Warning: Update in Progress - Please Do Not Disconnect

Well, the week is almost over and still no word on the job. At first, the waiting wasn't so bad. Now it's getting to be unbearable. I wish they would tell me something - anything. Even if it's "Sorry, but you're last on the list of people we are considering". Then I would know where I stand and I could plan accordingly. But nooooooo. Maybe next week (rolls eyes).

Yesterday at work was so much fun. And by fun, I mean it hit the fan hard.

In my building, most of the doors have maglocks (big old magnets used to lock the doors) and they can only be opened with an access card which you swipe in front of a card reader. Pretty easy. Now, there had been some work done on the hardware for the security systems and it seemed to go well. About half an hour later, one of the employees couldn't open the front doors with her card. So, I went out to see what was going on, assuming that she was doing it incorrectly. (Sidebar: it's amazing to see people who have worked here for years still using their cards wrong). I watched her try to open the door and noticed the card wasn't working.

Now, these access cards sometimes, for no reason, just stop working and that's what I figured the problem was then someone else tried to use the other set and had the same problem. Two dead cards, hmmmmm. Then I saw that the card reader wasn't working right. So I let these two people in and swiped my card to get into my office. Same problem. Then I had people coming up saying their cards wouldn't work. I quickly understood what had happened. All the card readers - all of them - stopped working. People couldn't get into the building, get into their work areas and I couldn't get back into my office. Soon my phone was ringing and I stared helplessly at it from the hallway.

Now, the techs who did the work had gone for lunch and they finally came back (after I was able to contact building operations and tell them what was going on) and when I told them what had happened, he got to work right away. After about 10 minutes, everything was back to normal. Apparently, the new stuff they installed screwed up the system. What I find weird is that happened 30 minutes after it was installed. Oh well, it made the day....interesting, to say the least.

Also, I had an interview scheduled yesterday for a new guard. I had set this interview up last week because he said yesterday (Thursday) would be perfect for him at 2 pm. Perfect - his choice. So, 2 pm shows up but he doesn't. No problem, this place can be a bit tricky to find. My supervisor shows up to give me some time off and we chat. 2:30 pm and no interviewee. So I call the only number I have for him. No answer and I leave a message. Finally, 3 pm and no show. I tell my supervisor the few things I want to know about him and I head home, since my supervisor has hired many a new guard, he knows exactly what to do. After I get home (an hour bus ride) I call him up. No show at all. Well, fantastic. Yet another disappointment. Unless he has a really good excuse, I won't even consider hiring him. Damn, what does it take to find a part timer! Ah well, more overtime for me.

So, I picked up a new personal cell phone (I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but I'm too lazy to read back and check) and I love it. The Motorola Razr V3c. It's my new baby. But like all babies, sometimes they can screw you.

Last week, a friend of mine tried to send me pics of his new baby to my phone. He tried four times and each time the photo didn't show. The fifth try worked perfectly. Later that day, I tried to delete those 4 messages that didn't work. My phone told me I can't delete locked messages. Strange, as I didn't remember locking them. So, I go looking at the options and lo and behold: there is no "unlock" option. I then try to read them and I was rudely told that "Operation Failed".

Great, now I have 4 messages that I can never, ever delete. That's just really annoying. Not urgent, just really, really annoying. So I try to fix the problem myself with no luck (surprise, surprise). 2 days ago I spent an hour on the phone with my carrier and the problem is still unsolved. Yesterday I call up Motorola and my worst fear is confirmed. I'll have to do a master clear to remove those messages. Unfortunately, I'll lose all my photos and contacts and ring tones and everything else I had on that phone.

But I bit the bullet and did it. My contact list was fairly short, so copying it out and then re-entering it was relatively fast. However, I'll have to slowly retake all the pics that I had on it. Oh well, c'est la vie, as the French say.