2006-08-29 - 8:31 a.m.

...ON VACATION....

Yesterday was a fairly full day at work, and a day where I was finally able to accomplish some things although not as much as planned.

I learned that my startup funds have not arrived, in contrast to what I was told previously. I learned this of course in the urgent rush to purchase something before a quote expires. It was very frustrating, to have oogabs of money that I must spend in one year, but I will not be able to spend it because it's not available to me. argh. Certain things about universities are a constant.

To alleviate my frustration, I unpacked (READ: RIPPED into) several boxes before determining that my new filing cabinet was missing pieces that the department cannot find - those long little metal jabbies that the files have to hang on. But of course, MY file cabinet - the one they scrounged to find for me last week and finally found one that someone had been begging to have removed from their office - is different from every friggin' file cabinet in the department and so NONE of the long metal jabbies actually FIT into my file cabinet. In fact, they have no idea where to find the right metal jabbies for my file cabinet.. sigh. Time to rip into MORE boxes.

The other theme of the month is "on vacation." Everyone I need to talk with is "on vacation." I called four numbers in the purchasing department before I found someone who was actually in the office. I need to get reimbursements signed - nope. The powers-that-be are "on vacation." I need to get a friggin' account number for my funds before I can purchase anything. You guess it. "ON VACATION." So I bet if I wait until September 3rd, my file cabinet's metal jabbie will return from vacationland, and all will be well again.

In other news, I learned by chance that one of our department administrators, is East German. Well, half East German, half Bulgarian. She grew up north of Berlin. I was shocked, but the minute I learned, I realized, OF COURSE. She LOOKS East German! Her face, style, hair, and demeanor are so familiar and comforting. We glided immediately into German and it cheered me up immensely.

So by the end of the day, I had actually accomplished something (unpacking, sending out an email, finishing a budget summary), which made me feel a little better. I suppose I should remove myself from this chair and get moving on some accomplishments today as well. This afternoon is the President's reception for new faculty, and so I should probably choose my wardrobe more carefully than usual....