Catching up

I haven't blogged in so long that I don't even know how to start one of these things anymore. Guess I left off at the day before my VSA meeting. So that came and went. One of them "forgot" about the meeting and didn't show, another one was fifteen minutes late, and two were on time waiting patiently. I actually got to lead a few parts of the meeting that concerned the Dossin and the archiving project. That was fun. I was disappointed the fourth VSA didn't show up because he was the only one that hadn't gotten my spiel about how to do this. I went over the process again, this time with marker on poster paper and we all did it together. Kathleen says that I could do whatever I wanted to because I am - get ready for this - "such a teacher." She also assured me that was a good thing. Ha. So anyway, I was looking forward to getting all of us on the same page, but that didn't happen. I think the ones that were there know they screwed up and hopefully got some fear knocked into them. We started throwing around the word termination and they got a look of panic on their faces. Darn kids.

Then I was off to a mid-week escape in Lansing. :) Got caught up on relaxing and lots of missed sleep. Got some first meetings out of the way and then I was back east to babysit Friday night. It is really hard to babysit and put up with a 2 year old's temper tantrums when it is not your family or close friend. I only worked with Dawn and we got along famously, but honestly, I retired from casual babysitting a long time ago and while I know she appreciates my reliability and experience, I hope she isn't getting used to it. School is starting soon and it will be no time before the calls start coming in to sub. I make more subbing than she could pay me in babysitting costs, and once the museum re-opens, I'm going to have to be on my game all weekend long. I don't even know what that means, but it's a good prep talk.

Saturday I walk into the Dossin to find it completely flooded. This was due to a clogged drain upstairs. The boxes were so saturated that when I went to move them, they just crumbled. It was disgusting. I threw out so much shit and there would have been more at the curb except the other guy (okay, so he was one of the chief directors) that was there opted to be more cautious than logical. I hated the fact that he moved wet boxes back into a wet room that I hadn't finished working on yet. But what the hell do I know. I just work in that building every weekend and am the only person that really knows what is relative and what isn't. Oh well. There will come a time when they'll listen to me. I know it.

Saturday night I learned that subdivisions in Lansing look like surreal movie sets. Turn down one road and it feels like your instantly transported to a 1950s Levittown (let the googling begin). It was nice though, finally meeting the people who I've bought baby clothes for. :) And being completely reminded of how fun my brother can act was a good thing too. Who was so worried about first impressions anyway? ha. Makes me miss the old days with the guys. And I had a break through. Because it was important to me (and I could have been too tired to try otherwise) to be on my best behavior, I didn't snap back when I heard someone attempt to diss the dreaded "Detroit area". Have to put the "area" on the end or you'll get a dirty look. The cocked eyebrow and questioning voice are quite convincing though. After all, who would want to live there? I bet she would have run scared in the other direction had she known she was standing next to someone who grew up in that city. I should shut up now, I don't want to offend anyone I know is reading this. I get defensive about Detroit because so many people hate it for superficial and unjustified reasons. Like I said, by not saying anything, it was a major step for me. I'm proud of myself. :D

Now today is Sunday and I'm at home finally able to chill for a bit. It was only raining outside at the Dossin when I got there this morning instead of on the inside, which was a relief. My VSA was late but called to say there was an accident which was slowing her up. There were a couple people right away that came in requesting items from the gift shop that took some detective work. I was able to find it though and everyone was a happy camper. That kind of made me feel good. But it opens my eyes to the disorganized chaos. When I'm not there all day anymore, my VSAs have to know where to look to assist someone the same way I did. That means I get to train them on something else. I wish you could hear the excitement in my voice right now. = /
I got some maintenance done around the museum, including changing some fluorescent light bulbs at the same time a couple of gentlemen came in scouting out the building for future use. They'll be stationed at the museum in November for an Edmund Fitz commemoration event. But it was a good day. Lots of people. Lots of people right at the end. I have to start clearing the building at quarter to when there are that many people in it. If my docent doesn't have the balls to do it the right way, watch out, there's an undercover usher on the loose.

So that's all for now. I'm off to spend the rest of the evening with House. If I weren't so much like him on a daily basis I would say he's a bad influence on me, but since I am so much like that, I could care less. Maybe I can get another disc in before I decide to crash. We can only hope so.

:)