I'm Amazing. No, Seriously, I'm Amazing. Hahaha.
Sometimes it probably sounds pretty conceited to toot your own horn. Or maybe it always does, I don't know. But I think it's okay to say you've done good when you have -- and that's the case today for me. (grin) For anyone who doesn't know the story, in 2007 our festival lost around one third of our Staff. It was financially necessary in order to carry on, as a non-profit who had been hard hit after our Centennial year. The Centennial was successful in so many ways. Really a wonderful moment in festival history. But it wasn't a financial success. And the plan to cut back was put in place knowing I'd come in as a full-time volunteer to become the webmaster and IT manager (along with other tasks I'd done for years). I was far from inexperienced doing festival work, but I'd never done either of these tasks previously. And I had a lot of computer experience (all self-taught), but never before working with a small business network. So I started these jobs, now a Staff person (albeit unpaid), in August -- and I've never looked back since.
I've helped train personnel for years, because of my computer experience. Plus I've done a huge variety of festival work since first starting to help out, so my historical knowledge is very helpful. I'm a natural born teacher (yes, Mom, you were right about that) who didn't go into teaching, but ironically I'm teaching people things all the time, even so. What we study in school isn't always what we end up doing, after all. (It's okay. The English major and Art minor have stood me in good stead, though I suppose most people assume there was History and Writing in there somewhere -- and actually, that's true, too... smile...) Okay, I'm not going to take too huge a walk down memory lane. Hahaha. That's enough, I'm sure. But thankfully my talents and skills have worked out well for me -- and for the festival. And there's no getting around the fact that there's nobody else at the current time who is capable of doing these tasks I do -- creating new Profiles (for each network User), setting up Phones for new Staff and setting up Profiles on computers for each new person. We used to pay to get this work done by our previous IT Consultant, but nobody else has done it since 2007. Good God, that's more than 13 years! Imagine. Marilyn and I were chatting about it today. I can't begin to give stats on how many computers I've had my hands on, how many people I've trained, how many Profiles I've set up or computers I've prepared for use. But it's a lot! That's for sure.
Anyway (God, I'm so long-winded!!!), today I managed to Remote to the office and set up two Profiles on two different computers. One of these was a computer I was concerned about replacing, but it appears to be a decent machine, after all. If I could work on it Remotely and have it be pretty fast, then it's better than many other machines we have.
I'm mentally prepared for my TWO training sessions tomorrow, by the way. I've worked with both women previously, as they were on Staff back in 2012. They've both married since then, interestingly enough. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing Tiffany and Andy (Amandine) tomorrow. I'll probably take them to Starbucks, as is my custom.
Marilyn loaded the dishwasher today!!! I've never bothered to teach her how before this, but she wanted to learn. It's my job, but I think it's wonderful she wants to help out. She was trying to do some of the tasks I normally do, so I could focus on my other work. (She also went next door to pick up our mail from when we were gone to the beach. That might sound like it doesn't require knowing 'how,' but I have a system with our neighbors -- how I ring the bell so that they know it's me and taking along their house key to open the door for myself...)
ONE OF THE HIGH POINTS OF MY DAY: My dear friend and neighbor June gave me her fuzzy Crocs! She handed them to Marilyn to bring over to me, so I had to dash over to thank her, because I was so surprised and thrilled! I'd admired these when she showed them to me before Christmas -- she had me try them on and they were so comfy. One of the nicest presents someone can give you is something that belongs to them and that they love. And I'm teary-eyed typing this, because it's such a moving gift. I'm blessed by good friends, that's for sure!
Speaking of being blessed, Marilyn is just awfully good to me. She's the breadwinner in our home, but she also does her part around the house. And is so kind to me. She's been sick, too, but the focus is on me so much. There's nothing quite like having someone worry over you when you're not feeling well...
Oh! We got 'poisoned' by some food today! We were both having reactions to something we ate -- and Marilyn ran to the Apple Cider Vinegar bottle and made us both take some. It worked IMMEDIATELY! Just shows that if you use it right away (a good amount, by the way), it WILL help you. Nobody vomited and we were fine enough to be eating dinner shortly afterward, believe it or not! (Take a couple of shots in a glass, neat. Then chase with water. Not kidding, this WORKS.)
Dinner was bacon and hominy, with seasoned kale (we've come to LOVE kale!!!). Basically this was QUICK and easy and I had other things that needed doing, so...
Watched "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" (we didn't used to be Wheel fans, but have started watching it in recent weeks). Then I had a quick nap (mentally exhausted) and got up to do my hair (which I've been doing in between typing this).
That's it for Monday -- our last 'Marilyn Monday' until after the festival in June!
Wish me luck tomorrow with my training. Love you all!
(Forgot to mention. Today is Little Christmas. Mom died 14 years ago today.)