So, remember WAAAY back when I said I had a paper to write for work? Yup, still do.. been working on it. A lot.

And remember where I told you I tend to procrastinate? Yup, still do that a lot too. A lot.

It’s crunch time. Final draft is due on Thursday.

Like, as in TOMORROW, Thursday.

So, I’ll be back next week to read and contribute.  Bright eyed and bushy tailed.. with bells on.

Hopefully.

For now, I leave you with this…

Don’t you just love when you get a call last minute about having to work on the weekend? And to work through the night on the weekend? That’s even better. I love those calls. Love. Them.

Piss. Piss. Piss. I have to work this weekend starting at 2am until 7am because that’s the only time that we can get inside the subway tunnels (the trains aren’t running and we have to be at track level), all to check and see if anything is different then it was before construction started adjacent to the tunnel. Very interesting work, yes. But at 2am? Nah.

Though this happens very rarely now, since I am more of a 7 - 4 (yes, not 9 - 5 - how’d I get screwed in that deal anyways?) worker, WITH WEEKENDS OFF, it really sucks when I get The Call. It throws off my entire weekend since Carter’s usually bright eyed and ready to go as I am pulling in the driveway from a night’s work. Only one thing was shitter then this; getting called into work when I was a teenager and a college student. Those were good times.

I think that’s why I hate The Call so much. Remember how much of a damper it puts on plans with your friends? Everything’s set and you’re ready to get your drink on and all of a sudden, work needs you. Can’t say no because you need the money so bad, right? Why with all that bar hopping and socialization, can’t do it with no funds. Or worse? Having a scheduled shift the morning after some heavy partying; at 5am, pissed drunk, adamant that you’re going to be up and ready to go at 8am.

During college I worked in retail, at a chain clothing store (clothing store chain?) for about 30 hrs a week - nearly full time since student loans were insufficient (read: not enough to support my partying ways as well as pay for school) my second year. It was a mediocre job, nothing to it and it was money in my pocket as well as a clothing discount - can’t go wrong there.

To be honest, I can’t believe I actually lasted as long as I did. I was probably one of the worst employees there (though I could sell you a paper bag if I tried). All the other kids were high school students and I was The College Student. I set a great example for those children, their parents should be proud.

If I came into work on a Saturday I was hungover more often then not, sometimes un-showered with too much perfume masking the stench of stale cigarette smoke, mascara smeared under my eyes and ratty hair hauled back into a messy bun. I. was. hot.
Sometimes getting to work was a small feat on it’s own. They probably thought I was the worst cook ev-ah after I seemingly had food poisoning *wink, wink* about once a month. Those were actually the days that I spent most of the time visiting my porcelain friend. I can honestly say I don’t miss that porcelain guy, since I’ve upgraded to cars and public washrooms.

To live that lifestyle today would be utter torture for me. Now? To stay up sober past 10 o’clock is challenging enough, throw a couple beers into the mix and I’m a complete write off. Good Times.

As parents how do you find the shift work treating you? Is it really as hard as it seems to be for me? Or am I a complete whimp?

As sit here waiting for my report to print, for the 4th time, I think about Why? Why does formatting have to be such a pet peeve of mine. If even one little thing is off, I break out in cold sweats and start shaking uncontrollably. I have to re-print. Proof reading and print preview cannot (and do not) help in determining if my margins are off because for some reason, they like to show them as though they are, then The Evil Troll of the PDF changes all that and I cringe at the sight of my botched up piece of shit report.

If I ever catch The Evil Troll of the PDF, he’s a dead man. Dead.

Speaking of botched up formatting and my OCD-like tendencies.

I started working on a different product line last week. The guy that’s been running the show (or 3 ringed circus, depends on how you look at it) has this thing with creating his own inconsistent formats and passing them off as “company standards”. I can’t even see straight when he tells me to correct Actual. PROPER. Formats. for his ass-smear child-like report. AND he acts all superior, like his rendition is God’s gift to reports and formatting.

I could go on and on about how much this irritates the hell out of me. Gah!

Instead, I’ll think about the wonderful dinner (at the Epicure Cafe) and show (at the Factory Theatre) that I’m going to with work friends and other co-workers that I can politely ignore for the night. She be lots of fun!

Hopefully that damn Evil Troll of the PDF stays away, and his damn ring leader too.

I’ve always been one to try and stay within my comfort zone. I rarely step out to meet the world with a clear vision, and an open mind; I very much stick to what I know. It keeps me relaxed, complacent and stress free.
My boss is the type of personality that insists on challenging people to get outside that box and try something that one may not be typically very comfortable with, or very good at. That’s why I am doing this. I’m not particularly uncomfortable with the writing part; it’s the public speaking that makes me want to crap my pants.

As of late I have found myself slowly moving to the outer realm of that zone. I have been trying some new things; food, activities and blog designing being pretty much the bulk of it and I’d say I am pretty happy with my progress to date.

Until today.

I decided to make the leap to Wordpress. I’ve bought my domain, hosting and set up the basic template, etc. I fixed all my settings and got everything together and that is where things get hairy. I then messed up my FTP somehow and now I’m in the midst of resetting everything after about 2.5hours of working on it. So aggravating!
I want to work on getting one of my templates in Wordpress as well, I just don’t know quite where to start and it’s pissing me off. Have I ever mentioned that I have little to no patience? I want this just to be done and get blogging there.

I’ll be around for a while at Blogger, until I get my act together… so don’t rush to change any bookmarks or anything, this could take a while.