9:34 p.m. | 2005-01-05 Sometimes, Honestly, I�m Just An Idiot. Like Today, For Example. I don�t think I was an idiot all day, rather I just had a moment. If you will. And, I�ll get to that shortly, but I�ll pat myself on the back first. Because, well, first things first right? At least when I�m being all big-headed about myself. I�m working on a new project once again. On a subject I know nothing about. I did a small amount of research (deadlines and all) before calling PG (Professional Guy). Here�s some of that. (CI:) Hi, I�m CI and I�m analyzing this. I�m not sure who I need to speak with but I have some questions. (PG:) You�re calling about this? Oh, I wrote that myself. (CI:) Perfect. You�re the person I need to talk to. This subject is outside of my expertise so I have some, well, rather fundamental questions that I need to ask. I mean, really fundamental. (Read: Stupid questions or basic questions. But, I really like the term �fundamental� because it sounds like I might have some mental fun.) (PG:) Super, I love those questions. So do I. Because I always think I can answer fundamental questions. And, I can. But, once again, I was surprised that every time I asked a �fundamental� question, PG responded: �Well, that�s a really good question.� I get that response a lot. I either ask really good questions or I�m an idiot and they�re helping me save face. I have to say, I think � for the most part � I ask pertinent questions because the same people that respond that way tell NewBoss that I�m really smart. That alone shows there is no such thing as a �stupid question�. Trust me. I ask a lot of �stupid questions�. (As a side note, I have no idea why these people say that I�m really smart when I spend so much time asking them really basic questions. Really interested might be a better description.) And, I must say that it�s a very interesting new project that I have on my hands. Oh, and very HIP and NOW. Which is one reason � or the main one � that I had to ask a lot of questions about it. I do believe that at some point in our conversation I referenced my own childhood playground experience� you know, metal equipment and gravel landscaping. Fortunately, PG understood my references � and also experienced them � so that was good. Oh, and my new project? Yeah. It has nothing to do with playgrounds. But, playgrounds were a suitable analogy. See, it�s all about the questions. Since my own self-severing back-patting is out of the way, let�s move on to my idiocy. It seemed to be an isolated incident today, but yeah, not so much. Okay. I went to MyOtherWorkPlace last week, or whatever, to pick up some information. But, I was only able to get some of what I needed. The fact that I needed to check back this week stuck somewhere up in my brain. I was all set to do that this morning, however, that didn�t work out because of my new project. My new project consumed most of my morning and way too much of my afternoon. Trust me, it�ll be consuming too many of the days to come also. I was definitely ready for a break So� well, wait. A little background is in order. I believe I told you that UA was recently transferred to MyOtherWorkPlace right? Yeah well, she was. And, we have a replacement already. I�ll call her NewGirl (NG). (Just so you know, I�d call her NewLady but she�s super young. Not that she isn�t a lady, just that she�s�well, come on, she�s a baby to me. Be happy I didn�t dub her NewBaby.) Anyway, today was her first day. Which, of course, I forgot repeatedly throughout the day. Interestingly, I remember that she was �new� this afternoon � still forgot it was her first day � when I asked her if she wanted to take a break. Here�s how that went. (CI:) Hey NG, want to take a break? (NG:) Uh, no. I�m fine. I don�t really need a break. (CI:) Okay. I�m going to MyOtherWorkPlace to pick up some information so I thought you might want to go with me to get out some� do something different� (NG:) Oh yeah, I want to do that. (CI:) Great, let�s go. On the way, I told her I�d show her a few key places that she needs to know about. (CI:) I was thinking I could show you where this and that is. Oh, and the VIP (very important people) Place. (NG:) The VIP Place? (CI:) Sorry, insider slang. It�s where these people are. We walked into MyOtherWorkPlace and suddenly I noticed that it was really, super crowded. (Here�s where my idiocy shows up.) The closer we got to the VIP Place, yeah, more crowded. Being the undaunted idiot I was at the time, I ushered NG right in. Like it was a regular tour or something. Then, I became quite embarrassed. Here�s that. (VIP:) Hey CI! How are you? (CI:) Uh, great. Have you met NG? (Practically, shoving her in front of me.) (VIP:) No. Nice to meet you. (Turning back towards me.) How are things going? (CI:) Good. It�s starting to get busy� you know how it is. We proceeded. But honestly? Yeah. I felt like such an idiot because I completely forgot that it was a HUGE day at VIP Place. Not a good time to cruise around doing the tour thing. This is That. (CI:) Okay NG. Here we are. Obviously, there�s a FamousPerson right over there and there, and well, there. And many, many VIPs. Security is um� everywhere of course. Sorry, this really wasn�t a good time to show you around. (NG:) No, it�s great. This is very exciting. (CI:) Good. I�m glad you think so. Um, there�s more you need to see but I really think we just need to turn around and go back. For now. I�ll bring you back when I can give you a full tour, but for now? Yeah. We need to leave. NG needs to tour VIP Place but the funny thing is that I only stopped by there to see UA. And, we did see her. But I picked up the information I needed in a completely different area of MyOtherWorkPlace � which she also needed to see � and was still confounded by the crowd. To me? I guess it comes down to priorities at the end of the day. I simply wanted some very (again) basic information that would enable me to do my job effectively and that focus made me forget about this big, huge VIP day. Trust me, if I had wanted to go star gazing or whatnot, I would�ve arranged all that. Or at least would have finagled a ring side seat. And, I would�ve probably combed my hair. When I just happen upon it? It�s a bit disconcerting. your thoughts? seed flower