairly awesome twisty turning book…kept us entertained for the drive.

 

What’s been goin’ on…

Remember me mentioning how quiet work was? Everyone being off at a conference and leaving me to get caught up on everything on my desk? Yep. It was wonderful. I blissfully remember those halcyon days.

During that, one of my fellow admins left in the dark of the night. Well, not really…but it was fairly sudden. My job was quickly shifted to support that half of my brain full time and left the other half of my brain to do some assistance in getting her caught up before abandoning her to train a new part time assistant. Meanwhile, my now FT half is not getting overwhelmed probably due solely to the fact that I cannot be responsible since I don’t work there. (contractor = not there = not legal for stuff)

In the weeks since, I’ve learned several new things and different ways to break certain processes. I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with the people I work with because now I’m on the phone or emailing them on a regular basis. The field guys seem to like me (that was apparently an oft-repeated sentiment at the conference), so I’m gaining ground there as well. Right now, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m successfully treading water easily.

The job which I am currently inhabiting went up for hire for real person status - meaning I could work FT for the company with benefits and be a real person! Seriously though, I did apply - twice. Once I checked the box saying I’d need a visa. I didn’t mean to, I just got in a yes groove. The HR person called and asked if I was from Canada, since I have no accent and I checked that box. Nope…just Cleveland. The second time I applied, I did it right. I’ll find out probably next week what is up with that. The job posting closes tomorrow and HR/my boss are aiming for “fast turnaround.”  According to the bossman, that means letting the most qualified candidate know some time next week. Given other stuff hitting the schedule fan, I’m not holding my breathe. Part of today was spent scheduling five candidates for forty minute slots with three interviewers…the day after a three day conference. I like challenges.

But that’s where I’ve been. Working hard at my day job (where I don’t play online anyway) and then following it up with many hours at the theater. Come Friday, I’m going to work, coming home at a normal hour of 5p…having dinner and falling asleep on the couch until I shuffle to the bed to sleep until I have my hair cut on Saturday around noon. I have high hopes for such sleep.

Speaking of sleep - good night.

 

the quiet…

This week is the big national conference for our workgroup. This means that just about everyone in our office is attending discussions and meeting and 6:30am breakfasts to plot our future. I’m sure they’re having marginal levels of fun and excitement while getting some crazy things planned. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the ramp-up for end of year insanity. Part of it for me is getting a grip on what all is going on at work and figure out my desk. Part of it is getting some things done now that I have access, know what I’m doing, etc.

The quiet is a little unsettling. Granted, my last job was in a library, and you’d think that I’d be totally cool with quiet. The library I worked involved us being a chatty bunch - we’d be checking in with each other, asking questions, or just bopping out to see someone else in the building. Before that was a ridiculous warehouse with fans going constantly - too loud, all the time. Add to that being the back-up receptionist and getting to talk to everyone who called while I was at the desk. Now, there’s three of us around where six times that are chatting right outside the cubicle walls and doors.

The good news is I feel like I’m getting caught up on things. Getting more settled. I’m sure the next several weeks will be insane. Work won’t be insane right away, but between now and mid-November, I have two shows to get up.

 

right of the radiation warning

I had to chant this to myself as I was walking out the door this evening. The staircase that shortcuts me to the parking lot where I leave my car is next to a mass-spec lab. The same mass-spec lab I walked into accidentally the first week I was working as I was trying to leave.

This got me thinking about how strange it is to be working somewhere that actually has something more dangerous than the photocopier on-site. Part of the Health & Safety class I took my first day on the job reviewed that they had one fatality in the previous year. The intranet main page this morning said we were at fifteen incident free days. These are unfamiliar concepts to me as an employee.

My dad is a certified industrial hygenist (CIH) which means that he makes sure you don’t die at work, or if you do your descendants can’t sue the company. I grew up with the stories of stupid things people do at work or that companies do at job sites. Like the plant in China buying 5,200 pairs of size 10 shoes or the twenty-some exit signs all pointing left. I understand, in theory, the whole workplace can be dangerous idea.

The hangup here is that most of my working life has been spent in a library. My first job’s most dangerous moments were kneeling on wooden puzzle pieces, putting your hand in the board book bin and pulling out something unpleasant or finding gum on the bookshelves. My other library job meant that I was getting newsprint on my clothing, moving dusty books and occasionally taking apart the copier. I have an entire wardrobe based on the idea I might have to crawl on the floor or kneel for some length of time. And all this transfers over to my theater gear too - I look dressy, but can still climb a ladder to change a bulb in a lighting instrument.

This job is my third foray into the office work in a potentially non-office setting. One was for GE, where I did things like set up  supermarket displays or changed covers on light bulb packs. Another was for Tyco where the lab behind my desk was full of wires and electricity boxes and switches. Now, I’m working for an agrochemical group and we have plants that get watered (nowhere near me) or chemistry labs cooking up unknown concoctions to kill weeds and bugs (walked past every day).

It’s just a change of venue, but the thought process behind everything subtly shifts. Do you wear heels when you might have to find someone in a lab? Skirts mark you as someone who doesn’t play with chemicals, as do most of my work clothes. But the up side? I’m wearing jeans to work tomorrow.