Not Sure How I Feel About This

I'm recovering nicely from my LASIK on Friday. I'm not 100%, but the difference is amazing. I can actually see right from when I wake up, without the discomfort of when I would fall asleep with contacts in and they became glued to my eyeballs. But working on the computer is a bit of a strain, so I've been limiting my use.

Actually, I've been pretty busy getting the place ready for the Pergo installers. Had to pack everything up and move it to the bedroom so they could start in the living room. They were here all day yesterday and got all the carpet up and put about 8 feet down. I love it. I think I'm going to be really happy with it. It'll be nice when it's done, though. The cats get shut up in the bedroom and the dog's in the study. Not fun.

Now to the subject referenced in the title... my replacement at work did not show up. Apparently her husband broke his leg on Friday. She called my ex-boss on Saturday night and told her she wouldn't be starting. At all. So I guess the ex-boss went in and did the payroll. I didn't get a phone call until yesterday, which is when I found all this out. I felt bad, but then I realized it was her own fault. You see, I'm not sure I believe the broken-leg story. That woman didn't have the experience with paying actors or extras. I wondered why she got hired when I found out, but it wasn't up to me. I have the feeling she got in there and decided it was more work than it was worth. But who knows for sure? The husband is doing his best to make sure I don't go all soft and go back to that job. It's working, but I do know I have to go back and get my stuff. I think I'll wait until after the paychecks have gone out - maybe on Friday...

Only 2 weeks to Comic-Con! And that's another story. I tried to confirm my hotel reservation on Monday, but nobody had a record of it. Not the hotel, not the convention travel service, nothing. And I couldn't find an email record of the reservation number. I was so upset I started crying and cussing and banging the desk with my fist. The husband woke up and tried to calm me down, but I knew without a reservation we wouldn't go at all. Rooms sell out fast for this convention - some hotels have been booked for 6 months. He found rooms at one place for $310 a night and I went to see if other travel websites had anything listed. Which is when I realized that we were booked at a totally different hotel than the one I thought we were booked at. Sometimes I'm such a dumbass.

Just Curious...

Mom, are you reading this yet? You'll probably find out more about me this way than any other parent would.

Sorry to hear about Mr. R. Send me their address so I can send a card.

And SID, if Mom's not seen this yet, what's up? Do you think I would offend?

Done and Done

I was trying to be a good employee and finish up as much as I could before leaving on Thursday, which kept me there until 9:30pm. I only left then because I had LASIK at 6am the next morning. I got what I had to done, but I didn't manage to pack up any of my stuff. I have to go back sometime next week and get everything. I wouldn't have been there that long if I hadn't had to go to set to hand out checks or if I hadn't had to spend the morning teaching my replacement how to work my programs. I thought before they'd be fine, now I'm not so sure. She's never paid extras and I don't know how long it's been since she paid SAG (actors).

But I am out of there and everyone said they'd miss me and gave me very nice compliments. The Production Office Coordinator even said I was the best Payroll Accountant she'd ever worked with - she even gave examples of why she thought that way, which makes me believe she really meant it and wasn't just blowing smoke. She also subtly commented on how much the others in the office were hard to work with.

I did give everyone in the accounting office a bit of lucky bamboo as a wrap gift. My boss must have felt guilty because she went out at lunch and brought back flowers. Nice gesture but possibly the ugliest flowers I've ever seen. Not the types (tulips and Gerber daisies - the latter being my faves), but the colors. Actually the tulips were a mix of dark orange and yellow and weren't awful, but the daisies - Oh the horror. How could anyone think that color was pretty? A weird orange, yellow, peach, muted, gross color. Needless to say I acted as if I loved them and took them home and tossed the daisies in the trash. And for some reason they were sticky and looked like they had dewdrops on them. Whatever.

As for the LASIK, it went fantastic. Except for getting up at 4am, I loved it. The whole thing took less than 2 hours and most of that was having the final tests and waiting for the valium to kick in the my pupils to dilate. Nothing hurt and I could see better immediately. I spent the rest of the day napping, supposed to keep my eyes shut as much as possible. Got up today and went to my regular eye doctor for the first of many post-of check-ups and he said it looked excellent. I have a bit of the halo side-effect, which is normal and my eyes feel like they did when I fell asleep in my contacts, kind of gummy/sticky. I'd be perfect except for the fact the eye drops I have to use leave a bad taste in my mouth. Not sure how that works, but there it is. Nothing I eat or drink changes it. I really am glad I had it done and wish I'd done it sooner. Yeah for 20/20 vision!

I Had Almost Changed My Mind...

The woman who is going to replace me started today - she seems pretty nice. I've been showing her around and since I didn't really tell people I was leaving, I've been hearing a lot of nice sentiments. I was starting to regret quitting - I've never quit a job before. It kind of seems like a failure on my part, like I'm not tough enough to hack it.

Then my boss came back.

The past 2 days have benn so nice I forgot how annoying she is.

I'm so out of here.

Could I Have Been Mistaken?

My boss is in Hawaii right now. It's been very nice at work.

And people are talking to me again. The first assistant actually told me that she realized on Thursday when she got to her car that she had forgotten that it was my weekend and that she'd forgotten to say goodbye.

Whatever.

But it's a much nicer place to be without the boss. Not so friggin' annoying.

And I finally heard from my regular boss - she's arranged for me to go in-house at Disney to do post-production. Not sure if I really want to, but at least it's something. She seems to have realized that I'm not waiting for her forever.

Not A Good Morning

Yesterday, I woke up when my alarm went off. That may not seem odd, but I haven't made it to my alarm going off since we got Sofie. It took me a minute to realize she hadn't cried to be let out, but I was only half awake, so I stumbled into the bathroom and got dressed for the gym. When I came out I opened her cage, expecting the usually energetic puppy to bound out. Didn't happen. Nothing happened, as a matter of fact. I actually had to reach in and get her. When she was out, she just stood there. She seemed to have a problem with her left rear leg. I asked her if she was ok, in the way you do when you're just commenting that things don't seem ok. The husband kind of woke up and asked what was wrong; I told him I wasn't sure.

I carried Sofie into the foyer and set her down. She just stood there, kind of wobbly. I asked her if she wanted to go for "walkies" which normally sets her off on a jumping spree. She just stood there. I finally called for the husband, saying there was something wrong. He came out and sat down on the floor with us. He noticed a problem, too and we decided to take her for a walk together so we could observe her. She wasn't standing very steadily and mostly wanted to sit down.

The husband went to get dressed and I sat on the floor with my puppy in my lap, crying my eyes out. I've had a really hard time with my mother-in-law's death and I kept wondering how I could have gotten a dog and invited the opportunity for such misery into my life. I just knew something was really wrong. And then it led to losing the cats. I just didn't know how to handle it.

We finally headed out, the husband holding the leash. Sofie was not walking all that well and didn't have much energy. We made it to the street when she stopped. I was ahead of them when I heard the husband say "Oh, that explains it." I turned around and Sofie was making poopies, but it was all macadamia nuts - unchewed. The husband said he'd found an open bag on the floor the night before and she must have gotten into them. She finished and we walked about 10 feet when she stopped again - more macadamia nuts. After that, she was livelier, with a spring in her step. Not totally back to normal, but better.

We made it halfway around the block before she shat out more nuts. I couldn't believe such a little dog could hold so many. No wonder she was moving so oddly - her bottom was full! When we took her out an hour later, before I went to work, more nuts. It was mid-afternoon before her poop was just poop. And when I got home from work she went crazy and jumped on me like nothing had ever been wrong.

I have to say that I did cry again, after we got back from the first walk and we knew what the problem was. I guess I was just so relieved.

Yesterday I thought my dog was seriously ill. Today it's a pretty funny story. That's why I'm writing it today.

The Countdown Begins

This is my last Sunday at this job - last time to do payroll for these people. It'll be interesting to see how much stuff they try and dump on me in my last 4 days (luckily it's only 4 - they don't work with me on Sunday). I am sorry that it's ending this way. We had a good time on the pilot. I'm not sure what happened on this show, but it's too bad. I'm hoping for no hard feelings, so I did get everybody a wrap gift - some lucky bamboo. Not much, just a little something. We'll see.

In other news, my dog is afraid of dolls. Not all that odd, really. She's familiar with kids - sees than all the time on her walks. They move around and make noise and on rare occasions they share their cheese doodles with her. But dolls? They creep her out. Their were 3 sitting at the end of a driveway this morning; 2 in a stroller and 1 sitting on a stuffed dog like it was a horse. Anyway, she spotted them and came to a dead stop. Her ears went up, her tail dropped down, and her nose was twitching furiously. They longer she stood there with them not moving, the more wigged out she became. I tried tugging on the leash but no go. Eventually I picked her up and took her over to them, letting her sniff all around. She looked at me as if to say "that's just wrong." I walked her past them before I put her down again. Poor thing.

Proud Parent

Sofie passed her evaluation and will be allowed to board at the Bow Wow Bungalow. I feel like she's gotten into some prestigious pre-school program that will guarantee her admittance to an ivy-league college. I'm sure there must be other places that require this kind of scrutiny, but it seems like Los Angeles is the only city in the country weird enough for it. The place is cush, though. You can have a look at it at www.bowwowbungalow.net

We may consider sending her to daycare there, but they're booked up right now. We can get on the waiting list, though.

The husband and I took a couple of prints that we inherited from his mom over to be framed yesterday. I've had the same guy frame my stuff for a couple of years now (he owns House of Secrets - the comic shop the husband goes to). Usually I go in, show him the work, we chat about color ideas, matte size, etc. and I leave the details up to him. It's always worked out great. This time, though, I had a really hard time. I had planned to stick with the same color frame, but as we talked, nothing seemed right. I couldn't visualize anything he suggested. And they were good suggestions. I liked the idea of what he was saying, but I couldn't SEE it. Maybe it was because they were Betty's for so long. Did I really have the right to change them? Would she approve? I finally had to ask the husband if it was really ok. He said it was fine. I hope it is.

I have to get back to my errands. I've been to Target and Ralph's, but I still need to hit the Post Office and the bank. I hate my local Post. There are a couple of clerks there who are so slow. I was glad when they installed the self-help machine. I use it almost exclusively now. And I've got 3 weeks worth of paychecks to deposit at the bank.

I Thought Things Were Different

This morning, things at the office were almost back to normal. I told the husband when he called that everyone was speaking to me today. Not that I was enjoying it, but there was fairly normal conversation.

Then I went to set. I usually like going to set, but my boss didn't care if I went or not and it takes up so much time that I chose to send the payroll out and stay in the office and work. But last Friday the Best Boy Grip came into the office and complained about some checks. When my boss asked him why he bothered coming in on Friday, knowing I don't work on Fridays, he commented that he wasn't getting his checks until 9pm. I guess she chose to believe him, because I was informed on Monday that I would now be taking the payroll out myself. Whatever. I did finally figure out what the hell he was talking about, though, with the 9pm comment. Any week with a Monday holiday pushes payday back to Friday from Thursday. The week of Memorial Day I had checks done on Thursday, so I sent them out at the end of the day. He probably did get his check at 9pm, never mind that it was a DAY EARLY!

So I get back from set and no one says a word to me. No acknowledgement whatsoever that I had walked into the room. True, they were having a conversation about Rachel's car, but nothing. I take that back; when Rachel was done with the car talk, she did make sure I had gotten a message she left on my desk. But that's been it. And since then all I've gotten is totally work-related questions or instructions.

I am so out of here next Thursday. Thank dog they found someone to replace me. Don't know who she is, but she's supposedly "nice." She'll be in on Wednesday and Thursday so I can show her what's up. Fun.

Tomorrow's set is less than 3 blocks from my house. If I want, I could take my dog for a walk and go say "Hi" but I probably won't. Although Sofie is pretty damn cute and I should show her off.

And if you're wondering what going to set is like, today I caught them at lunch, which is when I usually try to be there. It's less disruptive that way. Actually getting on the set is fairly boring, unless they're blowing something up or doing some stunt. You have to be silent while they're shooting and it's easy to get stuck with them doing take after take of the same scene. Yawn. I'll try and remember to write about Scorpion King when I have more time. That had some cool stuff to watch!

Random Thoughts

We're going to go see Batman Begins on Friday. I hope it's good. When these comic book movies are bad, it starts the husband on a tirade. Not to say he isn't right, but I've heard it before. There's no reason a comic book movie should suck - they've got decades of history to steal from. If the actor is bad, that's one thing. But with all those great stories and characters to pull from, the plot and dialogue should excel. And if the plots and stories are bad, then the comic hasn't been out that long or hasn't been published for a long time. Who makes movies out of one of those?

We're taking the dog to her doggie-daycare interview on Friday, too. It's weird that my dog is going to be interviewed before they'll let us board her at this place. It's like kindergarten interviews for babies. Yikes! But it's a nice place and she'll be there for several days while we're at Comic-Con in San Diego. At least her future isn't going to be ruined if she doesn't get accepted.

Speaking of Comic-Con, I'm trying to get someone to make a costume for me, but she hasn't written back. She made Debby's wedding dress and a lot of other costumes - she's got a theatre background. I'm really hoping she'll do it. It's the first costume I've thought of that doesn't require me to have a size 0 body and ginormous boobs.

I still haven't been replaced at work, but that's not my problem. I really hope they don't screw around and then have to ask me to stay. I'm going to hate to say no. But I'll try to be strong.

If anyone would like to comment, I'd appreciate it. I know there are a few people who read this. Feel free to speak your mind.

Persona Non Grata

I think that's the correct phrase for what's going on at work today.

I gave my notice this morning for next Thursday. I said I had some personal stuff come up that I had to deal with. I didn't mention that it involved avoiding killing my moron boss.

Anyway, ever since they found out I've been virtually ignored. The first asst was showing pictures of her sister's dog to everyone but me. And when other people who are leaving were mentioned, comments about deserting and rudeness were tossed around.

But I'm glad I did it. I feel better already.

And I managed to quit at the same time the boss is going to Hawaii. Love that!

When You're An Idiot...

you think everyone else is an idiot, too.

Yes, I'm talking about my boss.

Last Thoughts

I told my mom to have my sister show her my blog. It'll be interesting to see if I censor myself if I think she's reading it. Probably not. I mean, she probably won't look at it more than the one time. Mom's not a big web-surfer.

I've been following Girlfiend's blog for a while and I still can't believe what happened to her. I've enjoyed her stories and I thought she sounded like a pretty good teacher. We all know that most people, no matter how prim and proper they try to appear, have done some weird, wrong, or just plain illegal stuff in their pasts. Most of the time it's not a big deal. Youthful indiscretions, ya know what I mean? That usually just adds to the charm.

I know that one of my favorite teachers was the sub we had in 7th grade who told us about voting in some South/Central American country. He explained they had to stick their finger into a dye when they voted so no one could vote twice. He also told us that he had gotten into trouble with the authorities (don't remember why), but that he had taken refuge in a "house of ill repute." I think that's when I learned what the red light was for. Anyway, some uppity girl got offended and told on him and he was escorted out of the building. But I still remember him and his stories, 20 some years later.

So I hope the guy in Philly gets his shoelace stuck in an escalator somewhere public and it pulls his shoe off and grinds to a halt and makes people stumble and starts burning and smoking and reeking of burnt nylon, which should make the sprinklers go off and call in the fire department and maybe even the counter-terrorism unit (because of the smell of burning nylon and shoe parts - that's gotta be as bad as burning hair - ugh). And I hope in the end he's found standing there with one shoe on, dripping wet, looking like the idiot he is.

So there.

Good night, Mom.

Would It Be Rude...

I'm sitting at my desk this morning, contemplating quitting. Yes, I know I'm planning on July 7th being my last day, but I'm thinking seriously about getting up, packing up my boxes and going home. Right now. Without doing the payroll. I am that over it.

I'm not sure what pushed me over the edge. It could be the note from the boss telling me to fix an error, one which was caused by her actions rather than mine. And which doesn't even cover the entire problem, only the little bit she's currently focused on.

Or it could be the phone message from the best boy grip asking what's up with the checks for the key grip and the dolly grip. He's not anymore specific than that, though, so I don't even know where to begin.

Or it could be that envelope on my desk that boldly proclaims "RUSH!" and tells me to fix the problem (one caused by the payroll company, not me).

Or it could be the other note from my boss telling me to fix the coding on a timecard that she's been sitting on for 3 days.

None of this is that big a deal. It's not that different from most of the shows I've worked on. For some reason, though, this show is different - all of it together adds up to something I don't like. Really don't like. But I can't just quit without any notice. As much as I want to, I'm not that person. But I'm so getting out of here. I just can't wreck my reputation in the process.

She's Back

She came back from her walk and got right on the phone. It's been 30 minutes and she's talking to her cell phone service because she can't get a connection. If she says she's so busy, I'm leaving.

Time For A Walk

Sofa Table

I'm building a sofa table to go behind my sectional couch. I have to have it built because I want it to be the same length as the couch section (91") and that's too big to buy.

The construction foreman offered to purchase the lumber for me, since I don't really have the means of carrying something that big home from the store. He's also going to cut the pieces to length for me. All I'll have to do is put it together.

He had a book of veneers and I looked through it today, trying to decide what kind of wood I want to use. I picked Zebrawood as my first choice, Rosewood as my second, and Mahogany as my third. It's all going to depend on what's available and what the cost is. We'll see.

And Another Thing...

This is my boss today: she complains to everybody who comes in about how much stuff she has to do. She has the piles of papers and packets on her desk to prove it. It's almost 2 o'clock and she hasn't actually done ANY work yet. True, she had to stop at the bank this morning, so that was work-related. But she came in at 11:00 and done not much else.
- She called the company she bought her cat door from and complained about how it didn't seem to be working. It took I don't know how long for her and the guy on the phone to go over every inch of the door trying to make it work, to discuss once again what she hopes to accomplish with the door, where in her house the door will go, etc.
- She then talked to the construction foreman about having a guy come by and do the work of installing the cat door. That took about 20 minutes while they discussed placement and style.
- She ordered lunch.
- She talked to her husband on the phone a couple of times (apparently he quit or got fired today).
- She talked to her loan rep and ran numbers on a refinance.
- She called 4 or 5 different places trying to find out if it was illegal to park an RV on the street in a residential area. When she found out it was, she called the police to report it. They needed an exact address, so I had to go and get my Thomas Guide out of my car for her.
- She called a BMW repair shop and discussed at length the problem with her car and made an appointment to take it in.
- Her husband called again and they talked about cake and the car.

I'm waiting for her to complain again about how much work she has to do.

Long Day

I have managed to catch up at work. Not quite sure how it happened, but there it is. I'm trying very hard to look busy, though, because I don't really want to get sucked into helping the rest of the "team." It seems I'm always helping them and they're rarely helping me. It's probably not true, but it feels that way.

Anyway, I've written to all my siblings trying to get them to agree to meet at the holidays to have a family picture taken. My mom really wanted one when we were all together at my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, but it didn't happen. You wouldn't think it would be that hard, but my brother and his wife in Florida always come up before Christmas and I can never get home until after Christmas (I'm usually working on a show and everybody has to get paid - I'm usually the only one working the week of Christmas, trying to get checks in the mail). I think since I have to travel longer, they should accommodate me, but they probably think since they have 3 kids I should accommodate them. We'll see what happens.

We got the Pergo estimate. It's about what we thought it would be. Now we just have to figure out when we want it done. It'll take 3 or 4 days, which isn't bad, but we'll have to spend the intervening nights moving stuff around. And I have my LASIK coming up on the 24th. Hmmm...

I've still got to get all the wedding pictures posted somewhere and narrate the weekend to Erdedo. I feel bad that it's taken me this long. I should let her know I haven't forgotten.

I finally warned Barbara that I have to get off this show. I want to put in my notice for July 7th, so I can have a couple weeks off and go to Comic-Con in San Diego, then head back to work around the 25th. Hopefully it'll work out, but I can't wait for her any more. This show was only tolerable because I thought I'd be out of here mid-May. Hello! It's June 7th! Time to move on.

New Computer

The husband got a new computer last weekend which means I get the old one all to myself! We spent some time this weekend getting the new one set up in the "study" and the old one moved out into the breakfast nook. The new one is wireless, so we can both be online at the same time which is good when he's playing his online game and I'm bored out of my mind. There's rarely anything good on TV. I'm hoping to blog every night (if I don't during the day - but that's not usually blogging as much as venting about my stupid job). We'll see.

We took the kitties to the groomers yesterday - man they needed it. They get baths and their claws trimmed and Quincy gets his mane cut. He gets a bit bushy after awhile. When they cut it he always looks younger. Weird, but so cute. I really do need to post pictures of them all. I pick good pets.

I'm getting LASIK surgery on the 24th! Yes, SID, you can tell mom. I'm pretty excited about it, because my contacts have always kind of given me problems. They've never been as hassle-free as they should be. The only thing that sucks is I have to wear my glasses until then. I have to give my eyeballs as much time as possible to go back to their normal shape. Don't get me wrong, I have cool glasses. It's just weird to wear them for so long. I keep treating them as if they were sunglasses, like taking them off when I go into someplace dark. It's just been so long.

The husband says he's having trouble getting back to work. He's got a new script started and we're still waiting to hear on the last one. I told him he probably needs a vacation. I know I do. I feel kind of bad saying that, since I had so much time off at the beginning of the year, but this job wears me out.

Sofie gets her stitches out tomorrow. Finally - although you wouldn't know she'd had surgery the way she acts - she's crazy dog! At least we'll be able to take her to the dog-park again. I think we're going to try the one at Mulholland and Laurel Canyon. I hear it's really big (and celebs go there, ooooh!). Nothing I like better than seeing someone who makes $5 mil a picture pick up dog poop.

Dog = Baby

I have less than 2 hours to decide if the husband and I are going to go to Disneyland tomorrow. I don't want to drive down there in the morning because of the traffic, so I was thinking we'd go tonight and stay at a hotel. And part of the reason I want to go at all is because it's the 50th anniversary and I want to see the fireworks at 9:30 tomorrow night, so we'd almost need to stay overnight again.

The only reason I'm even debating it is because of Sofie. She can't be left alone that long. There's a hotel that allows pets, but she'd have to be put in the Disney day kennel while we're at the park. I just don't know if I can do that to her.

And in all of this, I'm not really even considering the 3 cats.

Dogs are like babies that way. You can't just leave them at home all day long. Well, you can but you pay for it. Dogs need attention every 4 or 5 hours. Cats get some extra food and water, a clean litter box, and they're good for 2 or 3 days.

Maybe we should consider going down later in the day tomorrow...

I Thought You Said You Read This Blog...

My sister called to ask me how to spell Debby's name - she's sending a wedding gift and wanted to get it right on the card. She's known Deb as long as I have (about 23 years), but she still doesn't know how to spell her name, nor does she remember the big congrats I put out just a few days ago where put it in writing for all to see. Whatever... we discussed the many ways Deb could have "gone Hollywood" with the spelling of her name. I think an "ee" on the end is about it.

Anyway, I know she reads because she commented on how much I don't like my boss. It's still true - she's so annoying. And now she's found an executive over at the studio who rubs her the wrong way. She's spent the past several hours talking about it. I just sit here and keep my mouth shut.

We're getting an in-home estimate this weekend on Pergo. It's sad, but when you grow up, new flooring becomes exciting. I'm looking for the darker stains - easier to hide the dirt.

I have to say that I thought this show would provide more interesting fodder than it has. The actors are apparently all nice, no tantrums or demands. I hope to get back to features soon. Everything's a drama there.