Meeting Sue the Caterer

Today I met one of my vendors.

I order from a lot of caterers, and I've developed a really fun relationship with all of them.  The majority of them and I speak daily, whether its me calling in an order, or them calling just to "check in" with me.  I love it.  They're all awesome and SO friendly.  It's such a change from the world of mean people at reception.  But then again, these people suck up to me because they want my business.  I get free lunches, coffees, cookies and gift cards daily.  It's pretty cool.

So when Sue told me she was going to deliver my catered lunch because she was short staffed, both of us were pretty excited to actually meet.  Sue is so adorable over the phone and is extremely good at her job.  She remembers certain things that make my job easier, and as a result, I love calling them up to order.   Sue is also my mother's name, so I just assume every Sue out there is an exact replica of my Mom. 

So while tucked away at my new desk/office (have I talked about that? I might be the only "receptionist" that not only doesn't sit in the lobby or answer phones, BUT I have my own office.  Take that!) anyways, I get a call from NG saying that the food has arrived.  I practically run down the hall with excitement of meeting Sue.

Although, when I got out there, I got a little sad when I realized they must have sent this 12 year old looking boy.  Black shirt tucked into their black pants and wearing a black hat covering their short boy haircut.  

"RUBY!?! Ohmigod it is a PLEASURE to finally meet  you!"

A what what? Back up.  That's SUE?!?!  I just confused my favorite caterer in the world as a 12 year old boy?!?

She was not at all what I expected, but as soon as she shook my hand and handed over my free sandwich and iced mocha latte (just because she thought I'd like it), the feeling of love was back.  I'm dying to meet all my other caterers, just to see what they're like.  Sue called me later in the day just to tell me how awesome it was to finally meet, and how she's planning on fattening me up with all her sandwiches because I'm too skinny.  

Hey, compliments AND free food?  Sue, we're gonna get along justtttttttt fine. 

Stupid cookies

Yesterday was a mixture of snow flurries and rain.  Yesterday, was also Tuesday, my least favorite work day of the week.

I knew I was in trouble when I showed up to work and they were painting in the lobby.  Since the whole room smelled like paint fumes, the guys decided to vent the air... by OPENING THE DOORS TO THE OUTSIDE AND TURNING ON A FAN.  Yes, it's snowing out.  Yes, its about 30 degrees.   Yes, OF COURSE, this makes the most logical sense.  How silly of me to ask why they don't paint after work hours.  Apparently painting the lobby first thing in the morning is a no brainer.  Also, the heat decided it didn't want to work and only blew cold air.  Awesome.

As I sat there with my winter coat still on, I noticed that all 3 of the catered lunches were in different buildings causing me to have to go outside in the miserable cold weather.   Well, that's no different than sitting in a cold lobby, right??

As I'm setting everything up and running around like a crazy person, I realize everything is going smoothly (besides being rained/snowed on).  That should have been my first clue that things were going to go terribly wrong.

While outside conference room, I uncover all the food and start bringing everything in.  It's for a meeting with 20 people, and the room is totally packed.  Not only do I hate going into rooms to bring lunch when people are already there, I'm the sweaty girl from running around and wearing a winter coat.  I decide to be smart, load up the bucket with drinks with the plates, utensils, salad dressing and condiments.  One big trip will be better than a million small ones.

And then.... this happened:

Yup,  that's a puddle all those cookies are sitting in.
While grabbing the bucket, I hit the side of the cart causing the salad dressing to slide off.  I'm pretty sure it all happened in slow motion too, as I stood there watching it spill all over the cookie platter.  

I don't know what I was more upset about: the fact that I just ruined a cookie platter and this group of people would definitely notice that their cookies weren't there, OR that I ruined a cookie platter without stealing one for myself first!!!  The only redeeming fact was that no one saw any if it happen, maybe I'd get away with it.

I get back to my desk and see the email from the admin of the department.  "Hey, is there salad dressing?? And did they forget our cookies?!?"

I ended up having to run out and get the group more cookies, after admitting that the cookies and dressing decided to abandoned ship.

I would have posted this story last night, but after that day, I needed a drink.  Ugh.

Until my next disaster...

xoxo,
Ruby

The Pumpkin Arrangement

The construction in my office is never ending. It's still going on, and I honestly have no idea when it will ever end. However!  NG and I recently moved back into the new renovated lobby and it doesn't even feel like the same company.  In fact, I feel like I work at a hotel now.  I have this massive desk that you can barely see me behind.  I have hidden cabinets in the wall and now instead of being completely separated from the office, the lobby has glass doors.  So now I'm like an animal at the zoo that people can see... I'm not sure which is worse... haha!

NG and I decided to buy each other the same bouquet (on my company credit card) to "welcome" each other back into our area.  We decided to pick something "fall-ish" since, well, it's Thanksgiving and why not. 

We both bought the same bouquet.  
At the same time.  
From the same florist.
 

Her's arrived in the morning, mine late afternoon.  Clearly the arrangements are NOT the same.  They don't even have the same flowers!

To make matters even worse, and email went out saying SURPRISE! The lobby is back, please start using the main entrance again.  Stop by and say hello to RUBY AND COMPANY.

NG and I are now known as Ruby and Co.  Not that I'm complaining, but NG was a little annoyed.  Seriously people... is it that hard to make us receptionsit feel appreciated??!?   


...Oh, and because I know you want to know... my bouquet is the bigger one ;)

Happy Halloween!

To much of my surprise, lots of people came dressed up to work today for our annual Halloween Costume Contest.  We find out of the winners tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted. 

...And no... this girl did NOT dress up.  Obvs. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!  I hope everyone had a great night!!

Love, 

Your Favorite Witch,

Ruby.

Marshmallows

I came into work today, and these were on my desk:

What the?

1. Why are there marshmallows on my desk?

2. Stackermallows!? Seriously, why have I never seen these before?

3. What am I supposed to do with these??

4. Mmm... I want s'more now.

The dishwasher

Today was my first day back from my first tropical vacation.  It was glorious.  The weather was perfect, I made some amazing friends (one guy was particularly cute, swoon), and got an
incredible week away from work.  In fact, I didn't even think about it once.

I left at the perfect time.  There's a lot of drama going on lately.  I've also been swamped with work and staying late regularly.  Yes, I'm the only receptionist you know that works long hours doing non-reception related work.  But good things are hopefully to come of all this hard work.

I arrived to work today just depressed.  I don't want to work.  I don't want to read the 128 emails in my inbox folder.  I don't want to read the 30 more in sub folders.  I want a pineapple daiquiri (umm, don't judge, they're amazing and a perfect 11am drink), I want my beach chair and I want my friends.  But of course, the vacation is over and it's back to reality. 

I spend the better half of my morning, going through emails and attempting to make a to-do list.  Between the annoying callers and being easily distracted by any and everything, I make very little progress.  NG finally comes in and I am happy to hand the phones over to her so I can accomplish something.  But first I need more coffee.

I rush down to the kitchen and stand there for a good 5 minutes talking myself out of coffee and to just drink water.  Still trying to convince myself, I open the dishwasher with hopes to throw my mug in there forcing myself to drink water.

And then it happened.

The damn thing was running!  It was so quiet, I never even heard it.  Water and suds come GUSHING out.  So in true Ruby fashion, I scream, slam the thing shut and debate running away and acting as if nothing happened.  Unfortunately for me, someone came in (the scream probably made that happen...) and I just started laughing about how dumb I am.  There wasn't much of a mess, so I cleaned that up, and Laura and I just blamed it on being "a Monday". 

Yeah, let's blame it on the fact that it's Monday.  Not the fact that I didn't even hear the dishwasher going!  To my defense, my parents have a wicked quiet dishwasher as well and I never hear theirs.  Mine is easily from the 70's, so it's like a rocket launch when that thing is going. 

Also, the majority of the people at work didn't even realize I was gone.  It may be because my out of office only worked for half the week, but still.  Nothing like feeling special and welcomed back at work. 

Womp, womp, womp.

I look nice, right?!

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :)

Currently my lobby is getting a little make over.  I sit at the side entrance now, tucked in a cube.  Luckily it's temporary, because it's a terrible reception area.  Guests and employees rarely see me and just walk right on by.  (Not that I'm complaining...)

Today Pam walked in made an effort to say hi.  She quickly looses interest since right next to me is a picture of what the new renovated lobby will look like.  It looks cool, and to be honest, I'm actually excited to see what it will look like.  I'm also very interested to see if I'll be sitting out there when it's complete, or if I finally get the promotion I deserve!

Anywho, Pam looks at me and agrees that the lobby is going to be pretty fancy.  It almost looks like a hotel lobby, not a corporate office.  She then looked me up and down and with a straight face says"

"Well I guess you're going to have to start dressing up to sit somewhere so fancy all day!"

Shut the front door.  Did she just insult me?!  

I know we have a business casual environment now, but I thought I still looked nice.  Yes, I wear jeans every day, but I try hard to pair them with a cute top!  

What the effff just happened?!

Happppppppppppppy Monday everyone!

 

Look, it's ME!  

Summer Recap

Now that summer is "unofficially over" I'm thinking my life will slow down and I'll have more time for blogging.  Here's what I've wanted to blog about for the past 3 months but couldn't find the time.

- Casual Summer.  We got the "OK" from HR that we were allowed to wear casual wear, i.e jeans, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  While I admit I did wear flip flops just about every day, lots of ladies took full advantage and wore short shorts and mini skirts.  Appropriate? Definitely not.  Blog worthy, YUP! I got to work today only to read the email that casual wear attire is now appropriate all year round.  Yes, you read that right, I can wear jeans every single day for the rest of my life at work.  Not only does this mean I *have* to go shopping for more "work clothes" it also means that I will get to blog about co-worker's attire for months to come.

- Dreamy.  I got drinks with Dreamy a while back, and developed a crush on him.  Then things got awkward when he decided to ignore me.  Or when I ignored him? I 'm not sure who ignored whom first.  Don't worry, the crush is over.  He wore black pants and a navy shirt today.  Such a shame.

- Bill and I are no longer friends.  WHAT? Yup, you read that correctly.   I've been wanting to blog about this for a while now, but part of me still can't really believe that our friendship is over.  I'm to blame for ending it, so I guess I can't be upset, but seriously, ever since he got a new position in a new department, he might as well work for a different company.  It's sad.  I called him out on it, and basically told him we weren't friends.  But really? a  couple emails back and forth in the morning asking me how my night was, what I had for dinner does not constitute a friendship.  Plus, there's the whole awkward sending me flowers on my birthday.  The best way for me to solve that problem? De-friend him! hahahaha.  Whoops.

- My work BFF.  I have a work BFF and it's fantastic.  I've always had work friends, but this girl and I have lunch together, email/chat constantly all day and well, she brought me an iced coffee and pumpkin donut, just because.  Best Friends Fo-Evah.

- My best friend since high school got engaged and I'm her Maid of Honor.  :)

- Jim and I still get along.  Hell has obviously frozen over.

- An employee came up to my desk this morning and told me that she's not pregnant but she was going to throw up in the bathroom because she had a migraine.  UHHH why the F are you telling me this?? Oh, just in case I hear her puking.  Hi, my first thought would not be "oh wow, Liz threw up in the bathroom, she must be preggers!"  .... to make matters worse, I heard her throwing up.  I'm starting a rumor she's pregnant.

- And last but not least, Lily asked me if I wanted some M+M's, because she heard that they were my favorite.  She gave me this.  I might have diabetes now. 

So there you have it.  I'll be a much better blogger.  I hope.  Until next time...

XOXO

Ruby

To polish or not

 

Some of you might know that painting my nails funky colors and designs has recently become "my thing".  It started a little over a year ago, and now I'm reading blogs, following boards on pinterest and slowly becoming quite good at painting with my left hand (I'm a righty, obvi).  I got fancy pens and I've done everything from the American flag, the Tiffany's box and bow to polka dots and accent nails.  I'm becoming obsessed.  Co-workers now come to my desk to check out what the new weekly nail design is.  People joke I should do it as a side business.  It's become a "thing" so much that people show me their nails.  Even my boss has commented how cool my glitter accent nail was.

That being said, I tend to look at people's nails now.  I don't judge if your nails are chipped or unpainted, but I definitely get excited when people come into the lobby with their nails done.  Shellac, Tips, regular paint, it doesn't matter.

So in comes Tracey.  She's applying for an accounting position.  She's young, adorable, and wearing a cute skirt/suit combo with amazingggg black peep toe pumps.  Immediately I hate my wedges and wish I didn't look so casual, and more fancy like her.

Then I see her nails.  She obviously just chopped them off, and removed all polish.  She sees my nails (probably because I'm staring at hers...) and immediately says how she loves my nails and ohmigod, you did them yourself?!  She goes on to talk about how she had hot pink nails and she sadly took them off to "look professional" in her interview.  I slump in my chair.  Do I not look professional because of my nails?!  If anything, wouldn't my nails make me a more interesting character, maybe me look more fun and adventurous person?

Do nails really make or break an interview?  Wouldn't it be a fun ice breaker?  I'm the same way though, whenever I've had an interview, it's always no polish or very subtle boring pale pink. 

So my friends, what do YOU think?  Keep the fun nails or take it off?    Ooo, maybe just wear one with a fun name like the ones below - Guilty Pleasure or Not Just A Pretty Face.  Now c'mon... that's a fun conversation starter ;)

Who let the dogs out?

I meant to post this on Friday, but forgot.  So, now you get to enjoy this today!

We have some unwritten "benefit" where employees are allowed to bring their dogs to work on Friday.  I have no idea if this is common in other companies, but I find it strange.  

I like dogs.  They're fun, much better than cats (sorry JM!) and when trained properly they can be pretty adorable.  I don't have one, mostly because I'm way too selfish to take care of something other than myself... and well, my fish.  But let's face it, even my poor gups go a couple days without food.  It's ok, I have a million, it's survival of the fittest at this point ;)

Also my sister and brother are allergic, my mom isn't really a fan of dogs, my apartment doesn't allow them, wet dog smell is nasty and let's face it - I changed my first diaper ever for my cutie pie nephew when he was like 4 months old (he's now 9 months, and I've probably only changed him about 5 times, haha!) - and yes, I was 27 and I had never changed a diaper... it's not THAT weird..) But do you think I'm going to want to clean up after a dog?!?  Ok, so there's a lot of reason but whatever that I don't have a dog.  But I like them.  At least, I like them when they're not at my work.

Today while bringing a sandwich platter to a meeting, I was minding my own business when I heard a weird noise behind me, like a jingle jangle noise.  I looked over my shoulder and saw nothing so I kept on going.  Once I reached the conference room, I was setting up the food where I almost screamed bloody murder. (And for those who know how high I can actually scream, you know it's a good thing I contained myself.) 

This BEAST decided to stick his nose in my butt while I was turned the other way, scaring the life out of me.  Took me a second to realize what the hell it was too!  I jumped a mile and cursed the dumb dog under my breath.  While trying to set up, this thing (who's name is apparently Henry) was trying to jump on me and eat both me and the sandwiches.  Get the hell off me!  It kept trying to stick his nose in all the food and that's when I decided it wasn't my problem anymore. 

I headed back to my desk knowing my sandwich was safe and sound - and completely dog free :)

A little dog slobber never hurt anyone, right? 

Uh, there's a fire in the lobby.

I'm just gonna jump right into this.  No fancy intro or story.  Just the facts.

There was a fire in the lobby.

Ok, maybe not a real fire, but I was sitting at the desk and smoke started shooting out from a light above me, and I would say that's pretty close to a fire.

And since there's no way I can just say that and not elaborate, here's your story :)

I had just gotten back from my lunch break and was trying to shuffle NG out of the lobby.  She has a half hour break, which is supposed to be 1:30-2pm, everyday.  This girl has decided that her break is 30mins from once she leaves the lobby.  So she takes her sweet time, getting her stuff together and normally leaves around 1:45 everyday.  One would think that she would have to come back at 2pm, but nope, we all know she walks all over me.  But that's a completely different story, and today, it worked in my favor to have her far away.

NG leaves, and within minutes of sitting at the desk, I'm instantly annoyed and want to leave.  I've now gotten to the point where I just sit there, with my head resting on my hand looking completely miserable.  It was then, that the light above me starting flickering.  

Awesome.  Either the stupid construction is making the lobby turn into a club with strobe lights, or there is a ghost in the office who's just as annoyed as I am.   As I sit there getting more and more annoyed, there was a loud POP! noise that caused me to look up.   That, my friends, is when I saw smoke billowing out over the light fixture.

Holy mother of God, I'm going to die at work.

I sat in my chair for a second, wondering "maybe it will just stop and go away" quickly followed by, "do I need to tell people, or can I just leave the building and save my own life.."   Instead, I calmly picked up the phone and called Jim.

"Uh, Jim... there's a fire in the lobby?"

"WHAT do you mean there's a fire?!!?!?"

"Uhh, well, there's smoke and it smells like burning out here"

CLICK!  oh good, Jim will come fix this!

8 MINUTES LATER JIM COMES TO MY RESCUE.  8 MINUTES!!!! Obviously my life was not in danger, because, duh, I would have just left, but still.  Next telemarketer call goes to you, Jim.  Sucka.

The smoke stopped, and the lobby just smelled terrible.  Property managers and the construction team all came out to inspected it, and it was "nothing important"  Right.  Sure.  You're obviously not going to tell me the light above my head caught fire and I could have died.

For the record, as I told every man who came into the lobby to look at the damaged light and was soooooooooo concerned about fixing it, I'm FINE! Don't worry about me!! 

What.
Ev.
Er!

NG came in, and spazzed, and continued to freak out for the rest of the afternoon.  Hi, you weren't there, and not only that, everything is totally fine now.  I know she was just upset she missed all the excitement, but I'd take a lunch break over sitting in a smoky lobby any day!

Also, for the record, NG is fine too.  She made sure everyone knew that.  Yes, we can all roll our eyes together.

Yup.

Does anyone else have this problem???

Classy Fridays

So I meant to write this post on Friday, but somehow after the gym, going to my sister's for sushi seemed like a much better idea.  Lucky for all of you, I've decided to still write it! haha!

So on Thursday, I was told by my new work BFF that we were starting "Classy Fridays".  This summer HR decided to let all the employees wear casual clothes to work, every day.  It's been great, I get to wear jeans everyday.  However, some people are starting to take advantage of this and are wearing short shorts and club-ish dresses to work.  And while that is definitely a whole different blog topic, I can't help but think what exactly is work appropriate when it comes to shorts and skirts for the office?  I mean, don't normal people think, oh, my entire thigh is showing, maybe I shouldn't wear this work??

Anywayssssss.....

BFF informed me that since we can "dress down" every day, let's class it up and wear something wicked cute and classy on Fridays.  After dragging my feet, she convinced me this would be a great idea. Plus, then I was able to wear this wicked cute polka dress I got, and hadn't had a real reason to wear yet.

Perfect!

Until I woke up Friday morning and it was cloudy and 65 degrees.  Mother effer.  Since I'm at work wayyy before BFF, I debated texting her letting her know that I was wearing jeans, but I decided against it.  She was so excited about this, and what the hell, I really wanted to wear that dress!

I get to work and BFF walks in.  In jeans.  And a freaking sweatshirt.  Not only did she completely abandon Classy Friday, but she was probably wearing the scrubbiest outfit I've ever seen her in.  You've got to be kidding me.  She apologized, said something about it "being cold" and blah blah blah.

All day I rocked that dress.  And while I was freezing, because of course the A/C was blasting, I got a lot of compliments about how amazing I looked.   BFF has told me that next Friday she PROMISES to dress up.  I won't be there, but she doesn't need to know that..  ;)

Pigtails

One of the women that works for our HR department came into the lobby today.

She's pretty.  Blonde hair, has great clothes, a fun silly personality.  

...and she had that beautiful hair in braided pigtails.

BRAIDED PIGTAILS.

This got me thinking... how old is too old for pigtails?  According to her facebook, which you know I stalked, she's 36.

I say that's wayyyy too old. 

If that's not too old, is it work appropriate?  I say no.

So I need your thoughts and comments.  Am I right?!

The Khaki Pants

 As many of you may know, I'm weird.  I find khaki pants to be, well..... not for me.  And give me a water bottle, it doesn't matter how tight the cap is screwed on, or what kind of "no-leak" bottle it is, I will find a way to empty that entire thing in my purse.

And knowing those 2 things, makes this story even more comical.

Oh, and I have I mentioned it's Tuesday?  A Tuesday before a holiday, so it should be an easy day, right?!

I woke up and thought I was having a heart attack.  Or a stroke.  Or something.  I dunno, my chest hurt and it hurt to breathe.  Of course that's not going to have me calling out of work, or complaining on facebook that I'm "sick" (seriously people, I don't care about your "cold" and how "you're dying", meh!)  Anywho, I felt weird and I think that's how I ended up wearing khakis to work.  Now, I'm not against other people wearing khakis (kind of), it's just that... well, I look absolutely retarded in them.  You may be wondering why I even own a pair, and it was forced upon me. I had to buy some for my trip for the trade show I worked over Memorial Day.  And while I paired with a navy top to match my 4th of July nails (I'm so patriotic!), I look like I belong in a country club.  But hey, that's just me. 

So imagine my surprise when I get to work and I sit down in my chair and notice a huge wet spot on my hip.  What?! Where did that even come from?!  Oh whatever, let me just take my breakfast and lunch out of my bag....

YUP.

My water bottle decided to empty itself in my bag.  Again.  And to show you how impressive that feat is, here's the water bottle I rock.  You have to bite the little thing at top and suck for water to come out.  (My brother in law got it for me after I had spilled water all over my bag the first 50 times.)  

Here's the disastrous fail of my bag and the chair.  And me.  Yup.  I dumped the bag out, put it down on my lap and managed to get my thighs soaked as well.  I'm a mess.  This is proof that I should never wear khakis.  And maybe I should never put a water bottle in my bag, ever.

Not to mention today was the first day in history I decided I was going to bring  in Rice Krispies in for breakfast.  I scooped some out and threw them in a little baggie.  Have you ever seen a sandwich baggie full of mushy rice krispies? it's pretty nasty... and upsetting, that was my breakfast!!

 

On the upside, I can breathe without it hurting.  :)

Have a great 4th, everyone! :)

Happy Hot July!

Happy July Everyone!!  I should apologize for slacking again, but I think we should all just assume that during the summer I'm going to slack.  That way when I'm actually good and post, we can all be happy and excited :)  YAY!

It's hot.  It's been hot.  And I loooooooooove it.  We all know I'm a beach bum , so the heat and summer makes me happy.  It's so hot that my iced coffee can't even handle it.  

NG  came in early (shocker, I know) to beat the heat and get in the A/C.  I would have been annoyed but she picked up some bagels from a local bakery for us as a treat.  Look at the freaking size of these things!!

 She's definitely trying to make me fat.  

With it being a holiday week, I think we're off to a good start.  I have no meetings to deal with, tomorrow is Tuesday, but it's really like a Friday and I'm off to the beach for the 4th.  Although, I did get assigned a bunch of "projects" since BossBoss thinks it'll be a slow week, and as you can tell, uhh yeah, definitely got started on those...  ;) haha!  Unfortunately, phones never stop ringing, so I don't see she thinks I'm going to do them, so oh well.

For all those who aren't on vacation, I hope your week is easy!  And for all those who are on vacation - like my sister - MEH! not fair.  SO jealous!

The Crazy Man

 

Today at work I definitely had a "WTF" moment.  I was sitting at my desk, training the new mail room guy so that NG and I have backup on the phones when a crazy man came into to lobby and started screaming at me.

I don't know if any of you receptionists ever get angry people in person, but good Lord it's my least favorite thing.  Screaming callers I can handle (and hang up on), screaming people in my face... I find it hard to remain professional.  And not get emotional.  And well, to be honest, a little shaky.  I don't do confrontations.

It was one of those moments where I was glad to have someone sitting next to me.  I was happy to have someone witness what psychos I deal with.  And this guy... geez, he was no exception.  I never got his name, and the best part is that he doesn't even work for us.  His wife does.  And they're upset about her benefits.  

When I first starting working in a corporate office, I found it bizarre at how many people's spouses and parents call for the person who actually works for us.  It's almost like they're scared to call.  Which is great, so glad we hired these winners.  I mean, I get it.  I hate talking on the phone (ironic, I know) but if I have to call my doctor's office, I call myself.  So why would it be any different if I had to call my employer?  Am I the weird one in this situation?

To get back to the story, this crazy man with a thick accent came in and immediately gave me attitude about how no one in benefits called him back and he DEMANDS to talk to a live person.  Normally, when employees from our stores come in, I take pity on them.  I'll make an effort to at least call their benefit rep and see if they're available to help out.  This guy...not so much.  Don't ever go somewhere with an attitude and think you're going to get helped, and that people are going to be dying to be nice to you.

Because this guy was a douche, and started raising his voice, I decided I wanted to get him out of the lobby as fast as possible.  I looked up his rep, called her - noticed that it was OH YEAH, BEFORE 9AM and realized she probably wasn't in.  I informed him she wasn't in yet, but here's her email and her direct dial, so why don't you try that.

Apparently I'm an idiot.  That's not a live person.  That's not getting him help.  That's not doing anything but trying to get him out of the office.  He accused me of not being helpful and he was going to sit in the lobby until I got him someone to speak to.  

Um, no.  I'm not doing that.  And now that you've just screamed at me, I'm definitely not going to do anything helpful.  I was actually going out of my way giving you her extension, now you get to deal with me hating you and your tweed jacket.  

After hashing out a couple thousand "SIRS" and repeating that he has to call the number I gave him, it was when he put both his hands down on the desk and leaned forward to get in my face.  I immediately roll my chair back and tell the poor guy I'm training to go get Jim.  Of course, Jim isn't in, but I needed it to look like I was getting someone to get this guy away from me.  (Of course, I wish I stood up and got right in his face, but you always think of things to do after they happen!)

The trainee ran away, and while he was gone, psycho man decided he was going to leave.  All while muttering and cursing me.  I never got the name of his wife, but you better believe I'm going to follow up with Amanda in benefits to see if she got any crazy callers.  I think HR would be interested in hearing this.

My poor little trainee came back and asked if that has happened before.  With my heart racing, a trying to not look all rattled, I informed him that he wasn't even close to being my first crazy person in the lobby to scream at me.  He looked concerned and tried to lighten the mood by saying "well, at least he didn't have a gun"

IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?!?!? ahhhhh, that makes me scared even more!!

Happy Monday, Everyone!;)

The best worst advice I can give

Today was a rough day.  I switched shifts with NG so I could go to a doctor's appointment this morning.  Unfortunately that meant I was working until 6pm.  By the time I got to the office, I had to run around to deliver lunches, cover NG's 1000s bathroom breaks, squeeze in a lunch, clean up after the meetings, cover NG's lunch, go to a meeting with my boss, attempt to calm down an upset NG after her meeting with the boss and then be chained to the phones until closing. 

All while wearing a fucking smile on my face.

In all the years that I've been working for this company, 2 people (my boss and Kathy's boss) have told me the worst advice ever.  Only thing is, it turns out to be some of the smartest advice I've ever been given.

Fake it 'til you  make it.

I'm not even kidding.  The first time I was told that by Kathy's boss I was insulted.  Fake it until I make it? What kind of advice is that?  You want me to pretend to be happy even though I'm miserable?  You want me to smile and act like everything is totally fine even though the majority of people I interact with, both in person and on phones, are dumb??

Yup.

And the worst part - it totally works.  I even did a search of the phrase and it's a real "thing".  Wikipedia says its " is a common catchphrase that means to imitate confidence so that confidence produces success"    Well well, so if I fake happy and looking confident, the end result is me looking like I know what I'm doing and I'll be successful? Interesting.  It's also associated with AA - ha.  Everything about my job is full circle to drinking more.

I've been meeting with my boss a lot more frequently and when she mentioned how NG just isn't as good as me (well, duh) and how there have been complaints that she doesn't greet everyone or can sometimes get a little tooooo casual with employees (she does, she wants to be friends with everyone, and doesn't see the difference between friends and co-workers).  Daily I am asked by co-workers if they can do a last minute lunch orders for their meeting happening in 2 hours.   And with a huge fake smile on my face, I'll tell them "Of course you can!  Not a problem, I'll take care of that for you right away!!! :) :) :) :) :)"  That's when I hang up the phone with them, roll my eyes, mutter under my breathe how dumb they are and continue on my day. 

NG... not so much.  (And let's not even get into it that she doesn't actually do any of this work, I do it so why does she make it a big deal??)  Anywho, she'll state how inconvenient last minute orders are.  How we really need more notice.  How she can order them pizza, but that's about it.  Oh, and you might have to come pick the order up yourself since Ruby is running around with all the other lunches.  Oooh, you wanted drinks... I'll see if we have enough for you... 

This, my friends, is when you fake it.  We all know how terrible last minute things are, but you don't actually say that!  You grin and bear it.  And ya know what? everyone in the office knows they can count on me and I will do anything to help them out.  NG, well.... people try to just avoid her and go directly to me.  

I don't know which is worse.  People sort of walk all over me, but I'd rather people talk about how awesome I am over and over then to have one NEGATVE (ew, still hate that word) comment made about me.  I will try to go above and beyond so much that I will...

...fake it 'till I make it.

God damn it.  My boss was right...

...Hey, if the shoe fits..   ;)

The BlackBerry

As you all know, I was out last week.  Everyone knows that.  Everyone but my callers.

My morning started off with one particular rude caller.  NBD.  I mean, it is Tuesday after all.  The reason I've picked this wonderful gentleman to talk about is because he's just so ridiculous!  What's his face calls, and as soon as he starts talking, I know he's going to be miserable.

He's been calling since last week.  He's left messages.  No one has gotten back to him.  

Um.. ok.  Well I'm sorry sir, but there are two receptionists.  And.. I was actually out last week.  How can I help you?

SIGHHHHHHHHHHH, let me explain it, AGAIN.

He goes into detail about how he found a blackberry, and upon turning it on, it says our company's name and has a number to call if lost.  (side note - really?! do other companies do this?? I guess it makes sense, but it just seems weird!)

Anywho, he's been calling trying to speak to the appropriate person to be able to figure out what to do with the phone.  

I give him a couple of names of people in the telecommunications department that he should speak to when he barks at me that he left messages for those people already.

Ok, well people were out last week, so I really recommend talking to Kate, and she'd be able to help.

Kate's voice mail says email is the best way to get a hold of her

Ok, let me get you Kate's email address

I DONT NEED THAT.  I NEED HER TO PICK UP HER DAMN PHONE!!!

Seriously? Would you be that angry because you found a phone, and no one returned your call stating you found it?

Apparently this guy was that angry.

He threatened to throw out the phone, or maybe he will just keep it!  Uhhh, go ahead buddy, I DON'T CARE.  Why do people threaten me with pathetic lines?  I'm not going to lose sleep over the fact that you throw out at phone that's not mine!


The jackwagon calmed down enough for me to transfer to Kate and I have to believe all went well.  He never called back.  


Whyyyyyyyyyy do people yell at receptionists? Do they think that will help them?? Someone please explain this to me!  And seriously... a phone makes you that upset? I can only assume he steals candy from babies and pushes toddlers down.


What a loser.

Friends?

I'mmmm baaaccckk!  bahahha, that picture is only slightly terrifying! :)

Did you miss me??  After being away for a week at our trade show, I'm back.  And if I wasn't asleep on my feet while there, I would have totally blogged.  Maybe.

I turned in my hourly time sheet today (yes late, but whatevs) and in the past 2 weeks I worked 103 hours.  Which, I know people work a lot more than 40 hours a week, but not this girl.  So I get to brag.  I'm going to get a fat paycheck with 23 hours at time and a half.  Boom.  (Sadly this is one of my smaller amount of OT while working 'the show', but is that really a bad thing that I worked less?! It's still going to be a sweet check)

I'm covered in bruises and cuts from lugging shit around and setting up displays.  I'm exhausted and kind of hate that I'm already back at real work after having one day off.  However, it was really nice to come in and have people say they missed me and are glad to have me back. 

Anywho! When I got home Saturday night I was catching up with my sister (who I barely got to talk to while I was there and that was just weirddddd since I talk to her all day everyday...) and I told her that something really weird happened while there.

Jim and I...


ew, get your mind out of the gutter! :)


...got along.  And not only did we get along, I enjoyed his company.  He wasn't his usual douchbag self, but a funny, even nice person.  We goofed off together, drank together, even shared nephew pictures and stories.  I managed to get through a conversation with him without rolling my eyes.


We took a picture together and put it on FB.  He frieneded me on FB.  We already had each other's number due to work, but he texted me retarded things which got me to go "HA" a couple times.  Yes, just one HA - we're just starting to get along, let's not rush this ;)


I learned he's the pickiest eater ever - and realized that I hate guys that picky.  Seriously, just order the burger with everything on it. You look ridiculous asking for no lettuce, tomato, onions or pickles.  I would make fun of him in a nice teasing way for being a loser.  Normally I would have rolled my eyes and mutter something under my breath.


Are we becoming friends?


His luggage got lost on our trip home.  How do I know this, since I immediately left the airport as soon as I got my luggage? He texted me to tell me how much it sucked. 


My sister thinks we're turning a new leaf.  Maybe this new relationship will make work better and more enjoyable.  Maybe, just maybe, we can co-exist without me wanting to stab a fork into him.


Well, my friends.  NOPE.


Guess who didn't come into work today.


Jim.


The douche who took the Friday before we left off as his Memorial Day Holiday (since we work the holiday), decided to take today off as his Memorial Day Holiday.


Guess we'll always have the Trade Show because he's back on the shit list! :) 

The Trade Show

I had my temp start today.  Oh, what's that? You're so important that you have a temp? haha, apparently!  

I'm actually off to Florida on Sunday to work our annual trade show.  And yes, this weekend is Memorial Day and yes, I will be working when I should be having a nice long weekend.  I'll also be working around 80 hours next week within 5 days.  Why do I do it you ask?  Because it's a sweet ass paycheck.  I get paid 40 hours of overtime, and I come back home and get 2 comp days.  Many of you might even be jealous of me that I get to go Florida.

Don't be.

While it's 88 degrees, hot and humid, I'll be wearing jeans (and possibly long sleeves) as I freeze my ass off in the cold a/c in the hotel.  I work long hours, starting as early as 6am and going until 11pm.  I don't get to enjoy the sun.  The group of us does make it a point to have a hot tub party before turning in for the night, so I do get outside, just not turning prime tanning hours.

 So why do I do it? Events are sort of my thing.  Being a party planner is my dream job.  I love the behind the scenes of running an event.  People will go there and see 100 amazing center pieces, and while being locked in a hotel room making them for 4 hours sucks, I love being able to brag that "oh those? oh yeah, I put those together."   Think about it, you get paid to set the atmosphere to allow people to have a good time.  How many weddings have you been to where you left and talked about the DJ, the food, the favors.  All of them? Exactly.   While working a trade show isn't exactly the same thing it's something.  And it's better than going to the trade show and having to stand in one of those booths talking to people about nonsense.  I just make sure everything looks pretty and people are fed. 

Anywho, I had a whole reason for bringing up my temp but I think that will have to wait until tomorrow.  So we'll just say that this blog was to inform all my blovers that I will be MIA next week, but hopefully I will come back with fun blogs.  If this year's trade show is anything like past years, it's gonna get cray cray.

Haha, not really.  I'll be delirious and wanting to be home the entire time, but hey, at least I won't be answering phones :)

The Nephew (and no, not mine!)

Sorry I've been slacking on blogging lately.  Work has been nuts and full of drama lately.  I have a ton of things I could and should have blogged about (and maybe I still will) but I decided going out every night last week would be more fun.  Luckily for you guys, I'm back and hopefully being a hermit this week, so that means lots of blogs for you!

And off we go!

This morning a boy named James walked into the lobby.  Cocky-I-have-a-"Beiber hair cut"- and-I'm- smirking-James.  I immediately dislike him.  He comes up to my desk and states, he's James.  

Um... ok.  I'm Ruby.

He looks at me like I have 5 heads and says he needs to see Stef, the girl in HR.  Okayyy, whatever, dude.  I give her a call and she informs me he's a temp, and he's here for paperwork.  She'll be out in a minute.  Ok, cool.

She comes out, collects him and his ridiculous smirk, and makes a gesture with her hand that she's going to call me.  oooOOOOOooo, what could this be about!? Please don't tell me Stef thinks this 12 year old is cute!

NOPE. 

WRONG.

James is apparently a big deal.  He's the CEO's nephew (aha, that cocky attitude makes sense now.) She was calling because she was freaking out because he was here and Jim hadn't made his employee security pass and OH-EM-GEE, this probably just looks OH SO TERRIBLE!  I assure her that James will be fine and not to worry.  I try to joke about the situation, I mean really, who cares.  He's the guy's nephew, that doesn't mean much to me...  Only, Stef was serious and started acting all HR-ish towards me.  If I saw Jim, I had to tell him about the pass situation, and to contact Stef immediately.

This gets me thinking.  What makes this kid so freaking important?  Just because he's a nephew of a big wig, why should we bend over backwards and give him special attention? Hardly no one gets their pass on their first day - and it's super impressive when Jim actually has it ready for their start date. 

Why does he get a temp job handed to him?  I only know it was handed to him because I've never seen him come in for an interview.  Why is he walking around like he owns the place?  It's not like it's his dad that's the CEO. How young is this guy?  Do I really have to be extra nice to a high school boy?

And more importantly, why isn't it standard that we have these passes ready when new people start?  Why do we only spaz out when it's "someone important?"  What determines what makes someone important.  I mean, let's face it, I'm sort of a big deal and I don't see people freaking out about having everything perfect for me... ;)

At the end of the day, James swung by the desk to see if we had his pass.  Stef had it, but he didn't seem concerned with actually getting it and said he'd stop by her desk tomorrow and grab it.  He thanked me for my help and told me to have a nice day.

Damn you kid, after everything, the smirk, theterrible hair cut, you're a nice guy.  Guess I have to be nice to him now...

The Abusive Relationship

I feel like my job is like being in an abusive relationship.  Everything is fine, dare I say everything is going well, and BAM, I'm punched in the face, walking around the office with a black eye, telling everyone everything is fine and actually, it's my fault.  

Fuck.

Friday was a reeeallly good day.  Like, I left work a half an hour late, and I was smiling.  That's major.  

I ended up in a meeting with BossBoss, and while stuck in her office watching her write an email and take phone calls, something must had triggered in her to pay attention to me. (maybe she saw me yawning??) And that's when we got talking.  We talked, I complained, she listened.  We planned, we strategized, we got serious.  What I'm doing is not the job of a receptionist.  She understood my complaints, and vocalized how much she appreciates me and how proud of me she is.  I stepped up to a challenge and I nailed it.  Good things were coming my way.

Shut up, I'm not even kidding.  Those were HER words. Well, maybe not that last part, but I have a feeling that good things are coming my way.

So, how could my high be ruined?  Oh easily, today is Monday.  3 days after we talked.

A couple days before my meeting (I think it was Wednesday, maybe Thursdsay), I sat in on a meeting with NG and BossBoss.  I was there mostly for morale support, and my God, she needed it.  Bossboss tore her apart.  (Someone got fired and bossboss was having a "rough" day because of it, so therefore, she took it out on NG.  Sucky, but that's unfortunately how she works.  VERY annoying.)  Anywho, I got thrown into it too when Bossboss scolded both of us about slacking on making visitor badges for guests.  I admit, I never make them.  I hate doing it, I don't know how to spell people's names so I just skip that part.  

Next time there's a huge meeting going on that's going to include non-company attendees I'm to ask the creator of the meeting to send the guest list.  That way reception has it, we can print the names out before hand, blah blah blah.  And that's probably exactly when I tuned out.  

So today, there was a huge meeting with people from outside the office.  Guess who didn't get a guest list.  Guess who totally forgot.  Guess who got yelled at by Bossboss.  

Me.

 

"Didn't we just talk about this?  Didn't you say you were going to get the lists?  WHY didn't you"

Um... I dunno.  I forgot?  Meh.   NG tells me not to worry about it, but Bossboss is right.  I did say I was going to do that, so technically I'm at fault.

This always happens at work.  Whenever I feel good about something and my "relationship" is going well, my "boyfriend" knocks me around and I'm stuck sulking with a black eye.  I'm obviously not trying to joke around about abusive relationships, but I honestly can see how one can get stuck in a relationship like that. It's good, it's bad, it's good, it's bad.  You deal with it.  I know tomorrow everything will be fine, and I'll probably see Bossboss and she'll be nice and act like nothing happened.

How many times am I going to knocked down before I leave?  Why do I believe in Bossboss when she promises me new things? And to top it off, my carpal tunnel is killing me from writing this blog! MEH!!! hahahaha, this girl is off to bed!