Paul's Pictures - August 2004
Starting a new/old job and more.
August 29
 |
Today there was a church potluck at Annaburg park. Of course I
attended: free food is always attractive. It was held in the
late afternoon / evening, so it was a supper rather than a lunch. As
you can see here, it's a very beautiful and well-kept place, with a
small lake in the background. I didn't bring anything for the potluck,
but there was plenty to go around already. On a side note, this new digital camera I inherited really gets colors much better than my old one. I am impressed. It does have the tendancy to turn on and off at random, so I have to squeeze the case together (loose connection somewhere, probably), but besides that, it works fine. |
August 27
 |
I needed to do a laundry tonight, but I couldn't find my detergent.
I hunted all over my room, in my closet, even in my car, but to no
avail. Finally I realized I may have left it in the basement with the
washing machine. I'm not the only one who leaves detergent down here. Look at this! Every person has their own box of soap, all piled on the (broken) washing machine (there's a working one nearby). Though I may be the only one without Tide. Mine's in the blue grocery bag in the back. It's a cheap generic soap, but it works for me. |
August 25
 |
It's a new semester, with new roommates and new chore rotations. Here
is a pile of dishes waiting for me to do them. Not just me, however.
We decided it's less a chore with someone else, so two people
do dishes, two people clean the living room, etc. I've already missed a couple time. There doesn't seem to be a penalty for missing yet, except for the grumbling of everyone else, and you have to do them sooner or later. I am not making a very good first impression with the new guys. |
August 23
 |
The Short version:
The place I work flooded. The Not-so-short version: During training for my "new" job taking calls as technical support (same job as before, same building as before, different company), we got tons of rain and wind and even a tornado watch. They made people get off the phones until it was over. When it finally was over, there was water all over the carpet along the back edge of the building. The Really Long version: (to make this a more interesting read, or at least more interesting to look at, I will color-code words I pick at random. They do not imply emphasis of any kind. To read it without colors, highlight the text. From there you can read it or copy and paste.) Almost everyone who visits here knows that where I used to work (doing tech support) shut down as it was outsourced to India and the Philippines. That happened in May. All summer I was gone on a mission trip to Ecuador. When I got back, my car wouldn't start. I thought I needed a jumpstart but the hood wouldn't open either. Finally, we got the hood open, and as I tried it, it roared to life. Now you may think this has nothing to do with the picture, but it does. I'm getting there. I figured the battery might be low so I decided to go for a drive. Was the place I used to work still standing? I wondered. I drove out there, and it was still there, but lacking the company logo. Upon entering, I was immediately recognized, told it was bought by another company, and asked if I came to apply, and if I wanted to start today! (They weren't kidding, either. I could have joined a training class that started in half an hour.) So, I applied and they said come in for training, Monday - Friday, from 4pm-1am. That sounds like a grueling schedule, but the other is worse (for me)-- 7am-4pm. So, here it is Monday, we're going through training, and we get hit by a cliche: a dark and stormy night. So bad, in fact, they made everyone stop taking calls and huddle in the training rooms until the storm passed over. Once they said it was safe, we looked around, and discovered huge puddles of water all along the back of the building. It didn't look like the ceiling was leaking; it must have been coming right up through the floor. And this is a picture of a puddle near the break room. |