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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Whiny Whiny Whiny

When I signed up to helm our whiny brigadoon, I thought that all the managers would be at a delightful offsite meeting and I would have plenty of time to make refreshments, clean the place up a bit, and set out my best tableware.

Sadly, plans did not come to fruition. Pull up a chair. Share your delights and despairs. Pass around the homemade double chocolate layer cake I made for yesterday's lunch meeting. Hugs and cluesticks are at the ready.

38 comments:

Miranda said...

Let's leave all the employer related whines unsaid and merely assumed. kthxbai.

kathy a. said...

stupid managers, and their stupid schedules.

i'm sure there is some whining hanging around here someplace, probably near the litterboxes, but i'll start with a great anti-whine. somebody sent along some helpful scholarship, and the lead author is an old friend/colleague with whom i lost touch over the years. woot! we've been having a lively email exchange, catching up on the last 20 years or so, and i could not be more grateful for this gift from the intertubes.

Liz Miller said...

AW: This book came for me today.

W: Even though it's "new", the binding is so old that it's falling apart. But I still love it.

Sue said...

Eeeeee.........chocolate cake and a book about chocolate. This is starting out to be a fine Pixie Ball indeed.

Sorry to dumb schedules.

kathy - Yay for reunions!!!

Anti-whine: Made it to the gym yesterday.

Whine: Pain in pretty much every moving part of my fifty-something body.

kathy a. said...

aaaaack! liz, i have that book! or at least i had it, soon after publication [it is either around here somewhere, or else i lent it and never got it back], but i <3 boynton.

there, there, sue. passing the heat, ice, and/or wine, whichever works. and kudos for actually going to the gym.

esperanza said...

Mmmm. Chocolate. Mmmm. Mmmm.

Oh, right. I got carried away there. Whines, coming right up.

W: Wondering what happened to the "stay at home" part of "stay at home mom." Harumph. Sooooo grateful that Sweet likes preschool and speech therapy, soooo not liking having to go somewhere every day. Mini is also un-amused.

AW: Sweet *loves* the new speech therapist.

W: Sweet grew a big 2.5" and 3 pounds in a YEAR. Yep, still under the growth curve.

W: Headed to visit my brother on Thursday. Eight hours in car with a potty-training child. Fun, that.

Hugs to those with gym ouchies and work grumpies.

Liz Miller said...

Esperanza, bring along the potty chair and pull over to the shoulder when emergencies arise. If she'll wear a pull-up in the car, that would be wise (phrase it as she may fall asleep in her seat).

I'm so glad Sweet is happy with the speech therapist!

esperanza said...

That's a good idea, liz. We've retired the potty chair, but I don't really see her squatting on the side of the road. There's a whole lotta middle-of-nowhere on this trip.

While I'm at it, a whine to the powers-that-be: how come it's easier for boys to pee in non-bathroom locations? Not fair. You can't make me believe it's fair.

JenR said...

esperanza - they make these things - piddle pads - to go in the car seat and protect against accidents. Word to the wise: Buy one, but leave it off the car seat. Left on the seat, it will not hold in the pee from a potty training child. However, it will provide a dry spot for her to sit on if she does get the seat wet.

Sue said...

Yay Sweet Baboo!!! All great ideas re: potty land.

Actual breakfast conversation:

Me (pouring vat of caffeine): ~groan~ I'm tiiiiiirrrreddd. It's too early. Ugh.

Hubby: Wah. I bit the inside of my mouth in my sleep.

Followed by a mutual shaking of the head by both of us. We understand each other. After 30 years of marriage, this is about the most we can say to each other at this ungodly hour.

Anti-whine: At least he doesn't try to cheer me up before 10:00 am. That marriage would never have made it.

Sue said...

Oh, and I have a zit under my eye that makes it look like I have pink-eye, but I don't. But everyone takes that second look and steps back just in case. Leper, anyone?

Liz Miller said...

Am going to a shindig straight from work today, am wearing my fancy top, brought my fancy skirt, shoes, and make-up with me. Remembered my coffee in the grown-up sippy cup but hadn't taken even one sip yet. Got my purse.

Felt on top of things until I got to work and realized I forgot my cell phone.

At least I got my son dropped off to school on time. I can haz brain before coffee plz?

Sue said...

Liz - I SO get this one. I should have a checklist by the door. I have zero brainage before the first cup of java.

Liz Miller said...

That's the sad part: I DO have a checklist by the door. But since I was taking non-standard stuff with me, I merely checked the list in my head.

Sue said...

Ouch. You totally win on that one Liz. The "List? What List?" award. Now - and I say this only because I would do it - try not to spill said coffee on the pretty top. If it were me, that would have already happened. But that's just me.

kathy a. said...

i would totally spill on the nice top, too. i used to keep a spare top or 2 in a drawer at work.

esperanza -- slow but steady is fine, as long as it isn't raising any big concerns with the ped. go, sweet!

sue, i've got a blocked duct on my upper eyelid, nothing serious. i think we should declare that red swollen look fashionable, and hold our heads high. well, as high as we can, being persons of lower altitude.

Sue said...

Excellent idea kathy!!

Whine: The crabby guy who runs our book group on Wednesday mornings is a constant source of whines, but today's was especially awful. I had to put on my angry feminist b*tch hat to deal with him.

Actual conversation (office admin and I are in her office discussing, you know, WORK):

Crabby Guy: I'm leaving. Can you (pointing to us) make sure the kitchen is cleaned up?

*crickets*

Office admin: Not a chance. (see why I love her?)

Me: Seriously? Why would we clean up after YOUR group?

CG: Well, I come early every week to set up, so...

Me: Yes, and so do all of the other groups who use the hall. They ALL set up and they ALL clean up after they are done. Secondly - would you ever ask a MALE minister to do the dishes?

CG: ~shrugs~

Me: No, really. I would like you to answer that question.

CG: ~turns his back, waves his arm behind him and goes into the kitchen to start slamming coffee cups around in the sink~

Me: ~flipped him the bird~ (he didn't see it)

Yep. Just another day at the office where peace and justice is our bidness. Oy.

kathy a. said...

my sister who has been very stressed called the other night and said "i'm returning your call." which was weird, because i didn't call her. then i checked my cell phone -- 3 calls from this sister, plus a message she left for a totally different sister, one who lives in a different area code 350 miles away. it's not unusual for other people to mix up the sisters, but i'm thinking the stressed sister really needs to wind down some. get some sleep. chill.

kathy a. said...

oy oy oy, sue. peace, justice, and slamming dishes in a fit of pique. glad you set things straight for him. maybe next time he will recruit a member of his group to help.

Madeleine said...

kathy, unless it is a men's book group, how many bets he gets the women in the group to stay and clean up?

Sue, I'm a bit surprised he didn't clarify that he meant not the Minister, of course of course, but the admin. (Not that it is her job, either.)

Madeleine said...

My whine is pretty much just the blahs. Tired, tired, tired. Still lots of important work. (Though maybe a reprieve from deadlines after this week? Or not.)

It's That Week of the Month, so I prescribed myself a bowl of chocolate chips at 9 am. Sometimes when my brain says "I need chocolate!" it is the truth.

Liz Miller said...

Yay Sue for standing firm!

Sue said...

Madeleine - nope, he was definitely addressing both of us. I checked with the office admin after he left and she agreed. By the way his pointy finger was waving first to her, then to me, then back to her. Nu-uh. He meant both of us.

The group is mostly men with about 3-4 women (all elderly, some quite frail). If he even DARES to con them into clean-up, he will be hearing from me again. Word.

And good for you re: bowl of chocolate chips. It's the best possible solution. To pretty much anything.

Thanks Liz.

esperanza said...

Technical question: I have me a spiffy google account that I use here for my completely transparent alter-ego, esperanza. (esperanza has a hotmail account, but she's not real attached to it, if it needs to go). I also have me a spiffy google account that I use for my real world self, who has a much cooler gmail address. How can I prevent the "sign out/sign in/sign out" tedium? Anyone?

W: can you tell I'm procrastinating the packing? Military operations require less planning than this. Sheesh.

kathy a. said...

esperanza, i couldn't figure out how to manage 2 g-mail identities easily, so if anyone has a solution, love to hear it. my professional email is something else altogether that i keep on a different windows tab.

good luck with the packing.

Madeleine said...

esperanza, two different browsers. Firefox and IE, or Firefox and Safari, or whatever. Each one keeps their own cookies.

Madeleine said...

Sue, I'm sure he originally meant both of you, I didn't mean to question your read of that. I just thought he would have backed down and *pretended* he didn't mean you! He is more shameless than I gave him credit for.

Sue said...

Ah. Madeleine, I would love to tell you that he could think that quickly on his feet, but he really can't. I think that's why he just waved it off and walked away. He's not really bright enough to come up with something as stealth and slick as that. And yes, shameless he is, and then some. He's been a thorn in my side for nine years. Some days are easier than others....

JenR said...

Madeline is right ... two browsers is the trick to multiple Google identities.

Unknown said...

We are homeless. It has been a month. No change in status is imminent. That is all.

Sue said...

Oh margalit, I'm so very sorry.

purple_kangaroo said...

(((Margalit))

purple_kangaroo said...

So tired. Still having a flare-up. So much in survival mode right now that I am treading water, trying to keep from drowning, but not making much progress at anything. And having trouble thinking clearly to make decisions and that sort of thing. Did I mention tired?

But I do have a roof over my head, and lots of other things to be thankful for.

Madeleine said...

Hugs to margalit and to PK.

amy said...

Ugh. Hugs to margalit and PK, indeed.

My son, the one who went into the hospital a couple of weeks ago and came out with a diagnosis of asthma, has an ear infection. Fortunately (?) we had his 2 year well-child check up already scheduled for yesterday afternoon, mere hours after he began to feel ill, so we already have antibiotics and an asthma action plan, should his chest start to sound like crap. Egad, I hate day care centers. (And yes, I'm blaming the day care center, though I have little evidence to go on in this case.)

I turned in my application for the full-time position yesterday. Can't decide if I hope to get called for an interview or not. Meh.

Also in "Meh", autumn is bringing my area a somewhat disappointing color display. But, at least the fruit flies are gone from my kitchen. That always makes life more pleasant.

Liz Miller said...

Sending hugs.

I am chortling at the moment over something work related. Can't say what it is, but please picture to yourself me doing a high pitched evil laugh over it.

kathy a. said...

hugs all around.

amy, so great the ear infection was caught! yeah, they pick up everything at day care -- the up side is that it helps build immunity, but a sticky trade-off for kids with asthma, since everything tends to trigger. [have you heard the word "cascade" yet?] but you have an Action! Plan! i used to forget to up the preventive meds in time, but they sure do help.

amy said...

kathy a., i think the answer is no, and i have a bad feeling about the way you say "cascade." may i only ever know "cascade" as a dishwashing detergent.

liz, we *all* need those moments, and i celebrate your use of the word "chortling". :)