Another Crazy Day...

Last weekend, I made a casual remark that sometimes works can be a little slow, because my job is largely based on issues that come up.  Apparently, I cued some kind of Murphy's law, because this week has been insane!

This morning wasn't so bad. Just keeping busy. Noon came, so I headed off to the conference room (I've been giving the data entry team training on business writing). I had been challenged by a team mate to insert the following three themes into my presentation: Mt Rainier, zombie apocalypse, kangaroo pouch.  I did pretty well. I started by saying that good writing can seem like a challenge, like climbing Mt Rainier. I talked about tone, and said they should use their personalities and not sound like corporate zombies. I was all prepared to tell the group to take my tips and store them away in their kangaroo pouches of learning, when I noticed something horrible. I had made a punctuation error on my Powerpoint slide. I had failed to use a close quote around the word "please".  I couldn't help but point it out, and I moved on pretty well, but I totally forgot to mention kangaroo pouch. So close. Side note: the punctuation error came one line before my note about proofreading. Epic fail? Oh well. I used it as a learning example.

Fast forward to 1:30. I'm busily preparing a different presentation for a team meeting at 2:30. The thought that I may not take a lunch is entering my mind. I click send on an e-mail, and it fails. Four times. My internet is down. I crawled under my desk to see if the cord had come out, but it hadn't, so we contacted the IT department for help. Fun fact: I pretty much can't do anything without the internet at work....so I just sat there and waited. I realized that I really wouldn't be getting a lunch, so I pulled the peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of my purse, and ate it at my desk, hovering awkwardly over the IT guy as he investigated...and discovered that my cord has become loosened from the wall. Feeling lame, part two. It was kind of funny, though.

2:27. Scrambling to finish my presentation, since I was sans internet for roughly 25 minutes. Definitely no lunch (good thing I ate my sandwich!). Suddenly, a co-worker approached: I had to take a call. Fighting off a look of panic, I took the call. The dude at the desk kitty corner to mine smirked slightly with amusement (and some pity) at my plight. After the call, I hurriedly uploaded my presentation file. Two different people starting chatting me questions, but there was no time! I locked my computer, grabbed my meeting supplies, and made a run for the conference room, ten minutes late. I tried to sneak in, but the only open seat was at the front of the room.

Good news: that presentation went quite well. As did the four o'clock writing training.  

So then it was 4:30. Half hour before quitting time. I told my boss that one thing had led to another and that I hadn't taken a lunch. He asked if I had things I needed to do. And I did. So I clocked out for ten, ran triage on everything I had left, and went home (well, I got a little way-laid talking to co-workers....).

The end.

Thanks for reading.