I’m not here to make friends.
Don’t get me wrong, i like friends! I have lots of friends, and a very small list of people i’m neutral towards, and a tiny tiny handful of people i have feelings of hostility for. I had lots of friends in Admissions, and over a year after i started working there (and over a month since i stopped) i still do. This job is a bit different, though. I can’t really describe it … i suppose it’s the sense that processes are still being formulated. Even though there are upwards of thirty thousand records in this building, there are some things that are still getting nailed down … what to do with double-entries on the database, what the most efficient method of shelving is, and so on and so forth. Being at that particular place in an organization makes a huge difference in the role you take in it … i had a very active role in Admissions, but i didn’t really change anything — other than the order that the fact sheets are stacked in the closet.
The point, since i haven’t done anything to make it obvious thus far, is that it’s sometimes hard to be friendly when you’re trying to make sure the most efficient process is being put into place so that everyone doesn’t wind up putting in hours of extra work in the long run. Some things that seem smart to me – like using a normal library alphabetization scheme for the records on the shelves – winds up being a massive waste of time because it causes confusion and questions. I had to get up the nerve to ask why we weren’t putting the records in the “correct” order before finding this out, though, and suggesting to someone that they can’t alphabetize isn’t really a very friendly thing to do.
I don’t know if i had a point, really. Just that it’s a wholly different balance than Admissions was, and, despite early estimations, i’m definitely learning something from it.
I have an overwhelming urge to go buy a jigsaw puzzle.
It’s something about those perfect little fits, and how one piece that looks as though – yes – it will be exactly the piece you need winds up having nothing to do with the space you have to fill while the correct one has been resting exactly three and one quarter inches from your right foot the entire time because you dropped it when you first opened the box.
Something about that. Something about how i keep looking for the pieces that fit into parts of my life, but some of the holes seem to be getting plugged up almost by mistake.
It would be nice if the puzzle was pretty, too.
I haven’t got the slightest idea of what’s happened anywhere on Earth, the internet, or otherwise within the last 24 hours as i’ve spent the entire time alternately sleeping, reading my big three internet comics (Goats – Bobbins – Penny Arcade), and playing Grand Theft Auto 3.
And here you thought i wasted enough time just by blogging.
For those of you without plans tonight, my favorite guitar player (and one of my favorite songwriters) Peter Mulvey is playing At The Point @ 8pm for $12; the R3 Rail Line will get you within two blocks of The Point. Aside from seeing an excellent live performance, you would get to see me, my mom, Elise, and maybe (if we’re lucky) Rabi.
Come on, you know you want to.