Frustrated May 25, 2009

Remember how excited I was that we were ahead of the game for once at work?  We opened with a few minor hiccups and things were grand; I had a great weekend on Tuesday and Wednesday but on Thursday morning things fell through…I got into the shop to find it was “harmlessly” vandalised.  10 lbs of fire extinguisher was let off in our kitchen, most specifically into our fridge and microwave.

I would never have realised all of the work that has to go into cleaning up something like this.  There are 11 or so years of my clutter in the office that has to be dusted off and put into boxes until the cleaning crew can come in and vacuum and wash down the walls (the powder reached my station which was very far from the kitchen).  All of our food had to be tossed.  We are sending out all of the clothes and any of the fabric that wasn’t in the closets to be cleaned; the remaining chemicals aren’t necessarily harmful but they are irritants and I have to wear a mask when I’m up there or I lose my voice.  We have to wait for the machines to be professionally cleaned out because we don’t want the dust to mix with the oils in the machines and gum them up.  We had to dust off the plants and move them into the greenhouse to recover, and I’m waiting for the office to be cleaned so that I can clean the fish-tank because the cleaning will kick up the dust again.

It could have been worse though; there was no theft, no injuries, and any damage, with the exception of the food (and maybe the fridge and microwave), is reparable.  But there are a few people who will be without costumes until everything comes back from the dry-cleaners and the launderers.  Yesterday was the first day I wasn’t sarcastic about it and I didn’t go home depressed and angry as I had for the previous few days.  But I’d like my office back.

However, there are some positive things to come out of this; we’ve had a lot of help and some of the staff have even come in on their own time to help clean up, and we now have an opportunity to declutter which we wouldn’t typically be able to do in the beginning of the season.  But “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”

Yet Another Drive-By May 8, 2009

I sneezed this morning and my ribcage didn’t hurt!  Hooray for my new chiropractor and huzzah for the stretches he gave me!

Due to a great team and a larger collection than ever, I’m able to take some time off this weekend.  My Godmother’s sister passed away this week so I’m heading to the memorial in Red Deer tomorrow, and then staying over night to hang out a bit for Mothers’ Day.  In previous years, in the two or three weeks leading up to opening (May 17th this year), there would have been no way that I could have taken these luxuries; the last two years my parents have brought my Grandmother up to Edmonton for Mothers’ Day lunch so I could go back to work immediately afterwards.

I’ll still likely have to put in a few more 12-hour days, but nothing like previous years.  So far I haven’t felt that it would be best if I had a bed in my office.  Yay!

Another of Those Random Posts May 2, 2009

1.  I have come to the conclusion that one shouldn’t go past the age of thirty.  The warranties expire once you reach that age.  This year (my 32nd) I have had two colds, the second of which refuses to let go.  And on Wednesday night while watching an episode of the first season of Mad Men (so freaking good!), I was sitting kind of scrunched up on my loveseat and I coughed, and something happened to my ribcage that is painful and not good.  I thought I sprained it and I even went into a bit of shock.  It’s getting better, and it forced me to find a chiropractic clinic in Edmonton (I hadn’t previously because the last chiropractor I tried in town gave me that ick feeling).

2.  I have a new chiropractor!  My friends recommended him and he’s awesome, and it turns out he does accupuncture as well, so if I ever feel brave enough to go that route, I already trust the guy doing it.  He told me that he would really like it if I became his patient, and he wouldn’t be hurt if I continued to see my old chiropractor (I have an attachment to my old chiropractor since I used to work for him).  So technically, I have two chiropractors.

3.  I finished a Baby Surprise Jacket in February for the boy who turned out to be my Godson.  I don’t remember the needle size, but I spun the yarn out of fibre I bought here and the buttons were from Ewe Asked For It.  I also don’t remember what gauge the yarn was.  Whatever, it was a fun spin, a fun knit, and it’s ended up being for a fun boy!  One of my parents took the photo because I finished it at night and it was too dark to get a decent photo and sent it home with my Mom the next morning.  And now I’m looking at the photo and it looks like I put the buttons on the wrong side!  I’ve been a costumer for 13 years, you’d think I’d know the correct side to do that.  Shh.  Don’t tell my friends.

4.  I have some photos from the crazy snowstorm we had on March 22nd, 2009.  One is of the snow on my car, the other is me doing my first attempt at snow-shoeing.  I fell down a couple of times, and I ran out of breath very quickly, but I had an awesome time doing it.