I'm packing light for this trip, aka taking too much luggage, since I hate making judgement calls when it comes choosing what food comes back.

I am in the fifth circle of hell, aka Barnes and Noble on the Promenade because I got the worst phone support ever. My nook is a) under warranty b) not eligible for brick and mortar post warranty upgrade discounts c) FUCKING WORKING. I'm glad enough about the last, but still. It's one week before Christmas and this is my second high shopper density destination of the day. That's two years worth right there.

And still no Live Aid...

It's night! You'll have a coat on! Forget the bra, lady.

Better yet, I got K-Bug and her bf to go retrieve him.

Oh, wow, I just found out Senator Inouye will be lying in state tomorrow in the rotunda. So I'm going to go pay my respects. But, like, dude, I have no idea about the etiquette or whatever. I imagine I'll just go to the visitor center and get in line and walk past. But can I leave a flower or something? Probably not, huh?

I'd doubt it, Liese. Sounds like something hard to manage in bulk.

Okay, home, same old Nook, but working, thanks for NOTHING tech support woman. It was weird--she had selective deafness. I had to insist that was my email address before she found my account, and apparently she didn't find the right one, but...that's still my account email address--I logged on to BN.com during our call. She read it back perfectly many times, and I was getting really pissed off at her checking if I was sure.

Never mind the "would you like to order the discounted replacement?" "No, I need a Nook TODAY--can this be done in store?" "Well, since you have me right here..." "Can a store do the same thing for me, immediately, and hand me a working Nook?" "Yes, but I'm here." "CAN YOU DELIVER IT TO ME BEFORE 3AM TOMORROW." "Unfortunately our fastest shipping is..."

Why are you even starting that sentence? Never mind that it wasn't broken, or out of warranty, and that stores can't do that, and that she made no notes on my account (making me wonder what she pretended to look up, finally, with the email address).

It wasn't a language issue, it was a script issue. Freaky.

I need to do my self-eval tomorrow, and I have to mark myself the worst in communication. I swear, I read an email to my manager, and she said "Well, if you'd emailed that to me, we wouldn't be having this discussion!"

Uh, but, that is what I emailed you? Here is the task the users can't do, here's when they need to do it by, here's what I'm doing to address the problem, here are the limitations on what I can do, all FYI, since I'm still working on it.

But then I mentioned mitigation plan and she flipped out again. I don't know how to explain to her that the bottom line is the business accomplishing their task, and knowing how to cope with a worst case scenario is not putting bad guzu on actually fixing shit. Because if we do have to go down that path, we need to be sure we don't start down it too late, since you won't let anyone test it. She says it would be really bad to use it, and I agree that it would be really bad, but this is IT, and really bad things happen to systems all the time AND WE HAVE NO COMPETENT SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS ON STAFF.

We have such a credibility hole, and she won't let me bolster it with a "well, if worst comes to worst..." The business users think we're going to just bang our heads into a wall all the way through any market/business deadlines, and apparently we need to pretend we will too.

The bottom line is the work being done. I feel it's important for me to keep that in view at all times. She got us into a lot of trouble by refusing to exercise a mitigation plan once before, but I know my boss didn't get the full sequence of events, so he thinks the process is the problem, not her refusal to examine or execute it.

I went over her head once on this, and I don't think I can again, since it's not urgent, and the boss is asking for more distance from the non-direct reports day-to-day, but...

So, yeah, I can't communicate. If only I could insert a wetware virus that was the equivalent of Ativan.

Okay, laundry, packing, yes.

I'd doubt it, Liese. Sounds like something hard to manage in bulk.

Okay, yeah, that makes sense. I'll just go.

Yeah, that's not good, Nook lady. You don't want to get between a woman and her working Nook.

My 1st Gen is thinking about giving up the ghost.

I think you communicate just fine ita. Clearly your coworkers have a listening/reading problem.

Was planning to pack tonight, because I have a Christmas party tomorrow. I knew that I wasn't going to finish, because I just did laundry tonight, and there are some things that need to air dry, but hoped to get everything else done. No dice. However, I did finish a second batch caramels (Maria will be the Buffista proxy), sort the gifts and assorted crap I need to gather, and print out labels for the cards that I still need to write.

Douche in the airport. I'm seated at a power station, and he lurches up to it and dumps coffee onto my tablet. I start swearing and complaining, he starts apologising. I tell him to get me something to dry it with, he apologises. I tell him I need napkins, and he tells me he didn't mean to do it.

I DON'T CARE. YOU SPILT COFFEE ONTO MY EQUIPMENT AND I NEED TO DRY IT OFF.

But I don't have anything?

I am pretty much snarling when I point across the vast expanse of CORRIDOR to the stack labelled NAPKINS and grunt "There."

He pauses to plug his phone into my power bar and then fetches one for me.

Why are there unsupervised humans?

I tell him I need napkins, and he tells me he didn't mean to do it.

Was he five years old? Because I have this conversation DAILY and am hoping my kid will grow out of it.

and am hoping my kid will grow out of it.

laughs and laughs and laughs and laughs. and cries.

ita !, I can't even think what I would have done in your place. Public shaming? IDEK.