The Co-Op: Redundancy

Here's a quick example of a conversation with Family Guy:

He broke his computer, for lack of a better word. He had more garbage on that hard drive than I'd seen in a major landfill. It was beyond "fixing" so he asked me to try and restore it. It was so bad that I basically had no choice other than to reformat the hard drive. I reinstalled Vista, got it running, but didn't have time to re-install Microsoft Office or his Verizon Suite. He came in the next day, and I gave him the report.

ME:"OK man, I got the system up and running, Vista is installed and everything is ok. I didn't have time to re-install Office or Verizon, but you can handle that."

FAMILY:"You didn't install Office?"

ME: "No, you can put that back in. Or leave it here and I put it in tonight and you can have it tomorrow."

FAMILY:"You didn't put the Verizon Suite in?"

ME:"Nah, didn't get that in either"

FAMILY:"So those programs aren't installed?"

ME:"Still no."

FAMILY:"So when I go home, I have to put them in?"

ME:"You like asking the same question a lot of times, huh?"

Makes every day interesting.

Thoughts On A Holiday

Typically, with the Easter holiday, "freedom" isn't the theme for the day. But I had an experience Sunday that really brought that to mind.

It was all seemingly unimportant, but when I thought about things, it really became significant.

Case in point: There was a couple seated in front of me in Church, probably in their early 30's. They had with them a little boy, my guess is about 3 or 4 years old. From the moment the three of them settled in the pew, the show began. The boy immediately cut loose. He grabbed at the songbooks, then the missals, each grab was met with some resistance by the parents. He was climbing up on the bench. then down under the bench. They would pick him up to restrain him, he'd squirm, they'd put him down, he'd continue. He got a good hold of one of the songbooks, and immediately began tearing the pages out; Mom grabbed the book, then Dad picked him up, he squirmed and cried. Dad put him down, he made for the aisle.

You get the point.

All I could think about was what life was like the rest of the week with this little Tyrant. From the minute his eyes open, he dominates the lives of everyone around him. This future criminal had no boundaries, no restraint. I could only see life with this kid, every waking moment of the parents' lives dedicated to either fulfilling his wants, or meekly resisting behavior they don't approve of. I know that throughout history, people have struggled, sometimes in vain, against tyranny. The worst of it had to be when the invaders reached the home front, which is what these people dealt with the entire 60 minutes of the Church service.

I'm not a perfect parent, but at least in my life, the hierarchy is established. That's the case, in part, because I know that the world requires some restraint and decorum, (although these days, good manners and behavior might be a detriment to them) but my brain would never allow a 4 year old to dictate my life to me.

Parenting is hard. That's an understatement. But it requires the proper efforts from day one of the child's life, or one can be prepared to battle it out for freedom for a long time to come.

Not exactly an Easter thought, but it did become very important to me.

And man, it was exhausting to watch.

Question

Apparently, a great number of people believe that what they need me to
do is far more important than what I'm currently doing. They believe
that, and I say that because they just feel free to interrupt without
even asking if I might be busy. It's assumed that I am there just
a'waitin for their next whim.

Tact hasn't always been my strong point. I do have a tendency to go with
the sharp reply when I feel like people just assume that I couldn't
possibly be doing anything nearly as urgent as what they want me to do.
Sarcasm is a great tool, but realistically, there's not always a place
for it.

My question, or rather my request, is, how would you tactfully inform
someone that what you're doing is quite possibly as important as what
they want you to do for them. I ask for tactful because let's face it,
we have to work together.

Pardon the formatting here. I sent this via a quick email rather than
logging on. It was pretty urgent, actually. HA! Please help. Send your
friends with suggestions too. You might save a life!

The Co-Op: Pump Up the Volume

So we have a problem with volume in the Co-Op. Volume as in "too damned loud!" There is a huge need for some sort of soundproofing, or perhaps maybe for me to go deaf so I won't notice so much.

I think there is a certain amount of self control necessary when working in an office where there are a lot of people making phones calls at the same time. It's not a good thing to be shouting over each other, especially when the people on the other end of the phones have to listen to this too.

Family Guy. Ohhh Family Guy. Shut UP. If there was ever a human being who should have come equipped with a volume knob, it's this nob. Oh my God, we tell this guy regularly that the's busting windows with his ridiculous phone-bellowing. We've even gone so far as to print a "Speak Quietly Please" sign on an 8x10 sheet, framing it, and putting it on his desk. For real. He inspires thoughts of violence in his co-workers. We like it when he's away.

Gramps also has frequency issues. See, somehow he's gotten the idea that if he's calling someone in California, say, then he has to yell very loudly on the phone because they're so far away. And he doesn't work up to a crescendo-he goes full blast right out of the gate, like a jackhammer.

H. blows by our office. He has a problem. He can't speak on the phone at his desk. It's like a compulsion; he has to wander the halls as he speaks. You know if you're standing on the street and a police car flies past with the siren wailing? Same effect. But the hall smells after that. Oh yay.

None of them should work in a funeral home.

Ow.