Crazy Last Two Days

The city had a good dumping of snow on Sunday; so, the commute to work on Monday was hell. The bus was late and packed with people. It took me an hour just to get to work!

Walking to work, I bumped into Charlene. She said she was going home as the building was closed. A pipe burst on the fifth floor and flooded the floors under it, including the elevators. The maintenance people were working on them.

I sent Wendy a text message regarding the situation and told her that I was heading home. I took some pictures of the building on my way to the bus stop.



The next day, I reported for work and was met by the building supervisor. He said that I had to use the fire escape to gain entry to the office because the elevators were still under repair. Unfortunately for him, he had to accompany me to the 16th floor, where our office was, because the fire door was locked. The poor fellow had been up and down the building at least 70 times since he got there. I gave him two bottles of orange juice when we reached the office.

Since I was the first to arrive, I had to keep the fire door open for others. Charlene came in next, then Shelley. Wendy only made it to the sixth floor. She went down again and went home.

It was Charlene's last day and Shelley and I wanted to give her a send-off lunch. Unfortunately, it was impossible because of our situation. Instead, we went home early at 3 p.m. and greeted each one a merry Christmas and happy New Year. (The office was closed for the holiday season and would reopen in 2009.)

The ride home was a mess, too. A malfunctioning railroad guard rail kept traffic at bay for 30 minutes. This screwed up the bus schedules and the driver, whose shift had just ended, had to drop everyone off at some busy intersection 22 blocks away from home. I had to walk in the snow for 12 blocks just to avoid the crowds and catch an empty bus home.

Then There Were Three ...

Charlene tendered her resignation to Tonie last Friday. Hew new job would bring her to the airport. Her last day would be Dec. 26.

Also, today is Aileen's last day in the Toronto office.

Jennifer Update

She's nowhere in sight, which was good for us. Apparently, Wendy told her that Jennifer wasn't allowed to do her business here in our office because, although her company was related to ours, it was a different company.

Live from New York: Jennifer's Back

Yes, the bitch is back next week albeit temporarily. Everyone was caught by surprise by this odd news and no one took it well, Jim included.

Apparently, Wendy got this message from Jennifer herself, saying that she'll be working in the office beginning Monday next week. There goes the neighbourhood.

Visitors from the Centre of the Universe

Tuesday and Wednesday had us receiving people from our Toronto office. The first to arrive was Tonie. I don't know why, but she scares me. Maybe because she reminds me of Jennifer, who's currently wreaking havoc in New York. And she talks loudly.

The next day, two more — a guy and a girl — came. I had no idea who they were, but their voices sounded familiar, especially the big guy (I think he's gay). A little later, Jim came. All flew in for a big client meeting.

Another person who came in — but unannounced — was Julita. She looked great in spite of her being jobless still. She had a good long talk with Wendy and then with Jim.

We're also supposed to have dinner with Jim and Tonie tonight at some fancy Mediterranean restaurant downtown, but both are still stuck in a client meeting. I guess it's home cooking for me again.

Are Things Beginning to Look Up for Us?

I got this e-mail from our Toronto office, saying that we won a beverage company's digital advertising business, which, according to the sender, was significant for the following three reasons:

1. Substantial revenues
2. Another opportunity to expand the company's digital portfolio
3. Our first time to be selected as the digital AOR (area of responsibility?) for one of our clients

Reading the e-mail again, I noticed that the sender didn't mention print, only website development and online promotions. I guess we're left out of the equation.

Last Week Was a Slow One

Surprisingly, I didn't do much last week (only 22½ hours). I tried to learn advanced CS3, but I was either too lazy or too sleepy because of my cold medication. However, I was able to do some job search and I found a job opening at an international auction company that was very much related to what I was doing here: an advertising coordinator.

I quickly sent the details to my home e-mail address and mentally designed how my new résumé would look like. Over the weekend, I read the job details thoroughly. The office location wasn't that far from home, but it was almost a kilometre from the nearest bus stop! And most of that was walking on a bridge.

I couldn't imagine myself walking two kilometres every workday. So, I put off my application regretfully. I guess that job wasn't right for me after all.

Sleepy

Thanks to the cold medication I took this morning, I feel sleepy. I almost slept through my entire bus ride this morning. This afternoon, I almost fell asleep in front of my computer.

I've been fighting this cold for days now. There are times I thought it was gone, only to come back with a vengeance. My left nostril drips, my right is clogged. My throat is itchy, eyes watery. It's a good thing I don't sneeze often; but when I do, I give it all I've got.

Adding to my sleepiness is boredom. I don't have much to do now that the projects are with the clients for review.

Another Hell of a Week

Last week was a blur, but it sure wasn't a walk in the park. Twice I had to either stay late or come to work early. My admin time was only five hours. That's how busy I was.

Last week's highlight was this 12-page sales brochure I did for Aileen. Thank God, I knew how to use character and paragraph styles in InDesign CS3; otherwise, I would have a hard time laying out and designing her material. However, I enjoyed it a lot because I got to use my design skills. (The lowlight: Tonie's Skybridge project [that 89-foot thing]. She and Jim didn't seem to see eye to eye with what they wanted to do with the design.)

Also, Deb was around to cover for Wendy. Seeing her was a sight for sore eyes. It was nice to see a familiar face again in the office.

I don't know what this week will bring, but I finally have some downtime to blog and to take it easy before I call this a day.