ずっと ａｌｌ ｒｉｇｈｔ！

地獄のアルバイトしちゃった！今日は最後の日だって何でもは大丈夫だった。本当にちょっとびっくりしたけど、よかった。私の社長は私に Ｓｔａｒｂｕｃｋｓ カードをあげた。それから、私の二人の一番好きな人も Ｓｔａｒｂｕｃｋｓ カードをあげた。そして、私の毎日行った Ｓｔａｒｂｕｃｋｓ の定員は私にコーヒーをあげた！すごく親切だったね。でも，一番大切なことは: 終わった！

今、安堵のため息をもらえる。気持ちがいいよ。

Okay, mini-Japanese language blog post aside, I have finished the summer job from hell! It actually went really well - my supervisor gave me a thank-you Starbucks gift card, then my two favourite co-workers gave me a thank-you Starbucks gift card, then the people who work in the Starbucks I went to every day for the entire duration of this job (they know my name and what I order and everything) gave me coffee for free! It was pretty sweet. I also have been assured that I can come back as a temp at any time (I haven't been terminated, so I won't have to go through the hiring process again to come back), that it was a delight having me, and that I'll be missed. My supervisor also said that I can use her as a reference and/or request a letter of recommendation at any time.

I went around saying goodbye to everyone towards the end of the day and was hugged twice by this really sweet woman who I really will miss seeing, once by one of the providers (this surprised me - I didn't realise she quite knew who I was) and was told genuinely by, like, five people that my work has been massively appreciated. T and V, of course, did nothing, but I didn't expect them to and wasn't disappointed.

Speaking of T, I had an exit interview on Tuesday. I went in intending to just say a few things about the disrespectful way I was spoken to and treated all summer, only to be caught off-guard by my supervisor pulling out a list of questions. Apparently, enough formal complaints have been made that they are starting an investigation into her abuse of time and resources. So I ended up spending 45 minutes or so talking about what I'd witnessed and observed.

T might be screwed. What I said on top of complaints from permanent staff and the letters two previous temps wrote is definitely enough to take the investigation beyond the questioning stage. I know she'll grieve it with the union, which means she'll have the power to request the names of everyone who spoke against her, but I kind of hope she does ask. She spent the duration of my assignment treating me like a stupid little girl, and I bit my tongue and smiled a lot and played a little dumb and let it happen. You have no idea how badly I want her to know I was smarter than she gave me credit for.

So, in conclusion: I win. I made about $4,000, some last-minute scholarship money came through, so I don't owe Willamette anything, and I walked out of that clinic knowing that I ultimately had the upper hand.

Owned.

Four days to go

And I am so excited, you don't even know. It's going to be a long week, but the end is finally in sight.

Unfortunately, I hurt my right shoulder today taking boxes of inactive files down to inactive storage and then shelving them/reorganising the room to make all the new additions fit, and my mum is insisting that I file an incident report. This is definitely a Do Not Want because that sort of thing is a pain, but I guess it'll give me a chance to give my supervisor some feedback on T. So not a total waste of time, right?

In news not related to the Job From Hell, today I found uploads of Asakura Daisuke's entire Quantum Mechanics Rainbow series, along with a couple of his other solo projects, and some Kenichi Ito. So my DA Family album collection has grown and I now have the two QMR albums that I was missing (Orange Compile and Green Method), not to mention more K.Ito! This brings the album count up to 11 DA, 6 Iceman, 2 K.Ito, 1 The Seeker, and 2 Access singles.

I think I'm good for awhile.

Moving right along, I've finally written a reply to my host family (I say that like it didn't take me two months last time), in which my response to their saying they want to attend my graduation was actually pretty complex grammatically. What I wrote is: 大変な分かっているけど，なんとか卒業式に来てもらうませんか？　みんなくれば、嬉しくなります。でも，無理だったら、大丈夫です。心配しないでください！(Basically: I know it's tough, but somehow could you come to my graduation ceremony? If everyone comes, it'll be happy. But if it's impossible, that's fine. Please don't worry!)

Um, I'm going to pause for a minute for anyone who's interested in Japanese to note that the grammar in that first sentence is really, really, really valuable. Not the first part so much, that's pretty basic, but the question is very practical.

The structure is: nantoka [verb, te-form] moraemasen ka. 'Nantoka' is like 'somehow' and when combined with '-te moraemasen ka' it becomes a way of making a request that you (and the person you're asking) know is probably impossible. So, it's a polite way of asking someone for something, while giving them an implied way out. I tacked on the additional 'I know it's tough, but...' to drive home that I don't really expect them to come, but I'd love to see them if they really want to travel 5,000+ miles.

So, yes, that's something you should learn if Japanese language proficiency is something you're keen on.

Actually, as a final, related note, I'm thinking about doing Japanese entries (or partial entries, anyway) every once in awhile, as writing practice. Reading and writing are still my weak points, so anything I can do to improve is for the best. But, then again, no one is going to be interested in reading anything like that, so maybe I'll make yet another blog just for my continuing Japanese adventures. That way, anyone who wants to take a look can, but wading through text you may or may not be able to read won't be necessary. I'll have to give it some thought.

Just have to share this

The quote of the day came not from one of my coworkers, but rather from one of the countless encounter/visit notes I was filing. Keep in mind, this was written by a provider about one of her patients (for whom I picked a random name).

Ahem.

"Lisa is a vegetation."

This is the same provider who has only the loosest understanding of English punctuation and who frequently amuses me with sentences like this:

"He has filed for custody of the boy's."

I desperately wanted to write in the margin: custody of the boy's what?

I refrained. Barely. These people kill me.

Today Was A Good Day

In fact, it was probably the best day I've had at this job ever. I got down to medical records a couple of minutes late and... no one was there. The lights were still off and everything. So I turned on my computer and my phone and sort of settled in by myself, enjoying a bit of quiet downtime before work really started. Roughly 30 minutes later, V showed up, fully prepared to turn around and leave again. As it turned out, though, T had called out sick and V was stuck. I happen to like it when T's not there (I know, right, who knew?) and it was pretty slow, so V and I had the chillest morning ever in which we did as little work as humanly possible. It was great.

V, though, had a doctor's appointment, so she had to leave at 1:30. There is another temp part-time in records now, a girl who just graduated high school and may be on the verge of termination, so it was all fine.

Except, the other temp didn't show. As in, she didn't call out or anything, she just didn't come to work today. That means, in three weeks as an employee, she's called out twice, left early once and skipped a day entirely. She may not make it much longer.

So, anyway, V left as planned and my supervisor sent down a woman, Z, who I really like. With almost nothing for us to do. I did the Washington Post crossword puzzle, and read online news and enjoyed other such methods of killing time because the work that trickled in from 2 to 4:45 (when I left) probably took an hour total. And, just adding to the overall awesome, A (the main dental receptionist - he's a lot of fun) bought Z and I coffee from Top Pot at 3:30. Just because.

Best day ever. Monday is going to be such a disappointment.

In other news, I was randomly surfing Facebook and I noticed that someone I went to high school with and actually hung out with a little bit senior year (the other Alexis, for... Ashalyn is probably the only person reading this who might have any idea who she is) has changed massively from when I knew her. Like, she used to be pretty Christian and she dated the same guy for a long time, got into another serious relationship when she went to college, pretty 'normal' middle class white American teenager. Well now, based on Facebook, she's out as a lesbian, no longer religious and has gone pretty dyke-y. It makes me wonder how many EW people she's successfully kept up with, taking into account such big personal changes. Pretty awesome, though, if you ask me.

As of, like, the last year or so, I've managed to successfully keep up with two of my high school friends (Dana and Ashalyn). Hannah... dropped off the face of the earth (I don't even know, but I gave up awhile ago) and I haven't really thought about anyone else in ages. But, hey, two isn't bad! That's more than a lot of people, I think.

...What.

First of all, I added a post to my media blog, bringing my total proudly up to four, and... it's gone. As in, it was deleted yesterday. And I didn't delete it. I-I don't even know. I can't imagine my account has been hacked for the express purpose of deleting a single entry in my very insignificant media blog without changes to anything else I have, so unless I've taken to sleep blogging, something Very Odd Indeed has happened.

And, before you ask, my Blogger dashboard shows that the blog was edited on 8/3, even though I didn't get on this site at all yesterday, so it's not that I'm just not seeing the entry anymore. It really is inexplicably gone.

In other news, the following is an example of what not to do if you want me to like you (courtesy of my co-worker V):

Me: *working with a file, the contents of which are spread out on the shelf tray*
V: *comes up to look for a file and stands there silently waiting for me to move*
Me: *steps out of the row and to the side*
V: *shoves my crap out of the way, scattering it everywhere*
Me: Um, I was working with that...
V: Oh, I didn't notice. *finds file and walks away*

Who taught these people how to interact with others? Seriously, what the hell?

Also, and likely related, I have hands down the best customer service skills in this department without trying very hard. I actually get scolded periodically for taking too much time with a client call. Because apparently being courteous and helpful to the people who are the sole reason our jobs exist is not allowed. One of the managers (so, you know, one of the people whose opinion actually matters), though, complimented me for the way I took a call when she was in the records room working through something with T.

I feel like it should be noted that, in seven weeks (give or take a few days), that is the first time anyone has directly complimented my work in this pit.

Thankfully, I only have 13 work days left till I'm out. The end is coming into view.

Still hooked on cellophane

How did I end up with so many clothes? I don't feel like I buy clothing excessively, but I have a huge collection of shirts. And my skirt collection just keeps growing. I think it's mostly that I've bought/been given more clothes than usual this summer. But some of it came from Plato's Closet (a second-hand store), some of it was on sale, and I really needed new jeans. So it's not totally ridiculous, but I think it might be time to do another sweep through my closet to find things to give away. I know there are shirts I'll never wear again, what with the new acquisitions, and some of it must still be nice enough to be given away in good conscience. I also have a few pairs of shoes that could stand to go because I haven't worn them in years.

But, um, because I'm feeling silly, I want to share my favourite new acquisitions. Bear with me here, please.

Shoes! I am not even going to say how much these cost (they came from Macy's), but my grandmother bought them for me because she bought new stuff for my sister. Aren't they great?

The two best Plato's Closet finds. $6 each, yo. I really wish there were a Plato's Closet in Salem - I love that store and I think Annie, at least, could also do well there.

Speaking of Plato's Closet, when I bought the shirts I also saw some really awesome shoes. Now, you may or may not know this, but my definition of awesome when it comes to shoes generally means either kind of old-fashioned, plaid, or spectacularly ugly. The awesome shoes I saw at Plato's Closet fit the last category - they looked like they were made of an old lady's drapes. I really wanted them, but they were a little too big, massively impractical, and $16, which is a lot for second-hand shoes. So I passed. But it was a close thing.

And, hey, while I'm posting pictures, remember how I took a picture of the picture of my host family? (that was an awkward sentence) Well, I did the same thing with the professionally taken JSP closing ceremony picture, which has us in our kimono (or western formal wear, for those who passed on kimono), and am sharing for anyone who's never seen it. What's crazy is that I own that kimono, with every part included (down to the shoes and bag, which match each other). It's very neatly packed up at the moment, because I have no use for it in my daily life, but still. I own that. I own that and the outer kimono is 50 years old. The rest, with the possible exception of the obi, which is beautiful, is newer.

So, yeah, it's not amazing quality here because it's a picture of a picture, but if you hadn't seen it before, that was my JSP group, with the teachers and peer leaders and random TIU staff because any occasion in Japan is a good time for every official even remotely associated to show up. I'm not really sure how I ended up in the front like that (I guess I am pretty short), but I did.

I post a lot of pictures on my blog, don't I? I just like including media - I feel like it adds something.