Banking, Internet, And A Couch

For a day that was only supposed to consist of a half day of working from home. This Friday had been on the calendar for months but, like many days, my schedule didn’t hold. While I did get the required amount of billable time in for the office over the course of the holiday week, there were other things that came up and consumed blocks of time during the day.

So I woke up early in the morning and instead of opening my computer and taking care of some writing for work, I got in the car and headed to the bank. Even this simple commute had its moments of frustration as my E-Z Pass was being difficult and required that I stop and discuss the matter with a toll collector. I got to the bank before any other brother rounded the corner to park their car.

I was hoping that this was going to be a quick stop but we are dealing with a bank here so I wasn’t able to get back on the road for over an hour. However, during that time I was able to talk to one of my brothers who was kind enough to agree to help me pick up a couch from Ollie’s that I had purchased a couple weeks prior during a heck of a sale. So back on the road, the back roads actually given my issues with E-Z Pass, and into the townhouse where my wife and I waited for Verizon to knock on the door.

While it was unpleasant at time, it was also kind of nice being untethered from the internet for the past week but it is a necessity and we were quite happy to see the truck pull into the parking lot (especially my wife). The technician wasted no time updating the box outside and within an hour we were configuring the internet and updating the Wi-Fi on our numerous devices. Two hours after that and the cable was up and running as well. These things never get done in the 1-2 hours that they say it will take.

At this point it was time for a quick dinner, picking up a few more things for the house, and finishing up my work for the long day. It was originally going to be a nice relaxing half day but I should know better than to expect those to come to fruition anymore. But things got done and our house is becoming more like a home with every small item checked off the to-do list.

Party Fallout And Leftovers

Friday morning we all got to the office a little later than usual. At least most of us as there were a couple that never made it in the door. It was a great party the night before but we were all a little tired (to say the least) from the long day out. It seemed to be a day when tasks took a little longer to complete and time just seemed to move a little slower than the previous day.

It didn’t take long before we all started looking at the clock trying to figure out when we would be able to pack up our things and head out the door for the much needed weekend. At the same time, many of us didn’t want to begin the trek home too soon as the rush hour traffic was a little off due to the deluge of children itching to take to the neighborhoods. Needless to say, I decided to stay a little longer than usual to make sure that I would be able to relax over the weekend without a mountain of projects hanging over me.

While the mountain still had a fairly substantial summit by the time I left, I was able to take care of all the things that were pushed back from the previous day due to the party prep and commute. With all the extra things swirling around us on Thursday, we all stumbled into the office in the morning with a growing list of things that we needed to accomplish right away or else our entire week would have been derailed. We all put our heads down and took care of what needed to be done but the list inevitably flowed right past the end of the day and into the weekend.

Knowing the day and the week that had just come to a prolonged end, it was not a surprise that I was the last one to get up from my desk, start the dishwasher, and make my way out to the barren parking lot. Now, with the weekend concluding, I am nearly up to date with everything that has to be done. I will still have to put things in overdrive in the morning to get caught up but I should be able to get back to even by the middle of the week… well, I hope that is the case. I guess we will have to wait and see and hope that all the other events this coming week done impede me as much as last week did. Anyway, back to the beginning of the week and another growing mount of projects.

However, there was leftover jars of cake which made my wife happy (at least for a minute or two)!

It Was A Good Friday

My wife was not happy with me this morning as my alarm abruptly interrupted her in the early hours of the morning as she attempted to sleep in during her day off. Oh well, it was time for me to get up and go to work. I already used my floating holidays earlier in the week so today it was time for me to again try to make up for those days off. And there was a possibility to making up that work as most of my colleagues took the day off and a lot of people were off as well being that it was a bank holiday. That fact was noticed immediately upon turning onto the Schuylkill Expressway and not having to slam on the breaks attempting to merge. It was the easiest commute that I have had so far since I started this job.

The office parking lot was about half full when I arrived and the building was quiet when I walked through the doors. The office was silent when I entered as only one other person was working with me today. With the exception of a persistent cough that he has been dealing with all week and a few quick conversations, we both put our heads down and attempted to get as much done as we could.

In a complete change from my usual workday routine, I texted my wife what I wanted from Wawa for lunch and waited for her arrival. About an hour later, my wife walked through the front door and we sat in the family/conference room and enjoyed a nice lunch together. Granted, I am not used to this. In fact, I believe that this is the first time that my wife has come to my work for lunch. And when I say that I don’t just mean this office, I mean any office. So, it was quite the change but something that was a fun twist on the daily routine.

Just as we were finishing up our hoagies (please note that they are not subs, grinders, or anything else you refer to them as) my boss walked in the door and greeted us in her usual friendly manner. It really is more of a family atmosphere of mutual respect rather than a rigid hierarchy. This was also a first as my wife had not met my boss since I started this job. About ten minute later I walk my wife back out to her car with her newfound knowledge of why I really enjoy going to work every day. After all, it is not just about the work/job, it really has a lot to do with the people I work with.

With my wife on her way back home it was time to continue working on various projects in an attempt to get things done. By the late afternoon I had made a lot of progress on multiple items but I couldn’t really call anything completed. When five o’clock rolled around, we were told to leave and enjoy the weekend a little early. Oh well, I guess I have a few things to work on this weekend. So, it was a productive day with an interesting twist right in the middle. I am already looking forward to the next time that I experience a day like today. However, I hope a get a little more work done the next time.

Lack Of Communication

No matter how much you plan there are some days when the phone is just not your friend. Not only for what does and doesn’t happen over the phone but because of what happens while you are on the phone. Being connected to three phone lines during the work day, there are moments when I am working on something just waiting for one of them to ring like a communications form of Russian roulette.

It all began in the morning when my cell phone decided not to ring and sent someone directly to voice mail. Understand that I always answer my phone and when this happens it is highly annoying at the least and, when it is a call I am waiting for or generally a call I should take, it bugs the crap out of me. That was just the beginning. When the phone chimed to let me know I had a message (about ten minutes later) I picked up my office line and tried to return the call… voicemail. It would have been nice to have answered the phone as I was unable to get a hold of the publication for the rest of the day.

As the no ring scenario was playing out, I was also sending meeting requests and trying to fit all the pieced together to get another call scheduled for the early afternoon. Juggling three time zones is not as challenging as people want you to believe. With all times and the dial in confirmed it was stored away on my calendar until the reminder popped up to alert me of what I had done earlier in the day. I dialed in and found that one person was missing… can’t staff an interview when only half of the people show up. So back to the beginning. It turned out to be an email issue but I think the phone put it up to the task.

Two hours later, staffing a call to help out a double booked colleague, and this time the reporter was not on the line. At this point I was getting quit frustrated having had absolutely no success on the phone. Finally, toward the end of the day the rescheduled times were coming around and my colleague, for some reason, had me cover the call again despite no conflicts during the new time. We are all busy so I dialed in and everyone was on the line!

Thirty minutes later and the other interview, the one I scheduled, was about to begin. The problem was that the first conversation was running long. Time to multitask and get all forms of communication going at once. I got the second reporter on standby and as soon as the first call ended I brought in the next interviewer and pushed through the next thirty minutes. After over an hour on the phone and multiple follow ups (mostly sending promised files/documents) it was time to circle up with my colleague to make sure everyone was on the same page.

However, there was a slight problem as, while I was on the phone, they decided to duck out the back door and not let anyone know that they was leaving. I literally asked around and no one knew where they were or when they left. It’s one thing if you have to leave a little early, I understand that, but you have to let people know that you are heading out the door (emergency situations being the obvious exception). Well, as I found out later in a 45 minute delayed reply to my text, that they had to be somewhere at 6. No emergency, no client meeting, just somewhere, someplace where their phone is rendered useless and a lackadaisical mentality is acceptable.

On the verge of demolishing most of the phones in the office, my departure for the week was overdue. I packed my things, walked away from my desk, and assisted one of the younger people in the office as they cleaned out their desk, turned in their key, and headed out the door for the final time. I know that feeling and I really felt for them as they packed up their personalized space into a few small bags. I forgot about the phone issues and the long day as I tried to offer my limited wisdom and encouragement. Sometimes things aren’t so bad at the end of the day when you know that the next day has the potential to be much better.