this is why i never take vacations...
this week has been by far the shittiest week at work. not only was it hectic because i needed to wrap things up before leaving on vacation, but then this new product that FLOODED into our department really threw a wrench into my week. i rarely actually complain about the work that i have to do. normally i'm pretty good at just dealing with it; folding it into my regular routine and putting up with the extra work. HOWEVER, when something is so blatantly someone else's job, i will complain. this product i'm working on is solely a "custom" product and should be dealt with by our custom publishing group. are they working on it? no. why? because they're lazy. at least that's the reason i've given them. no one is taking responsibility of the content and no one is taking any kind of responsibility for getting it done. the content comes from editorial and the end product is for custom's use only. no one else is using this stuff. IN FACT, the content is actually from our book-specific websites, so our customers already have access to it anyway. what's worse is that there is no solid procedure for it. no one knows what they're doing and yet i have 16 of these stupid fuckers in production. i have no idea what i'm supposed to do with it. i LOVED how when i had a question for our custom group about what to do and they basically told me they don't care how it's done, just as long as they get the final result. cuz that makes me want to get this done all the more for you. apparently one of the managers on our end has been fighting to not have this dumped on us. she unfortunately lost. i believe the soft sciences got 1 or 2 of these. i, on the other hand, got 16. i spent all yesterday afternoon going back and forth about who should be proofing the content (we were told production didn't have to proof them, but editorial would; editorial said they didn't have to proof anything, but someone else would...). that carried on to today and we're still unsure. we need SOMEONE to proof this content, but after being saddled with actually doing this work, i don't want to do anything extra for it. these have been a real pain in my ass all freakin week. it's hogging my attention from all the other projects that, quite frankly, are 100x's more important than these. i'm really hoping custom will just give up and do the damn work themselves. that'll be nice to come back to...
luckily things have died down this afternoon. even though i got into work a little late today, i may be able to sneak out a little early. i've got everything all set up for my coworker while i'm away. she gladly agreed to watch my desk while i'm gone. i made sure nothing big should come up. all she'll need to do is make sure things at the printer get proofed and that's about it. i've basically told her that if anything requires MY attention, it'll just have to wait. :) i'm just so glad i don't have to worry about those stupid new products until after i get back. at least i'll have more time to digest the situation and get things working. BUT, like i said, it would be nice to come back and not have to worry about them at all. :D
+_+_+
today was not the greatest day due to a massive hangover from last night. marshall and i had an eye spy evaluation last night. we headed downtown to a.p. stump's. i had heard this place was great and it really was. we had a wonderful time having drinks and appetizers at the bar and then having a very rich dinner afterwards. our bartender was super sweet and so was our waitress. i definitely recommend the place if you're looking for a really nice steakhouse for a special occasion. of course, i ended up over-indulging and drank way too much. i had two cocktails and then the majority of our half-bottle of wine (2005 ridge zinfendel). overall we had a great time. i LOVED people watching the entire night. who knew an upscale downtown steakhouse would be so great for people-watching? :)
this was the last for the month, since we'll be gone next week. i told marshall last night that i'm interested in taking an eye spy break for a bit. a few weeks ago we were out to dinner on our own and it was wonderful not having to pay attention to ever single detail. of course, i do it now out of habit, but not having to worry about little things to watch out for and then having to go home and write it all up. we've been doing this for almost an entire year. i do enjoy it, but recently it's becoming less enjoyable. plus, they're super bad about getting reimbursements paid on-time. according to their policy, we're to be reimbursed within 60 days of the evaluation. since last july, we've only been reimbursed 3 times and each time i had to REMIND them about it. i've had to ask where my reimbursement was because it was 5 months late. i shouldn't have to do that at all, personally. and they apologize and thank us profusely for our timely receipt submissions, but it's tiring after a while. so, i'll update my profile and ask for a break. it was a great experience, but i'm ready to move on.
+_+_+
tomorrow marshall and i leave for our new england getaway. i'm really excited about it. i've never been to that part of the country before and i'm eager to take in the sites. we got all of our accommodations taken care of. all we have to do is fly in and pick up the rental car and start driving. this will be our first big trip together alone. it's a little scary and a little new. hopefully we don't end up killing each other in the end. ;)
tonight will be a little hectic, trying to get all our stuff packed. neither of us have laptops, so we need to pick up a larger memory card for my camera. how much memory do you think we'll need for a week's worth of vacationing? sony has a 2GB memory stick for about $40, so i think if fry's has it, i'll get that. coupled with my little one i currently have, which is about 128MB, we should be alright. if we need to unload them, i'm sure we can find an internet cafe or something along the way. :) i also want to pick up apollo justice: ace attorney for my DS. after marshall told me that i will need to yell out "OBJECTION!" to do stuff in the game, i'm even MORE excited about getting it. :D lastly, we need fish food. my mom's agreed to feed our fish while we're gone. all we'll need to do is add a little more water to the tank and they'll be good until we get back. otherwise, we're looking good. i'm excited about using our new luggage we bought a couple of weeks ago. i haven't had new luggage since 7th grade. :) i think we're going to have an awesome time. :D
i'm really looking forward to the ben & jerry's ice cream factory!!! *nom-nom* :D
luckily things have died down this afternoon. even though i got into work a little late today, i may be able to sneak out a little early. i've got everything all set up for my coworker while i'm away. she gladly agreed to watch my desk while i'm gone. i made sure nothing big should come up. all she'll need to do is make sure things at the printer get proofed and that's about it. i've basically told her that if anything requires MY attention, it'll just have to wait. :) i'm just so glad i don't have to worry about those stupid new products until after i get back. at least i'll have more time to digest the situation and get things working. BUT, like i said, it would be nice to come back and not have to worry about them at all. :D
+_+_+
today was not the greatest day due to a massive hangover from last night. marshall and i had an eye spy evaluation last night. we headed downtown to a.p. stump's. i had heard this place was great and it really was. we had a wonderful time having drinks and appetizers at the bar and then having a very rich dinner afterwards. our bartender was super sweet and so was our waitress. i definitely recommend the place if you're looking for a really nice steakhouse for a special occasion. of course, i ended up over-indulging and drank way too much. i had two cocktails and then the majority of our half-bottle of wine (2005 ridge zinfendel). overall we had a great time. i LOVED people watching the entire night. who knew an upscale downtown steakhouse would be so great for people-watching? :)
this was the last for the month, since we'll be gone next week. i told marshall last night that i'm interested in taking an eye spy break for a bit. a few weeks ago we were out to dinner on our own and it was wonderful not having to pay attention to ever single detail. of course, i do it now out of habit, but not having to worry about little things to watch out for and then having to go home and write it all up. we've been doing this for almost an entire year. i do enjoy it, but recently it's becoming less enjoyable. plus, they're super bad about getting reimbursements paid on-time. according to their policy, we're to be reimbursed within 60 days of the evaluation. since last july, we've only been reimbursed 3 times and each time i had to REMIND them about it. i've had to ask where my reimbursement was because it was 5 months late. i shouldn't have to do that at all, personally. and they apologize and thank us profusely for our timely receipt submissions, but it's tiring after a while. so, i'll update my profile and ask for a break. it was a great experience, but i'm ready to move on.
+_+_+
tomorrow marshall and i leave for our new england getaway. i'm really excited about it. i've never been to that part of the country before and i'm eager to take in the sites. we got all of our accommodations taken care of. all we have to do is fly in and pick up the rental car and start driving. this will be our first big trip together alone. it's a little scary and a little new. hopefully we don't end up killing each other in the end. ;)
tonight will be a little hectic, trying to get all our stuff packed. neither of us have laptops, so we need to pick up a larger memory card for my camera. how much memory do you think we'll need for a week's worth of vacationing? sony has a 2GB memory stick for about $40, so i think if fry's has it, i'll get that. coupled with my little one i currently have, which is about 128MB, we should be alright. if we need to unload them, i'm sure we can find an internet cafe or something along the way. :) i also want to pick up apollo justice: ace attorney for my DS. after marshall told me that i will need to yell out "OBJECTION!" to do stuff in the game, i'm even MORE excited about getting it. :D lastly, we need fish food. my mom's agreed to feed our fish while we're gone. all we'll need to do is add a little more water to the tank and they'll be good until we get back. otherwise, we're looking good. i'm excited about using our new luggage we bought a couple of weeks ago. i haven't had new luggage since 7th grade. :) i think we're going to have an awesome time. :D
i'm really looking forward to the ben & jerry's ice cream factory!!! *nom-nom* :D