TODAY's QUOTE Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society. ~ Eugene V. Debs Yesterday's Entries 2001: Juice and Crackers READING Venus Envy BOOKS READ THIS YEAR Angels and Demons ON DVD Sopranos ON TV Washington Week in Review EXERCISE 25 min on the exercise bike MEALS Breakfast: Oatmeal with blueberries WEATHER Grey, rainy
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NOT MY PROBLEM 31 January 2003 It was the second phone call in 3 minutes. "Are you home today?" she asked. I could hear the tenseness in her voice. "Yes," I said. "He says he needs it yesterday," she said. I could picture her sitting there in front of him, tight lipped. "It" was a publicity photo of Dr. G that he needed. He needed a .jpg. At one time I had made a .jpg. He hadn’t asked me to make it, but it was convenient for me to e-mail the photo to some folks, so I did it. When I left the job, I put all of my files onto a CD and left it at the office. When she called the first time, she asked if there was a photo of Dr. G on the office computer (she’s not computer-illiterate. I would think she could have found it.) I told her that it had been on the disk I’d left there, but that I would also search my computer and if I had it here, I’d e-mail it to her. She sounded happy and thanked me. Three minutes later the second phone call came. In the intervening three minutes, I’d done three searches for the photo on my own machine, using the terms that I generally used when storing things like this for him. The search had yielded other photos, snapshot stuff, but not the publicity photo. When she called the second time, I could feel my stomach tightening because I knew I couldn’t find the damn photo. That’s when I reminded her that everything should be there at the office. "OK," she said, meekly. She would try looking for it. I started to think again–where could I have put that photo. I was sure I had it on my computer (I'd forgotten that this computer is a new one). Then I sat up with a jolt, the knot in my stomach untying. This wasn’t my problem! That he needed it "yesterday" was not my fault, nor my responsibility. As the old saying goes "A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part" or words to that effect. I’ve been out of that job for seven months. I made certain that the office (OK–not this office manager, but the first of the three who have succeeded me) had all of the files that I had on my computer, including the publicity photo. That he suddenly needs this photo "yesterday" and that I can’t find it is absolutely not my problem. I stopped the search and went back to what I was doing before the phone call. If they can’t find it, a cheap scanner costs $50. Let that be THEIR problem to solve. It was a great feeling! Arm update. Marta is a massage therapist, and also teaches massage therapy. She had a class yesterday and needed "victims" to be worked on. Walt and I both agreed to let the students practice on us. As it turned out, she had enough people for students, so Marta had her own instructor work on me first so he could see what was going on with me. He said that the pain I've been feeling is nerve pain and he could trace the nerve track right down where it's been giving me fits. He worked and worked on it and then, after he finished, because the students still had people to practice on, Marta worked on me. The end result is that my arm is feeling better tonight than it has since the accident. Not pain-free, but definitely much, much better, and I'm in the process of setting up regular massage sessions with Marta. I am encouraged that I might actually get over this thing for the first time in a very long time. |
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
The new technique I'm learning in PhotoShop--
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For more photos, please visit My Fotolog and My FoodLog |
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Weight Lost to date: 43.8 lbs
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Created 1/24/04
