Cliff Notes Repeat

Well hello!

I would be shocked to hear that I have any "loyal" readers at this point, but I thought I would post anyway. The problem with blogging is that you have to do it regularly to tell the random short stories of life that happen, otherwise you end up writing once a year about very general life themes. This is one of those... similar to April 20, 2013 when I wrote a "Cliff Notes" update. So... here are the updates to that with a few short notes about life since then.

1) I still work at Harvard. It's not great. I am underemployed, and my job just got "restructured." I don't want to talk about it. I have been trying to get a new job for the last few years now, and nothing has worked out. I would love to actually be using the education I am in debt for, but that hasn't happened yet. 

2) I still live in a house with roommates. I don't want to talk about that either. Haha. My roommate and I don't exactly get along; I've always had trouble with people because my standard of cleanliness is super high. Usually it works out ok if the semi-messy people are also nice, friendly people. Let's just say that that's not really the case at the moment, and I am desperate to find my own place. Too bad a decent studio rental starts at about $1500. I'm too poor to afford my own place, despite being 27 yrs old and working full-time. Please refer to #1. Haha. So... I spend as little time there as humanly possible. Refer to #3 for more info.

3) I am 27 now. Same things from being 25: wishing I had a real job and a real apartment. But I AM dating someone now, so that's fun! We get along well and enjoy spending time together, so I'm happy about that. For those of you who are wondering, no, he's not LDS.

4) No major local crises to write about. (Last time it was the Boston Marathon bomber manhunt etc.)

5) In July, I went home for a little while to visit with my nephews who were visiting my parents. Then I flew them back to Utah at the end of July and stayed for a couple weeks to celebrate their birthdays and see my sister's new baby, etc. It was nice to be in Utah again, but it keeps changing and getting built up and it's starting to feel kind of gross and claustrophobic.

6) I went to Charlotte in March to see Katie. It was the best! We get to talk about all kinds of things and reminisce about college, which is when we met (holy cow) almost TEN years ago.

7) I went to NYC in June for the Ivy+ Conference and got to see Sean, which was great too. We get to talk about college and how life has changed since then and what our plans are. We also met freshman year of college... Fall 2006. Yikes. I'm old.

8) Last October, I went on a road trip with my parents to Arkansas for grandpa's funeral. If you ever get the chance (which you won't, because it's in the middle of nowhere), you should stop in and see Imboden, Arkansas.

9) In late October, Megan and Chad and their kids moved into my parents' house in CT! It certainly makes for a super full house, but I finally have a sister nearby! Yay! Erin, it's time for you to move too. Just sayin'.

Seriously, the best thing I can think of to say is that I painted my toes with new nail polish that I really like.

I don't think I have much else to report. It's pretty (un)exciting around here!

"Bizarro" or "Why Peer Pressure Is Bad"

It's been a while since I've posted and those updates will come later.

I'm just writing to report I went to Six Flags a little while ago. My friend E wanted to go for his birthday, so I said fine. He wanted to go on the big thrill-ride coasters, and I didn't. He told me I was being silly and said I had to go on at least one.

He picked "Bizarro" (previously known as "Superman"... as seen here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_%28Six_Flags_New_England%29 and here: https://www.sixflags.com/newengland/attractions/bizarro)

This is the best picture I could find. From about 6 yrs ago.

So fine. I put on my brave face. I stood in line. I got in the cart. I got buckled in. I was fine. We started clanking up the 220 ft incline. And that's where I started hysterically crying*. And then I spent the next 3 minutes and 30 seconds hugging the lap bar for dear life while snot got blown all over my face at 77 miles per hour.

It was not pretty. Or fun. And I went on zero thrill rides after that.**

-mollie


*I actually wonder if this is an unintended consequence of being scared out of my wits while sky-diving. Because watching the earth get further and further away during that first incline was really what freaked me out. But maybe not, because I also went on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyScreamer and didn't cry.

**And I'm pretty sure E felt like a big jerk the rest of the day for making me go on it, as he should. Although, I admitted that I was surprised at how scared I got all-of-a-sudden. But, this also meant I felt justified in walking around the rest of the day eating fried oreos and going on kiddy rides. Victory!

"The Time I Almost Died from Frustration" or "Pam Beesly Must Be Super Patient"

There are parts of my job I do not like.

Mostly, ordering office supplies. As Megan says, "Like Pam Beesly!"

I contacted Office Max about our annual folder order on July 24th. I knew it usually takes 40 days for an order, and we need them by Oct. 1. So I made sure to contact them well in advance.

Since then, I have called three times and emailed SIXTEEN times and they (two people) have emailed me 18 times. They used the wrong product specifications and the order was wrong. I corrected it. They sent us incorrect samples. I corrected them. Finally, this week, I tell them our absolute need-by date is Oct. 1 and they get all defensive and tell me, "Sorry, this is a custom order, and it will take 40 days."

And I want to scream. Because I didn't do anything wrong. Because we've been in touch for six weeks about this. Because when I asked if the order could be "rushed", they simply said, "No." Because when I asked if we could receive 2,000 of the folders ASAP and the other 34,000 later, they said, "No." Because when I asked if there was anyone else I could talk to in their office, the women replied, "No", but that I could call her if I wanted to. Because when I called the manufacturer directly, they said, "Sorry, but your inquiries will have to go through Office Max." and I wanted to say, "Office Max is THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE RIGHT NOW."

Seriously. Office Max has two people between me and the manufacturer. So every time we want to correct something, it goes from me to Person A, to Person B, to the manufacturer. And then if the manufacturer says something, it has to come back through the same channel. And it's all TAKING FOREVER.

So there you go. I tried to place an order on July 24th that won't be received until October 11 (to the extreme dismay of me, my boss, and all our early action applicants) because Office Max is a bunch of jerks.

*Sigh* and the worst part is frustrating my boss. Because I like my boss. And I like pleasing people.

Update: I have called three people today in an attempt to finally get this thing settled. None of them answered. Now I sit at my desk, afraid to run to the bathroom or walk over to talk to my coworkers because of course, that moment is going to be when the phone rings...

Update 2 on 9/11: To answer Kyle's question, I had contacted WB Mason for a quote because they are now our preferred vendor (we had Office Max until January). WB Mason told me it was going to be 54 cents a folder. After I told them we were getting them for 13 cents from Office Max, they said they were pleased to let me know they could get the cost down to 43 cents each. That's still high (obviously). So that's the original reason why Office Max became our only option.

At any rate, I cut out Person A in the chain of command and went straight to Person B last Friday. I called her again on Monday (9/9). Still, no one would answer my calls, or return them. But Person B was SO MUCH MORE helpful. She sent me an email confirming the quantity and telling me they will be delivered 9/20. Victory! Victory! Victory! Of course, I haven't seen the bill, so there might be more "negotiating" later, but for now, I am satisfied.

Here's a Test

I'm trying to see if I can post a blog post by sending an email and attaching a picture.