pantoum's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MALFUNCTIONING MALCONTENTS (No. 236 � Tuesday ) It was on this day in 30 BC that Queen Cleopatra of Egypt killed herself with a snake she had smuggled into her chamber where she was held captive by Octavian, formerly the political rival of her lover Mark Antony. Octavian had defeated Cleopatra and Antony at the Battle of Actium and had taken Cleopatra prisoner. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian planned to parade her as part of his triumphant return to Rome, she planned her own suicide. For centuries, it was assumed that the snake she used was an asp, but it is now thought that the snake was an Egyptian cobra.�Writer�s Almanac At this morning�s production meeting, the marketing manager (who is subbing for the vacation bookstore manager) said �just put a gun to my head and shoot me!� in a most dramatic fashion. Apparently, the credit-card machine is malfunctioning during the first week of class, which is very, very, very bad timing�but hey, that's no reason to blow your brains out. We got the phone line checked�it�s fine�so, based on the error message and the fact that I can shove the power cord into the machine hard and it works sporadically, I concluded that this is a power-cord problem. Apparently, this employee was much more interested in complaining about the problem than she was in actually solving it, though, because I said three times that she needed to get computer services to replace the power cord and there she stood continuing to complain about the fact that it�s not working. Finally I said K����, I understand that this is bad timing but the sooner you take action the sooner this will be resolved. Now go contact J--- and tell him to get you a new power cord. Lawdy. Got back to my office and thought I�d have a nice cup of decaf (sigh) breakfast tea, but then S--- came in to say the on-site high-speed duplicator was flinging looseleaf paper all over the room instead of stacking it into organized booklets and binding them. And this problem requires a new part, so we are now off-line until the part arrives. And THEN the HR assistant informed the marketiing manager that our returning work-study student can�t begin work in the bookstore this week after all because the vacationing bookstore manager is the only person who can sign his work form (since he�s his immediate supervisor). I find this rule to be absolutely ridiculous and will forge his damn name if they won�t work with us in his absence. Damn rule followers! (I know, I know. I have no place working in state government with all these rule-makers, but somebody has to keep the place running!) And THEN an editor came in all upset because our insurance benefits changed and she was retroactively charged an additional $100 for a July nineteenth ER visit even though they told her on the phone that she needed to go to the ER. She also said that our insurance will only cover one mammogram a year, so I need to figure out if I�m going to be charged for the one I�m getting on 9/9 because of my new lump (they want to compare films to my February mammogram before deciding whether I need a cyst aspiration or lumpectomy). Anyway, I�m SURE that our big $800 annual raise will cover all that!
READING: 2:25 p.m. - 2005-08-30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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