Office Space

My office has no windows, so much of the time I work with my door open to the hallway to prevent going insane from lack of natural light. (There's a window in the hallway across from my door.) Most of the time this is fine, but I occasionally close it when the psychiatry patients from down the hall get a little crazy (literally). I also close it when I've gotten a few too many "lost" people who seem to think that I am the information desk. My office is on the 2nd floor, so it's not like I'm right by the main entrance or anything. But I do work in an incredibly confusing building, where the 1st floor is the only one that really connects all the way around. So many people come up to the 2nd floor only to realize that they have to go back down to the 1st floor, down the hall, then up again to the 2nd floor on the other side of the building. It's confusing. I admit it.

But the truth is - I'm not the information desk. Additionally, other than being able to interpret the locations of room numbers, I do not know enough of the enormous building to give any info about the whereabouts of anything that I do not have personal interaction with. So this brings to me today's visitors...

Man #1: Excuse me, do you know where the laboratory is?

Me: Um, what laboratory?

Man #1: Um...the laboratory?

Me: Um, a psychiatry lab? A research lab? The lab to have blood drawn?

Man #1: Um, pathology?

Me: Yeah, um, you're on a psychiatry floor...I have no idea where pathology is.

Seriously, dude? You're gonna come into a random floor of a building called "Center for Health Sciences" and ask for the "laboratory" and expect to get where you need to be? There are a billion laboratories in this building!

Later...

2 young adults: Excuse me, could you help us? We're lost. We're looking for the nurses station.

Me: Which nurses station?

Them: Um, the nurses station? On the 2nd floor?

Me: Yeah, the 2nd floor is pretty big... Is it a psychiatry nurses station? There are 2 of them down this hall. But if it's not psychiatry, it could be in the other part of the building...

Them: We were just told to go to the 2nd floor and to the nurses station...

They proceed to hand me a card with directions to said nurses station. A card of directions that they have clearly ignored.

Me: Yeah, so, see here where it says you have to go to the 1st floor and take the O elevators to the 2nd floor? You didn't do that...

Them: No, but we went to the 2nd floor.

Me: No...that's why they made these directions really specific - specifying the O elevators... There are lots and lots of nurses stations in this building, but if you go to the O elevators, that should help. Go down to the 1st floor, then all the way down the hall to the O elevators, then take those up to the 2nd floor, and you should be set.

Male half of the duo: Or we could just go around...right?

Me: No, this floor of the building doesn't connect throughout. It's weird. Just follow the directions on the card.

Female: Ok.

Male (walking away and talking to female): Let's go this way, we can just go around. I know how to get there...

Seriously? Um, you clearly didn't know how to get there or else you wouldn't be asking me for help. Just follow the directions on the card!!

And then I shut my door.

Upholstery

I have had a hand-me-down chair and ottoman since I graduated college that I love - but not for looks. It rocks. Literally, like a rocking chair, but not. It's a regular armchair, but on a base that lets it spin and rock. I love it. But it was in a fabric that was old and faded and honestly just ugly. Sort of a salmon-color plaid.

So last April, I found a fabric that I liked and started making the plans to have it reupholstered. Almost 3 weeks ago, they came to pick it up and said it would take a couple of weeks. This was after a couple of months (months!) of calling and leaving messages in order to schedule the pick-up. Do people not need work anymore that they can just ignore someone calling and begging for their business? I called a couple of places for this reason - and no one was calling me back.

Anyway, these guys had great reviews on Yelp - all 4s and 5s, nothing lower. So I went with it. They picked it up, and then called to let me know that they would drop it off today. So he comes, and he's rolling it toward the front door of my apartment building, and it looks yellow. Maybe that's just tinted plastic wrap it's in? Uh, no, it's in clear plastic...it's been upholstered in BRIGHT yellow fabric. Not the woven black and white that I picked out. "uh, um...that's not my fabric. I gave you black and white fabric." "uh, um, really? uh...oh, black and white woven together...right...uh..." The "oh-shit" look on his face was actually I think more related to the fact that he had used someone else's fabric on my chair than the fact that he did not have mine done correctly. He said that he had the fabric and knew what it was and there had been some mix up with fabric bolts. He would have it done first thing - asap...whatever that means.

If he had used my fabric on something else, I would be pissed. At least for now it's just a slight delay in getting my chair back. Cross your fingers that it all works out in the end!

Mixing what makes me happy

For years and years of my adult life, I was stumped about how my mom could create amazing meals out of what seemed like random things in the pantry. I mean, sure, for special occasions she'd get out some cookbook and follow a recipe, but on a day-to-day basis, it was either a standby meal that she made frequently or a new creation of odds and ends we had in the pantry. When I began making my own meals, I could never figure out how she always ended up with these great things on hand. My method was basically going to the store with exact ingredients in mind for a particular meal or meals. I'd usually throw in some of those things that never go bad, like frozen corn, to have in an emergency situation where I didn't have time to go to the store. This style was great when I lived in Oregon, with a small grocery in my backyard. What sounded good for dinner? Ok, now off to buy those food items.

So years later, I think I might have figured it out. Tonight, I made one of the best curries I have ever made. I often have coconut milk and red curry paste on hand because, well, they don't go bad, and I then I just have to go buy the veggies to go in it. I got my CSA box yesterday (my 3rd box since starting, and this one was by far the best - it's like they read my mind about what fruits and vegetables I like), and so I thought, "maybe I'll just throw some veggies into a curry." However, my curries usually have more "Asian" style veggies in them. You know, since I usually buy them with the specific intention to make a curry. Anyway, these were definitely not typical curry vegetables, but I just thought, "eh, whatever. I like these vegetables, and I like curry, so it could work."

BINGO. That's what I've been messing up this whole time. I keep trying to create meals that "make sense" in some organized way. I overthink what goes together and what matches or doesn't match instead of just thinking about what I like and throwing it all together. I'm not positive this was my mom's method, but I am thinking that it works. So I made this curry tonight. Yellow patty pan squash, green beans, red onion, orange bell pepper, coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, tumeric, garlic powder, ginger, dash of cinnamon. Some of those last spices started to get random, but it was awesome. Seriously one of the best curries that I've made. I'm not 100% sold on the green beans in a curry, but it was still good.

So I started thinking about this and my overthinking problem (yeah yeah, I was thinking about thinking... There is a word for that, you know, so I'm not the only one!). And my perfectionism. I want everything to be just right, and I think that's part of my problem. I was talking about this with my mom regarding interior decorating. I was getting frustrated with the fact that my apartment looks great, yet not amazing. I feel as though it's still boring in some way. It's the same problem. Everything in my apartment is meant to "go" with a particular aesthetic. It's an aesthetic that I love, but the overall effect is a little too "matchy" and not enough personality. So my mom and I had decided that from here on out - I will just get things that I like, regardless of how it "goes" with my current decor. First step in that direction was the purchase of this Florence & The Machine concert poster, which I love. I actually am really happy with how it is going to work with the rest of my office, too. (My newly reupholstered chair and ottoman should be finished sometime next week!)

Tonight I spent the evening writing a grant proposal. A Friday night. And I loved every minute of it. I don't care what I "should" be doing with my Friday night - being social, getting a drink somewhere, at least doing something leisurely like watch a movie. But the grant writing is fun to me (please no nerd comments...), so I don't care.

One last way I'm incorporating this mentality of "if I like it, do it" into my life is applying for a fellowship in Germany for next year. Some people have been like, "whoa, are you sure?" And I am. Is it the perfect next step in some grand planned out and orchestrated career? Nope. But the grand and orchestrated career plan hasn't been making me completely happy. Parts of it have, for sure. (I edited a grant proposal at the pool today - not a lot of other jobs have that flexibility...) But I'm just sick of plans and zeitgeists that I have to follow.

So if you see me walking around with totally mismatched clothes anytime soon - just know it's cause I really liked that shirt AND I really liked those pants and somehow decided they should go together just because I said so. Ok...maybe there are some limits...

Update?

It's been brought to my attention that I have not written here in months. The last post included more countdowns, but I actually only have 1 countdown left! Nothing has been added! So to date, it's 24 days until I leave for Mt. Hood, Oregon to attend my friend Krista's wedding. And that's it! Hmm, I should come up with something to countdown toward... I'll think on it. UPDATE: I added 2 countdown widgets today. My friend Seth is visiting in 31 days, and my sister Kate is visiting in 85 days!

In the meantime, I've been trying to go through things that I have in my house that I don't really need - those things that sit on shelves, in drawers, or closets. I always think that I'll do this during moves, but then it's easier to just throw it in a box and move it along. So I currently have 21 books for sale on half.com. I have no faith that they will sell, so if anyone wants any of them, let me know. I'll send them to you! And after a month or so, I'll probably take them to Goodwill or something. Here's what I'm selling: http://shops.half.ebay.com/lucyb2222_W0QQmZbooksQQ_trksidZp2919

I also have a vacuum that I'm getting rid of. It's this one: http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Devil-83410-Swift-Stick/dp/tech-data/B000BPAIHY It will probably go to Goodwill, too. I bought a heavy-duty pet-hair sucker vacuum recently that is amazing, so this little guy no longer has a purpose...

And with that excitement, I end the latest blog update in months. Perhaps now you know why I haven't written anything yet. ;)