9:41 p.m. | 2003-07-16 It�s All In A Day�s Work. Dearest Sister called me today to work out some Christmas In July details. Here�s some of that. (DS:) What�d you get for Little Nephew? (CI:) I got him a T-Ball set for his birthday and a cement mixer truck (a toy, not a real one, of course) for Christmas. (DS:) Great. Okay, I talked to StepSisterBubbly, and she happily agreed to our plan, so I asked her what StepNephew4 wanted and I got him his own fishing stuff. She�s gonna take care of StepNiece3. And, I got Little Nephew a talking dump truck for his birthday. (Hey, Happy � her son � bring me that truck.) See, it says stuff like this. (She makes the toy say several different things while holding it up to the phone.) (CI:) Yeah, the cement mixer talks too, but I don�t know what it says. The lady at the store made it talk but I wasn�t listening. (DS:) Hang on� (If you want money Happy, you�ll have to clean the bathroom. I�ll pay you when you�re done. What? You just want me to pay you?! I�m not giving you anything unless you clean the bathroom. If you just want money, I suggest that you run on out to the money tree and take as much as you want.) Sorry, I�m back. These kids� they want all this money but they don�t want to work for it. Hey, I�ll have to show you our apple tree when you come up. You wouldn�t believe how much it�s grown. (CI:) Is it next to the money tree? (DS:) Uh, yeah. Oh, by the way, Happy changed the message on the answering machine again. Now he says: �Hello? (pause) Hello?� Wait, I think he changed it again and now it says: Hello? Hang on�� then he doesn�t say anything else. Whatever�s on there, it sounds just like he answered the phone but he hasn�t. (CI:) Uh yeah. I noticed that. Actually, the first time I called you recently, I started prattling on until I heard the beep. He�s a funny one, that Happy. Hardee, har, har, har. Hey, have you heard from FamilyMember lately? (DS:) No, I haven�t. (CI:) Let me phrase that differently. Have you checked your mail lately? (DS:) No. I haven�t checked it in a couple of weeks. Well, you know, Happy checks it sometimes. He�s my mailman. If he doesn�t check the box, it all just piles up in there. I don�t know if he�s checked it recently. (CI:) Well, I haven�t heard anything, so nothing�s changed I guess. Anyway, we had a nice chat, figured out some details and commiserated about all the stuff we have to get done before the weekend. I had to do Intern�s internship evaluation today. And, Boss had to sign it. So, after I completed it, I took it to her. This is that. (Boss:) You left �Areas that Need Improvement� blank. (CI:) Well, he really wasn�t here long enough to warrant any comment there. (Boss:) Make Intern do it. Take it to him and have him come up with something. (CI:) Lets call him in here instead. You know, make him sweat a little. After all, we have to review it with him anyway. (Boss:) Okay. (CI:) Hey Intern? Can you come here for a minute? (I:) (Intern walked in the office and stood next to us like he usually does.) (CI:) We�re doing your evaluation Intern, so you�ll need to sit in that chair over there. (I:) Okay. Boy, both of you look really nice today. (Boss & CI:) That�s sexual harassment! (Boss scribbles something on a sticky note and sticks it to his evaluation.) (I:) I thought saying it once was fine but saying it twice was harassment. (CI:) Just don�t say it at all. It�s safer that way. (Boss:) Can you think of any areas that need improvement? (I:) Um. Um. I don�t know. (CI:) Well then, just read what we � and I�m using that term loosely � wrote up. (Handing him his evaluation.) (I:) (Reading it.) Oh, thanks. Hey, thanks. What�s this? (Reading the sticky note out loud.) �Intern needs sexual harassment training.� That�s funny! I really would love to leave that on here just to see what my professor says, but I better not. But, that�s funny! (Boss:) Let me just tell you one thing. When you go out in the great big real world, you will NEVER have a job like this one. We pretty much let you do whatever you wanted to do. (CI:) Well, and they don�t laugh so much out there. (Boss:) See, we deal with some pretty rough stuff so we HAVE to laugh a lot, but Cruel-Irony�s right� there�s not a lot of laughing out there. Did you learn anything while you were here? (I:) Oh, yeah! I learned A LOT. (CI:) We�re not talking about behind the scenes stuff; did you learn anything about �the process�? (I:) Actually, yes. I did. I learned a ton just doing the written work and especially from the field trip to MyOtherWorkPlace. (Boss:) Great. We�re done now. (I:) Thanks. Man, I�d love to leave this note on here� We�ll be taking him out to lunch tomorrow since Boss and I will be out on Friday � his last day. He�s helped us tremendously, was a lot of fun and is a good sport. We all miss him. I received a letter in the mail today from a girlfriend of mine. We�ve been friends for 20 years. She�s a couple of years younger than me and graduated college last year. See, she married when she was young, had a couple of kids and then went back to college several years ago. Now, she�s in grad school. Anyway, I had planned on attending her graduation last year but then I couldn�t because I was in a car accident. Then we made arrangements to have lunch in MyTown (she lives in BossTown) shortly after graduation but those plans fell through. So, when I moved, I noticed that I still had her graduation gift, and I finally sent it to her more than a year after she graduated. Meanwhile, we�d fallen out of contact again due to our hectic lives. So, I received a handwritten thank you letter today. She appreciated her gifts. To wit: Thank you so much for the hand-drawn picture! I had no idea you were such an artist! I truly hope I can develop some skills when I�m finished going to school. I would love to fill my house with artwork from friends and family. Yours will fit in perfectly with what I already have! The pen was beautiful too! I love the multicolored wood. My kids had their eyes on the pen but I put it in my wallet in a hurry! An �artist�? That�s funny. However, since I drew that picture, my skills have improved and �my work� actually hangs in the homes of several people. They didn�t buy it, of course. I either gave pictures as gifts or they asked for one. She�s a teacher now, at the same elementary school she went to. And, she�s doing her grad work at night. Well, and she�s taking care of her family too. I don�t know how she does it. I really need to get to BossTown and have lunch with her and her mom. It�s really been too long. Then, I took my rubbish out and ran into my new friend Alex. We chatted. She likes to take her dentures out when we talk because they don�t fit so good. She asked me if I minded and I told her I didn�t. Hell, I don�t care what my friends do when they�re talking to me as long as they don�t rob me, beat me up or call me bad names. To each his own, I say. Oh, and I sponsored someone here at Diaryland! There�s now a new gold member out and about. And, unlike me, they probably know how to use all those fancy features. Yay! One more achievement in my Saving the Words campaign. Yippy Skippy and all that. your thoughts? seed flower