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Happy week this week
Jan. 4th, 2006 10:11 amI was not happy about starting back to work and school this week in a state of exhaustion. When I checked my email at work yesterday I got the customary "Important this weeek" email from the internship office. The first item in it said, "School starts January 9th" and I couldn't suppress a little "Woo hoo!"
Ah, a whole week of a quiet house before I start the difficult quarter of four nights a week at school. Yay! Then I tried to add the class I'm challenging and the system told me I had exceeded the credit hours allowed. Maybe 21 units is more than they'll allow? I emailed the registration help person to ask. I also emailed the instructor to ask him. Mike was headed to campus during his lunch break to check to see if his classes were full enough to happen and buy his books. He offered to check on my classes so I gave him my list. Yes, the three I'm enrolled in are happening so after work I went to the bookstore.
For the first time I had to stand in a line. Other people are catching on to the fact that you can buy your books the week before classes start. It's chaos if you wait until the first day. My time is too valuable to stand in line for an hour or more if I don't need to. $300 is what I guessed it would cost for them and the tab came to $297. Some lady ahead of me in line was arguing with the bookstore people about the high price of books. She had a heavy accent. It made me wonder if she thought she could bargain the price down. She got really angry when the manager came over and told her the choices were to buy the books or not. This led to a long discussion about return policies if the class was cancelled and the line grew and grew. People behind me started making impatient noises. Finally, she paid while she grumbled loudly about how expensive it was to go to community college and it was a good thing she had the money to pay for it. Then it was my turn. I put my books on the counter and smiled at the frazzled young clerk. It was clear she wasn't used to being talked to that way. I smiled at her and said, "Education isn't cheap. Don't worry, I won't complain about the cost." She smiled back and relaxed. They do have financial aid programs for those who can't afford the books.
Hmm. This seems to be my week for soothing frazzled clerks. The night before I had been helping my Aunt Marge get the manual for her new laptop printed. Her son gave her the laptop but it didn't have a parallel port and they didn't know about USB cables. We had extra ones so I took one over and helped her get the printer hooked up and set as the default printer. After I helped her with it, Eric ordered our favorite "A La Gilroy" pizza from Tony & Alba's near our house and I swung by to pick it up. That's a garlic, sausage and jalapeno pepper pizza and if you like garlic and hot spices, it's heaven. I walked in and immediately noticed the lady behind the register looked flustered and a little panicked. About six people were sitting around waiting, looking at their watches and in positions that suggested they'd been waiting a while. A man was standing there arguing with her and she was offering to make him a new pizza. He refused and she took his pizza back into the kitchen and had a conversation with the three cooks who were rushing around frantically in there, panicked looks on the faces of two of them, extreme frustration on the face of the other. She came back and told the man it would be a few more minutes. He grumbled something about having already waited an hour.
I was next and I started by saying "Looks like you're having a wild night" She rolled her eys and said she was. I told her I'd dealt with customers before and I knew they were always right and whispered with a wink, "even when they're wrong." She said in her mind, the were always right no matter what and she relaxed a little. The delivery guy came out and asked her about a pizza he was holding. She sent him back saying there were four more pizzas with that order and to find them. He looked confused and wandered back. I told her Eric had called an order in and I was Linda. That's how we are listed in their computer, Eric or Linda. She found us in the computer and said that was her personal favorite pizza, then she said she'd go find it. I knew it had only been 15 minutes since Eric called and I asked her if it would be a while because I had shopping I could do across the street while I waited. She said she'd check and let me know. Another trip to the kitchen which is just behind the counter in the next room and I followed to see what she found out. There was an argument about an A La Gilroy pizza just out of the oven. It didn't have any sausage. After a minute of arguing with the cook who obviously didn't speak much English, it was determined that wasn't our pizza, it was someone else's. She spoke to the head cook and they figured things out. She said our pizza was almost done and explained they had two new cooks who weren't quite getting it yet. I smiled and told her that was fine. I'd wait. It was about another 10 minutes so it must have been almost ready to go into the oven.
I sat near the doorway between the two sides and she walked by a bunch of times trying to unscramble things. I smiled warmly at her each trip and sent her soothing thoughts. The two new cooks were hispanic and one kept explaining things to the other in Spanish. I chatted with a couple of people while I waited. One was the first to get his pizza. The delivery guy kept wandering through calling names of people who didn't respond. Then the griping guy stood next to me and started talking about how he ordered a pepperoni pizza cooked "crisp" and got one that had white crust. He wanted it browned and that's why he sent it back. I told him the pizzas were so good at Tony & Alba's that we loved them no matter how they came. He asked what I ordered and I told him. He said it's a good thing we both like that pizza! I agreed and told him I had to acquire the taste after I met my husband. I'll bet he thought it was the garlic I had to get used to, but nope! It's the jalapeno peppers I wasn't used to. I've always loved garlic. He griped about the long wait and I mentioned how it looked like they were having a rough night. This wasn't usual.
He decided his pizza might be getting burned and went to tell the cooks to give it to him. He showed it to me on his way out. It was perfect for him, but too crispy for me. When ours was done and the lady handed it to me, she thanked me for being so patient. I told her she was doing what she could do and it was one pizza at a time, right? I saw her restrain herself from hugging me so I said, "Come here, you need this." and I gave her a big hug. The way she hugged back, I could tell she needed it. "Hang in there!" I said as I headed for the door. She was visibly calmer when I left than she was when I arrived.
The pizza wasn't as good as usual. The guys skimped on the cheese and sausage and it wasn't baked quite long enough. That meant the jalapeno peppers weren't balanced very well. Boy did it clear our sinuses! Even Eric said his mouth was on fire and he's used to really spicy stuff. If they last, they'll catch on. Tony & Alba's pizza is usually generous with everything. That's why it costs $10 more than the other pizza places for an extra large. That's two meals for us. Mmm! Two nights in a row of garlic breath!
Well, now I need to scoot to work. Guess I blabbed too long to take a real shower. Oh well. I'll sponge bathe. I'm getting dirty at work today, anyway. We're getting ready to move offices next week so I'm getting into all the PC's we've collected from various places to figure out which ones we're moving with us and which ones Mike will be sending (or sending back) to Surplus. Grungy dirty work that is. Some of these PC's have never been cleaned and built up nasty greasy dust inside. I wash my hands a lot.
Ah, a whole week of a quiet house before I start the difficult quarter of four nights a week at school. Yay! Then I tried to add the class I'm challenging and the system told me I had exceeded the credit hours allowed. Maybe 21 units is more than they'll allow? I emailed the registration help person to ask. I also emailed the instructor to ask him. Mike was headed to campus during his lunch break to check to see if his classes were full enough to happen and buy his books. He offered to check on my classes so I gave him my list. Yes, the three I'm enrolled in are happening so after work I went to the bookstore.
For the first time I had to stand in a line. Other people are catching on to the fact that you can buy your books the week before classes start. It's chaos if you wait until the first day. My time is too valuable to stand in line for an hour or more if I don't need to. $300 is what I guessed it would cost for them and the tab came to $297. Some lady ahead of me in line was arguing with the bookstore people about the high price of books. She had a heavy accent. It made me wonder if she thought she could bargain the price down. She got really angry when the manager came over and told her the choices were to buy the books or not. This led to a long discussion about return policies if the class was cancelled and the line grew and grew. People behind me started making impatient noises. Finally, she paid while she grumbled loudly about how expensive it was to go to community college and it was a good thing she had the money to pay for it. Then it was my turn. I put my books on the counter and smiled at the frazzled young clerk. It was clear she wasn't used to being talked to that way. I smiled at her and said, "Education isn't cheap. Don't worry, I won't complain about the cost." She smiled back and relaxed. They do have financial aid programs for those who can't afford the books.
Hmm. This seems to be my week for soothing frazzled clerks. The night before I had been helping my Aunt Marge get the manual for her new laptop printed. Her son gave her the laptop but it didn't have a parallel port and they didn't know about USB cables. We had extra ones so I took one over and helped her get the printer hooked up and set as the default printer. After I helped her with it, Eric ordered our favorite "A La Gilroy" pizza from Tony & Alba's near our house and I swung by to pick it up. That's a garlic, sausage and jalapeno pepper pizza and if you like garlic and hot spices, it's heaven. I walked in and immediately noticed the lady behind the register looked flustered and a little panicked. About six people were sitting around waiting, looking at their watches and in positions that suggested they'd been waiting a while. A man was standing there arguing with her and she was offering to make him a new pizza. He refused and she took his pizza back into the kitchen and had a conversation with the three cooks who were rushing around frantically in there, panicked looks on the faces of two of them, extreme frustration on the face of the other. She came back and told the man it would be a few more minutes. He grumbled something about having already waited an hour.
I was next and I started by saying "Looks like you're having a wild night" She rolled her eys and said she was. I told her I'd dealt with customers before and I knew they were always right and whispered with a wink, "even when they're wrong." She said in her mind, the were always right no matter what and she relaxed a little. The delivery guy came out and asked her about a pizza he was holding. She sent him back saying there were four more pizzas with that order and to find them. He looked confused and wandered back. I told her Eric had called an order in and I was Linda. That's how we are listed in their computer, Eric or Linda. She found us in the computer and said that was her personal favorite pizza, then she said she'd go find it. I knew it had only been 15 minutes since Eric called and I asked her if it would be a while because I had shopping I could do across the street while I waited. She said she'd check and let me know. Another trip to the kitchen which is just behind the counter in the next room and I followed to see what she found out. There was an argument about an A La Gilroy pizza just out of the oven. It didn't have any sausage. After a minute of arguing with the cook who obviously didn't speak much English, it was determined that wasn't our pizza, it was someone else's. She spoke to the head cook and they figured things out. She said our pizza was almost done and explained they had two new cooks who weren't quite getting it yet. I smiled and told her that was fine. I'd wait. It was about another 10 minutes so it must have been almost ready to go into the oven.
I sat near the doorway between the two sides and she walked by a bunch of times trying to unscramble things. I smiled warmly at her each trip and sent her soothing thoughts. The two new cooks were hispanic and one kept explaining things to the other in Spanish. I chatted with a couple of people while I waited. One was the first to get his pizza. The delivery guy kept wandering through calling names of people who didn't respond. Then the griping guy stood next to me and started talking about how he ordered a pepperoni pizza cooked "crisp" and got one that had white crust. He wanted it browned and that's why he sent it back. I told him the pizzas were so good at Tony & Alba's that we loved them no matter how they came. He asked what I ordered and I told him. He said it's a good thing we both like that pizza! I agreed and told him I had to acquire the taste after I met my husband. I'll bet he thought it was the garlic I had to get used to, but nope! It's the jalapeno peppers I wasn't used to. I've always loved garlic. He griped about the long wait and I mentioned how it looked like they were having a rough night. This wasn't usual.
He decided his pizza might be getting burned and went to tell the cooks to give it to him. He showed it to me on his way out. It was perfect for him, but too crispy for me. When ours was done and the lady handed it to me, she thanked me for being so patient. I told her she was doing what she could do and it was one pizza at a time, right? I saw her restrain herself from hugging me so I said, "Come here, you need this." and I gave her a big hug. The way she hugged back, I could tell she needed it. "Hang in there!" I said as I headed for the door. She was visibly calmer when I left than she was when I arrived.
The pizza wasn't as good as usual. The guys skimped on the cheese and sausage and it wasn't baked quite long enough. That meant the jalapeno peppers weren't balanced very well. Boy did it clear our sinuses! Even Eric said his mouth was on fire and he's used to really spicy stuff. If they last, they'll catch on. Tony & Alba's pizza is usually generous with everything. That's why it costs $10 more than the other pizza places for an extra large. That's two meals for us. Mmm! Two nights in a row of garlic breath!
Well, now I need to scoot to work. Guess I blabbed too long to take a real shower. Oh well. I'll sponge bathe. I'm getting dirty at work today, anyway. We're getting ready to move offices next week so I'm getting into all the PC's we've collected from various places to figure out which ones we're moving with us and which ones Mike will be sending (or sending back) to Surplus. Grungy dirty work that is. Some of these PC's have never been cleaned and built up nasty greasy dust inside. I wash my hands a lot.
