A Journal of Sorts

Friday 12 March 1999

The umbrella trap

Katie is one of my favorite offspring. Of course, she isn't MY offspring, but I feel like we should be closely related. I suppose she can't help being interesting with parents like Dede and Tom S. It is still hard to fathom that she and Daniel will be legal adults in a few months.

After I got Katie (what did she say when she first got in the car? "I absolutely abhor this!" while pointing at the dirty window) we went to Ed's house and got Daniel. Then we drove around awhile exchanging clever banter. I showed them the cool new airport tunnel that goes under the runways. I think they were underwhelmed. Katie wanted some bananas, so we went to the grocery on the way back to the house.

I read in the car. Especially when I have a house full of offspring and there are several television sets and video games going at the same time. I finished reading Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller and went back to reading my Catechism of the Catholic Church. When it was time to come back into the house, I was turning off the music (classical) and noticed Tom's umbrella that I had been meaning to bring back into the house. I also decided to check the mail and since I had the umbrella in my hand and since it was raining, I used it.

About the time I got the mail in my hand, Katie came out and told me the phone was ringing (three teenagers in the house and nobody knows how to pick up the phone?) so I dashed in, heading for the nearest phone in the kitchen. During the dash, I was trying to close the umbrella, but it was putting up a fight. It not only wouldn't close, but it trapped me in the kitchen doorway just as I was reaching for the phone. Being the easily amused person that I am, I picked up the phone and started laughing instead of saying hello. It turned out to be the gal from the place I interviewed a couple of days ago wanting to schedule me for another interview. I wonder what sort of impression THAT made. I guess in technical support, a little insanity helps.

We scheduled for Monday afternoon, then, a short while later, she called back and rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon. It seems someone named Chris is going to be out of town on Monday and Joe really wants me to meet him. It appears they are interested in me.

I've started to sense an air of, um, defensiveness about this company. I'm not sure I could put a finger on it, but some things that were said in my last interview about angry clients, although there are always angry clients, seemed a little more emphasized than usual. Also, when you roll into their voice mail system, there aren't very many options . . basically, press 1 for technical support, 2 for customer service or hold for the operator. Today, I got in the voice mail of the assistant to the president of something or other and her voice mail started talking about "if you are having a problem" instead of the usual schpiel. Kinda makes me wonder. Of course, I've always loved a challenging job and this one is starting to sound like a big adventure.

I like the silky feel of the two crocus in the front container garden. Didn't do much outside work today since it was raining and windy and cold. A bad combination for outdoor comfort. I did cut some of the spent blossoms off of the daffodils. I read that they will be better next year if you don't let them go to seed. Tom thought that might be why only three of the hundred tulips we had last year came back this year.