What's Wrong with this picture?

I actually got a jump on Monday's work at the office on Friday, which was cool, because I didn't think that I'd get that far. The drop in phone calls about:

1. How do I do an address change.
and
2. Did you get my fax.

Are no longer my responsibility, and I can transfer those calls to the case specialists. It drops my callback list from 20 voice mails to maybe 6? That's a 75% drop (almost), and the incoming callers are generally getting the message as well, and I'm transferring the callers that I can to the case managers.

So it's helped TREMENDOUSLY.

I noted that one of the women in the office has moved to a different office. I asked my colleague, who sat next to her if she moved because she was going to be moving ANYWAY, or whatever have you (being nosey is my forte). We ended up talking about her (since she was not at the office at that point) for a half hour after it was MY time to leave, which is 4pm--and my colleague told me the scoop--

Firstly, this person has been shifted from one job duty to another in an attempt to find her something that she could do, and do responsibly and accurately, and she's just not able to deal with the stress of a high workload and a busy phone, plus the constant interruptions of a staff intent on getting their work done. At one point, I even asked the supervisor if she was taking medication regularly--not because of the stress, but because of

Secondly, she seems to have a personal life that is out of control, and she's basically spouting off at people in the office when her personal life doesn't "go her way". I didn't expect an answer from the supervisor, mind you, on that query, but wanted to get across that she seems to have some really extreme reactions to different stimuli.

Thirdly, she was in the area when two of my colleages were discussing her and her work ability--and wondering how in the world she can keep her job when she's not doing it. The supervisor has shifted her from one duty to the next to try and get her into a position that suits her, and there's just nothing. I don't have much to do with her anymore, because I've found that she wants everything filtered through the supervisor--even when the supervisor asks me to pass something to her, I still have to give it back to the supervisor with a note to give it to this person. She goes off on me at the slightest provocation, and doesn't work well with ANY of the rest of the staff. No one trusts her, and we all talk about her as something of an oddity.

I feel a little sorry for her, because I remember being young, being a divorced mother of a hyper child, and wishing I had some relief. To her credit, she seems to do BETTER than I did with her child, but the staff at the office are SUFFERING! I was always the other way around.

Everyone would like to tell her to go to the doctor and/or a therapist to talk with someone about her difficulties, because

Fourthly, her most trusted colleague moved to a different job across town--first, to have a little more stable job; second to get away from this person, because she was constantly tying up her "friend's" time in personal life issues, and she wasn't able to get her work done because of it. What she never knew is that her "best friend in the office" talked about her just as much as any of the rest of us. This absence of this woman's most trusted colleague has left a vacuum in her life, and she's reached out to the newest member (a temp) on our staff, and has started tying up her time with such discussions--the temp, who is mostly responsible for filing and pulling files is starting to bear the marks of a frazzled employee (like the rest of us) being loaded down with too much work--things like hair sticking out at the root...it's frightening, actually.

So she (and I am trying to protect her identity) is something of a pariah in our office. She's not a BAD person, by any stretch, but no one in the office really understands her--I understand her, and I still try to avoid her as much as possible. Everytime I've tried to work with her on something, I've paid the price, so I'm just not going there anymore. So I don't know what to do. My colleages are all very happy that she's moved to the other end of the office.

So I'm basically keeping my nose out of the matter, and she's become blog fodder, but I can't help it. Her behavior frustrates me. The fact that I understand it, somewhat, scares the living hell right out of me.

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So I promised pics of the hotpads yesterday, and here they are, hanging on my kitchen wall.


Aren't they just to die for? The tails are not "tied down" to the hotpad, but are "free form", making the "cat" somewhat 3D, and such a cute idea. I can make a whole bunch with different themes.

I also ended up buying Scaredy-Cat, and how cute is that pattern anyway (see yesterday's post for the link)? I'd like to start it, but I know that I won't finish it until well after Christmas. Besides, I have to make these socks for my mom--which turned out to be something of a nightmare--done in intarsia, rather than fair isle, and I am none to keen on intarsia--why did I pick this project anyway!

Because my mom likes pigs, and wants some socks for Christmas, and these were the only ones I could find in evidence anywhere. And the finished article is so darn cute--but it requires the use of bobbins, I'm pretty certain of that, and my bobbin work is always SO tight that the finished article doesn't fit--or fits poorly, and you can't have that with a sock, right?

So I've ripped out about 5 rows--which didn't make me happy at all, and I'll wind some bobbins later today to make these socks. I want them to work, and work correctly. Unfortunately, I won't be able to start on the project again until after hubby gets out of bed (yes, it's early yet) and we clean out the corn stove and prep it for heating our house. MY GAWD! IT'S COLD IN HERE! I've also got 4 windows to put dressing on this weekend, and a trip to a small fiber fair around noon today. So it's a full weekend--for sure!

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Last night I put the leash on the dog--literally--and got her to walk on the treadmill. She is getting used to it, and soon won't mind it so much as she does now, but now it's a fight to get her on the thing, get it started and get her going at the right speed so that she's almost running and not meandering back and forth like she does on a regular walk down the road. I keep dog cookies handy for when she does her walk well, and at a quick and steady pace. She's learning. She doesn't like it right now, but she will appreciate it come winter when I won't be able to take her on frequent walks--she's a border collie, you know? So she's just off the treadmill this morning and has had her doggie treat. She did really well on the treadmill today, although she didn't want to do it at first. She did finally make it, and took a short walk--then decided to stop, and rolled right off the machine! LOL! It was like watching a cookie fall off the conveyor belt. I will someday get a picture of her on the treadmill, but right now, while still teaching her, I have to hold the leash, and touch her to keep her steadily on it.

I got her a KONG toy, several months ago, and she has played with it like it was a ball, running around the house with it, drop it, bounce, pick it up and run to the other end of the house with it...but I found out that you're supposed to put TREATS inside. Well, I got some treats, and she likes to play with the KONG with that treat in there. It's become her favorite toy--even over tennis balls!

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One day, some time ago, I got some pics of the autumn scenery near my home. Yes, I was motoring down the road and taking these pictures, point and shoot as I was driving. Some of them are----well?? Askew? (Hysterical laughter)In the parking lot where I park every morning--gorgeous tree, eh?


On the way home, a lovely, colorful vista--

And a scene that could have been on Driving Miss Daisy. This is the view pointed straight down the road near the Looking Glass River. It's beautiful down here.

The fiber fair in Mason was fun. We had a good time getting together and chatting. The fair was a bit small, but several fiber artists were represented. I wasn't interested in buying anything, though. There was quite a bit of wool mixed with some lovely colors, but I didn't have the money to get enough for a whole sweater, and the roving that I wanted had already been purchased by someone else. There was wool, mohair, angora, alpaca and more represented, but I left empty handed.

How in the world I accomplished that, I still have no idea, but afterward, I was exhausted! I came home, had something quick to eat, and then I went to bed. I slept for 4 hours! Now I'm up again, considering whether I should start working on my mother's socks.

CYA!