Category Archives: daily

Why?

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I often ask myself why? Not ‘why is the sky blue’ or ‘why is the ocean salty’ as these have scientific answers.

No, I ask myself, why is talking about sex with your children embarrassing? Why is it ‘those’ parts of the body that are ‘private’? Why do some people hate other people just because of their skin/beliefs/way of life?

I once read a short story, the name of which escapes…hang on, internet, google…let me go look…don’t go away…never mind, can’t find it…anyway, in the short story sex, any sex, was open and public. Thoughts and ideas, however, were private. The story is set in a classroom, during what I guess could be called Thought Ed (like SexEd, get it?) and there is a girl expounding on the idea that perhaps in a parallel world, sex is private and thoughts are public. The teacher kisses her to get her to be quiet.

So what skews our world, our part of the multiverse (tm RAH), to sex being private and thoughts being public? You can’t just say, ‘The Bible’, and be done with it, since The Bible, meaning the Old and New Testaments, isn’t used every where in our world. But you certainly won’t find a teacher kissing a student to shut them up in our world…or if you know of a place, send me the address, k?

So that leads to my third ‘why’ above. Why be mean/hate/kill someone if they believe different from you? What does that prove? That you’re right and they’re wrong? That you have a bigger gun?

Getting back to RAH…oh, sorry, Robert A Heinlein, for the non-sci fi geeks in the audience…there is a scene in Stranger in a Strange Land  (and read the unedited version if you haven’t yet) where Mike, the Man from Mars, is trying to understand how every religion on earth can honestly believe that their god is the true god and all of the rest are false.  This is not possible, to his logical, Martian raised mind.  On Mars, according to Mike (and RAH, obviously) there is one religion.  The tenet?  Thou Art God.  You, Me, Him, Her.  All.  Apparently it works out much neater if you can say it in Martian.  Really need to find time to learn Martian.

Anyway, while I don’t think everyone can be god, cuz, by definition, aren’t gods omnipotent and omniscient?  And, ya know, human here, but I do think that all gods are true gods.  If you believe, then your god is true.

And who does it hurt if people believe this? Is my god so weak that your god makes him weaker?

So…why?

Simon Has A Wonderful Sister

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who sent him an XBox 360 for his birthday.  The graphics are, indeed, amazing.

In other news, my temp receptionist didn’t bother to show up today.  I was not pleased.  Someone else is coming down tomorrow.  I don’t even want to pay the other girl for the one day she did work.

I don’t get that.  Just not showing up.  I’ve temped and yes, I’ve called off days when temping, but I have never just not shown up.  That’s the nice thing about temping, you can call your agency and say “nope, don’t wanna go there any more”.  But at least call!

And then I was covering reception and found a folder full of pictures she had downloaded onto the reception computer.  Not dirty pictures, that would’ve really made me angry, just pictures of her and her friends.  Why would you do that?  Especially if you weren’t going to show up the next day.

So my day was less than wonderful, as I hate covering reception.  Despise it.  With a grand passion.

Hopefully the other girl will show up tomorrow.

So I Have Extra Help in the Office This Week

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Our CEO volunteered his partners two teenagers to come in during half term and help me do some filing and clearing up.  It is totally boring work and they are doing an excellent job for me.

One of the file drawers we are going through belonged to my old boss and now belongs to my new boss.  My old boss swore on the grave of all he held holy that he had cleaned it out before he left.  No.  He didn’t.

I am finding the oddest things.  Letters that refer to other letters in vague ways that don’t tell me what exactly they are referring to.  Pieces of accounting information that also seem to have no rhyme or reason. I am making a “New Boss, go through this and see if I can destroy it” pile.  I am hoping to put most of it into the To Be Shredded Box.

I also currently have two temps at reception, which I swear I will never let happen again.  I have spent half my day running to reception to fix issues.

So I am exhausted.  But Simon got his Season 3 DVDs of Doctor Who.  So I need to go watch.

This Post Will Probably Piss Some People Off

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But I am going to write it anyway.

On the bus yesterday there was a child, about 6 – 8 years old, who kept saying “Daddy, daddy, look daddy, look at that daddy, what’s that daddy” over and over and over again, as loud as possible. Based on the way he was talking, he was certainly old enough to be told to use his inside voice. His daddy just let him be loud.

I have posted about this child over on Modern Etiquette and Manners, the Etiquette forum I help moderate, and have gotten 2 responses that chaff my hide (heh, I think I’ve been reading Confessions of a Pioneer Woman too much!). One response was, how do you know the child isn’t impaired. The other one was perhaps he was younger then he appeared.

Let’s take these one at a time; even impaired children need to learn how to act in public. Yelling in public is not acceptable (unless it is a yelling place, such as a sports venue) by anyone. It disturbs others. It hurts people’s ears. It is rude. Even an impaired child needs to learn this if he (note: I am using he as it is easier than he/she) is ever going to get along in society. And if he can’t learn this? Perhaps he shouldn’t be in society. A good friend of mine has 1 child with aspergers and two others with at least ADD (they are too young to test further at the moment) and yet all three of them know what is appropriate behavior in public. And they are impaired.

Let’s not also forget that, technically, I am impaired. I have a real, diagnosed mental illness that makes me freak a bit in public at times. But do I let my freaking effect those around me? I do not. Why not? Because I have been taught how to act in public by my parents.

As to looking older than he is; if he can speak as well as this child was speaking, there was no way he was much younger than he appeared. And even if he is, I think any child over the age of about 2 can be told to use their inside voice. I know my nieces have been being told that for at least that long. And they did learn to do so. How? Repetition. Telling them over and over, when they yelled, to use their inside voice. It can be done with a young child. I’ve seen it first hand.

I can here the critics now ‘but you have no children Robyn, how the hell would you know?’ I don’t have to have children to be able to tell when a child is not being parented. All I have to do is go out into the world and observe behavior that would have gotten me hauled home, my mother to embarrassed to continue to do what she is doing.

And I don’t need to be a parent to know that screaming at the top of your lungs on the bus is not appropriate behavior. Ever.

Happy Birthday Simon!

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Today is my husband’s birthday.  He’s 34.  I robbed the cradle.

I would tell you what I got him, only we’re in Derry and his gift is in Belfast and he might read this before we get home.  He’ll like it, though!

Also, today is Alyson Hannigan’s birthday.  She is also 34.  My husband likes this, that he shares a birthday with Alyson Hannigan, I mean.  I think mostly because then he can put this post at Whendonesque.  He’s on staff over there.

And there you go, love.  A birthday wish and TWO links to Whedonesque.  How’s that for a birthday present?

Going to Derry for the Weekend

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to visit Simon’s parents for Easter.

Derry (official name Londonderry) is an interesting place, a walled city, where all the violence started 40 years ago, give or take.

If you ever go, let me know and I’ll hook you up with my father in law, who is an expert in the conflict and will take you to the wall and point out to you the exact spot it all erupted. Okay, well maybe I won’t do that, because I might not actually know you in real life and I’d hate to inflict strangers on him!

Anyway, the real ongoing conflict of the city is what to call it. Londonderry or Derry. London implies, of course, English rule. This pisses some people off. Officially it is Londonderry, but some people are so opposed to the name that one of them actually stopped at all of the signs along the main road to the city and spray painted out the ‘London’. I kid you not.

I don’t really get the random acts of violence decision. I mean, okay if I kill everyone who disagrees with me, eventually everyone will agree with me. It just sounds exhausting to me, to hate other people that much. Why not have a pint and you live your life and I’ll live mine.

Obviously that is very simplified. The causes and consequences of war, any war, even the war on terrorism, are many and varied and intricate.

But why do they have to be?

How to Piss Off Your PA

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As I’ve mentioned before I am the Personal Assistant to the Senior Management Team of my company.  I am also the Office Manager for the whole office.  And the Official Office Geek.  I have many roles.

At the moment our regular accounts manager is on maternity leave and we have a temp in.  He’s an ass.  A total unmitigated ass.  He wouldn’t know how to be polite if you hit him with a polite stick.  And, trust me on this, the last thing you want to do is piss off the PA/Office Manager of any office.

Do you know what happens when you do?  You get no coffee.  Or biscuits.  You might not even get paid.  You certainly won’t get the office supplies you think you so desperately need.

So many people think that Admin work is low brow or easy.  It is neither.  A good PA, and, to toot my own horn, I am a very very very good PA, can make the difference between an office that runs well and one that runs like crap.  My office runs well.  Very very very well.  Because, as I just said (still tooting own horn over here) I am very very very good at my job.

I keep the SMT’s diaries in order.  I keep the kitchen supplied with good coffee and tea.  I keep the supply cupboards full.  I keep the phones answered, the computers working, the filing done.  I don’t do any of this alone, I work with a good team.  I have an excellent receptionist, an excellent projects assistant and, usually, an excellent accounts manager.  Us girls (as we are all women, whereas the SMT is all male) kick ass on a regular basis to keep a science park where 1200 people work ticking over.

We keep the lights on and the hot water coming.  We pride ourselves, when we are asked for a file, to be able to put our hands on it without thinking about it.  We are the Admin Team.  Don’t mess with us.  You won’t like what happens if you do.

So, if you have a PA or an AA or a Secretary, thank them.  Thank them for putting up with the shit work you make them do (filing sucks, okay?).  Thank them for the coffee they make and the phones they answer.  A Please and a Thank You goes a long way.  A happy Admin Team is a happy office.  Always.

What’s The Point?

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Apparently there has been a call for a ‘content boycott’ on Live Journal for tomorrow, to protest the removal of new free accounts.  Forget the fact that it has apparently turned into an Anti-Semitic statement, I want to know what the hell the point is.

How, exactly, does not posting content hurt LJ or its parent company?  Lack of ad revenue?  People will still be accessing the site and seeing the ads, don’t tell me they won’t.  Of course they will, to see if anyone posted anything or if they are boycotting.  Also?  LJ is still going to charge for *having* an LJ tomorrow.  They don’t charge by the day, of course, but they also don’t charge by content.  So what the hell is this going to prove?

I think its just like the ‘don’t buy gas’ boycotts the US has had.  So you buy the same gas you would have bought on that day the next day or the day before the boycott.  So you post what you wanted to post tomorrow, today or Saturday.  Totally pointless.

Granted, Live Journal has majorly screwed up lately.  There was the mass journal deletion episode, there is now an ‘adult filter’ feature on the site and they just announced that you can’t make a free account any more.  You either have to have ads on your LJ or pay for your LJ.  BUT, they are not removing basic accounts, just not allowing any new ones, so who are they hurting? New users?  Okay, bummer for the new users.

But LJ is a business.  They are in it to make money.  Granted, totally free and ad free accounts do lead to revenue generation, but they are pretty solid in the market.  Greatest Journal, who quite a few people went to after LJ screwed up with the closing of accounts last year, couldn’t take the strain and everyone I know who moved over there? Has moved back to LJ.

So boycott, don’t boycott, its up to you.  But don’t expect it to make a damn bit of difference to LJ’s new owners.

The Amusing Thing About Yesterday

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was my conversation with the psychiatrist.

He would say “Some people hear things, or see things that aren’t there, do you ever do that?”

I would say “No, I have never hallucinated.”

He would say “Do you have the need to do things over and over again?”

I would say “No, I do not have OCD.”

And so on, until I wanted to say to him, Look, I probably know the DSM-IV as well as you do, so just use the damn names for things!

When I told him I’d been on lithium, xanax and trazadone, he looked amazed.  “At the same time?”  More or less.

He did, however, sum me up very nicely. “You do well on meds.  You do okay for awhile off meds, and then it all goes pear shaped for a bit.  But overall, you’re doing fine!”

My family is amused by the saying ‘pear shaped’.  Not a US saying.

Well, That Was Exhausting…

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Since I hadn’t been to the Psych department in so long, the Doctor took an entire history again.  Do they not realize how painful it is to go through everything that’s happened in the last 15 years all over again?  Of course they do.  Wankers.

The final decision was to not put me on any meds.  I am coping more or less okay, its better for the fetus if and when I get pregnant etc etc etc.  Of course, he told me to go to my GP for a new referral if I felt this wasn’t working for me.

Wasn’t my original Psychiatrist, which sort of pissed me off, as I was hoping it would be him so he’d know my history.  This guy hadn’t even read my chart before I got into his little room.  That annoyed me as well.

The other difficult part was the woman sitting behind me in the reception area, bitching about how she’d been betrayed and what the hell was she doing with all the crazy people? I really wanted to turn around and tell her to shut the fuck up, some of us crazy people need this shit.  But I bit my tongue.  And had to laugh when she commented that the reception area looks like a 1930s ward from some movie, because it does.

Why do they do that? Why do they put the ‘modern’ psych units into the creepiest building they can find?  KP, back in California, was the same way.  The Department of Psychology and Psychiatry was in the old Home for the Incurables (I kid you not) in Oakland California. It was such a creepy building.

Home now, enjoying my last day off before next weekend, when I have another four day weekend!