Is It Thursday Already?

More on the Blog About Nothing ...

Today's the day, the culmination of six months of planning.  The Sammy Awards (first ever!) are tonight.  It has been paperwork mayhem. O.k., o.k., pushing papers is what I do.  But triple the usual amount and you get the idea.

So I've been tracking every ticket sold and for the first month, it was only $100 tickets. After April 1, there were $40 tickets, but for $40 you don't get a giclee of an original painting of Sammy the Owl numbered and signed by the artist, Tony DiTerlizzi.

Easy you say? Ha! Well, it was ... Today, somebody had the bright idea of adding emails to the master ticket list.  The list had the ticket number, person's name in two fields, if the ticket was mailed, how much, how they paid, etc.  So the boss alphabetized the list and we set a volunteer to typing in the emails (given to us by the participant).  Luckily, the retired volunteer has eagle eyes and noticed that the lines weren't reading across correctly.  The boss was going to "undo" and re-alphabetize when she noticed the amount paid for someone she knew was wrong and she said, "I'm worried."  Knowing full well that I had entered the correct amounts (because I knew that person too), I went back to my desk where the original list was correct.  In other words, the list the volunteer was using was completely FUBAR.  We finally figured out it was because I had frozen the panes in Excel in order to continue to be able to read the headings after scrolling down 180 lines.  The boss knows how to alphabetize a whole row of columns (I didn't), but she doesn't know how to freeze panes (I do).  I think we have that second list on the right path, but I'll tell ya, I'm still keeping my master list pristine.  We'll need it (alphabetized) at the door and the email addys won't be needed there.

Lisa and I have packed up everything we need to bring and that includes a zillion t-shirts and bags for them. If you buy a t-shirt, Tony will autograph them.  So, of course, we're bringing fabric markers, special markers for the art, signs, cash boxes, cash banks for the boxes, scissors, tape ... well, you get the idea.  It's like camping but we won't have to pee in the woods.

Finally at 5 p.m. tonight, I left work totally spent.  All of us have been in high gear for two solid weeks.  Anyway, I went to the supermarket and ordered fish and chips to go.  I was disappointed that my favorite young cook/fish monger wasn't there.  He's a 'long drink of water' as my grandmother used to say and, man, can he cook fish! He's also nice and friendly.  Instead there was a very gloomy guy who waited on the woman (who was scowling) in front of me and quickly turned to me.  I could barely hear his one word: o.k.  Wandering around the supermarket for the obligatory ten minutes I debated whether I should be annoyed.  Deciding that I was too tired to be annoyed I went in search of a treat for Lisa's and my lunch.  A mini chocolate cake seemed to fill the bill and I know Sharon will like it when she comes to my house to change into her fancy dress before the Sammys.

Getting back to the fish counter, grumpy lady got her order and the guy slung my bag on the counter and turned away without even looking at me.  He went back to the cooking area and I called out, "Thank you!" He looked at me and smiled, saying, "You're welcome."  I hope I wasn't the first one to acknowledge him and his work.

The cook/fish monger was the first time I had seen a black person working in that store.  Meanwhile, as I waited for the fish to cook, the Asian sushi chef -- a young kid -- was complaining bitterly to a white woman about the working conditions.  Maybe diversity isn't going so well there??

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It has finally dawned on me why I feel so lousy -- it's spring.  I've got spring fever which for me means itchy watery eyes, headache, snarfly nose, etc.  Darn! I wanted to enjoy those crocus without these symptoms.  Oh yeah, I look in the mirror in the morning and I look like I've been up drinking all night.  Those puffy eyes are very alluring.  (Insert sarcasm font here.)

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Patrons are getting just as much fun and as smiles out of my "chickened" office as I am.  They are truly amazed by the plethora of chickens.  They also are happy chickens.

Gotta go to bed.  It's way late. Ciao.