January 21, 1994
Dear Everyone:
Earlier this week, “Jeannie” complained to someone at work that, not
only did not having enough work to do hurt her bank account, but it also
left her with too much time on her hands.
They promptly signed her up for a class in
crocheting.
So she came to my place, wanting
a hook and some yarn to practice with. I
gave her some navy blue yarn left over from who-knows-what old project
and a size N hook, for two reasons. 1)
The larger the hook, the easier it is for a novice to hold on to.
2) I had an extra size N, so I
wouldn't mind never seeing it again.
“Jeannie” reports that she has learned to start a chain and to
single-crochet, as long as she doesn't have to turn any corners.
Sort of like learning to ski, I
guess. Start out slow and don't
try to turn any corners until you've had more experience.
(The definition of "experience"
is: That which you receive
immediately after you needed
it.) She intends to produce a
receiving blanket for “Alice” and “Kelly’s” little one (when last heard,
possible names were “Park”--girl or “Ashland”--boy).
All's quiet at work (knock on wood) right now.
It's the lull before the storm.
Our "informal" presentation to
upper management takes place a week from Monday.
Once we have the green light, we
can get ready to test the proposed new system.
Problem is:
The only way to test it is to buy
it, at which time, we have 60 days in which to return it for a full
money-back guarantee, if it doesn't work out for us.
In the meantime, we have a safety inspection of sorts.
“Brad Ford”, of the “Livermore”
Records Center, is on the Safety Team and he came by for a quick
run-through. The day before he
arrived, “Miranda” cleaned up the supply room, especially removing all
the bits and pieces that tended to get stuck up on top of cabinets
(nothing like having a heavy-duty 3-hole punch falling on your head to
give you a poor safety rating).
We label anything that had chemicals in it, including a small bottle of
rubbing alcohol used to clean the blades inside the fax machine.
And “Clara” removed all of the
potted plants from the top of her 7’ filing cabinet.
When “Brad” arrived, the first
thing he did was to test to see if one of the cabinets in the supply
room was properly bolted to the wall. Of
course, it wasn't; but we assured him that this was merely temporary.
After all, we'd only been in
these offices for going on two years. Why
rush things?
Naturally, we put everything back where it was before as soon as he'd
gone.
In case you missed it, last Monday was National Clean Off Your Desk Day
(1/10/94). Frankly, I missed it,
too. My desk at work isn't too
bad; it's my dining table at home that tends to resemble the Last Days
of Pompeii. Everything just sort
of naturally lands there: The
mail, notes from my briefcase to remind me to do things, receipts, file
copies of the Weekly Letter, the "retain this portion for your records"
that's left over after you've paid the bills.
All that stuff. I make sure the
bills get paid (almost always) on time, but I can't file anything for
this year until I get around to finishing up 1993.
That requires filing all the unfiled stuff (dropped in the front of the
file drawer), then rotating the file so that 1993 takes the place of
1992; 1992 takes the place of 1991; 1991 takes the place of 1990.
All of 1990, especially the
Miscellaneous File, which could contain just about
anything is checked, and then
chucked out, since it no longer fills the IRS three-year requirement.
Then the folders become the 1994
files and I'm set again for another year.
I'm thinking of getting this done this weekend.
But first, I've got to show “Jeannie” how to turn corners with a crochet
hook.
Love, as always,
Pete
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