things i've learned from office work
1. papermate is where it's at. nice, reliable cheap pens that write smoothly and darkly, start easily, and can be found everywhere writing utensils are sold. ALTHOUGH i've had more luck with blue bics than blue papermates, and also blue bics compared to black bics, so maybe there's something there.
2. paperwork never ends. ever. at some point it goes to die in the back room in boxes labeled shred, but by then the new generation has sprung up. school recycle bins are where forests go to die. example: every kid in school needs to turn in 5 sheets of paper to get a locker combo. two of these need to be copied in triplicate. student schedules are also in triplicate, not counting the ones that get reprinted because the kids forget them or lose them (at least one per day). and because a lot of the info is confidential, you can't really reuse paper, so it all goes to the shred box(es).
3. post-it products make pretending to organize things really easy.
4. you what happens to all that candy/etc teachers get? it goes to the office and makes people fat. future parents of the world, consider alternatives: edible arrangements (at least it's semi-healthy), coffee (always needed), gift cards, donations.
5. office people know everything. or rather, for everything that needs to be known, someone in the office will inevitably know it. the former statement becomes more true with smaller offices since there's less room to spread the knowledge around.
5b. after some point, they also know everybody. it's quite impressive to watch, actually.
6. bite-sized snacks were designed for people who have to frequently lunge for the phone. can't really answer the phone with half a snickers in your mouth; m&m's on the other hand are relatively inaudible.
7. the hold button is a wonderful friend. as is the transfer button.
7b. transferring people to the wrong numbers is terrible though, because you can't take it back D: one hopes they end up in the right place eventually.
in other news, my laptop may actually be dying. back to shopping! decisions, decisions.
on the bright side, i may have inadvertently decided to get a (somewhat) tricked out asus from the folks at xotic pc? this is a bit of a jump, because last we left off i was gazing longingly at a vaio, but... asus, why so shiny? specifically, this shiny. with an upgrade on the thermal compound (sounds useful) and a hybrid ssd (mostly because i can).
throw in an external disk drive and backup dvd and it comes to bout $1100, which... sounds reasonableish i think? upsizing to the 14" model is like another 100 i'm not sure is entirely worth spending.
and... it's awful pretty.
i'ma sit on it for a bit before i pony up the cash (farewell, cty earnings) so in the meantime, dear world (especially those more knowledgeable re: computers), any input/feedback? i'm open to suggestions. as far as i can tell, it looks pretty solid, it has a nice warranty, and xotic has an a+ at the bbb, so it seems like a good investment.
//aaaaaaaaaaand ordered. now i can forget about it until it eventually appears on my doorstep.
2. paperwork never ends. ever. at some point it goes to die in the back room in boxes labeled shred, but by then the new generation has sprung up. school recycle bins are where forests go to die. example: every kid in school needs to turn in 5 sheets of paper to get a locker combo. two of these need to be copied in triplicate. student schedules are also in triplicate, not counting the ones that get reprinted because the kids forget them or lose them (at least one per day). and because a lot of the info is confidential, you can't really reuse paper, so it all goes to the shred box(es).
3. post-it products make pretending to organize things really easy.
4. you what happens to all that candy/etc teachers get? it goes to the office and makes people fat. future parents of the world, consider alternatives: edible arrangements (at least it's semi-healthy), coffee (always needed), gift cards, donations.
5. office people know everything. or rather, for everything that needs to be known, someone in the office will inevitably know it. the former statement becomes more true with smaller offices since there's less room to spread the knowledge around.
5b. after some point, they also know everybody. it's quite impressive to watch, actually.
6. bite-sized snacks were designed for people who have to frequently lunge for the phone. can't really answer the phone with half a snickers in your mouth; m&m's on the other hand are relatively inaudible.
7. the hold button is a wonderful friend. as is the transfer button.
7b. transferring people to the wrong numbers is terrible though, because you can't take it back D: one hopes they end up in the right place eventually.
in other news, my laptop may actually be dying. back to shopping! decisions, decisions.
on the bright side, i may have inadvertently decided to get a (somewhat) tricked out asus from the folks at xotic pc? this is a bit of a jump, because last we left off i was gazing longingly at a vaio, but... asus, why so shiny? specifically, this shiny. with an upgrade on the thermal compound (sounds useful) and a hybrid ssd (mostly because i can).
throw in an external disk drive and backup dvd and it comes to bout $1100, which... sounds reasonableish i think? upsizing to the 14" model is like another 100 i'm not sure is entirely worth spending.
and... it's awful pretty.
i'ma sit on it for a bit before i pony up the cash (farewell, cty earnings) so in the meantime, dear world (especially those more knowledgeable re: computers), any input/feedback? i'm open to suggestions. as far as i can tell, it looks pretty solid, it has a nice warranty, and xotic has an a+ at the bbb, so it seems like a good investment.
//aaaaaaaaaaand ordered. now i can forget about it until it eventually appears on my doorstep.