Some Things Defy Description.

But please, PLEASE, swallow your beverage first. You have been warned.

Ready?

Okay, click here.

(Hat tip: One of Rachel’s commenters)

Out Of My Cold Dead Fingers

… shall they pry my 401k.

The New Job

First… I am not one to go around hunting for omens, portents or “signs from God” under every rock, but if this doesn’t qualify, I don’t know what does.

Last Friday my new supervisor called me. Long story a whole lot shorter… she used to work for the husband of a woman I met online through some of the most unbelievable circumstances you could imagine. (For those in the know, that woman is also known as Mrs. ex-Perp. The rest of you… don’t sweat it.) No six degrees of separation going on here! And we’re talking about opposite coasts… my new employer is headquartered in North Carolina.

Yesterday was my first full day on the job (and my head is still spinning, but that’s to be expected). You know how “those in the know” talk about how you must be very, very circumspect and professional when using company e-mail? Well… yesterday morning, a whole series of e-mails started popping up, beginning with some concerns surrounding the fact that many of us (a) are new to the company and (b) are working on a brand-new account to boot, so there are some definite issues to iron out. In the midst of this, one woman made a reference to a “crabby old lady.”

Well… y’all know me. I jumped in with “Crabby old lady? Did someone call my name?”

And after that it turned into a free-for-all–in which the supervisors were giving just as much fun to the party as us worker bees. Apparently, and I haven’t learned otherwise yet, the corporate mentality is that we all need a sanity (insanity?) break once in a while, and group laughter (in the form of e-mails, anyway, since we’re all working remotely) is to be encouraged.

And then, this morning, someone wrote in that now she knows why all the QA (quality assurance) people at her last job were grumpy… all of the ones who have a sense of humor work for OUR company!

Meanwhile… I am still getting used to their system, and there are some really, really difficult-to-understand ESL doctors whose dictation I have been unlucky enough to draw. But I cranked out marginally more work today than yesterday, so perhaps I am speeding up just a little. We shall see. I am meeting my first-week daily production quota so far, and hopefully will have sped up enough by week 2 to meet that quota, and so forth. I am still well under the normal production quota, though…. Oh well, this is what the training period is for!

Is it time for my nap yet?

Watch This.

That is an order. CrankyBeach hath spoken.

(Hat tip: Baldilocks)

A Blast From The Past.

Literally.

The first time I heard this song on local radio I was driving home, pulled up at a stoplight, and the person in the next car looked over at me and quickly looked away again because I was laughing my pinkytoe off and the tears were rolling down my face.

In the next day or two I managed to tape-record the song from the radio; but at this point I have no idea where that tape might be hiding.

It had to be 1986, because unless my brain is completely gone (instead of just mostly gone) that was the year Clint ran for mayor and put Carmel on the map.

Brings back some crazy memories, that’s for sure….

(Edited to add: That was a popular local band called The Medflys.)

Job-Hunting In the 21st Century

I have not mentioned this on the blog until now because I really don’t enjoy bleeding all over the folks who come here hoping for a little entertainment and enlightenment.

But I’ve known since the middle of June, right after I got home from visiting Kerry in Wisconsin (and seeing the Moody Blues in Waukegan) that big changes were coming.

(This has turned into a very long post, so I am putting the rest of it below the fold.)

Six and a half percent.

That’s the percentage my entire portfolio (retirement, savings, etc.) lost in the last one month.

How did you do?