Work. Work. Work.

Ahh, the joys of working full time again.

It's been difficult, this last week and a half, getting back into the routine of having to get up and get to work. I'm glad to be back at work, and definitely glad to have a job to get back to, but the 4:00 am alarm sucks.

My new supervisor is shaping up nicely. He's not as good as my last supervisor, but he'll do.

Since I was on leave for over 30 days, the login I use to access customer accounts was deactivated, and it's taking them some time to get it reactivated. I can log into the phone, and into my email, but without being able to access customer files, I really can't do my job.

I've been sitting with some other folks on my team, listening to their calls, giving help and advice to those who have only recently gotten to the floor, but it's pretty boring. I've also been doing some floor support when Jeff isn't around and an agent has a particularly difficult customer or has a customer that wants to speak to a supervisor. I don't say I'm a supervisor, but often times they just want to hear whatever the bad news is from a different voice, so they'll accept it as the truth. Tooting my own horn, I'm very good with customers, and even when they're not happy with what we are able to do for them, they generally take it with good humor by the time I'm done with them.

Jeff has begun to ask me to do other things as well, scut work really, but I've seen time and again that that's how you get promoted or transferred at this company. When a position comes open that you want to apply for, you have to have your supervisor's recommendation on a transfer request, and the more good things they say about you, the more likely it is that you'll be called in for an interview. Some positions have 100 applicants or more, so the recommendation is very important. *sigh* I'm not a brown-nose, but I have put myself out there as available for extra work.

Mother's Day Plus One

For all you mothers out there, I certainly hope you had a nice Mother's Day.

For those of you who have mothers, I certainly hope you were able to enjoy the day with her, or that you called her at least!

I had a wonderful day. I had breakfast at my mother-in-law's house, a breakfast that was prepared for us by her son, my ex. He did a fine job making omelets, and I must say I was very surprised.

We then went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and it was one fantastic day to go. Sunny, warm, VERY windy, which was nice because there is currently an exhibit there entitled "Sculptures in Motion". The exhibit was definitely enhanced by the windy conditions, and a good time was had by all.

Today's photograph is from the garden's rain forest pavilion, and if any of you out there in cyberspace have a clue what this gorgeous plant it, I would appreciate being enlightened. We looked for a plaque that had the name of it, but it was rather warm and humid in there, and this was one of the last things we saw, so we were in a hurry to get out of there. Regardless of what it is, isn't it stunning?

I can't believe I ate the whole thing

I was too lazy to cook tonight, so we went to Chik-fil-A. Dear Lord, I haven't eaten fast food in quite some time, and it was delicious. But oh am I paying for it now.

I feel bloated and a little bit sick. Not only did I eat the fried, not grilled, chicken sandwich, but I also ate 1/2 an order of waffle fries and about 1/3 of a coffee caramel milkshake.

Where were all of you? Why didn't someone stop me?

Next week, I may actually be posting some photos of my own here. The ex is reportedly taking me, our son, and his mom to the Atlanta Botanical Garden for Mother's Day. We'll see if this becomes a reality. I haven't been to the Garden in several years, and early May is one damned fine time to go.

I've been thinking about what to do with my "stimulus" check when it arrives. I had planned to put 1/2 into the kids' 529 account and bank the rest, but watching Top Chef last night gave me another idea.

Anybody watching Top Chef? You know Richard Blais, the guy with the funky mohawk-ish hair? Well, he owns a restaurant here in Atlanta, Trail-Blais, and I think I'm going to treat myself to dinner there. Here's a link to Creative Loafing's restaurant review. http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/trail_blais_er/Content?oid=15522

He seems to be doing very well on Top Chef, and the guest judges and regular judges routinely rave about the quality and originality of his dishes, and if it's good enough for them, surely it's good enough for someone who just gorged on a fried chicken sandwich.

So far, so good

I like my new supervisor. He and I discussed my goals today, and I feel as if he respects my abilities and appreciates having me on his team. Whew.

Most of the team is about 1/2 my age, and quite a few of them are new to the floor, so I feel as if Jeff is going to be looking for a team lead, and I have already begun letting him know that I am that person.

That's the way to get off the phones, as far as I can tell. Doing floor support, special projects etc, all of that looks great when your supervisor puts it on a transfer request form. I'm really, really focused on doing a good job so that I can Get. Off. The. Phones.

Did I mention I want to get off the phones???

Quick post!

I'm supposed to be in a meeting, but my boss has been delayed by about 10 minutes. I've already logged off the phone, so this is a drive-by posting.

Work. Meh, it's ok. I'm still focused, but hell it's only been ONE day and one hour, so I hope I'm still focused!

On an unrelated note, my sister has a friend who is reportedly coming into an inheritance in a month or so, and wants to buy me and my brother out of our mom's house. God, I hope it works out, but I'm trying not to count on it.

But if it does, I am SO out of this town. I'm going to find myself a little house closer to work, make sure it has a fenced in yard, and then I'm getting a puppy!! James and Catherine are more than ok with moving to a new town, so yall pray that this becomes a reality. As awful as it sounds, I want to find something before the housing market recovers!

What a day

I've done nothing today. Nada. Zip. Bupkus.

I made coffee and cinnamon toast for breakfast, nothing for lunch, unless you count peeling navel oranges as "making lunch", and am probably going to make a boboli pizza for dinner.

I have go to back to work tomorrow, so I need to get to bed early tonight. *yawn* I've been so useless all day, that I'm exhausted, so going to sleep early shouldn't be a problem.

More Poiple

Today is a lazy day. I got all my spring cleaning done yesterday, and so far, I've not even gotten dressed.

I made some KILLER orange/ginger glazed grilled chicken last night. Oh my God, it was so delicious. James said he couldn't believe how good it was. The ex dropped in unexpectedly (don't you love how they do that!) and ate 3 pieces. I told him if he was going to eat what was supposed to be my lunch, he needed to change the oil on my car, which he did.

James and his class went to Six Flags today. He hasn't been in years, and one of his friends has not only never been, but has never been to any amusement park, and has never ridden a roller coaster. There are some pretty good ones at Six Flags, so I imagine they are having quite a time. Either that, or they're throwing up. Which ever it is, it sounds like a good time, eh?

The Purple Skies of Texas

Isn't that a gorgeous shot? Now, I've been to Texas, and some of it is pretty, and some of it ain't. The foreground of this picture indicates that this particular part of Texas may fall into the "ain't" category, but with skies that color, who cares?

I return to work in 4 more days. God, am I dreading having to awaken at 4am for the vanpool commute. I've gotten quite used to sleeping in. Mind you, I still awaken at 5:30am, but there is a vast difference between 4am and 5:30am.

I'm dedicating today to spring cleaning. I'm going to mop all the floors, clean out my closet, organize my pantry, and change the linens on the beds. This place is going to sparkle by the time James gets home from school, and the next 3 days are going to be spent relaxing and getting myself in the right frame of mind for work. I really have to psyche myself up and focus on actually giving a shit about my customers and their cable billing and repair woes. Failing that, I have to make them believe that I give a shit about their cable billing and repair woes, get my key performance indicators to the right level, and then pray for a job posting that is off the damned phones!