illusions of a brand new start

Two stories and a list from the workplace.

1. One of our association members uses both her maiden name and her married name—Elizabeth Snoddy Samuels. She is actually not just a member; she sits on the board of directors, and will be the president of the association in 2009. She is the chair of several committees and is very well known in the professional world. Today my boss sent an email to the CEO of another professional organization, and it began with, “I was talking to Elizabeth Snotty Samuels today…” This from the woman who once said to me, “We only do A+ work here, Jennifer. If your work isn’t perfect, it’s not good enough.” Right. Perfection. That’s what we’re going for. How about let’s start with spelling?

2. The guy who came to do our tech demos today was great. He was smart and funny and was, um, a fashion forward tech-y. And I was sitting there, interested for the first time, confused about why I was so happy listening to this guy, and then realized that he was quite a bit like a geeky Richard. You guys know what I’m talking about? It was Richard! Doing my demo! It was awesome. I wanted to take him home in my pocket so that he could have dinner with me and Somebody.

Things that smell bad
1. Coffee grounds
2. The candle in her office. Strangely, it’s scent is “Magic Fairy.” What? A more accurate name would be “Dead Fairy.”
3. Cigar smoke, like the kind the guy from the office next door smokes outside our door every day during lunch. Yuck.