Ups and Downs

[reynardo]

Ohhhh but some days you wonder why you bother getting up.


Last night one of my cow-orkers at the next desk started yelling at a customer. There are definitely times when one wants to. There are certainly people who deserve to be yelled at. But one tries very hard not to, for no other reason than it puts the rest of us off our calls and our own clients can hear all this over our very sensitive headsets. The most cynical bitter and twisted of the CSRs here can rip a client into shreds, bully them into exactly what he wants, have them kneeling at his feet begging for mercy and singing his praises and still never raise his voice above a murmur. But the guy behind me had obviously lost it for the night and effectively told the customer to go away in no uncertain terms. The phone crashed and the guy sat there swearing for a while.

I'd finished my notes by then, so I switched my phone back on - and got the client, who had of course rung straight back. I was worried the client would be upset or abusive, but he was polite, sweet, had a small problem that was easily identified, and just asked that a complaint be put in about "the guy I spoke to before." I had to sit there and pretend I know nothing about it. Meanwhile the guy behind me had his next call and started yelling again! The customer could hear the yelling in the background and I felt horrid.

I ran into one of the reps who had helped train me on the way out, and as she had a fair way to go that was almost on my path I very gladly gave her a lift home (as if I'd let a lovely lady like that take a long trip by public transport that late at night to a dubious area) and was able to ask her opinion (without naming the guy) on the way. She suggested a quiet word to the boss today. OK, this is normal for a workplace, but I hate when there's hassles or problems with anyone. So of course I sat angsting for half the night, tired but too stressed to go to bed, until I had a hot bath and finally crawled in with the lovely lederhosen and the puppy.



My beloved husband has had a sore throat for the last few days, so when it was getting up time he was in no state for it. Alas, despite a fairly-productive counselling session on Wednesday and (I thought) a decision to be content attending the high school and thius getting up in the morning, small person da_norvegicus went into total miserable crying and upset and rotten mood, necessitating Mother getting up and pushing him to get dressed and into the car, and having him cry all the way to school, and then not want to get out at school then be triyng to get back into the car as I drive away. *sigh* It breaks my heart to be hard and make him get out and go to school, but for all that he thinks he'd be happier in another school, I know he'd be miserable if he went to one where the kids weren't so bright and the tolerance for a bright kid would be consequently much lower.

Now, as with the night work I usually get to bed at 3am, to be woken at 7:30 and have to do the nearly-one-hour-drive to school-and-work-and-back is like being someone who goes to bed at 11pm, gets out at 3:30am for a one hour drive and then gets back home ready to sleep through until morning. I prefer not to get to bed for a couple of hours after getting home because I don't want to be driving home in the middle of the night with a body begging for sleep. Alas, this then means that when my beloved wants me to be awake for such pursuits as house-hunting and making lunch, I'm still in the sleep-time. Be warned - Gillian grouchy in the morning is not a pretty sight.


We've been perusing the ads. It's depressing to know that no matter what place we find, its going to mean moving AGAIN in another 4 months or so when we finally find a place to buy. But it's also interesting trying to find somewhere that we can move into that isn't going to be as much of a dump as the place we're in now.

Translation time:

"Neat" = "tiny" (as in "neat kit/bath)

"Quiet" means you can't hear anything from the street as the airplanes take off over your roof. Or it means miles from the public transport. Or both.

"Close to beach" means "Far from Public Transport but we'll charge you a fortune anyway".

"Charming" = "Old, falling apart, but has a couple of original items - like the kitchen and the bathroom"


So there you have it - the trials and tribulations of the Midnight Fox. Now I have a massive headache, cold pizza (the phones barely stopped) and a tired set of fingers. Another night, oh people.

Comments

[shadow-5tails.livejournal.com]

*hugs you quietly*

Dead to the point of not being able to think now, but I'll try and call you late tomrrow afternoon or something - feel free to nominate a suitable time?

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Thanks, lovely. We've got an Evanly one with us, and then the game, so tomorrow's a bit tied up. Sunday?

[shadow-5tails.livejournal.com]

He still up there?

Sunday it is - not sure what time, but we'll see what we can do.

Enjoy your day...

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Up now if you're interested. Up for a while - you can always SMS me.

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Occasionally having the original bathroom and kitchen isn't too bad - as long as it's been maintained. Take, for instance, the house we bought last year. One owner from new, late 40's two bedroom place, just far enough from the airport that we don't get double glazing. Original fittings everywhere, except for those items which the home handyman renovated - like the electrics :( which we're slowly redoing properly.
The bathroom is tiny. But most of it is taken up with the HUGE bath that's been recessed into the wall (where the hall does the privacy/modesty kink) so that it seems to only take up half the space that it does.
The carpets are from the 40's. But it's that wool axminster stuff, so it's worn in the corners, but not the high traffic areas that you can see.
The kitchen has bench space (once we moved the cupboard that had been painted down on top of another and put it where it was useful), and extra cupboards that we picked up at a salvage yard and installed ourselves. It also has a very nice, deep sink with a terrazzo splashboard. The old widow who owned the house before us refused to use the oven, preferring the stovetop, so although the oven is very old, it's in very good condition.
The toilet is out the back of the house, where it is very cold in the early mornings at the moment. It also does not have a lightbulb installed in the actual toilet room. However, it does have space to put a very tall cupboard, or more bookshelves.
The garden is pure clay soil. But it's big enough to grow lots of stuff (although I need to do lots more to make the soil better).

So although there's lots that needs doing, we were lucky to get a place where it is all easily doable by us or by friends (like the electrician, the stonemason, and the professional carpenter), and we definitely could not have afforded a place that did not need doing up.

Fingers crossed that you'll find a good place quickly. Looking forward to seeing you guys when you're down here in a few weeks.