2007-10-06 - 8:15 p.m.
I was really looking forward to this week. Every second week I have Wednesday nights off- nothing at either church, no commitments, just me and the TV. This only happens every two weeks, so I really look forward to it. Aside from that, it was shaping up to be an ordinary week.
Things started off with the previously-described administrators conference and vigil for Myanmar. Getting back to work on Tuesday was nice- since this weekend is Thanksgiving, the Cathedral always does a special service. I heard on Friday of last week that the 9:15 would be totally different, but no details. Since I wasn't in the office on Monday, I was faced with tracking down the boss, finding out what he wanted to do, and typing it all out- in between filling in at the Diocesan office in the morning, and being a staff meeting all afternoon. I was a little worried that I would end up having to work super late to get it all done, but the boss appeared, explained how it was going to work, and it turned out to be fairly straightforward. At the staff meeting we were going over people's job descriptions- we're working on writing ours, since at the moment no one has them. We went over the one that I had put together, and everyone got to put in their two cents. It went well though- people were all really positive, and I got some good feedback.
On Wednesday, my glorious free evening, I got a call from a lady who has just moved into the Orchard, which is the seniors housing attached to St. George's. She had a computer desk she needed put together, and someone had recommended me. I thought it sounded pretty simple, and I told her I would help, since I would be at the church the next night for floor hockey. The rest of Wednesday was very nice- I watched that new show "Kid Nation" where they abandoned a bunch of bratty kids in the desert for 40 days. It's sort of interesting to watch how they run their society, but in the end, they still get lots of help from adults- no Lord of the Flies situations breaking out.
Thursday, at work, the risograph broke down again. It's only done that twice since I started, but it's really bad. We use it to print the leaflet, and if it goes, we have to photocopy all 400 copies of the 24 page booklet. Photocopying is much, much slower. There was also a reception being held in the office- the board and teachers of the Cathedral school were getting together. Supposedly, since they were meeting at 4, this meant that we could go home early. So, they are there beginning to set up, there is a tech in working on all the computers in the office, the risograph guy is up to his shoulders in one room, and I'm trying to photocopy a leaflet, answer the phone, and talk to the lady who came in to see about her dad's memorial service.
In the end, I got the risograph guy out of there by 4:30 (although it wasn't fixed) left the leaflet half photocopied, and fled. Floor hockey starts at 7, and I was down there by 6:30. I thought the desk would be a half hour jobbie, I'd swoop in, impress this old lady with my youth and vigour, push it together, accept a cookie and jet off to floor hockey. As it turns out, half an hour in I was still sorting out the directions. I don't know if the desk was super complicated, or I'm just that incompetent, but it sure took forever. At one point, about an hour in, I had to get Jeff from floor hockey to come and help. I was following the directions, but the way I was working on it was sideways to the directions. I tried to adjust for this in my head, but didn't succeed. After a lot of frustration, Jeff showed up, took one look said "you've got that piece on backwards" and jetted back to floor hockey. That solved the problem though, and I was well on my way. After three hours, the lady suggested I go home and come back the next day, which I was glad enough to do. I was exhausted, and fairly irritated with myself that I hadn't thought that it would take that long. Jeff (who was my ride down there) had long since gone home, and I was planning on taking the bus. This was when I realized that I was in shorts and a t-shirt, and hadn't brought my wallet with bus tickets- just a debit card and some ID. No problem, I thought, there's a little shopping center with a Starbucks right by the church. I'll stop there, get some change, and be off. Well, it turns out that Starbucks won't give you cash back on your debit card. They directed me to the liquor store nearby, which also doesn't give you cash back. By this point I've worked all day, wrestled with this desk for three hours, and am ready to fall over with exhaustion. Luckily, they have an ATM at the back of the store, so I take out some money, and get change that way. Then it's a twenty minute wait in my short in the rain for the bus.
The best part of all this is that I got to go into work an hour early the next day to finish photocopying the leaflet. Based on that, Friday had no right to be a good day, but it was nevertheless. I started the machine working, and went out and got some breakfast, which I ate while reading the paper and drinking coffee at my desk. Pretty good way to start the day! Work was unexpectedly quiet, and I managed to get a head of things for a change!
Today we hiked up Mount Work, which is one of the hills they call a mountain around here. It was a cool and rainy day- which, I kind of like for being out in. It was one of those gray, miserable days that really make you feel that you're on the West Coast. I mean, this is weather that just isn't the same anywhere else! And part of that is refusing to let the weather dictate what you do. If you want to go hiking, you go hiking, and let the weather do what it will. We went with a few people from St. George's and a few people from St. Philips. There were only seven of us, but it was really fun. Quite a steep hike, but, then again, it is a mountain. It took us about an hour an a quarter to get to the top, where we were greeted with a magnificent view of the inside of a cloud. Good hike though, even without the view. We all thoroughly soaked(although my feet stayed dry thanks to my awesome Cat shoes).
To top off a good day, there was a turkey dinner at the church. One of the Churches in town has had to pause their weekly outreach meal, and this was intended to help cover that. I went along anyway, and had a great time- turkey and all the bits that go with it, including a hymn-sing at the end. It's an exciting life I lead.
Anyway, now I'm sitting here with a fire going in the fireplace, all the windows open (the flue was closed....and I didn't notice till the whole place was full of smoke) getting ready to watch some MacGyver episodes...one of those cold rainy nights when it is just so nice to be inside, especially when you spend most of the day outside.
