bellisimo

I have decided to give her (yes, she is my boss) the benefit of the doubt. No one would decide to be uncool. I'm just going to accept her faults and my place in the whole mix and work with it. Also, I'm using a new strategy - email - for my communications. I need to document my good ideas. I think her memory's not so good and, also, I think she just taking my ideas and making them "our" ideas. At least that's what I'm going to suppose in this whole "benefit of the doubt" survival strategy.

*this post contains more complaining about my current working situation. Don't read it if you don't want to hear it.

I'm having a blahday. This sucks. Over the past couple of weeks I've been feeling like a disappointment to my coworker. After the weirdly-good-but-deflating evaluation, during which she told me that my outreach "style" was more reserved than the last two outreach workers which she "originally thought was bad but has realized is just different", she has been talking to all our clients about where the other two are now and how close they were to certain people, distributing pictures and postcards from the old outreach workers, and saying "I know you miss her" to our clients. All this would be fine except that she has mentioned that I should be more bubbly with the clients which is not me and more like instructions you'd give to a hooker. I don't cry in front of our clients but I don't paint my face and juggle, either.

She's also been kinda judgmental about certain things I try to talk about with her, like Jenna Bush's wedding (which I thought looked nice) and the black radio station I listen to in the afternoons. I want to be able to tell her that I watched "Where in the World is Matt Lauer" week on the Today's show without her asking me who Matt Lauer is in a snooty tone. I really wanted to say "You may think your ignorance of popular culture is cool, but I do not." but I hold my words because I spend more time with her than I do my own husband.

Last but not least, she has been taking my good ideas and presenting them as if they're hers! Even stooping to sending group emails, including other people that help us in our work, with instructions to me to do the things that were my idea!

I think I need to move to an island and live off coconuts for the rest of my life, because nothing seems to work for me.

Ever since I spent a few weeks watching all the Freaks and Geeks episodes, I have become a big fan of Judd Apatow and all the actors from the show. There have been a few movie collaborations since then with hits like Knocked up and Superbad. Because all we have in this town is one over-crowded, dirty, and generally sucky movie theater, most of my new movie jones's have to be filled by excessive trailer-watching. This trailer is the one that's currently got my attention. It makes me laugh out loud. Also, the use of M.I.A's "Paper Planes" is perfect. Never underestimate Hollywood...but who would do that, anyway?

In the spirit of Cheech and Chong, Bill and Ted, and Harold and Kumar, I present to you Dale and Saul.

I like Anthony Bourdain. Earlier today, I decided to take a snack break in the middle of hauling mulch around the yard with a wheelbarrow and while slowly eating my peanut butter on sourdough, I was treated to him saying "I've got a deer tick the size of a golf ball on my nutsack". Yes, this is why I watch television. Seriously, it is.

I do watch too much television but I really don't care. My definition of a perfect friend is someone who can come over to my house, eat, and drink while watching whatever happens to be on. That sounds simple, right? Nope. People don't do that here. It's so weird. If someone comes over to my house, I've got to have an evening planned. That's too much work to do outside of work.

I had my 3 month evaluation today at work. My boss and only coworker within our department did it. It was awkward. I hated it. She didn't say anything out of the ordinary and I did get a big(ish) raise last week. However, I realized about half way through that you can never really be real friends with the person who is your boss.  A real friend can live with your faults without having to wait until your evaluation to tell you about them.

It also forced me to realize that I can't stay in the this job. She and I were not meant to be boss and subordinate. We're too close in age and qualifications to keep it up for too long. I will stay and plan to for at least another year and a half, but now's the time to start working on the next step.

Alas, the next step will include some kind of schooling. I am undecided about it right now. I signed up for a class at the local community college and then dropped it a couple weeks later. mucho indecision.

unfinished crossword puzzles left in waiting rooms. They are much better than empty or completed crosswords.

the man keeps yelling "It's robbery" and then saying "the price of gas"...

I love that these practical jokes can lead to a serious beating...

and the ever-present honking noise and laughing old men that are watching...ay yay yay...