No guacamole at the inn
Today was our company Christmas party. When I worked at the music store, because it was small and family-run, we did have Christmas parties at the house of one of the family members. That was pretty fun. At the bookstore, though, since it was corporate-owned, there was none of that. And, since I had numerous managers who weren't always into or aware of the holiday spirit, we didn't necessarily have anything. Luckily, R was very good about providing cookies and candy and gifts, even if it was something small. The first item I got from him is a little plaque he framed that reads, "I Believe in Angels." I have it hanging on my wall. When Derek died, I almost felt like giving it back to him. I'm a little sad that I'm missing R's generosity this year, but he's able to spread it to more people this year by virtue of having twice as many stores to deal with.
Anyway, so I was excited about today. I had some grouchy points this morning, but around 11 when we left I was in pretty good spirits. It was held at our warehouse, which I'd never been to. If there were sidewalks, and it were warmer, we could have walked, but I carpooled with a few other coworkers the whole quarter-mile down the street. There were close to a dozen tables set up, and we still needed to find one more. Nearly every first shift person was there--over 100 people between the three buildings. The table I sat at actually had at least one person from each building, which was cool. We also realized there were people from at least five different countries--India, Poland, Canada, Guatemala, and the US. Considering there were ten people at the table, that's pretty impressive. Things got a little wild early on. The food was late getting there, so nobody started eating before 11:30, which was kind of a bummer. Tables were trying to bribe the GM to go first or what have you; I eventually mentioned that we had the "petty cash princess," AKA the accounting lady, at our table, so we had all the money one could possibly need. Then, while the GM was giving his speech, another lady at my table interjected a couple of times about being at the 2 AM dinner (there's one for each shift; the second shift dinner was at 6 PM). Our table eventually went last for food, which I figure was because we were full of troublemakers. That's how it is at camp. So, well, we sat for quite a while, watching and smelling as people went by with plates full of delicious-smelling food. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back I discovered one coworker on a cellphone. The thing is, it wasn't his phone; it was the accounting lady's, and he was talking to her stepmom. I'm still not exactly sure how that happened, but it was amusing nonetheless. It was while we were just getting into line that Santa stopped by. No, I am not joking. I'd brought my purse along and whipped out my camera, so I got some pictures of Santa as well as the bigwigs serving food. Alas, by the time we got up there, all the guacamole was gone. Bah. But everything else was pretty good. The only thing I didn't have was the rice. The main dish was fajitas, steak or chicken on flour or corn tortillas; chips and salsa; beans; rice; and for dessert, flan and cinnamon sugar chips. Oh, I haven't had dessert chips like that in so long. I used to love those in the kids' meals from Taco Bell. And I've never cared for flan, but I figured that could be because I'd never had authentic flan, and I tried this flan and liked it. I would have gone back for more but I was full and pretty much everyone had left by then. I also had the apple cider which was chock-full of apples, as in you could barely take a sip because there were apple slices in the way, and the slices also served to keep the heat in, so the drink was still quite warm for some time after it was poured. I was pretty impressed by that.
My carload had issues upon trying to leave. The warehouse didn't exactly close while we were there, and there was a truck trying to pull up to one of the docks when we tried to leave. We had to wait for a couple of minutes as it went back and forth, back and forth, trying to get into the right position. We finally zoomed around it only to discover the exit blocked by more trucks on the side street, as the entrance is mere yards from the main road and a bunch of vehicles were waiting to turn onto it. We figured there had to be another entrance/exit and found it on the other end of the building, skirting all the traffic. Sweet. And then it was back to work, but of course not everyone was back and we were all off-kilter, so the afternoon was interesting. Overall, it was a good day, and I got to know some people a bit better.
Anyway, so I was excited about today. I had some grouchy points this morning, but around 11 when we left I was in pretty good spirits. It was held at our warehouse, which I'd never been to. If there were sidewalks, and it were warmer, we could have walked, but I carpooled with a few other coworkers the whole quarter-mile down the street. There were close to a dozen tables set up, and we still needed to find one more. Nearly every first shift person was there--over 100 people between the three buildings. The table I sat at actually had at least one person from each building, which was cool. We also realized there were people from at least five different countries--India, Poland, Canada, Guatemala, and the US. Considering there were ten people at the table, that's pretty impressive. Things got a little wild early on. The food was late getting there, so nobody started eating before 11:30, which was kind of a bummer. Tables were trying to bribe the GM to go first or what have you; I eventually mentioned that we had the "petty cash princess," AKA the accounting lady, at our table, so we had all the money one could possibly need. Then, while the GM was giving his speech, another lady at my table interjected a couple of times about being at the 2 AM dinner (there's one for each shift; the second shift dinner was at 6 PM). Our table eventually went last for food, which I figure was because we were full of troublemakers. That's how it is at camp. So, well, we sat for quite a while, watching and smelling as people went by with plates full of delicious-smelling food. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back I discovered one coworker on a cellphone. The thing is, it wasn't his phone; it was the accounting lady's, and he was talking to her stepmom. I'm still not exactly sure how that happened, but it was amusing nonetheless. It was while we were just getting into line that Santa stopped by. No, I am not joking. I'd brought my purse along and whipped out my camera, so I got some pictures of Santa as well as the bigwigs serving food. Alas, by the time we got up there, all the guacamole was gone. Bah. But everything else was pretty good. The only thing I didn't have was the rice. The main dish was fajitas, steak or chicken on flour or corn tortillas; chips and salsa; beans; rice; and for dessert, flan and cinnamon sugar chips. Oh, I haven't had dessert chips like that in so long. I used to love those in the kids' meals from Taco Bell. And I've never cared for flan, but I figured that could be because I'd never had authentic flan, and I tried this flan and liked it. I would have gone back for more but I was full and pretty much everyone had left by then. I also had the apple cider which was chock-full of apples, as in you could barely take a sip because there were apple slices in the way, and the slices also served to keep the heat in, so the drink was still quite warm for some time after it was poured. I was pretty impressed by that.
My carload had issues upon trying to leave. The warehouse didn't exactly close while we were there, and there was a truck trying to pull up to one of the docks when we tried to leave. We had to wait for a couple of minutes as it went back and forth, back and forth, trying to get into the right position. We finally zoomed around it only to discover the exit blocked by more trucks on the side street, as the entrance is mere yards from the main road and a bunch of vehicles were waiting to turn onto it. We figured there had to be another entrance/exit and found it on the other end of the building, skirting all the traffic. Sweet. And then it was back to work, but of course not everyone was back and we were all off-kilter, so the afternoon was interesting. Overall, it was a good day, and I got to know some people a bit better.