The maybe-sick feeling from yesterday continues this morning. It went away last night, but now I'm a bit sniffly and starting to feel fuzzy-headed. It's at that maddening midway point where it could either get worse into full-blown sickness, or could go away tomorrow.

I'm not incapacitated, and normally I would soldier on. But I've got a bunch of things coming up that I would hate to miss: a meeting at the Q Center and dinner at a friend's house on Thursday, a staff retreat on Friday, and the party on Saturday. (Admittedly, I wouldn't be heartbroken at missing the retreat, just mildly disappointed.)

So the question is, do I try to cut my losses and go home today, hoping that I can sleep/tea my way back to health at home? Or do I stick it out and hope that I don't feel worse? My inclination is to go home, but that would also mean finding coverage for the front desk and using some hours of sick leave.

Oh, for the days when I didn't worry about counting sick leave. :P

I kind of want to feel indignant at getting sick, since I'm so scrupulous about washing my hands, eating healthy, and taking vitamin supplements, and I've been working out for two months and should be stronger (i.e. get a boost to my Con). Then again, I do work in an office where at least one person has been sick at any given time for the past several weeks, including the student assistants who cover the phones for me on my breaks. The fact that I haven't gotten sick yet (especially given my track record for Autumn Quarter in previous years) is actually impressive. So I shouldn't complain. (Much.)

#6

Words of truth, shown to me by nekokoban.

Edit: So I thought I would just post this link because it was funny and true, but not because of anything that happened specifically today. WELL I WAS WRONG. Thanks a bunch to today's self-important asshole. FYI, your credentials don't save you from being a dick.

Edit again: Cures all ills.

I woke up this morning sleep-deprived, because I stayed up late for game, and in pain, because my shoulder decided to stop functioning correctly last night and send sharp pains down my upper arm whenever I raise it at a certain angle or put weight on it.

I decided the state of my morning merited a cup of coffee.

I spilled the coffee, which then poured off my desk and onto my surge protector.

Luckily, nothing exploded and I had enought time to properly turn off the things that were plugged in (computer, monitor, printer). I tossed the surge protector, wiped the power cords, and have since received a new surge protector from our tech support department.

The telephone at the front desk has also partially stopped functioning. This is more annoying than work-stopping, but I still want to get it fixed as soon as possible. Someone will be coming to fix it tomorrow morning, or, if I'm lucky, this afternoon.

I'll probably take a nap when I get home, and continue working on my shoulder to see if I can stretch or massage the problem away. So everything should be fixable. I just need to get past the Monday-ness of today.

One bright spot in my morning has been my co-worker lending me Indigenizing the Academy, an anthology about progressive/anti-colonialist scholarship. It'll be my first bit of "academic" reading since I got out of school, so I'm a little intimidated but also very interested.

The bad:

-I'm so tired. -_- Two days this week, I've been so exhausted I just laid down, and ended up waking up two or three hours later, when it was my bedtime - which is unusual for me, because usually my body just wakes up naturally after half an hour or an hour. I wonder if it's hormonal. :/ In either case, I'm hoping to catch up on rest this weekend.

-Also, I can't help maho_kiwi and laylah in their move this weekend (though the reason is good; see below). Now, it's not like I would be that much help, since my spindly arms have the load-bearing capacity of cooked bacon. But I could at least be another set of hands.

The good:

-My parents are coming up to visit on Saturday, which is why I'm busy that day. I haven't seen them since ... graduation? Long enough, at least, that I still have their London souvenirs sitting on my desk.

-Tonight, my schedule looks like this: 1) go home and grab dinner, 2) bake brownies and take them to zinjadu's apartment for a sculpey party to make figures of our characters for ratzeo's game. 8D I'm still not sure what exactly I'll make, since I don't have a final character design for Nexus. However, kyonkun gave me the helpful suggestion of painting a flower on it. XD

-Things are moving forward at work to put me in a more visible recruiting/advising role for prospective students. Eeee. Which, hell, is something I've been learning to do for four years now, since I started out as a student employee.

Now, I know it seems weird for me to be excited about this, considering how much I complain about my phone calls - but what I hate is stupid people, not advising. If I were in an advising role, I would have the authority to *tell* people that they're being stupid, and that it *won't* help them get into the school. XD And I'll also be able to encourage people who are being smart. Plus more marketable skills for my resume zomg.

Coworker E brought her puppy again this morning. ♥ I got thoroughly licked in greeting - not because I think she remembered me, mind you, because she does that to every warm body she meets.

It was only a short visit, because E's partner took the puppy home with him. However, before they got to the office they made a visit up to Drumheller Fountain, where goats from Rent-a-Ruminant are being used to eat unwanted weeds. The puppy was very interested in them ... but then shocked her nose on the electric fence. ): She's quite resilient, apparently, because by the time they came to the office she was completely unfazed. ^^;

Hopefully when I go on break for the morning I'll get to go up and see the goats myself. 8D

ETA: I got to see the goats. Hee.

From a co-worker on her way out the door:

"Once again. This time, with clothing."

My coworker comes to the front desk and asks, very seriously, "How do you feel about pie?"

I now have a slice of blackberry pie. ♥

I have the job. :D

I officially start tomorrow, at which point I'll have a real salary and be eligible to apply for benefits (starting next month). Which means I can sorta-kinda pretend to be a real grown-up now. Except not really.

Yay. :D

I'm working off my jet lag a little bit every day - though this morning I caved and drank coffee because I kept staring blankly into the computer screen. Not exactly a good look for the face of the front desk. :P

My tiredness might also have to do with being up a little late last night - zinjadu and Kindra threw together an impromptu 4th of July picnic at Magnuson, and ratzeo and I got to tag along to spend the day nerding it up (i.e. playing Betrayal at House on the Hill) at the park. This meant abandoning our plans for an all-day date, but you know what's awesome? We shifted those plans to Saturday morning with no trouble, because neither of us has classes or homework to worry about. ♥! I kind of like this being graduated thing.

In work news, I still don't officially have a job. :P But I have it in all but name - my supervisors are already making plans with me while they await final approval of their hiring decision. AND one of my supervisors tells me they're gunning for the maximum possible pay, which is all kinds of shiny.

Speaking of shininess related to my job, someone in a neighboring department told me I had a beautiful voice, "very deep and resonant." Besides being a lovely compliment to randomly bestow upon someone, I feel especially fuzzy because I was always self-conscious about my voice while growing up - being "deep and resonant" made me feel out of place when I was surrounded by tiny blonde girls with cute and high voices. ^^;

Also, if anyone's interested, I'm planning to write up a summary of everything we did in London/Edinburgh, for my own reference at least. I'm just very lazy and haven't started it yet.

( I AM VERY EXCITED RIGHT NOW )

Also, rivendellrose, I replied to your comment on the postcard entry with a question - did you get it?

I thought I was going to avoid getting a case of the woobs before I finished up with school, but now that I'm sitting at home on a quiet Sunday night, they're starting to creep up on me.

I managed to hold out on Thursday, when I had my last day of (undergraduate) classes; and on Friday, when I had my last ADP showing. But now, as I sit in front of my computer to write my last paper, I'm beginning to feel the sort of wistful nostalgia that hits me when things are ending. Over writing my last paper. How nerdy is that?

It's just as well that I will most likely (hopehopehope) end up working at my current office after graduation. If I had to think about saying goodbye to that place, too, I'd probably be hopelessly wooby.

I think the reason I've been able to keep the woobiness from hitting me thus far is that I've just been too damn busy to have time to dwell on much of anything. But I finally hit the peak of my busyness, and I'm on the downward slope. About a month ago I made a spreadsheet of all the obligations I had through June (nerd points x 2!!), and as I look at it now it's about half the size it originally was. Three of my courses are completely taken care of. My obsessive job search is finally tapering off, and I only have a couple of interviews left before (I think) I settle on something. The Women Studies graduation still looms over my head, but at this point there's no more time for major decisions or changes in plans, so for better or for worse it's going to happen according to the plans I've set up so far.

So now I have some breathing room, which means time to brood. And it's a rainy summer evening, which always makes me nostalgic and squishy. So I start thinking Deep Thoughts about life changes and personal growth and the transience of circumstances.

I hope I can still accomplish everything I need to before degenerating into a pile of reminiscing wibbliness. :P

P.S. Thank you to everyone who's put up with me being stressed out, flaily, anti-social, etc. for the past quarter. ^^;

Two things happened that boosted the quality of my day:

( first )

( second )

*makes grabby hands at it*

This afternoon, I've got another job interview to get through. I mean, of course I'm glad to be called in, because that's a good sign! But it's kind of exhausting. (If ever I labored under the illusion that I was free from the pressures of performing normative femininity, preparing for a job interview sets me straight, let me tell you.)

I don't officially get to start my weekend for a while, because I need to get a lot of work done tonight and tomorrow (so I can go to irishninja's game on Sunday, yay!). So my Friday night will be spent writing papers, like the cool and trendy person I am.

BUT! I am definitely taking a break tomorrow morning to go to the University District Street Fair, because it is fantasmagous. And because if I don't take a break I'm more liable to use words like "fantasmagous." Is anyone else going, and would you like to meet up, preferably close to the opening time of 10:00? The Street Fair is always more fun with other people. *hopeful*

I had a job interview scheduled for today at a company located in Wallingford, by Gasworks Park. As I discovered, this is not a bus-friendly area - I can take a bus to a nearby stop, then walk for over half a mile down streets that do not always have sidewalks or crosswalks. This walk was not helped by the 80-degree weather, when I was wearing "interview" clothing that is not conducive to either extensive walking or heat.

When I got there, I was told that they could not consider my application anymore because I'm not available until July - a fact which I noted in both my resume and the first paragraph of my cover letter.

So I turned around and walked back. This made me realize just how bad my shoes are for walking. They're not even high-heeled or anything, and they feel perfectly fine on my feet. It's just that they're a touch too long, and so my heel will slip out when I do extensive walking, particularly on uneven ground. By the time I got to my bus stop, I was in a pretty foul mood - whoever said that shoes can be the most important part of your clothing was right, because they can affect how your entire body feels.

Luckily, there was a cafe right next to the stop, so I went in and grabbed an Italian soda. Which promptly spilled on my pants and backpack, because it wasn't covered when the barista handed it to me. But! It was tasty and cool, and that's what matters.

Now, to take the time for this interview, I had to take the day off of work. Since I was only invited to this interview yesterday, it was very short notice. But I thought it would be okay; my boss is pretty flexible, and I rarely miss. Except I forgot that today was the monthly staff meeting, which means I was needed to cover the front desk. And none of the other people who usually cover the front desk were available. My boss did find someone eventually - someone who has never covered our front desk before, but was willing to volunteer - and since I got back early, I actually didn't miss too much work. But I'm really unhappy with myself for forgetting, and for failing to just say 'no, tomorrow is bad' to the interviewer. :/

So, yeah. Net result of: no interview, looking bad to my boss, and blisters on my feet. The only good thing that came out of this afternoon was that Italian soda.

Not a big deal, I know, it's just ... I would really like a do-over on this day. Or, alternately, for things to just slow down for a bit. Between classes and work and job hunting and planning the departmental graduation ceremony and trying to finish my work for C.O.R.E. and planning for London, I'm really freaking tired. It's not that these are bad things - many of them are very good things that I want happening - but I'd just like to take a break.

Fuck.

I just went to use the restroom in my workplace - a single-user, unisex room inside our office - and this is what I saw: urine in the unflushed toilet, and something else. It was bizarre enough for me to look twice, rather than just cussing out inconsiderate people and flushing the toilet. My best guess (since there wasn't any toilet paper in the toilet and it leads me to think a man had used it) is that it was ejaculate.

But see, I don't know. Not being male, I've never had the opportunity for such a ... viewing pleasure. So I ask you, friendslist, if you can advise me on what spunk in a toilet bowl looks like. If you can tell me, I want to know - I promise not to judge you on how or why you have the information. I only judge fuckers who get off on harassing people.

In any case, I sent an email detailing the incident to our assistant dean to find out what can be done. It surprised me because this restroom is in our office, which is only accessible through our front door, which is highly visible, or a couple of other locked doors. And, while there are a few men working in our office, they are quite nice guys. (Not that that is a guarantee of anything, I know.)

So I don't know. Clearly this man wanted this to be seen and fuck with people. And I don't know what we can do besides give people a heads up to be on the lookout.

But you know? I almost didn't say anything. I almost went on my way, not wanting to trouble anyone else about it, because it wasn't a "big deal." Because, hey, just because I was made to feel severely uncomfortable and creeped out, what's that worth? And this is even in a strongly supportive, majority female work environment where I knew I wouldn't be judged for speaking up. It's just that I've had it socialized into the deepest part of me that I should stay quiet, keep my head down, not make a fuss. And most of all, not inconvenience other people for what bothers me. Because ladies don't do that, you know.

And people wonder why women don't speak up about sexual harassment more often.

Edit: Comments on this post are now screened. Go here for an explanation.

Undergraduate university students have got to be the most annoyingly anal-retentive people on the planet.

You all know that I work at an academic office, right? That means, when I'm covering the front desk, I have to field a lot of questions from students. But some of those questions ... Look, if you're spending your time asking me "who should my recommendation letter be addressed to?" and "how should I format my resume?" then you're spending your time on the wrong thing. You should probably be focusing on more important parts of your application, like, you know, whether you qualify for our program. It's not like the admissions committee is going to look at a perfect applicant and say nope, sorry, your font choice for your personal essay just wasn't up to par, too bad.

Rule of thumb: if your most pressing question about your application is a nitpicky formatting issue, you need to rearrange your priorities. (Or it could just mean that your qualifications are so fabulous that you don't need to worry about anything else, but typically that's not the case.)

And while we're at it: we don't hold your hand. Seriously. Whining at us that you're having a hard time writing an essay is generally not going to get us to look favorably at you. Whining that it's really really hard to get the professional experience we require is also not going to help you. Most of all, asking us to walk you through the application process because you're too lazy to read the website, which provides the instructions that walk you through the application process, is also not a good indicator that you're a good fit for the program.

Okay, I'm probably being sort of crabby because I'm stuck at the front desk right now, where I have to deal with these questions, and I can't work on the project that I'm really really supposed to finish before I leave the office tomorrow ... But still. Was I this much of a wanker when I was a new college student? (Probably.) These kids have a lot of growing up to do, before I'm comfortable with them becoming health care professionals. At least I know that this program will give them a good push.

In happier news, I am eating fudge and truffles right now. Staff meetings always have the best food, and they leave the leftovers out for us. :D~

One of the people in the office I work at is a fantastic baker (not to mention a very sweet woman). Today, for our receptionist's birthday, she baked a chocolate peppermint cake. :D~~ She also asked me when my birthday was (most people don't know since it happens over winter break and I'm not at work then), and then what my preferences for desserts are.

I think I might be getting a treat for my birthday. :o This probably shouldn't make me so happy, except that this woman's desserts really are that delicious. :D Plus it's really cool that I merit a birthday treat, since I am a student employee and not a "real" co-worker. ^^;

Also, a meme, ganked from everyone else:

( I should have known I'm a freak )

I've been griping a lot about work lately, so I should probably say some good things. After all, I have a good job considering my circumstances (part-time, student, no car, no degree yet), and I know how lucky that makes me.

Also, today I'm not working on the mega-project that's swallowed my life for the past two weeks. The receptionist is out of town, and I'm covering the front desk for the day, which - stupid phone calls aside - is much easier and more relaxing.

- Good feedback. Okay, part of this is just because I'm such a sucker for praise, but seriously - how many bosses forget to tell you when you're actually doing a good job, instead of just pointing out your mistakes? I've been working my ass of this week, and what's great is that people know it. All my higher-ups take the time to tell me when I'm doing well, and that's pretty damn good. (Also, it helps when they say things like, "We don't pay you enough for what you do," and I know that there's a budget review coming up next month. XD)

- They got rid of the stinky carpet outside of the office. That stuff was already old (we replaced our carpet over a year ago), had been shampooed multiple times to know affect, and had mold issues due to a leaky water fountain (so drenching them with shampoo didn't exactly help). Seriously, it was stank-ee. >_< But they replaced it with linoleum - in the course of two days, working overnight so they never impeded traffic in the hallway. It is so much better.

- I work in the academic/admissions office of a nursing school, and they put a strong emphasis on diversity. Considering this is the top ranked nursing school in the U.S., this is huge. It would be so easy for the best school to go for the "best" students in the traditional sense - people with lots of money who could afford to go to fancy schools - and pretend that they were being neutral. Instead, they're smart, and realize that health care professionals need to be able to work with all populations, not just the dominant one. I remember feeling pleased by this when I first started working here, but that was almost three years ago - now I realize how damn cool this school is.

- Also, we get a lot of food. People in the office like to bake things, bring in their homegrown produce, and share leftover goodies. :D

Number of times I have suppressed the urge to reply to, "Do you have time to do this job for me?" with "You have GOT to be fucking kidding me": 3

Number of times I have suppressed the urge to interrupt needy students on the phone to inform them that they are clearly not self-sufficient enough to become a health care professional if they need us to hold their hands through the application and/or schooling process: 2

Number of times I have wished I had clones to be in the three separate locations I am required to be in order to do my job: SO MANY TIMES

Number of times I wanted to cry in happiness because my boss said, "I know you're really busy, so I can take care of _____ this week": 1

Why can't I be in Hawaii like kyonkun right now? :p Or at least somewhere out of town, like my co-worker who's in Las Vegas (thus my insane running around trying to do everything at the same time). I'm not sure why I insisted that I needed to spend my last summer of college without taking a vacation. It's not like it'll be easy to skip town when I have a grown-up job.

I want to go home now plzkthx.

Remember my whining about my thesis a few weeks ago? And how I didn't know who my faculty advisor would be? I had sent out a few requests to two people I thought would be compatible, but figured that a) professors were gone for the summer and I wouldn't hear back, and b) it was too short notice to start this Autumn Quarter.

The consequence would be that I couldn't start until Winter Quarter, thus requiring me to stay through the summer to finish up the 3-quarter thesis series. I decided that might actually work, though, because my Autumn Quarter looks so busy anyway - I have a full load of classes already, all of which are with professors/topics I really want; I'll be starting up my peer presentations with C.O.R.E.; my work will get really busy, because I work in an academic office and it'll be the beginning of the school year. Plus, waiting until winter would mean that I could take more time to decide on my topic.

I knew I shouldn't have said anything. Yesterday I got email replies from both of them.

One is the professor from the science fiction course I took last fall, who's interested in both comic books and feminism. I like his teaching style, and he likes my writing, and he's happy to be my advisor. It'd be perfect - except that he's from the English department, not Women Studies, and the WS department kind of frowns on that, and I may or may not be able to appeal. (He also recommended to me another English professor who teaches courses on comic books, and who also happens to be adjunct WS faculty, though she is unavailable for a couple of weeks.) The other professor who replied is from Women Studies and specializes in pop culture, though I don't know how much she knows about comic books. We don't know each other, but she said she would talk to me about it.

So ... instead of no advisor, I might have three. O_o;; And I guess I will start this quarter, after all. Which is possible. I think. *deep breaths*

Oh, and on top of that? I just got handed a massive and time-sensitive project at work, and have temporarily switched to full-time. The project requires me to be out of the office for most of the day (and therefore unable to do any of my other tasks). It's not too bad, since my co-worker is also doing it with me, and we can tag-team in order to take care of our other responsibilities. But right now, our receptionist is training for a new position (in the same department), and can only act as receptionist about half the time - so my co-worker and I are supposed to make up the rest of the time. But it's hard to cover the front desk of the office when you're, you know, not in the office.

Oh yeah, and my co-worker is going to be gone next week. WHEE.

*more deep breaths*

I'm glad my thesis is progressing, but I hate having my academic plans tossed around. I'm glad to be working full-time and getting money, but I hate being crazy-busy. I think I need to go home. _o_