Torch the dresser, Meatwad.

Hasidic Plumber, I know you were very upset that you were not included in that picture, so here's a nice picture for you:

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I actually ate like a normal(ish) person this week! Still staying under 1200 calories, but it's a small improvement over the previous few weeks. It helps to get excited about my meals. The bento boxes help.

 I have a new exercise plan as well, that I am going to try very hard to stick to. If I want to retain the use of my legs, I think this is necessary, as I now need the knee braces every time I work out. New plan:

- cardio 4 or 5 days a week (1 hr on elliptical, sometimes up to 30 mins on bike)

- toning/weights/possibly pilates-type stuff 2 or 3 days a week (30 mins; focusing on arms, thighs, and tumtum)

- one day of rest

And some rules:

- Hiking counts as cardio (so no hiking on the Day of Rest; I must actually not work out)

- jogging and power-walking outside also count as cardio

- No intense starvation on toning days

- No toning AND cardio unless both are cut down by at least half (i.e, 30 mins on elliptical and 15 mins toning)

- If I feel that a complete nervous collapse is imminent, toning may be done on the day of rest

I know how I operate, so every last ounce of my willpower shall now be devoted to NOT doing both the hour of cardio and 30 mins of toning 7 days a week.

I decorated the office for Halloween this week. Nothing hardcore, just a couple small things:

That's the table right when you come in.

I have a cute little snowglobe on my desk, too:

 I had one other thing for my desk, but when Bossman came in and saw it he took it away. (::gasp:: "OOooooo!!!" ::grab & run::)

Now it's on his desk.

Apparently Boss is a big Hellraiser fan. 

Despite my initial dislike of Bossman when I first started this job, we get along pretty well now. I guess it just took him a while to warm up to me? The secretary he had before me was  really awful at her job and only worked here for a couple months, and the one before her was apparently super awesome and worked here for like 4 years; so I guess it's not too surprising that Bossman was wary of the next new secretary.

Since we settled into the new office at the end of the summer, Boss has toyed with the idea of hiring an associate (or "lackey", as Boss says), like someone fresh out of law school to handle to smaller stuff like the traffic violations and whatnot. I'm not too keen on this idea, as Boss said I would more or less be in charge of the lackey when he's not here.

I don't like being in a position of bossing other people around. I hated that when I worked for Supreme Evil Bossette--I was the one in charge of all the interns and I didn't like it at all. And when I worked for this contractor a few years ago, I was declared "office manager" and given authority over the receptionist and the bookkeeper.

No sir, I don't like it. Because being someone's boss means you have extra responsibilities. Not cool. I had no problem lording my authority over small children when I was a nanny, but it's different with other adults. Plus I don't want to be hated on the same level that I have hated previous bosses.

I think everyone's had an awful boss at some point. That's just the way life is. I was thinking about that yesterday on the way home from work. I went a different way home because I had to stop at the hardware store to get a part for the upstairs loo (I fixed the toilet in under 5 minutes without any kind of experience or instructions--go me!). I passed by one of my old workplaces and saw that it's no longer there. (I had thought she had either moved or shut down a while ago, but I hadn't gotten a proper look until yesterday).

Felicia Fartblower, as we called her behind her back, ran a little shop where children could have their birthday parties and make little art & craft projects.

Felicia -__-

I think she did after school art classes, too. And when I worked there the summer after freshman year of college, she had a summer art camp. One of my friends found her and got us jobs there, and thus began a giant suckfest.

Felicia was a b*tch. A big one (literally and figuratively). But it was an art-related job, and since I was an art student, I thought it would be better than nannying all summer. Felicia hired us and said that she would train us the first week and would not pay for training, but after that she would pay us $10/hour off the books. So we said ok. I worked long and hard for Felicia Fartblower--sometimes working 10+ hour days. But my job rarely entailed anything art-related. Instead:

 By the end of the month or so that I worked there, I'm pretty sure Felicia Fartblower's 5-month old son was under the impression that I was his mother. It started out as just "oh do you think you could watch him for a sec while I run back to the store and move some art supplies?" At the end, I was running errands for Felicia while also carting that kid around and taking care of him for up to 12 hours some days (and the kid was adorable and very well-behaved considering his mommy was a psycho and he was spending several hours a day in the car). Felicia never even stopped to check if I knew how to take care of a baby.

My friends were working in the actual shop and doing art-things, I think. Oh and throughout all of this, none of us were getting paid. The "week of training" stretched out into like a month, and none of us were paid a dime.

Eventually, all three of us quit. I don't know if my friends ever tried to get money out of Felicia Fartblower, but I was not leaving without a paycheck for the month's worth of babysitting I had done. I harassed Felicia for a while, calling her daily and leaving messages, and she ignored me before eventually telling me that no, she was not going to pay me.

Oh really? You raging b*tch. I don't think so.

So I contacted the IRS.

Not only did Felicia Fartblower get in major doodoo for the off-the-books workers and the non-payment to said workers, she was also audited. Thoroughly.

And at the end of the summer, I got a check from her for a grand total of $65.00. I swear I could actually feel the hatred coming off of the check in waves.