Tag: work

Crankypantsing, Photography

Inconceivable

Shelly

I regularly complain about how hot it is at work. My cube neighbor told me yesterday, “Just wait until you start having hot flashes.” Now, this is not the first time this comment has been made to me (nor the first time she’s made it). I’m the youngest person working in my section. Everyone else is in their late 50s/60s. They think they’re being funny, because it is obviously utterly inconceivable to them that someone my age could be starting menopause. They are not as funny as they think they are. Alsotoo, it really is hot here. I always look at the thermometer before complaining, so I have empirical evidence. Alsoplustoo and FYI, I’ve been having a year-long hot flash, you patronizing jackass.

And some random raspberry blossoms:
IMG_3405

Crankypantsing

“My Google Changed”

Shelly

I wonder sometimes how the people I work with manage to dress themselves in the mornings. Over the weekend, LIT pushed down an update for Firefox. No problem for those of us who use Firefox instead of IE, nor for those who are moderately clueful about software. And by moderately clueful, I mean, they know what a web browser is. Apparently some of my coworkers do not.

Now, I realize that there are plenty of folks who manage to find their way around a computer without overstuffing their brains with information they don’t really need to have on tap. So if I asked my mom what a web browser is, she is unlikely to know what the hell I’m talking about. That’s fine. My coworkers, though? We all had to go through a web 2.0 workshop, so they ought to bloody well know what a web browser is, right?

Twice now, I’ve had someone come to my cubicle to tell me, “My Google changed.” Now, I had no idea how to unpack that statement. What the hell were they talking about? Knowing about the Firefox update, I asked which web browser they were using. “What’s a web browser?” Uh-oh. I asked if they were using Firefox or IE, and coworker A said, “I’m using Google.” Um, no. I explained that they had to be using either Firefox or IE (there are no other options on our workstations). “Oh, definitely IE, then, because I never use Firefox.” (Any guesses as to which browser was open when I went to their workstations?) Lordy!

Apparently, when the new Firefox update was pushed down, it made itself king of the mountain (“All ur shortcuts R belong to us!”). Folks who usually use IE as the default browser now found that Firefox was the default. Some folks–including coworkers A and B–litter their desktops with shortcuts to websites, instead of bookmarking them. Because of the update, clicking on any of those shortcuts launched Firefox, not IE. Folks realized that things looked a little different, but couldn’t figure out why, so their explanation was that Google–which LIT has automatically set as the default homepage in both IE and Firefox–had changed.

If I wanted to hold people’s hands and help them sort out their lives, I’d work in tech support. But I don’t, so I don’t.

Uncategorized

Title of the Day

Shelly

Porcine meat: carcases and cuts. I swear, no work day is complete without a UN or EU document on the handling of meat.

In other news, the neighbors upstairs and across the hall (the ones who took the place of the Stompy Girls), are moving out. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since they moved in. I watched both their puppies grow up! It’ll be nice not to have to worry about them not cleaning up after their dogs, but other than that, they’ve been awesome neighbors, and I’ll miss them. Hopefully, the new people will be quiet.

Before they left, they brought me two bookcases (yay!), a really nice tea kettle, some stainless steel pots and pans, mixing bowls, some odds and ends of food, and the remains from their liquor cabinet. w00t! I never turn down free booze! They would have given me their almost new gas grill, too, except I don’t cook out and really don’t have anywhere to put it on my patio.

In other other news, there was a hard, heavy frost last night. It took me forever to scrape my car windows. I hope the sprouting plants in my garden are okay.

Crankypantsing

Recycling Fail

Shelly

One of my coworkers has a bunch of recycling bins at her desk, in which people dump their paperboard, plastic, and aluminum. Aluminum cans have to have the pull tabs removed, because she saves those for Ronald McDonald House[1]. Plastic bottles must be a 1 or 2 and must have the lids removed. Paper board must have any plastic bits removed.

People, of course, being people, are bound to make recycling mistakes. Instead of just fixing them, this coworker hunts down the offender and explains to them, in excruciating detail–like they’re two year olds–just how they screwed up.

The result? I, for one, prefer not to get a lecture from her, so I don’t use her recycling bins. This is, I assume, not the result she’s aiming for.

Recycling: Ur doin it rong.
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1. Ronald McDonald House, bless their hearts, decided to make it easy for people who saved up pull tabs for mythical kidney dialysis credits to recycle their tabs. So, RMH will take tabs, but they don’t get anything extra for them. Aluminum tabs get recycled just like cans, at the same rate. Why the hell can’t we just save cans for RMH, then, instead of pull tabs? RMH would get a lot more money out of the deal, then, and we wouldn’t have to screw around with removing tabs. Better yet, we wouldn’t get a visit from The Tab Police when we inevitably forget to remove the tabs.

Uncategorized

Weird Cookie

Shelly

The department secretary brought treats to work, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Yum. Only, I took one of the chocolate chip cookies, and it tastes distinctly like ginger bread. With chocolate chips. I’m half-way through the cookie, and I still can’t decide if I love it or hate it.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’m making boxty tonight. I’ll probably have stir-fried cabbage, scallions, peppers, carrots, and whatever else is in my fridge, with it. The stir-fry isn’t especially Irish (especially not if I put Szechuan sauce on it!), but it will make a nice, bright complement to the potato pancakes.

Crankypantsing

That New Math

Shelly

I started a new cat sitting job on Saturday, so I stopped by the bank on my way home from the first visit to deposit the $125 check. I just checked my account, and for some unfathomable reason, the deposit is showing up as only $100. It must be that new math, right?

Hopefully the deposit amount will be corrected, because I really don’t want to have to mess with going over there and arguing with them.

Photography

Dictionary

Shelly

IMG_3171

I’m always surprised by how much use the paper dictionaries get. I walk past them several times a day, and there is almost always someone using them. I use Dictionary.com instead, but perhaps some of my coworkers make better use of various excuses to get away from their desks, if only for a few moments?