September 6, 2006
Dear Everyone:
A few weeks ago, as we were scheduling a rather frighteningly large number of full-day “events” with one of our customers, I happened to notice that I had absolutely no meetings taking place during the final week of August. Taking this as a sign from God, I quickly scheduled the week for Vacation. After all, it’s almost the Fourth Quarter and I still have quite a few days of Vacation to burn through before the end of the year.
And may I say, it was a very restful week, indeed.
Not that I was a complete slouch, mind you. I wasn’t playing couch potato or eating bonbons while reading bodice-rippers. I got quite a lot done. But I luxuriously slept past 6:00 every morning. Then I got busy.
That first Sunday, I printed out 41 surveys and 41 letters from the ARMA Mt Diablo Chapter President to be mailed out to the chapter members on Monday. I needed standard 9-½-by-12 inch envelopes to include the letter, survey and a pre-addressed, stamped envelope, so I went to the nearby office supply warehouse store. (Note to self: Never, ever, ever go to any office supply warehouse store, regardless of name, on the weekend before Labor Day, when they’re having their annual “Back to School Sale”!!!)
I also wanted to look at some bookcases, since it’s really difficult to choose the style from a picture on their website. I decided that I liked the “Natural Cherry” best. Then I got the envelopes and remembered to buy stamps and got the hell out of there.
Once home, I logged onto the website and ordered two full-sized bookcases to be delivered on Tuesday. I also printed the mailing labels and aforementioned pre-addressed envelopes. By Sunday night, the envelopes were stuffed and ready to go, minus the appropriate postage. It differs depending on how much the envelopes weigh and how far they’re going.
Monday was a day of errands. One of those errands involved going to the main Post Office and having one of the envelopes weighed. They each required 63¢ postage and yes, they do have 63¢ stamps. 41 of them to be exact. I got all those surveys into the mail, along with my own filled out copy of the survey (it didn’t make sense to mail it to myself.)
On
Tuesday, the bookcases arrived.
I put them both together that afternoon.
Then I drove up to
I also (finally!) culled through my 2002 household files, shredding anything with an account number on it and recycling the rest. Then I “rotated” the files so that the empty 2002 files became the 2006 files.
Did I mention I cleaned (really cleaned) the bathroom? And excavated the mountain of (mostly) junk mail that had accumulated on the dining table? I found the missing pair of earrings (I knew they were under there somewhere) and the eye shadow, and even the ATM card that I thought the bank had neglected to send me back in April (I don’t use that account much anymore).
Yes, I got a lot done and not a moment too soon. On Monday (Labor Day), I set up the computer in the living room so I could work on the Review Questions at the end of each chapter of the Management textbook that we’re using to bone up for the CRM Exam (I got the email last week on my BlackBerry confirming that they had received my application.)
I’ve already read the first five chapters, last summer, so I figured I could just hunt for the answers and type them in. Then I decided to keep on typing questions at the end of each chapter that I haven’t read yet. Then I started to wonder how many chapters the book had. Answer: 21.
So that’s 21 chapters and the Exam begins eight weeks from tomorrow. At a rate of two weeks per chapter – no that won’t work. I’m going to need to average three chapters per week to finish in time.
Say hello to my new Second Job.
Love, as always,
Pete
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