Wed. Aug. 12

I came home for lunch break today because I wanted to cut up our last watermelon and take some back to work. I got done and went to rinse the watermelon-juice off my hand but when I flipped the handle, nothing came out! So I checked in the bathroom and there was no water in there either. I went upstairs to ask the new guy if he had water - nope. It had been out since ten that morning, he said. He hadn't called the city yet because he didn't have a phone book (I gave him one of our plethora of phone books) and he called. The city said our HOA hadn't paid the bill. What! I found the phone number and called them, and "are you kidding me?" is what they said. They said they paid it and would call the city right away. When we got home tonight the water was back on.

Well, wasn't that the funnest story ever.

Ang gave me a bunch of books to read - including a couple of her favorites. I can't wait to read them! Except I might not be doing as much reading on my trip as I thought, since now my friend Ray thinks she might be able to come. I hope so! She went to school down there and knows the area, and even knows some people we could stay with to cut down on expenses. I still want to stay on the beach at least one or two nights though. And she knows how to surf and has a surf board at a friend's down there, so we might surf a little. Well - she'll probably surf, I'll probably just wipe out. But it will be fun. I'm so pumped!

At our performance meeting yesterday, we used my problem with the tax commission as our case-study (along with a few others who were having similar problems with different agencies) and learned some tricks on how to calm the clients down when they call and help them feel at ease while helping them, and help them understand that it is a problem with the commission and not with us without being unprofessional. I had two such phone calls today, and the first one I was totally unprepared for, but I set my binder out that had my notes so I could reach it easily the next time. When the next call came I ran the playset on it and it worked like a charm! A friggin' charm! I don't get the chance to run playsets a lot in my job because my contact with the clients is minimal. But it was fun to see it work and helped it go much smoother. I did call the tax commission and tell them about the problem they have caused for us. I think the most we are going to be able to ask from them though is a brief letter of explanation that we could pass along to the clients, if we get that. Hopefully the bulk of them are taken care of though. Hopefully by this time next month we won't have many more.

Am I writing too much about work? I don't want to get in trouble. I don't think I've ever said anything but good things about my work, but still. Maybe I should cut down on it.

I got a pair of shorts for 98 cents at Old Navy today. Cute ones too. shweet.