I'm in the office alone right now because everyone else is learning about HipHop culture in the auditorium next door. Admittedly, I am the slightest bit interested in checking it out, but I can't leave! I mean, someone has to be here. And apparently that someone is me.

At least it's quiet.

My supervisor is out today, so things are a little bit more relaxed in the office. I actually have time to post! It's not that I have significantly less work to do today -- when I came in there were a number of things for me to do in my inbox -- but that in the absence of her calling me into her office every three seconds to do some other task or xerox some files or deliver some envelopes to some other department I can actually work on things and knock them off fairly quickly. Even doing a simple one-line log entry can take fifteen minutes when someone is hollering for you before you can even finish writing a letter. And I took three trips to deliver some papers to another office today, but had my supervisor been here that would've been at least eight trips. See, rather than waiting for several deliveries to pile up before sending me over -- they all go to the same place -- she'd have me running over there after every one, because it has to be done right away. It really doesn't. They'll get there. Jeez. (more...)

So yesterday I worked my first shift at one of my two new jobs -- in addition to resuming my Mon-Fri position back at the local community college, I took a job clerking on Saturdays at the local comic shop. Interesting experience so far. I've worked two other retail positions in the past -- at the bookstore for the past 10 months or so and at KB Toys in the summer of 2000 -- but those were both major chains and, as such, everything was pretty technologically up to date. If someone paid with a credit card, you swiped it and that was it. At the bookstore, if someone paid with a check, you scanned it through the register and the check was processed electronically, such that we actually gave the now void check back to the customer because it wasn't necessary to keep it.

This comic shop, however, is still pretty much in the dark ages of retail, which means calling the credit card companies and punching in merchant ID numbers and waiting for approval codes and the like. And I'm really kind of surprised that not even the inventory is done via a database -- the computer we had in '88 could've handled that sort of thing -- but it's very much a paper and pen and highlighter kind of place. Weird. (more...)

Well, given that I haven't heard anything about the other two jobs and they're willing to reinstate me at my old salary back at the community college, it looks like I'm going to take that position after all. Which means, since they apparently want me to start on Monday, I couldn't even be unemployed for more than a single week! GRRR. On the plus side, I did get some drawing done today, illustrating no less than five Hot Flashes (no scanning/coloring yet, though) and drawing the primary background for MY FIRST ILLUSTRATED BOOK! It's going to be hilarious. Promise. 😎

Okay, new topic. You know what I really like? Hearing from people I haven't heard from in a while -- especially when I didn't think I'd ever hear from those people again. (more...)

Today, Omni of Every Topic in the Universe(s?) wrote a post entitled "How to bid on eBay". It's mostly good advice -- especially point #4. I'd also expand that advice to include "Buy It Now" auctions -- even if there's a chance that one could save a dollar or two by winning a competitive auction, it's a lot easier to just pay the set price and get it over with than bidding and possibly bidding again and then waiting for the auction to end.

And now for my disagreements and additions... (more...)