hrj

The book has ... books have arrived. (Boxed 2-volume set.) Oh my. Oh my! WOW! More later.

However the need to spend an hour or more skimming through both volumes as soon as possible was the last nail in the coffin of my plans for the evening. Already on the to-do list were: gym, pick up repaired iMac from Apple store, grocery shopping, and fix bike flat. Then right before I was about to shut down and pack up from work, I got a phone call from ... this person. This person in another department who is so not in my chain of command. This person who told me that her boss wanted me to put together a slide (for presentation at 8am tomorrow) detailing the history of the corrective actions for a certain recurring problem ... a problem that I had not been the original investigator for. (I am skeptical that my specific involvement was requested explicitly, but I could be wrong.) Now, if my boss hadn't been out sick, he might have run interference for me, but -- alas -- in his absence, I was his designated substitute. It's much harder to run interference for yourself. (I begin to have an inkling of the dilemma of the medieval peasant commanded to do something by a strange nobleman. In theory, you have no obligation to do anything ... but it might not be a good idea to point this out at the time.) So, as we say (usually sarcastically) "One Team, One Dream." Fortunately, with the assistance of the person who had been the original investigator for the problem, I gathered up the files with the necessary data, peformed the required Excel Foo, and got out only an hour late. Ok, so of gym, iMac, and groceries, one thing isn't going to happen before 8pm (my preferred grocery store closes at eight). And when I retrieved the book(s) from the downstairs tenant, in whose care they had been left, I substituted "eat out and browse books" for "grocery shopping". Notice that "fix bike flat" has entirely disappered from consideration. So that'll make me 0-for-5 on biking this week. Grrr.