A Week in Review

Up until about 20 minutes ago I had just one thing to tell you about for this week, and then my coworkers decided to go all Ringling Brothers Circus. Here is A Week in Review.

The Office, COB Style
Ah, my beloved coworkers.

We recently got an email on new internet/security policies, and it said that if you write a blog, don’t use anyone’s names unless you’ve asked them if it’s ok. Since I don’t really want to ask everyone how they feel about my blog, we will from now on be using character names.

Jack was on the phone with a stake president, and he needed to get the MTC president in Peru on the line for a conference call. He asked the main operator to help him do this by getting the MTC on the line and then ringing them through to him. The operator tried to call Jack back, but because he was already on a call with the SP, he didn’t answer the operator’s call. Our phones have call waiting, and it’s pretty easy to use, if you’re not over 75. The phone screen has caller id, and when a second call is ringing you hear the beep and can see on the screen whose calling. So I tried, many times, to tell Jack that when the operator called him he needed to answer it – just hit the “answer” button. It will put the other guy on hold. Well he couldn’t get it, and every time the operator called she eventually rang over to me because he wasn’t answering, and I couldn’t transfer her back again because you can’t transfer the operator. I don’t know why, you just can’t. So over and over again I stood in his door saying, “Just answer it! When she calls answer it!” On the third or fourth try the operator told me that she couldn’t get Peru anyway and that she was done. Goodbye.

I told Jack what she said. He still needed Peru, so he tried calling there himself but with no luck. So he came out of his office hollering if anyone had another phone number for them. He’s loud, and I’m pretty sure that he still had the SP on the line where he could hear the whole thing. I found a phone number and called it but got a recording in Spanish, so we put it on speakerphone and Jack listened to it (he speaks Spanish). The recording gave us their new number, but he’d tried that number and it wasn’t working. What to do now?

In the mean time, Earl, overhearing the ruckus, decided to come to the rescue. He made a few calls, and before we knew it the president in Peru was calling me! Hallelujah!

Act 1, Scene 2: “Hello, this is President W in Peru. Earl was calling me, and I’m just calling him back.”

Angie, “Jack needs to talk with you. I’ll let him know you’re on the line.”

Angie, knowing that getting this transfer through to Jack when he’s already on a call is going to be difficult (having learned from the operator debacle), goes to Jack’s door and says, “I have President W on my line. When I call you, answer it. You need to answer it.”

President W, “Ok, I will.”

Angie, “Oh president no, I’m sorry, I was talking to Jack.”

President W, “Oh, ok.”

Jack looks confused, and Angie knows that there is little hope of pulling this off. Change of battle stations.

Angie, “Sherry, will you go to my desk and transfer this call to Jack. I’ll stay in his office to answer it.”

Sherry does this. When the call comes through to Jack, the caller id lights up, and Jack, still not sure of what’s going on, asks the SP to hold. Angie hits the “answer” button. She then, with speed and agility, hits a few more buttons that connect everyone on one call. Success! High fives and wiping of sweaty brows all around. Done, and with only two outside people having to overhear how hard it is for COB workers to answer the phone.
End scene.

Second Story
Today is Sally's birthday, and I didn’t notice it on my calendar and didn’t put anything together for her. When I realized it, I got that rush of heat to the face that you get when you know that you’ve done something terrible, how stupid to forget her birthday. I went to her desk and apologized over and over, and she was very nice about it. She said that at her age you’d rather people forget your birthday. People say that, but do they really mean it? I don’t think so. Anyway, we made a plan to eat chocolate cake next week.

I wrote an email to Melody (we write to each other throughout the work day) and told her about my mistake, and then mentioned that there is a lot of pressure to celebrate things in the office. She agreed, too much pressure. A few minutes later someone from the second floor was here to talk to someone, and he mentioned that there was cake downstairs to celebrate the 10th anniversary of someone’s liver transplant (I’m not making that up). Really?! I can’t remember Sally's birthday, but they think to throw a party for the anniversary of a liver transplant? All I could do was laugh, and honestly it’s going to be funny for a long time, shake my head in disbelief funny.

One Thing Right
Remember last spring when I said that I was going to be more of a homemaker and cook and decorate? I didn’t do it. Not any of it. All summer long I came home from work to my quiet apartment, sat on the couch with some KFC and watched television. Apparently, when I said that I wanted to do some stuff around the house, what I meant was that I really didn’t. But, when Melissa got back from Connecticut, we made a plan to each pick a day to make dinner. It’s so much easier to cook when you’re doing it for someone else, and how nice when someone else is cooking for you! We started this week. On Wednesday she made some good chicken tacos, and yesterday I make lasagna, something I’ve made many times before. I thought I’d better start with something I knew, and it turned out well, if I do say so myself. So now I’m starting to plan out what to make next week and the next. This is going to be a good little tradition for us, and I’m happy about it.

That’s it. Thanks, as always, for being a bright and shiny light in my life.
You are loved.