Sunday, September 16, 2007

The Alumni Luncheon

The alumni of The Big Developer Which Must Not Be Named had a great time today. It was so great to see Old Boss R (not that he's Old, but he's the former R, not to be confused with the current R, and how do I manage to get two Bosses with the same first name in such a short span of time?) and his hilarious wife V, and L and her adorable fella M. We ate, we laughed, we vowed not to let another three years go by before we do this again. Because yeah, it was 3 years since the last time R, V and I got together. And I realized that it has been 4 months since I've seen A, The Lawyer Formerly Known As Boss, our last wings and beer session was right before I went back to work, and this is how it starts, we all get sucked into different schedules and busy with our lives, and it's so damn hard to get together.

I really miss working with R and L, we had so much fun together. They reminded me of so many crazy stories that had fallen out of my brain, like the boss's secretary who got shitfaced at lunch on a regular basis when her boss was out, and the fight she had with the flamboyantly gay landscape architect when he dared Take a Roll of Scotch Tape from HER supply cabinet. (When the drunk secretary was fired, this middle aged man actually skipped down the hall singing, "Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead.") And then there was the paralegal who cried big blubbery tears if anyone was mean to her, which basically meant not doing whatever she wanted, no matter how politely. And the paralegal who was always taking food "home to her grandchildren," as if they were urchins living hand to mouth. Her daughter, their mother, was, I believe, an accountant. We'd have an office meeting and there would be leftover trays of sandwiches and such, and before anyone could grab an extra for an afternoon snack, she'd take the ENTIRE tray to her car. A Lexus. (That was A BIG CLUE that I was seriously underpaid, don'tcha think?) We didn't even get to the stories about the paralegal who wore the black cocktail dress and the fuck me shoes whenever an important person visited from the home office. We knew when someone important was visiting when she broke out the call girl wear. L was R's and my assistant back then, she'd buzz me and whisper: "She's wearing the dress and the fuck me shoes. Who's here?"

You can't make up shit as crazy as we lived. V had her own memories, and we had L's fairly new fella M hooting with our stories, and that was just the highly condensed version. And they didn't make me sign a confidentiality agreement when I left, so they should be, not VERY afraid because my memory isn't so good now, but mildly nervous. I really should write this stuff down someday.

L's guy is a keeper, a warm, smart, witty guy without any visible issues. L deserves him, and he gives me hope that there may be one for me.

Speaking of (memory) issues, I think I need to think about getting myself a Crackberry. Because here is a true story about how my brain works now.

The offsite meeting in the post below was set up earlier last week. I remembered it all week, I knew where it was, I reminded others in our department about it the afternoon before it happened. And then, the day of the meeting, I forgot to show up, and went to the office instead. And the fact that the door was locked and there was nobody at the front desk didn't jog my memory. The only thing that saved me was that a couple of the guys were in the office early and driving over from there, and they took me with them. When they mentioned the meeting, I gave them a blank look - what meeting? When the told me I finally remembered. But that's how it is, and how these memory gaps are not like normal ones. Anyone can forget a morning meeting and follow their usual route to work, but when you get there and the door is locked, you (I) would pause to think why, and figure it out. That's what's missing here - I don't have that "Oh shit, that's right, I forgot!" function anymore. I have to be told what I forgot, and then I do remember it, but the self-triggering mechanism is busted. I need an easy calendar alarm system, and my current phone, cute as it is, isn't that great for that.

4 comments:

Paper Tiger said...

Just a suggestion... My Palm Pilot does the same thing for me. I sync it up with my work computer, and it has all my contacts (bonus: it's a rolodex that I can take from job to job), it has my calendar with reminders, and it's handy for little notes. Not as nice as a Crackberry, but cheaper...

Catherine said...

I had a handheld Before Aneurysm, but I need to take so many notes in my job it's not as practical as a paper planner. I don't want to carry it just as a calendar alarm system, I already have to carry two phones and the planner. In this case it'd make more sense to replace the phone.

Unknown said...

That's why I got a Palm Treo. Phone, addresses, knitting patterns, grocery list, calendar and MP3 player all in one.

I loved your lunch stories. And thank you for the good wishes, Catherine.

Bess said...

Ooo. The whole memory thing hit a chord. It's these tiny little things I just forget to do. Me, Miss Miracle Memory. I reach for it and it's gone. In fact, as soon as it is gone, I spend some time trying to pull it back just to see if I can rebuild neurons and synapses. So far I haven't forgotten to go to a meeting, though.

Hope the knee is better – i'll post more Great Falls photos today.