It WOULD be today
8 November 2007 05:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
3rdragonDear Jo,
Thanks so much for not showing up to work your shift today. Yes, I know that it's normally just that one setup in Bass 203, but today was the Work Shift From the Black Lagoon. It would have been bad with two of us. With just me, it was pretty close to a nightmare.
Cheers,
Miriam
I had a ridiculous number of patrons (it took me ten whole minutes before I could even sign in, that's how busy things were), and one person who came back a second time because her EAR (Edirol Audio Recorder, not the thing she listens with) wasn't working, and she was really nice but we went through three different microphones because she was picky and I don't know a single thing about microphones except a vague idea of how one plugs them in, and how to avoid feedback, which doesn't really help a film studies person doing a project that's 30% of her grade. Then when she came back the second time, I got a phone call in the middle of dealing with her from someone who wanted to know something or other, and in the middle of that phone call I got a call from the Wright consultant who told me that an engineering class needed tech support, and after I'd finished that nested phone conversation a second patron showed up before I'd finished with the EAR/microphone girl who was waiting very patiently, and then I got another phone call from a professor who wanted to borrow a tape recorder, and I probably should have reserved it for her only I had two patrons plus an engineering class waiting, and we have lots of tape recorders anyway . . .
When I finally got to the engineering class, and checked all the settings, and crawled around trying to climb inside the box that holds the computer tower (because of course I'd forgotten the key that would open the handy-dandy door at the back), and borrowed someone's cell phone in lieu of a flashlight, and discovered that the audio cable wasn't plugged in - I discovered that the sound just wouldn't work, no matter which jack I plugged the cable into. I'd had a suspicion that job might end up like that - after all, if a class full of engineers has tried and failed to fix it, what was I going to be able to do? (I actually did figure out that they were messing around with the wrong cable, but I still wasn't able to do anything.) So I promised them that I'd post a problem message about it so someone would come take care of it, hopefully.
And after several more patrons, my shift finally ended and I got to try to start my reading for Spanish class. Yes, I know that it was silly to leave my homework until my work shift to finish. I never did finish El collar, but I skimmed the last two chapters enough that I could (I hope) sumarize them, more or less for the piece of homework I had to hand in. I only got about six pages into Sendebar, but luckily we had enough left over to finish El collar that we only just barely had a chance to start Sendebar, and so the fact that I hadn't really read anything past the first three stories didn't come to light (particularly after my conference with the teacher on Tuesday, where she praised me on being such a good student and always doing the readings. That would have been awkward).
On the plus side, I can say that my work shift wasn't actually the Work Shift From Hell. I've seen that one, luckily as a secondary character and not as a protagonist, and it wasn't quite that bad.
Now I suppose that I should start writing my math paper so that I have something to show when my group meets at 6:45. (Yes, 6:45. And I get out of work at 6:30. And I'm supposed to eat dinner when? Good question. This lovely arrangement is thanks to a group member who had a last-minute conflict so that we can't meet at 7:15 like civilized people. I suppose that it's probably not her fault. It doesn't change the fact that dinner is going to be a very hurried meal.)
Thanks so much for not showing up to work your shift today. Yes, I know that it's normally just that one setup in Bass 203, but today was the Work Shift From the Black Lagoon. It would have been bad with two of us. With just me, it was pretty close to a nightmare.
Cheers,
Miriam
I had a ridiculous number of patrons (it took me ten whole minutes before I could even sign in, that's how busy things were), and one person who came back a second time because her EAR (Edirol Audio Recorder, not the thing she listens with) wasn't working, and she was really nice but we went through three different microphones because she was picky and I don't know a single thing about microphones except a vague idea of how one plugs them in, and how to avoid feedback, which doesn't really help a film studies person doing a project that's 30% of her grade. Then when she came back the second time, I got a phone call in the middle of dealing with her from someone who wanted to know something or other, and in the middle of that phone call I got a call from the Wright consultant who told me that an engineering class needed tech support, and after I'd finished that nested phone conversation a second patron showed up before I'd finished with the EAR/microphone girl who was waiting very patiently, and then I got another phone call from a professor who wanted to borrow a tape recorder, and I probably should have reserved it for her only I had two patrons plus an engineering class waiting, and we have lots of tape recorders anyway . . .
When I finally got to the engineering class, and checked all the settings, and crawled around trying to climb inside the box that holds the computer tower (because of course I'd forgotten the key that would open the handy-dandy door at the back), and borrowed someone's cell phone in lieu of a flashlight, and discovered that the audio cable wasn't plugged in - I discovered that the sound just wouldn't work, no matter which jack I plugged the cable into. I'd had a suspicion that job might end up like that - after all, if a class full of engineers has tried and failed to fix it, what was I going to be able to do? (I actually did figure out that they were messing around with the wrong cable, but I still wasn't able to do anything.) So I promised them that I'd post a problem message about it so someone would come take care of it, hopefully.
And after several more patrons, my shift finally ended and I got to try to start my reading for Spanish class. Yes, I know that it was silly to leave my homework until my work shift to finish. I never did finish El collar, but I skimmed the last two chapters enough that I could (I hope) sumarize them, more or less for the piece of homework I had to hand in. I only got about six pages into Sendebar, but luckily we had enough left over to finish El collar that we only just barely had a chance to start Sendebar, and so the fact that I hadn't really read anything past the first three stories didn't come to light (particularly after my conference with the teacher on Tuesday, where she praised me on being such a good student and always doing the readings. That would have been awkward).
On the plus side, I can say that my work shift wasn't actually the Work Shift From Hell. I've seen that one, luckily as a secondary character and not as a protagonist, and it wasn't quite that bad.
Now I suppose that I should start writing my math paper so that I have something to show when my group meets at 6:45. (Yes, 6:45. And I get out of work at 6:30. And I'm supposed to eat dinner when? Good question. This lovely arrangement is thanks to a group member who had a last-minute conflict so that we can't meet at 7:15 like civilized people. I suppose that it's probably not her fault. It doesn't change the fact that dinner is going to be a very hurried meal.)
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no subject
Date: 9 Nov 2007 02:01 am (UTC)(And sorry, but . . . math paper? As opposed to, say, problem set or gigantically long proof? Do I even want to know? [the English major said with terror])
no subject
Date: 9 Nov 2007 02:04 pm (UTC)I didn't lock myself out of the CMP this morning, either - that delightful duty goes to last night's consultant, who locked the keys in the lab. But it was a nice 20 minutes sitting outside in the cold waiting to ambush the employee who was actually already inside.
And yes, math paper. I'm taking a writing intensive math class, and we get a set of Theorems and Corrolaries every week. My group gets 1/3 of them, and we prove them, and write a paper about it, and present it to the rest of the class, who in turn does us the favor of presenting their thirds to us, so hopefully everyone know's what's what by the end of the week.