11:14 p.m. - 2003-12-29
Tightropes
It was really nippy this morning waiting for the bus - -17 C/ 0 F. Bracing, fresh air, if one is disposed to think positively. Well I tried anyway. One lady who rides with us intermittently came over to chat, just talking about Christmas and family time. It was obvious she knew who I was - she asked about my sons - but I sometimes have trouble placing another parent unless I know which child they belong to and which of my sons they were in classes with. Six times thirty+ classmates times twelve years each - a lot of names and faces to remember. Add in ageing for all of us and it really gets iffy some days. Anyway, it was a pleasant way to pass the time while we tried to ignore the shiver factor in the atmosphere.
The building managers for our workplace decided this was a good time to close down all the air circulation facilities in the building. Only us drones on site, right? The result was hot, stale, heavy air inside. At one point during the morning I thought I was going to pass out because of the heat. Remember, dear diary, most staffers are wearing heavy sweaters, skirts, or pants plus an inner layer of undergarments - camis, slips, extra socks, pantyhose - to keep warm during the commute to and from work. Everyone else was complaining too. I was seriously threatening to start removing some layers of clothing - not a pretty sight. Some of my co-workers thought that that would provide some entertainment,if nothing else. At lunch I addressed the ceiling and observed that the shutdown was probably a violation of health and safety or local building codes. Shortly after the ventilation system was reactivated. Who knew the walls had ears.
Steady pace during the day, mostly on my feet and working in the stacks. Lots of oddball material that shouldn't be there, some not even belonging to the company. The other contract finding similar problems in the material she is working on. With the data I deal with, the industry standard is to return things to their owners - when determined - as soon as such things are discovered. Usually what has happened is that a large acquisition has been transacted and some incorrect material is sent in the transfer. Honest errors. The file room manager was taking great delight, instead, in throwing it in her garbage can. I protested a number of times and the other contract looked on with some concern, but neither reaction seemed to affect the behaviour. I don't have the authority to override that choice, but I did let my supervisor know about it and asked for direction tonight in an e-mail. In the interim, I stopped that task and turned my attention to the new data flooding in to the center instead. I won't go back to the other activity until I have some feedback about the correct way to proceed with the touchy problems that presented themselves today.
R came by to give me news about the supervisor I had before A. He was the one who set up the first contract with this company a year ago. He hadn't known enough about the records we were dealing with to scope out the project properly and had chosen people who didn't have enough knowledge to do the work. I came in on the project about halfway through and had to clean up a lot of the subsequent problems as well as try to meet the original deadlines agreed to - not easy. Apparently, he is working in an entirely different industry now and wanted to solicit business from R. Interesting. Talk about personnel issues and some new legislation just taking effect also were part of the discussion.
I was glad to get home tonight. The cats cuddled up for their nap with me and I was grateful for the warmth and cuddling. My guys were just pleased to to cocoon for the night, post holiday, in a warm quiet atmosphere.
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