I’m getting out…I’m getting out… round two

I’m sitting here trying to get some work done, as Insane Boss and her minion rearrange Insane Boss’ office. The door between us is open, of course, and Insane Boss and her minion are carrying stuff back and forth and moving things here and there and asking for opinions and piling stuff into my office and blocking what few file cabinets I could actually get to and making it look even more like a garage sale from Hell. Well, fine, I’ll just write in my journal!

The parents did come up yesterday. They didn’t get here until nearly 12. We toured the house upheaval, then went out for lunch. They left around 4, which I think was earlier than Daddy planned – my mother started worrying at about 2 that they wouldn’t get home before dark. Since it only takes an hour and a half, and it doesn’t get dark till past 9 now, that really made no sense but she was so worried about it that Daddy finally gave up and they left. It was nice to see them, though. Even though I just saw them over the weekend. But they hadn’t been up in so long that I think they enjoyed it.

And it gave me plenty of time to go see fireworks. I went to the ones the town sets off, as opposed to the ones Tweetsie Railroad sets off. Tweetsie’s were supposed to be just fantastic this year, because it’s the the theme park’s 50th anniversary, but the crowds are awful and I just couldn’t stand the thought of either getting there two hours early (or more – some people arrive before noon and hang out in the parkinglot all day!) or getting over there at the last minute and not being able to find a place to get off the road and see them. And then there’s the traffic to deal with. The Town of Boone has theirs at the Greenway, and although there were a LOT of people there, it’s really easy to get in and out. Oh, and according to K, the Tweetsie ones weren’t all that spectacular. Ha!

My phone really needs to stop ringing. Just talked to someone in the Reading Education program who tells me she heard they should come by and give me cash for their license. Despite the fact that the packet tells them they can send a check, send a money order, or fill out the credit card form, and certainly doesn’t mention cash. Because why the hell would we take cash?? We mail this stuff to DPI!  I was a little taken aback, and I asked her if she didn’t get the instruction page telling her exactly how to pay. She said yes, but someone said there’s some problem with  holding checks and they should all pay cash. Ummmmmm, okay! Instead of reading the instructions (which, I’ll admit do not specify to NOT send cash as I’d never imagined anyone would ever get that into their head), listen to your dumb friends!!! The instructions do say not to send a check if it will be more than six months before we sned your paperwork off, as DPI sends back "stale" checks. But hey, your whole class of 30 or whatever should send me $55 in cash, and I’ll keep up with it! This is SO typical of the Reading Ed, who are, ironically, apparently all incapable of actually reading. They’re the ones who always fill out the entire form that says to fill out to the dotted line and STOP. I’ve had them sign their own names as the licensing officer.

And there was also the woman who is applying for her principal license, and calls to ask does she need to send me undergrad transcripts. She also has the instruction sheet right in front of her, which says, and I DO quote, "If this is your first North Carolina teaching license and you did your undergraduate work at a university other than ASU, we will need your undergraduate transcripts." I’ve always felt that this is pretty obviously saying that if it’s NOT your first license, we DON’T need your undergrad transcripts,  but I guess I’m giving people too much credit in the logical thinking department, because I’ve had a number of people confused about it.

Meanwhile, Insane Boss has been giving me all sorts of stupid things to do like stuffing envelopes. She gave me three stacks of projects last Friday, and I told her the least important one was going to have to wait till Monday. The one that was not only least important but was also something the students could easily do when they got back from their mid-session break in a couple of days. It was extra-aggravating since none this has anything to do with my (thankfully winding down) job. When I told her something would have to wait, she informed me that she didn’t think any of them would take long at all, and she estimated the most urgent one would take 45 minutes. When I stared at her in disbelief, she started listing all the reasons she felt it would only take 45 minutes. I’m thinking that nothing in this office has EVER taken 45 minutes to complete. So I timed it. It took just a hair under two hours. And that was with less than the usual interruptions. I’m still thinking of how I will point that out without sounding bitchy.

Insane Boss has not hired anyone for J’s job, despite interviewing a week and a half ago. Insane Boss has not posted my job yet, and I will be gone in a week and a day. (And counting.) Things are piling up, I’m trying to get my crazyass job in some sort of order that will maybe make a teeny bit of sense to whoever they DO hire, and I’m also thinking, who cares!!!???!!! I gave them a month’s notice. I think I’ve done my part.

I also think I’m making no sense thanks to all the noise and commotion going on around me. So, how about some fireworks pictures! I’d never used the fireworks setting on my camera before – I must have missed them last year, but can’t remember why now. Maybe it rained? Who knows. Anyhow, it was lots of fun. Although I never did get the hang of snapping the shutter in time to really get a good picture. My camera isn’t very quick either, so I guess it’s a combo of needing a better camera and needing better timing. These actually look more like some kind of terrifying astroids than fireworks, but whatever!