Friday, March 15, 2013

I Am Glad This Week Is Over!

My trusted office cohort, Ms. S., is on holidays for three weeks.  I am happy for her.  I am sad for me. When either of us is away, the one left behind holding down the fort,  has to do the work of two people.  It is not always easy.   My week went like this.  Monday, I dumped the full contents of travel mug in my work tote bag while trying to unlock the office door.  I had set the mug, which I thought was closed, in the bag to free up my hands.  Apparently, it was not closed and I didn't realize it until I moved the bag to the floor, from my chair, where I had set it when I got to my desk.  When I sat down I had a wet bottom and made the discovery of the 3" of cappachino in the bottom of my bag, in my sandwich container and all over my gloves, hat and umbrella. On Tuesday I spent 8 hours with face plastered against my computer screen, editing a file. Over and over and over again.  52 pages of little tiny lines of numbers and copy that had to line up and didn't want to.  I hate working with word files. At the end of  the day,  my eyes feel like they are permanently crossed and I am still not finished. Wednesday, I spent another 8 hours re-editing the same file, over and over and over again.  At the end of the day I was still not done, but I was happier with my progress and not as cross eyed.  I email what I had completed so far, to the customer to proof  and the I headed home for the day.  Thursday, first thing in the morning I open an email from the customer, who informs me that the proofs of the work that I spent the last two days working on, are not correct.  I had been working on the wrong file. Apparently, somehow, I must have deleted the original.  I couldn't find anything in the recycle bin or deleted file so I do not know where the file went.  Somehow I got working on an earlier version from last year.   I cannot believe this is happening.  I want to go back home, crawl into bed and cry.   GRRRR..  I.took full responsibility for the whole fiasco. Even though a back up of the original file should have been made before the job came to me, I can't blame anyone else but me for the error.  I should have made my own back up of the file when I first got it and not depended on someone else to do their job.  I will not make that mistake again!   My boss was not happy and I don't blame him.  He was understaning in that it was a stupid mistake. There was nothing to do but start over.   I spent the rest morning trying to find  a copy of  the original email and file, that had been sent to someone else, who was away for the day.  Then, working with  another employee, (she is not in the office but works in the company) we located a copy, deep in the computer somewhere, and spent the next few hours getting the headers and margins and all that stuff sorted out.  I then handed the  job over to her to do the editing.  There was no way that I was going to try to start over again on that job.   Instead, I spent the next 5 hours typing dockets, answering the phone that never stopped ringing and assuring my boss, who was constantly at my desk hovering, that the editing on that stupid job, would get done. TAKE A PILL AND CALM DOWN is what I would like to tell him, but I didn't.   Today, Friday, I spent the day trying to get done, the work that has been sitting on my desk from when I was away on a weeks holiday, 2 weeks ago.  I have not had time to even look at it.  I spent an hour just replying to emails that had been set aside as not urgent.  As for the stack of paperwork in my in-box,  I still have not gotten it done.  I did make a very small dent in it,  but it still sits there waiting for me. I shudder every time I look at my desk.  It is so messy with piles of stuff waiting to be sorted and dealt with.  Maybe next week.....fingers crossed.  Anyway, I had been up a few times sick during  Thursday night.   I went into work on this morning, still feeling sick but thinking I could shake it off.   I ended closing the office early and going home.  I crawled into bed where I slept for a few hours.  I woke up still feeling ill.    I am glad this week is over!!

1 comment:

Kimber said...

Oh man. That sounds like a NIGHTMARE of colossal proportions. A Jonah Day is what I used to call them. And the coffee was just insult to injury! No one messes with my coffee without turning me into what my kids call A COFFEE MONSTER.

Well, you managed to inject a little humour into the story so that makes me know you got through it okay and are probably feeling back to your old self.

Just think...someday you won't have to work with a computer unless you want to. And you can have your hubby bring you coffee in a real mug. xoxox