Work. Sucks.

Well, not in a "I hate my job" kind of way.  More in a "I'm busier than a Jehovah's Witness at Doors Unlimited" sort of way.  We are going through a transition to a new management company and EVERYTHING that I work on has to be redone in order to make the move.  EVERYTHING.  And that's a lot of shit.  Then I have a bunch of new stuff coming down the pipe.  The new stuff comes in spurts and it's just a wave that has chosen to hit now.  Which sucks.  But I'm doing the best I can to get through it all.  When I'm frustrated, I remind myself that vacation is only 9 days away.

So in the middle of all this crap, I have one company (a new project) that is literally calling me 15 times a day.  Almost every hour they call, and then hang up on my voicemail.  This drives me absolutely fucking insane.  If you need to speak to me, leave a message.  If you don't, then send an email.  Every single time you call and hang up, that resets the clock on when I will call you back.  It may be childish, but it's what I do.  You piss me off when you do that and when I'm pissed, I retaliate.  So yeah, keep on doing that honey.  You'll be lucky to hear from me before vacation.

These are the same people that had the audacity to email me yesterday and demanded to know why the contract wasn't signed yet.  "What's the hold up?"  Um, the hold up is that the Chairman of the Board hasn't signed it yet.  I'm not going to call him and ask him why either.  When he gets to it, he gets to it.  End of story.  I don't care what sort of rush you are in.  WE are not in a rush.  WE can't do anything with your stuff for another week anyway.  So back off!

The good news in all of this is that it appears that this group uses a lot of paper.  We do not.  Everything we do in house is done electronically.  Yes, there is always some paper floating around, but generally, everything is done via the computer.  So what's the good news?  The good news is that the boss man is going to back out of the project if the rep today says there is no way we can do electronic.  I have no clue what the ramifications of this statement would be, but it gives me a sick little sense of joy knowing that I might be able to stick it to the bitch that won't stop calling me.

Clean house

So a new cleaning crew was coming today to take care of my house.  Remember how my old cleaning lady had to go out for back surgery and I was pissed off that I would have to clean the house myself?  Well, the dearest husband o' mine called up the folks that clean his old frat house on campus and asked them if they did private homes as well.  They said they did and came over to have a look-see.  They told him they would just accept whatever we paid our previous person so of course Frugal Fanny told them the price was about half of what we normally pay.  I'm not complaining though.  I do have a cruise to finance (yes, the Top Gay and I booked it and we leave at the end of the month!).  Anyway, today was their first day.

Now in general, I AM one of those people that cleans before the cleaning people come.  No, I don't pre-scrub the toilets or anything but I do pick up the dirty underwear that is scattered around the house and try to put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher rather than leave them in the sink.  I also try to pick up the shit ton of toys and games that my kid leaves laying around.  Just a general pick up and de-clutter if you will.  This morning I felt ultra frazzled since I haven't had time to prepare for the new crew.  Work has been busy and I seem to be off in 80 different directions lately so I just haven't prepared.  The old cleaning person wasn't as big of a deal.  She knew us and our dirty laundry so I got to a point where I didn't feel as hard pressed to clean before her arrival.  I still did it, but I wasn't fanatical about it.  Today I left the house in a near panic ordering my kid to pick up her crap because the cleaning people were coming.  I do wonder how much cleaning crews are like hairdressers.  I know our "old" lady did share gossip and stories with another person she cleaned for.  I use to work with this person (which is how I found her in the first place) and would always hear about what B told her about me when she was cleaning.  The last thing I want is a bunch of people around town knowing about the shit inside my house (literally and figuratively of course).

So I'll depart work here shortly and head home to see how things are.  I hope it's good because we sure did need a cleaning (and lord knows I'm too lazy to do it myself). 

Journeys

I'm getting pretty sick and tired of listening to people tell me how I should be happy because other people have it worse than I do.  While I acknowledge that there are people that DO have it worse than me, it doesn't mean that my problems are any less real or any less difficult for me to deal with.  Yes, there are people who are starving while I have food on my table every night.  Yes, there are people with children dying of cancer while I have a child whose biggest issue right now is an infection in her finger.  Yes, there are people who are homeless while I have a (big) roof over my head.  I get all of that.  But I don't feel guilty or ashamed of what I DO have.  My husband and I have worked hard for what we have.  And I'm not saying that other people don't.  Everyone falls on hard times.  Lord knows we have, but it still doesn't mean that when I complain about something, it isn't important to me.  And y'know what?  REAL friends understand that.  Yes, we can laugh at how silly some of it may seem in the grand scheme of things, but true friends also talk through the issue, calm fears, and help find solutions.  Not just throw out "well, so and so has it much worse than you!"

Everyone has their own journey in life.  I can be there to support those that I'm close to but even still, when something happens, there is only so much of myself that I can invest in a situation that isn't truly my own.  I really do believe that we have to go through things to learn our lessons and to move forward.  Having someone else fret over an issue that doesn't involve them really does no good.  Yes, we can feel pain, sympathy, and loss for other people, but at some point you have to draw the line.  If you asked someone if they really wanted you to stop your life for them and their issues, they would say no.  So be a good friend and listen to the problems of others.  Offer a solution or a helping hand if need be.  But for the love of god, don't tell them some sob story about how fortunate they are and they don't really understand how hard it is for other people.

I know that none of the people I'm talking about read this blog.  Although perhaps today should be the day I forward it on to them.