minutia and detail
today
by laura
today despite the consistent and punctual buzzing of my alarm every 9 minutes i refused to get up until 7:30. and then i refused to get ready until 10 after 8 when i should have been leaving. consequently i was five to ten minutes late for work.
lisa wasn't there because her friend bill is dying of cancer and he got sick last night so she spent most of the night in the hospital with him. i sat at my desk and put two of my photos for the art show in frames and then i took them upstairs to put with my other ones in dave's office. his assistant charlene was there and she asked to see them so i showed them to her. as i walked by tanya and barry and dave d. and maybe some others were all sitting around talking. tanya heckled me with a loud "good MORNING laura!" barry said something weird which he often does. lisa m. wanted to know what tanya had said when i walked by her desk. "she said good morning laura." i told her.
once down stairs i poured myself some cereal and peeled my mandarin orange. around this time i remembered the popcorn balls. me and carmen and natalie had made caramel popcorn balls with craisins and skor bits and sunflower seeds in them the day before. i brought them to the snack bar but not before reserving two particularly caramely ones for myself. before rick could predictably ask me for a sign, i whipped one up for him on the back of a folded waiter's order form folded in half. "caramel popcorn balls--25 cents". cory asked me if i recommended starting with one or two. "up to you." i said.
the shorn mannequin heads that sarita and i had taken the night before from a fence post, made quite the stir at work. i gave them to tajana. she likes creepy things. some people had seen them before in that neighbourhood. we didn't steal them though. the man told us to take them.
i ended up eating my cereal at the morning meeting which i don't usually do. it was a little soggy by the time i could get to it, but it was still good. lisa came in just as we were nearing the end of the meeting. we didn't leave our seats at table number nine. we stayed right there for our unit meeting. meeting is a loose term for what we do at unit meetings which is just talk. lisa didn't join us. she went to do the deposits. i started in on my popcorn ball. "they're hard." said rick. "they're supposed to be soft....they're hard on the teeth." he often has a critique for my baking. today i didn't let it bother me. "they're just the way they're supposed to be." i paused for a nibble and a chew and looked over at him by just moving my eyes to the side, not my head. "they're not for old people." "hu?" "they're not for people who are close to needing dentures." he laughed.
after the meeting i got in trouble for my overdue phone charges of 11 dollars and some cents. lisa gave me a post it with the amount on it and said "this has gone to dave. i shouldn't have to deal with this bleeeeeeep." i felt bad because i meant to pay it, i just hadn't yet. i wrote a cheque right there and gave it to debi who just happened to walk in right after that. i also felt bad because she didn't need to talk to me that way or threaten me with dave. i just needed a reminder. and i felt bad because i knew my procrastinating ways are probably frustrating. but mostly i felt bad because i knew she was talking to me like that because she was tired and her friend is dying. i really don't know what i would do if one of my friends were dying. i tear up just thinking about it.
i went in the kitchen and grated a whole 23 dollar block of mozzarella cheese and some half a block of cheddar and mixed it up. then i cubed some cheddar for the special garden salad.
at quarter to nine i went up stairs and grabbed the blue binder with all the needful things in it to make an order for parts from pacific fasteners. then i walked down to dave's office and he helped me price my photos. i hope i priced them alright. i had no idea what i was doing.
when i got back downstairs it was ten and time to open the thrift store. when i was getting the float from the safe a member walked in in an outrageous outfit. she's known for her outrageous outfits, but this one was a particular doozy. it was some very green tops and gold lamme tights. not long tops either. short ones. it reminded me of a particularly flamboyant robin hood outfit and it made me grin from ear to ear. lisa and i shared a look about it. sheri was already at the cash register when i got there. i gave her the float and unlocked the front door. maria, as regular as clockwork was just getting out of her car. i said good morning to her, helped shari with some cash register issues and went into the adjoining library to work on doing the order for parts i had to work on. in the hall behind me i could hear the frenzy of people working on art show stuff--putting up pieces mostly. they had to all be so high, and have this much space between them and which one is your favourite? and i'm worried the other artists are going to think you have the best spot and so on.
later i couldn't find fax cover sheets. every time i need fax cover sheets there are none and i get some printed, and photocopy a bunch and somehow they are all sucked into the abyss. cory claimed to know nothing about it but mireya had one blank one that i took and photocopied, but first i helped una fax some things.
graham came and asked if he could help with anything. i asked him if he felt like sweeping." "not really", replied the heavily bearded richard dryfuss look-alike/sound-alike. "why?" "because the floor in the store needs to be swept." i told him. "oh that won't be too bad." he said "ok, the broom and dustpan are over there." i pointed. "i'll follow you with the mop." it wasn't a minute later when he came back with the broom and dustpan saying he had to check in with lisa and he'd be right back. ya, i've heard that one before.
at quarter to 12 kaz came in and cheerfully said "laura GO." meaning "i'm here to take over for you so you can go eat your lunch." i like how when you work with people for a long enough time you don't really need to say much. sometimes you don't need to say anything at all.
tajana had made me a special pizza with feta and red peppers on top of the pepperoni and mushroom. i put it in the oven and waited. lisa's special one with mushrooms and feta was beside mine. when they were ready it was time to go back so i took my pizza and my fruit salad with me to the library.
i ate it in there and not one single customer came the whole time. fatima and i emailed back and forth about the place she is going to rent when daman comes to visit NEXT WEEK.
at 12:30 tajana relieved me and i went up stairs to get the stuff ready for extreme cctv. all my workers were ready so we went early. what followed was an hour and a half of wrapping plugs and quality controlling bags of screws and washers and plugs etc, punctuated only by a walk back to the clubhouse to get some forgotten materials.
we were done at quarter after 2. when i got back to work i put my apron on and peeled potatoes. lisa joined me. i was going to take my early day today because tomorrow is the art show, but there everybody else was leaving so i stayed.
i worked on the morning meeting. i had some ice cream treats. i talked with some people and observed some of the art show frenzy.
i helped kaz close up the snack bar and made sure the oven and burners were all off and the doors were locked. i turned off the lights. as we were walking out to our cars theresa asked me if i wanted to hang out for a while because she didn't have to pick up brad until 40 minutes later. so we walked to the park and sat on some benches in the shade and talked. we talked mostly about work things and work people. then we walked back and said our good byes.
at home the cats were waiting for me and so was the mess. i fed the cats, ignored the mess and lay on the couch to do some sudoku puzzles and fell asleep, but only for a few minutes. i got up, counted out some change, shaved my legs, changed into my 'suit' and drove to pick up shauna and go to my second thursday of aqua size. this time i did not almost splash a lady in the face.
at home again i made the world's best banana shake, looked at a few photography blogs and watched lars and the real girl which made me want to cry and laugh at the exact same time because it was funny and sad at the exact same time if you know what i mean.
and now i'm going to go water the plants and go to bed.
night.
by laura
today despite the consistent and punctual buzzing of my alarm every 9 minutes i refused to get up until 7:30. and then i refused to get ready until 10 after 8 when i should have been leaving. consequently i was five to ten minutes late for work.
lisa wasn't there because her friend bill is dying of cancer and he got sick last night so she spent most of the night in the hospital with him. i sat at my desk and put two of my photos for the art show in frames and then i took them upstairs to put with my other ones in dave's office. his assistant charlene was there and she asked to see them so i showed them to her. as i walked by tanya and barry and dave d. and maybe some others were all sitting around talking. tanya heckled me with a loud "good MORNING laura!" barry said something weird which he often does. lisa m. wanted to know what tanya had said when i walked by her desk. "she said good morning laura." i told her.
once down stairs i poured myself some cereal and peeled my mandarin orange. around this time i remembered the popcorn balls. me and carmen and natalie had made caramel popcorn balls with craisins and skor bits and sunflower seeds in them the day before. i brought them to the snack bar but not before reserving two particularly caramely ones for myself. before rick could predictably ask me for a sign, i whipped one up for him on the back of a folded waiter's order form folded in half. "caramel popcorn balls--25 cents". cory asked me if i recommended starting with one or two. "up to you." i said.
the shorn mannequin heads that sarita and i had taken the night before from a fence post, made quite the stir at work. i gave them to tajana. she likes creepy things. some people had seen them before in that neighbourhood. we didn't steal them though. the man told us to take them.
i ended up eating my cereal at the morning meeting which i don't usually do. it was a little soggy by the time i could get to it, but it was still good. lisa came in just as we were nearing the end of the meeting. we didn't leave our seats at table number nine. we stayed right there for our unit meeting. meeting is a loose term for what we do at unit meetings which is just talk. lisa didn't join us. she went to do the deposits. i started in on my popcorn ball. "they're hard." said rick. "they're supposed to be soft....they're hard on the teeth." he often has a critique for my baking. today i didn't let it bother me. "they're just the way they're supposed to be." i paused for a nibble and a chew and looked over at him by just moving my eyes to the side, not my head. "they're not for old people." "hu?" "they're not for people who are close to needing dentures." he laughed.
after the meeting i got in trouble for my overdue phone charges of 11 dollars and some cents. lisa gave me a post it with the amount on it and said "this has gone to dave. i shouldn't have to deal with this bleeeeeeep." i felt bad because i meant to pay it, i just hadn't yet. i wrote a cheque right there and gave it to debi who just happened to walk in right after that. i also felt bad because she didn't need to talk to me that way or threaten me with dave. i just needed a reminder. and i felt bad because i knew my procrastinating ways are probably frustrating. but mostly i felt bad because i knew she was talking to me like that because she was tired and her friend is dying. i really don't know what i would do if one of my friends were dying. i tear up just thinking about it.
i went in the kitchen and grated a whole 23 dollar block of mozzarella cheese and some half a block of cheddar and mixed it up. then i cubed some cheddar for the special garden salad.
at quarter to nine i went up stairs and grabbed the blue binder with all the needful things in it to make an order for parts from pacific fasteners. then i walked down to dave's office and he helped me price my photos. i hope i priced them alright. i had no idea what i was doing.
when i got back downstairs it was ten and time to open the thrift store. when i was getting the float from the safe a member walked in in an outrageous outfit. she's known for her outrageous outfits, but this one was a particular doozy. it was some very green tops and gold lamme tights. not long tops either. short ones. it reminded me of a particularly flamboyant robin hood outfit and it made me grin from ear to ear. lisa and i shared a look about it. sheri was already at the cash register when i got there. i gave her the float and unlocked the front door. maria, as regular as clockwork was just getting out of her car. i said good morning to her, helped shari with some cash register issues and went into the adjoining library to work on doing the order for parts i had to work on. in the hall behind me i could hear the frenzy of people working on art show stuff--putting up pieces mostly. they had to all be so high, and have this much space between them and which one is your favourite? and i'm worried the other artists are going to think you have the best spot and so on.
later i couldn't find fax cover sheets. every time i need fax cover sheets there are none and i get some printed, and photocopy a bunch and somehow they are all sucked into the abyss. cory claimed to know nothing about it but mireya had one blank one that i took and photocopied, but first i helped una fax some things.
graham came and asked if he could help with anything. i asked him if he felt like sweeping." "not really", replied the heavily bearded richard dryfuss look-alike/sound-alike. "why?" "because the floor in the store needs to be swept." i told him. "oh that won't be too bad." he said "ok, the broom and dustpan are over there." i pointed. "i'll follow you with the mop." it wasn't a minute later when he came back with the broom and dustpan saying he had to check in with lisa and he'd be right back. ya, i've heard that one before.
at quarter to 12 kaz came in and cheerfully said "laura GO." meaning "i'm here to take over for you so you can go eat your lunch." i like how when you work with people for a long enough time you don't really need to say much. sometimes you don't need to say anything at all.
tajana had made me a special pizza with feta and red peppers on top of the pepperoni and mushroom. i put it in the oven and waited. lisa's special one with mushrooms and feta was beside mine. when they were ready it was time to go back so i took my pizza and my fruit salad with me to the library.
i ate it in there and not one single customer came the whole time. fatima and i emailed back and forth about the place she is going to rent when daman comes to visit NEXT WEEK.
at 12:30 tajana relieved me and i went up stairs to get the stuff ready for extreme cctv. all my workers were ready so we went early. what followed was an hour and a half of wrapping plugs and quality controlling bags of screws and washers and plugs etc, punctuated only by a walk back to the clubhouse to get some forgotten materials.
we were done at quarter after 2. when i got back to work i put my apron on and peeled potatoes. lisa joined me. i was going to take my early day today because tomorrow is the art show, but there everybody else was leaving so i stayed.
i worked on the morning meeting. i had some ice cream treats. i talked with some people and observed some of the art show frenzy.
i helped kaz close up the snack bar and made sure the oven and burners were all off and the doors were locked. i turned off the lights. as we were walking out to our cars theresa asked me if i wanted to hang out for a while because she didn't have to pick up brad until 40 minutes later. so we walked to the park and sat on some benches in the shade and talked. we talked mostly about work things and work people. then we walked back and said our good byes.
at home the cats were waiting for me and so was the mess. i fed the cats, ignored the mess and lay on the couch to do some sudoku puzzles and fell asleep, but only for a few minutes. i got up, counted out some change, shaved my legs, changed into my 'suit' and drove to pick up shauna and go to my second thursday of aqua size. this time i did not almost splash a lady in the face.
at home again i made the world's best banana shake, looked at a few photography blogs and watched lars and the real girl which made me want to cry and laugh at the exact same time because it was funny and sad at the exact same time if you know what i mean.
and now i'm going to go water the plants and go to bed.
night.
Comments
Fatima