(no subject)
Work was so frustrating and irritating today that my blood pressure went up enough for me to feel dizzy and just about start seeing spots. I decided it was time to go home at that point, but of course a client emailed with a 'complaint' (just feedback about something, but I'm supposed to report this and to everyone else on the team, it's a 'complaint' and must be dealt with OMGNOW!!!11eleventy!1!). This meant that I kind of had to stay to deal with it (fill out reports, send the doc back to the translator, etc) before I could leave.
I finally left.
I called my dad on the way home. He's being unusually kind and helpful. Like, really helpful. He was telling me maybe I should quit my job even though I don't have another one lined up, my health is important. He apparently went through the same thing when I was just a little kid, only he become an alcoholic. I have decided that although I like alcohol, the weight it puts on me and how it makes me feel afterwards just isn't worth it. I told him about my plan to set up my own photography website (though FAA), which I did while we were talking (http://kate-ussailis.artistwebsites.com/). He suggested I put some pics up on etsy, too, and asked me where else I could put them for sale. Then he mentioned the library in Northampton - I had already emailed them when I got home, and explained that there's a year-long waiting list. I also told him how I emailed a local cafe and one other place I couldn't remember (it was the hospital). We'll see what they say if they get back to me.
Then I was talking about kayaking for some reason, and he asked me about details of it. Which is weird. He's never asked that before. He's never really taken an interest in my hobbies like that before. So. I explained about kayaks and racing kayaking and when I raced a couple of years ago and he asked why I didn't keep that up. Etc, etc. After a while, he starting encouraging me to go buy a racing kayak and go for it. I'll have to find a place to store it, that's the only trouble. I'm hoping someone has a spot in a boat house near the lake near me in CT. That would be ideal because then I could train for racing. :) And then I mentioned the Josh Billings triathlon in September, and he encouraged me to train for that. (Where did my dad go? This guy isn't my dad.) And he said he'd be my schlepper/helper if I competed in the Josh Billings. I'll have to teach him how to carry a kayak.
OMG. I could totally train to compete in that. The only thing I'd need to start from scratch is the cycling portion, because I don't actually have a bike at the moment. And the Josh Billings is in the Berkshires where it's supersuper hilly. MY DAD SAID I SHOULD BUY A BIKE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Then he explained that he thought I'd have no trouble whatsoever with the running or paddling legs. WHAT?!
Seriously. Who stole my dad? This is the man who scoffed at all physical activity that involved anything other than getting work done. That was unexpected. He didn't even come to that one race I competed in (and won).
It was SO NICE to get encouragement from him after today. Today sucked so much. I hate the little corporate tasks and the reports and the tracking and the nonsense. And the empty promises. I would really like go to ask the president what they're thinking with the hiring of new employees they're promising us, and at the same time increasing sales and cutting costs. REALLY? The whole client complaint today ended up being entirely due to placing the job with a translator who works with multiple languages and charges only $0.06/word. Well, DUH, of course the translation is going to be shitty. What did they expect??
Anyway, encouragement. And triathlons. I want to move back to the valley so much. So, so much. It makes me cry.
The guy I went on two dates with and who seemed really interested - though, I was going to have to tell him that this wasn't working and to stop spending so much money on dinners - said yes to my invitation to come skiing with me with weekend, then said no, because VT is too far and his coworkers invited him to go skiing at a little hill in CT on Sat night. He said that he couldn't do both on Sat, so he'd just go to the hill in CT. So, he basically just chose his coworkers over me. I see. Well. Any interest I had (which was awfully slim) just disappeared. I was too pleasant with my response, I think. I have to think hard about how to reject him properly.
Now I have to pack for the weekend. The only reason I'm going to run up to my dad's tonight is that he has tea and I am out. Hell will probably freeze over, because this is probably the first time in 10 years that I've EVER run out of tea. Even the jar of crappy emergency tea is gone.
I will upload more pictures to my website soon. And write more in Peep's blog. Really.
I finally left.
I called my dad on the way home. He's being unusually kind and helpful. Like, really helpful. He was telling me maybe I should quit my job even though I don't have another one lined up, my health is important. He apparently went through the same thing when I was just a little kid, only he become an alcoholic. I have decided that although I like alcohol, the weight it puts on me and how it makes me feel afterwards just isn't worth it. I told him about my plan to set up my own photography website (though FAA), which I did while we were talking (http://kate-ussailis.artistwebsites.com/). He suggested I put some pics up on etsy, too, and asked me where else I could put them for sale. Then he mentioned the library in Northampton - I had already emailed them when I got home, and explained that there's a year-long waiting list. I also told him how I emailed a local cafe and one other place I couldn't remember (it was the hospital). We'll see what they say if they get back to me.
Then I was talking about kayaking for some reason, and he asked me about details of it. Which is weird. He's never asked that before. He's never really taken an interest in my hobbies like that before. So. I explained about kayaks and racing kayaking and when I raced a couple of years ago and he asked why I didn't keep that up. Etc, etc. After a while, he starting encouraging me to go buy a racing kayak and go for it. I'll have to find a place to store it, that's the only trouble. I'm hoping someone has a spot in a boat house near the lake near me in CT. That would be ideal because then I could train for racing. :) And then I mentioned the Josh Billings triathlon in September, and he encouraged me to train for that. (Where did my dad go? This guy isn't my dad.) And he said he'd be my schlepper/helper if I competed in the Josh Billings. I'll have to teach him how to carry a kayak.
OMG. I could totally train to compete in that. The only thing I'd need to start from scratch is the cycling portion, because I don't actually have a bike at the moment. And the Josh Billings is in the Berkshires where it's supersuper hilly. MY DAD SAID I SHOULD BUY A BIKE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Then he explained that he thought I'd have no trouble whatsoever with the running or paddling legs. WHAT?!
Seriously. Who stole my dad? This is the man who scoffed at all physical activity that involved anything other than getting work done. That was unexpected. He didn't even come to that one race I competed in (and won).
It was SO NICE to get encouragement from him after today. Today sucked so much. I hate the little corporate tasks and the reports and the tracking and the nonsense. And the empty promises. I would really like go to ask the president what they're thinking with the hiring of new employees they're promising us, and at the same time increasing sales and cutting costs. REALLY? The whole client complaint today ended up being entirely due to placing the job with a translator who works with multiple languages and charges only $0.06/word. Well, DUH, of course the translation is going to be shitty. What did they expect??
Anyway, encouragement. And triathlons. I want to move back to the valley so much. So, so much. It makes me cry.
The guy I went on two dates with and who seemed really interested - though, I was going to have to tell him that this wasn't working and to stop spending so much money on dinners - said yes to my invitation to come skiing with me with weekend, then said no, because VT is too far and his coworkers invited him to go skiing at a little hill in CT on Sat night. He said that he couldn't do both on Sat, so he'd just go to the hill in CT. So, he basically just chose his coworkers over me. I see. Well. Any interest I had (which was awfully slim) just disappeared. I was too pleasant with my response, I think. I have to think hard about how to reject him properly.
Now I have to pack for the weekend. The only reason I'm going to run up to my dad's tonight is that he has tea and I am out. Hell will probably freeze over, because this is probably the first time in 10 years that I've EVER run out of tea. Even the jar of crappy emergency tea is gone.
I will upload more pictures to my website soon. And write more in Peep's blog. Really.