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I am absolutely digging this 60-degree weather we're having. Last week (and even this weekend) I thought I was going to have to give up my bike for the winter, and now I've had two absolutely lovely nights of biking home without even needing a jacket. And it's a good thing, too, because otherwise I would be pulling out my hair.
Even the city is giving me advice now:
I spotted that as I was crossing the bridge over the Metra tracks by the Art Institute, and I figured, okay, it's the Blue Cross building, they're probably telling me to quit something. (Yes, despite that seemingly-strategic lamp, it does actually say "QUIT.") Smoking? Eating junk food? But... apparently no. Unless the array of blue lights above it is actually meant to represent a blue Tetris block and it's telling the city to stop playing Tetris?
I'm going to choose to interpret it as a Sign, because today we had two people give their notice, and both of them were of the rare, sane variety, who actually do work. We still haven't replaced people who left in August. I don't think there's a single department in the office that isn't behind right now, and I don't know how they're going to cope with losing two competent, well-adjusted people. (I'm almost certain I'm going to lose all my help, and I would crawl under my desk and cry except there's no room because of all the files at my desk.) I haven't filed something on time in more than a month... and I used to be the only one who was ahead. Now I spend all my time fighting with other legal assistants and attorneys to get their work done and have no time to do anything I'm actually supposed to be doing. Stupid nightmare job.
One positive upshoot of the current situation, though, is that I've been listening to a lot of music lately to drown out Ego Girl, and I recently wore out my crappy old $15 headphones. So today I invested some of my overtime money into a set of actually-good headphones (it actually occurs to me to be embarrassed as to how much I just spent on headphones). But music... guys, music has bass! And dynamics! And... and... I forgot how much I was missing by just listening to things on crappy headphones and crappy laptop speakers. (I thought I wouldn't like in-ear headphones, but it turns out they're not as creepily claustrophobic as noise-cancelling ones and the general effect is that the music is right there and all the outside noises are behind it. I rode past a helicopter on the lakefront tonight and could still hear my music, but I could also hear other cyclists coming up behind me at times when there was no helicopter. Fancy!)
Even the city is giving me advice now:
I spotted that as I was crossing the bridge over the Metra tracks by the Art Institute, and I figured, okay, it's the Blue Cross building, they're probably telling me to quit something. (Yes, despite that seemingly-strategic lamp, it does actually say "QUIT.") Smoking? Eating junk food? But... apparently no. Unless the array of blue lights above it is actually meant to represent a blue Tetris block and it's telling the city to stop playing Tetris?
I'm going to choose to interpret it as a Sign, because today we had two people give their notice, and both of them were of the rare, sane variety, who actually do work. We still haven't replaced people who left in August. I don't think there's a single department in the office that isn't behind right now, and I don't know how they're going to cope with losing two competent, well-adjusted people. (I'm almost certain I'm going to lose all my help, and I would crawl under my desk and cry except there's no room because of all the files at my desk.) I haven't filed something on time in more than a month... and I used to be the only one who was ahead. Now I spend all my time fighting with other legal assistants and attorneys to get their work done and have no time to do anything I'm actually supposed to be doing. Stupid nightmare job.
One positive upshoot of the current situation, though, is that I've been listening to a lot of music lately to drown out Ego Girl, and I recently wore out my crappy old $15 headphones. So today I invested some of my overtime money into a set of actually-good headphones (it actually occurs to me to be embarrassed as to how much I just spent on headphones). But music... guys, music has bass! And dynamics! And... and... I forgot how much I was missing by just listening to things on crappy headphones and crappy laptop speakers. (I thought I wouldn't like in-ear headphones, but it turns out they're not as creepily claustrophobic as noise-cancelling ones and the general effect is that the music is right there and all the outside noises are behind it. I rode past a helicopter on the lakefront tonight and could still hear my music, but I could also hear other cyclists coming up behind me at times when there was no helicopter. Fancy!)
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From:
no subject
I WANT FANCY HEADPHONES! My iPod headphones are beat to hell and I need to shell out for new ones, but I think I'll have to wait and ask Santa Claus. (I accidentally typed "Satan Claus" first, and now I want fanart!)
Are you looking around for other jobs?
From:
no subject
I can't seem to make a pair of proper iPod headphones last more than about six month. Inevitably I knock one of the wires loose and one earpiece will be louder and it'll drive me crazy. Which is why I switched to cheap crappy headphones, but I've gone through something like three pairs this year... I seem to go through headphones at an alarming rate, actually, so I'm super-glad these game with a one-year even-if-you-beat-the-crap-out-of-them (which I probably will) warranty.
You silly devil-worshipping atheist, you! (-;
I'm looking for other jobs, but I'm being stupid and limiting myself to stuff I'm actually interested in, most of which has very little to do with what I've been doing for the last nearly-three years. Everyone who's leaving now got jobs in other real estate-type offices, which I imagine I could do easily enough if I wasn't sick to death of real estate.
From:
no subject
I...beat the shit out of my headphones! When I'm going to the gym (which I haven't been...feeling a little guilty...), I always manage to yank them out of my ears with my wild flailing. And of course, they always end up stuffed in the bottom of my bag.
Well, as long as you want (and don't need) a different job, there's no harm in being a little picky for awhile. What are the sorts of jobs you want to get?
From:
no subject
I'm hoping to land something with an educational non-profit, since that's where all my volunteer time goes anyway. Barring that... generally other non-profits and, on the occasional long-shot, publishing companies and museums (though NONE of them are hiring). My secret hope is that things will get so bad at work things will finally break down and I'll get laid off, so I'll have time to volunteer for a few months somewhere and elbow my way into an interesting job that way.
From:
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I feel like this needs to be the premise for some edgy new self help-style business manifesto-dealy. (Don't let my jargon intimidate you! I'll cut you in on the royalties...)
Ooh, good options, all of those! Any sort of education in particular? Literacy? Science?
I used to work for a museum, and would love to do so again! It was a super tiny one and I worked the front desk, but I loved working around the profs and the artifacts. Good times.
My secret hope is that things will get so bad at work things will finally break down and I'll get laid off, so I'll have time to volunteer for a few months somewhere and elbow my way into an interesting job that way.
That could work! Let me know if there's anything I can do to further sink the real estate market in Chicago. ;)
From:
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I'd prefer to go into literacy education, but a lot of that is ESL stuff, which I'm at a serious disadvantage in considering my complete lack of Spanish ability, so I'd have to be an office monkey and eventual policy wonk in some capacity, rather than getting my hands dirty.
Archaeology museum! Awesome. (-: I've developed an absolute obsession with the inner workings of museums... all the interesting things hidden away where no one can see them until there's actually room for them, all the travelling collections, the new donations... Maybe I should go back to school and study to be a curator of some sort... go into preservation. That'd be pretty cool.
No no no, we can't sink the market any more, that'll just make things worse. We need another real estate boom, or for someone to come in and buy up all the distressed properties and pay off all the mortgages so no one can foreclose them. It's... it's hopelessly unlikely. But I can pretend.
(Also, I'm working on a reply to your message, but I've been distracted with my dwsanta fic and haven't had time to sit down and properly think. (-:)
From:
no subject
Absolutely! I'm mostly going to cut and paste the actual content from Wikipedia, and jazz it up with a few strategically-placed buzzwords; and possibly invent some of my own. "Strategization", "visuality", "divestiture...ness". I don't know, I'll do some work on that bit.
The museum I worked at was especially interesting, as it was a magnet for lunatics. But definitely the coolest part of my job was being able to go behind the scenes and look at the stuff that wasn't on display. (For instance, we had a mummy case, but since the university had a policy against displaying human remains, it was kept in climate-controlled storage. But I got to see it! It was way cool.)
(Also, I'm working on a reply to your message, but I've been distracted with my dwsanta fic and haven't had time to sit down and properly think. (-:)
No worries! I know you're swamped during the week, and I did throw a lot at you this last time. Glad you're getting work done on your dwsanta fic, though! I got about two pages into mine and hit a wall. F@#$ing fluff...