5/26/06

I was really busy yesterday. All week I spent sitting at my desk doing very little but yesterday everyone had to have a meeting or an event or something. First off, the BAAN, which is the BNSF Asian American Network, had their Festival thingy out in the courtyard. They always want a sound system with microphones and CD playback. I had to go round up and then set up all of that. Fortunately it was still early enough that it wasn’t beastly hot yet and I set up in the shade. One of the volunteers for the BAAN was assigned to “help” me so I put him in charge of the sound board “just in case” I got called away. I planned to get called away a few times. In fact, I knew I had a 1245 “hand hold” somewhere but couldn’t remember where. I got the guy all up to speed on the board and headed for my office. Good thing I did too because I also had an 1130 “hand hold” I had totally forgotten. It was 1115 when I checked. Why didn’t I consult Petey to see where and when I needed to be somewhere? Well, Petey was sitting on my desk having his battery recharged. Oh, speaking of Petey, the other night while talking to Pat and Nora, she noticed the two phones and the pager on my belt. She made the comment that at least I don’t have a PDA. I hung my head and reached into the Pimpmobile to retrieve it. “IT geek!” she shouted while pointing at me. So, where was I? Oh right, I head back to the Viewing Gallery to hold the hand of that group setting up their meeting. It was another “Diversity” group but I don’t remember the acronym and since none of them are actually from Africa I won’t use the PC term that I'm “supposed” to use, if you know what I mean. I asked why they had their thing scheduled at the same time as the Asian thing and didn’t get a good answer. All she said was, “Everyone keeps asking me that.” Duh! Anyhoo, I got them going and went back out to the heat of the Asian thing. Sweating my ass off, I went to hold the lady’s hand in the Bored Room since that was the 1245 thing I had to do. By the time I was done with that they were through with my sound system. Oh, at some point during all this time I got a phone call from the sales dude at DSW, the company that pays me. He, rather cryptically, said he had something to tell me but that I couldn’t tell anyone. We decided that I wasn’t all that trustworthy and that he’d be better off not saying anything. I blew it off thinking that it probably only concerned me tangentially. After the Bored Room hand hold, I returned to take down the sound system. The guy in charge of the event gave me a free lunch ticket and one for each of my two assistants. We ate then struck the sound system. While eating I got a voice mail message from the service dude at DSW saying he wouldn’t be able to come out to look at the microphones in the Viewing Gallery, like I was expecting him to, because there was going to be a meeting at the office at 1700. I figured they were going to fire him and that was what sales dude wanted to tell me. I was close, but that’s getting ahead of the story. We strike the sound system and “put it away” in the closet. I used quotes because it really needed to go across the street but I had a good parking spot. I finally get to sit down at my desk around 1430 and by the time I finish looking at all the internot sites I usually visit I didn’t have time for a blog entry. When I get home I talk to mom a bit about the Yaris versus Pimpmobile situation. My sister is thinking about it while John's sister is totally out of the deal. I had the idea of trading mom the Pimpmobile and using the Altima as the trade in on the Yaris. I mentioned it, but only in passing, to her. Then my phone rings. It is the wife of the owner of DSW. She tells me that they are laying-off all the employees and closing the doors. After we hang up, I call sales dude to see if this was what he was trying to tell me earlier. I'm glad he didn’t because I would have had to say something to my contacts here and it might have gotten ugly. He assured me that the two of us are a package and that whoever hires him will need to sign this contract and hire me. At least he’s looking out for my well being. I get another call from another DSW, or former DSW I should say, dude and hear another side of the story. Well, all the sides seem to be saying the same thing so different perspective I guess would be a better phrase. I shrug it off and decide to not fret about it. This morning I tell all of my “higher-ups” at the railroad and get the ball rolling on alternatives. I'm going to get paid by BNSF for the month of June and hopefully we’ll have a contract in place to take over by July. I'm not sure how I'm going to work the trip to Oregon in two weeks though. I may have to pay a replacement out of my pocket. I totally forgot to mention those four days when I “invoiced” the railroad for the month. Crap! Well, we’ll see. I seem to be well liked out here so I think I'll land on my feet. I did have a thought though, if I sell the Pimpmobile and start driving either the Yaris or Maxine, it is going to look like I had to because of the layoff. I suppose a new car could be played off easier than an old beater, cool though that beater might be. Then again, I really don’t care what others think, now that I think about it. Well, I think I'm done for the week, at least as far as this rant goes. I'll talk to y'all Tuesday since Monday is a holiday. Toodles.