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.

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.

Finger in position on the switch

First of all, before launching into further work horror stories (they never end - it's so awful it's hilarious), I want to share a video. You see, friends, I watch exactly one reality type TV show: So You Think You Can Dance? I have watched SYTYCD since season 2, back in summer of 2006 - it's a piece of my summer. Season 5 is two weeks away from ending and yesterday was the show's 100th episode. As part of the little celebration they did, three Emmy-winning numbers from previous seasons were performed (by the dancers from each respective season). One of these was Ramalama, a group number from season 2.

I searched the internet and found a decent quality video of its 2006 original performance and want to share because it's awesome. Wade Robson choreography + zombie theme + Roisin Murphy = win.



Okay, moving along to My Job, I have two incidents to share. As it turns out, they happened literally back to back on Wednesday afternoon. I was having a good day.

So, first of all, something that absolutely drives me crazy is when people who really don't know much of anything about a given subject act like experts. This applies specifically to Japan, a country I have a little better than passing familiarity with, and that an appalling number of people don't understand at all.

My coworker, V, is one of those people.

It came up Wednesday morning that I plan to move to Japan for awhile after I graduate next year. Later that afternoon, for some inexplicable reason, V and T were sort of mockingly talking about that plan when I was in the room and within earshot. So, I sweetly interjected with a somewhat self-deprecating comment on it, and the following went down.

V: You should go to Dubai instead.
Me: Why?
V: Americans can make a lot of money there right now. And you could probably meet a rich guy to marry, and then never have to work again!

I think my horror was visible on my face, because she moved on to the topic of Japan before I could say anything.

V: You know, I've been to Asia, but I've just never been interested in Japan. I mean, if I'm going to have to spend thirty dollars on a hamburger, it's just not worth it.
Me: ...I've never even seen a thirty dollar hamburger.
V: Well, my friend went to Tokyo and he told me that you can't find meat anywhere, and everything is way too expensive, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to move there because rent is, like, 8,000 dollars a month and you can't really own property anyway. They're so crazy there, and everyone must be really rich to afford it.
Me: Um, that's not really true. I mean, there are places where things are super expensive, just like in America, but it's definitely not the norm. I was there for four months last year and I didn't have that kind of trouble, anyway.
V: Oh, but you must have spent all your time in a foreigner-targeted area.
Me: No, actually, I lived in a fairly small city with a tiny foreign population. Japan really isn't like that.
V: That's not what my friend said.

At which point, I gave up because there is no reasoning with people like her.

Then, just to make my day complete, T gave me another reason not to like her. One of the medical assistants is Vietnamese, loud, funny, outrageous and very gay (I'll call him Ty, which is how his name is pronounced, but not how it's spelled). Anyway, he was talking on Wednesday about his plan to get married next August. T is an evangelist and, more or less out of nowhere, launched into something that really pissed me off.

T: You know something? Ty told me about his wedding and asked if I'd want to go. Can you believe he even brought it up with me? I mean, he knows who I am and that I don't believe in that.
V: What's there to believe in? I don't believe in your church, but I don't get mad at you for it.
T: That's totally different. He can't really get married, anyway, so it doesn't mean anything, but I still can't believe he'd even mention it to me. It's so wrong.

At which point V bitched her out. It was kind of amazing and partially redeemed V in my eyes. But, yeah, I took that as my cue to go on break.

This entry was brought to you by the letter Ignorance and the number Fail.

Work story time!

This is a pretty good one, too, just to show off how ridiculous my lead really is.

The set-up: It was the very end of the day Wednesday. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I saw a midnight showing of Harry Potter with Dana (go see it, it's great), got home at three and had to get up at six to go to work. So I was pretty much a zombie and, by four, was at the giving up point because, honestly, I really don't care that much.

Anyway, M (the light duty person who actually had her last day today) asked me why I looked so out of it, and the following exchange occurred, involving T (my ever-loved lead):

Me: I am pretty tired, yeah, I saw a midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie. It was kind of a stupid thing to do because I had to work today, but I've been a Harry Potter fan for about ten years, so it was worth it.
T: Why do you like that stuff? It's so satanic.
M: It's not satanic, just harmless kid's stuff.
T: It is not harmless!
Me: ...Right. I'm just... gonna go over here now. Yeah.

I couldn't even make this stuff up - she's so crazy. She also was under the mistaken impression that, now that M is gone, I'll be working in medical records full-time (rather than just from 7:50-2). She said at one o'clock today, and I quote, "you can go upstairs early today, because this is the last day I'm gonna be able to let you go up there."

I just kinda went smiled and nodded... and went straight to my supervisor to ask her about this statement. Supervisor said, no, I will still work upstairs from 2-4:50 because that's part of my job. T does not have the authority to 'let' me do anything. So, um, she's gonna get a little bit of a surprise on Monday when I pack up and leave records at 2, same as usual. I'm probably a little bit too happy about that, but she's so vile I can barely stand it, so I've decided I'm entitled to my tiny victories.

Unfortunately, due to potential monetary troubles in my near future (my family may not be able to give me the money they have in the past), I have had to extend my work plans to 21 August. So, I'll only have a week off before moving back to Salem, but it'll get me another thousand dollars, which can only help. But I was looking forward to quitting on the 7th, so I'm a little sad about that part. Oh well, it's only another two weeks, right? Right.

Stay tuned for further updates in the crazy.

Also, Ashalyn! When are you gonna be out here? Even though I'll almost certainly be working, we'll have to hang out.

Today's waste of energy

This is another one of those annoying events that really happened.

T: *on her computer making a church flier*
Me: *working*
T: Alexis, would you run up to the fourth floor and bring down records for me?
Me: *grits teeth and sets down work* Sure.
T: *goes back to misusing resources*

Up on the fourth floor:

Me: Hi, K! Do you have any records for me to bring down?
K: I brought them all down about 15 minutes ago - T checked them in. Is she looking for any record in particular?
Me: ...No. Thanks, though.

So, yes, I got to disrupt the flow of my work and run up and down two flights of stairs looking for records T had all but just checked in, while she devoted her morning to stuff for her church. Not cool. On the plus side, I'm getting plenty of exercise.

In other news, I'm reading Cunt by Inga Muscio and, if you're a woman and you haven't read/aren't currently planning to read it, you should put it at the top of your to-read list ASAP. And then make sure you read it on a bus, or in a like public space, to get the added bonus of disapproving and scandlized looks. It's pretty awesome.

After an unplanned hiatus...

I have work stories! Specifically, work stories of horror and woe. If you don't know, this job is brilliant for the money and the no-weekends thing, but otherwise completely horrific. The lead (I'll call her T, because it's a bad idea to use names here) is a stupid bitch who makes everything massively more difficult than it needs to be and speaks to me in that condescending tone reserved for children and very stupid people, the other permanent person (I'll call her V) snaps all the time, and the other temporary person is also kind of nasty. The personalities clash, I'm always the one blamed for problems, and it's pretty much the worst work environment ever. I've never been treated so badly in my life.

My supervisor (G) is great, and the people I work with from 2-5 every day are awesome, as is pretty much every other person in the clinic, but the people I work with most of the time? Yeah, they suck.

So, have some Real Life Events that will hopefully show just why this job is turning out to be hell.

---

Today's theme: Computers

1. I didn't have a log-in until last Monday (I started on 15 June). Finally, though, G came by in the morning when I was the only one in, because everyone else is chronically late, and told me that the log-in was ready and I needed to call MIS to get the temporary password and do the set-up. I knew I'd have to call MIS, because I had a county job last year and you always have to call them first, so I told G that I'd do it sometime that morning, after everyone else was in. All fine and good.

About a half-hour after the lead got in, she and I had the following conversation:

T: Alexis, have you logged in yet?
Me: No, I still have to call MIS.
T: Well, I'd like you to log in now.
Me: Okay, just let me put this file away and then I'll call MIS.
T: No, don't do that, just log in right now, please.
Me: Um, what? G came by this morning and told me to call MIS first, for the set-up. Gimme a minute and it'll be ready.
T: Well, G sent me an email and told me to have you try logging in. Don't argue with me, please.
Me: o.O Okay. What's my temporary password?
T: You don't know your password?
Me: ...No. Because I haven't called MIS.
T: You better call MIS first, then.

Yes, this really happened.

2. Again with the log-in issues. The people in medical records share their log-in info, because the computers time out after 15 minutes and you need a password to get back in. I picked a really simple, easy-to-remember password with the idea that, since a computer had been designated mine, it would only make sense to let them have the info. Otherwise, when I'm not in the room, the computer will be locked and useless. V told me not to give it to her, because I should have my privacy. I said something facetious along the lines of: I don't even have an outlook account - I have nothing to hide. She insisted that, no, don't worry about it, it really won't be a big deal. Then, the next day, I got the following:

T: Alexis, honey, when you leave the room make sure you log out. We don't know your log-in, so it's really inconvenient for us when you forget.
Me: Do you want the log-in? I can give it to you, so it'll never be an issue.
T: No, you just need to be more careful. You've forgotten to log out every day and it's getting to be a problem.
Me: I've only had a log-in since yesterday... Um, okay, I'll do that, then.

Then, a little later:

V: It is useless to have this phone turned on when you're logged in at this computer! Don't even bother next time, because it's really annoying.
Me: o.O Right. I'll remember that.

3. Sometimes records get misfiled. When there are hundreds of records, it happens. We're as careful as possible, but numbers just start looking alike after awhile, you know? Anyway, a file was missing last week for a couple of days, no one could fine it, and when it was found it was in the 27s (the file itself was a 40-something). My guess? The patient's birthday is 1927 and whoever filed it looked at the birthday rather than the medical record number (on the labels, the birthday is listed without spaces or slash marks, just like the MRN). Apparently, this potential confusion had never occurred to anyone else, but it makes sense to me. On Thursday, another file was missing and T told me to look for it.

T: Would you try to find this file?
Me: Sure. Have you checked by the last two numbers in the birthday? 'Cause we found that one file in the 27s, so it could have happened again.
T: No, I haven't.
Me: Okay, I'll try that first, then. *sits down at computer to look up the birthday, because it's not printed on the out card*
T: *like I'm an idiot* Why are you getting on the computer?
Me: ...To look up the birthday.
T: Oh, right.

This woman? Yeah, she's gonna drive me to screaming insanity. I can't stand working with her.

I started my job

Today was, in fact, my second day. I'm working at a clinic, as I said, in medical records from 8-2, then I'm working on a more specific records-centric project from 2-5. I get an hour lunch, which is both awesome and lame because it means I don't get home till almost 6 if I'm lucky enough to catch the 5:05 bus. Yesterday, I failed, today I was told that it's okay if I leave 10 minutes early, so it was all good.

Honestly? This is the most laid back work environment I've ever been in. I can wear whatever I want, as long as it's not skanky (or open-toed shoes, technically, since it's a clinic that will soon also have a needle exchange), I was explicitly told that it's okay if my lunch runs a few minutes over, no one cares, and they're letting me duck out early so I don't miss my bus home.

The work itself is mindless, but there's a ton of it so the time goes by pretty fast, and I'm getting a fair amount of exercise because I'm moving all the time. The elevator is out and a lot of my job involves walking, crouching and reaching, so I'm not just sitting at a desk all day.

Unfortunately, the people are problematic. The personalities of the three permanent people clash, they're snappish and not always very nice, and it's just kind of an unpleasant dynamic. There's also that horrible bitchy two-faced bullshit women sometimes pull - the head of the department and the woman who actually does most of the work act really sweet when they're both there, but when one is out of the room, the bitchy comments start up. It's awful. I don't like the lead, myself, she doesn't do much of anything, but tells everyone else to work more, but still. The fakey friendship thing they've got going on bothers me. It's one thing to be friendly and civil, but they're over the top with pretending to really love each other. I don't know, I feel like I'm going to get really sick of the environment really fast, but it's good money, so I'll handle it.

And... that's all I've got! I'm liking being downtown during the day, that's really nice. I'm not sitting around bored anymore!

Updates

I might have a job at a clinic. It'd be in medical records as an Administrative Specialist I, which was my job class when I worked at the jail last year. I guess they keep losing their medical records help, probably because it's mind-numbingly boring, and they're just now looking. So I submitted an application via email and my mom says I have a good chance at taking it because I've worked for the county before and did really well. The clinic is down in the sketchy part of 4th avenue (makes sense, given that these clinics are intended for people who don't have health insurance or money for other health care), but it would pay similar to what I made last summer and, since I don't need a bunch of money for Willamette, would leave me with a decent amount of money to save and spend. I really want this job.

In other news, I'm trying to get it together and really work on my Japanese. I know someone who's trying to sort of teach herself from the basics and it's good motivation to further my own skills. I really want some money, though, because I was down at Kinokuniya and they have these grammar dictionaries that would be really helpful, but they were, like, $40 each. Then I saw a guide to Kansai-ben, which just looked like fun.

Continuing on in my book of practical kanji, here are the kanji of the day (with one reading each):

軍 (ぐん, military), 理 (り, reason/principle), 玉 (ぎょく, jewel), 取(る) (とる, take), 用 (よう, business), 支 (し, branch/support), 市 (いち, market), 位 (くらい, rank/grade), 政 (せい, administration), 毛 (もう, hair), 戸 (こ, door), 近(い) (ちかい, near), 野 (や, field), 不 (ふ, negative/un-), 平 (へい, level)

So, yes, those are today's 15 new kanji to learn. I like this book a lot - it has all the Japanese readings, the Mandarin reading and example words to put the character in context. According to the book, I'm at kanji 136, but I know more than that because I wasn't taught in this order. But, in addition to the kanji, I need to also work on my grammar. This is helping my vocabulary, but grammar is also 大切.

I'll just watch more Takarazuka. It's actually really helpful because I translate bits of it for the friend who's starting to study Japanese, so I'm picking up new things all the time. Seriously, music in your foreign language is really good for listening comprehension. I highly recommend it.

Off to make more tea and study. At least I can find ways to keep myself busy, right?