Back to work

Life is getting back to normal. The problem is getting things back to normal. In my absence things at work managed to implode, and I am trying to deal with unforeseen problems. I have spent the past couple of days setting up meetings with a rather diverse group of people in order to deal with this mess, and running a diplomatic mission getting everyone calmed down. One of the lessons I learned in retail is that dealing with people who are upset involves mostly letting them explain why they are so upset. As long a people feel they have been listened to, then when you explain to them why you can not immediately address their problems, and give them some assurance that you are doing everything you can to try and make things better for them, they tend to calm down. It helps if you can inject a little humor into the situation.

One of the crisis that I am trying to deal with is that one of our offices was flooded when a pipe in the HVAC system burst a pipe. We are now going to have to have the room recarpeted, repainted and refurnished. I called in the house designer and we met with the affected co-workers. In a side conversation, one of the inhabitants of the affected office mentioned that 2 of our higher ups who have a "VERY IMPORTANT VISITOR" were in a tizzy because, due to a certain lack of planning on their part, things were not in place for this visit. Consequently, they were running around like a couple of teenage girls on prom night who couldn't find their shoes in what my grandmother would have referred to as, a state. Because the computer system was down, the job took a little longer and was further impaired by the presence of the hand wringers. One co-worker mentioned this to me, and was speculating about their uncharacteristic need to please.

I looked at her and just said, "Oh girlfriend, they were in my office earlier. They were spreading like a couple of 2 dollar whores for this guy."

She gave me a slightly critical look and said, "I knew there was a reason I like you."

So it goes. Currently, we are in crisis mode. In the way of all things, the state of affairs we are experiencing will become the norm and people will get on with business, with the occasional hump in the road that will be bitched about and overcome.

In my personal life, I am working at getting that back on track as well. Monday and Tuesday I was back in the gym, getting back into my routine. I was doing back, shoulders and triceps, all of which are now sore. Thursday and Friday will involve chest, biceps and legs, so by Saturday I should have the full matching set. I am hoping that I will be able to do something about the 3 pounds that I put on sitting around the house stuffing my face and feeling sorry for myself. While I feel like I am on the high road to turning back into an ambulatory pear, I ran into the trainer, who asked me if I had lost weight. So I guess it's not that bad.

I also got an email from FB who has been missing in action for a few weeks. It would seem that he has also been having health and personal problems, but is now ready to catch up on things with me. I am unreasonably happy about hearing from FB. I have made a concerted effort over the past 17 years to keep any type of romantic involvements as non-committal as possible. I have no one to blame but myself, this is what I get for keeping company with someone who is actually a nice guy. Whatever. We are suppose to get together next week, when hopefully the gross patch of scabby ugliness I am currently sporting on my mid section will have cleared up. I hope FB is ready. This is gonna take at least a couple of hours, and we may have to rinse and repeat. It's been a while.