Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted on June 19, 2014June 19, 2014 by Dusty Roads

About a month ago, right before I left for my Tennessee vacation I received a promotion at work. I applied with some hesitation because I was in pretty good place. I wasn’t working very hard and I was making an OK salary. I didn’t have to start work until noon and even then I didn’t have a whole lot to do.

I admit, I was a little bored and I wouldn’t mind the chance to earn a bit more money for those extra things but I was also very aware that I am willing to slow down a bit. I was getting quite a bit of subtle pressure to apply along with assurances that once I mastered the learning curve I’d only be working about 4 hours a day.

So I applied and I got it. Yay! It came with a raise and a chance to earn bonuses. It also came with a fast pace and tons more work. After the first week I really wondered if I’d made a mistake. I was really pushing to keep up and more work just kept coming. I never had a chance to learn the ropes. It was sink or swim and I was dog paddling like crazy.

Now, one month into it I’ve begun to see the pattern. I’ve almost got a hold of the crazy workload. None of it is rocket science. I don’t have to be an attorney to do this job. I just need to keep an eye on the calendar, a lot of what I do is time sensitive. But I am busy and that was one of the things I wanted. And yes, I’ve already made some of the bonuses.

The downside is that I’m really busy. I started out supporting 2 agents and have just added one more who is working in another state altogether. So I’m learning the ropes for a different state. Another learning curve.

I find I am mentally tired at the end of the day. My hobbies, which are cerebral, from photography to reading to writing this blog, have taken a back seat. I just can’t concentrate by the end of my shift. I usually end my day chatting with the senior agent and it turns into a giggle fest because we’re both so tired we’re punchy.

So I apologize if these pages suffer. I’m having a blast with the new job but I’m not sure I’ll be keeping up the every day pace of my posts. 🙁 That makes me sad because I really wanted to meet a goal of posting every day but I guess no post is better than a bad post.

I’ll keep trying but forgive me if I miss a day here and there.

Photo of the Week ~ 21

Posted on May 28, 2014May 28, 2014 by Dusty Roads

This week’s photo of the week is Cherokee with 26 points!

To Order prints Click Here: http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p161572686/h31f9c381#h31f9c381

Add in a Little Blue Grass

Posted on May 22, 2014May 22, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I felt like a wimp after the moonshine tasting. I doubt those teeny little shots even equaled one real shot but my insides were now as warm as my outsides and it was 83 degrees! I thought I’d just kick back and enjoy a little local ambiance.

Outside the Moonshine tasting was a stage. The chairs set up were all rockers. I staked out a front row seat and began rocking away. I’d love to take one of these home.

Pretty soon a bearded “hillbilly” with a mandolin climbed onto the stage.

He was followed by a gap-toothed guitar player, a young banjo player and an even younger looking “fiddle” player.

He said usually they had a bass player too but something had come up that day and the bass player couldn’t make it.

I didn’t know any of the songs they played but I sat through the first set with my toe tapping to the music. They were pretty darn good. Turns out they have some CD’s out too. They were hawking them during “intermission”.

I stuck around for the 2nd set when a harmonica player from Pennsylvania sat in. The 2nd set was just as lively as the first but it was time to get moving again. I was getting too comfortable in that rocking chair.

Dick’s Last Resort

Posted on May 18, 2014May 18, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I’ve finally made it to the top of the street. The Skylift is closed for maintenance so that just leaves the Space Needle but I think I’ll have lunch before I take that adventure. If I get dizzy I want it to be from the height not from hunger.

The couple from Chattanooga had told me about Dick’s. They said good food, good prices. They were on their way there when I spoke with them. It seemed as good a choice as any so I started toward the entrance. Almost immediately a young man yelled at me. ” Stop reading the menu and come in, you’re wasting time!” I was surprised and I wasn’t reading the menu. He hopped down from the fence he was standing on, yes he was really standing on the top rail and stepped up to open the door for me. At that moment I heard a huge “Fart”. It came from a cartoonish statue next to the door.

Inside were long tables for family style service. A young man yelled at me from across the room…”Hi Lady”. Soon he came bounding over with the menu. He quickly pointed out that there are only 2 food groups at Dicks’s…meat and fries and he was right, well maybe some fish.

Everyone had these silly paper hats and he asked me if I wanted one. I’ll play along so I said sure. As he was folding the hat for me he asked me how many cats I had. That threw me for a minute because I couldn’t figure out how he knew I had cats. When I admitted I had 2 I became the cat lady for the rest of the meal. It finally dawned on me…my luggage tag on the camera bag is a picture of Rocky. Very observant, my waiter.

So now with my silly paper hat on with the gross comment “I eat my chocolates from the kitty box” (yuck) my meal was delivered.

I ordered the shrimp. Yes , you guessed it, fried again. They were very good but the fries were a bit soggy. Just as well, I didn’t need all that grease.

While I was looking around and eating my meal a couple of the waiters opened the sliding window and climbed outside. My waiter stood on the same railing that the fellow who greeted me had stood on but he tried to perform the crane move made famous by the movie Karate Kid. He seemed pleased when I recognized it.

I was about done at this point so I asked if he would take my picture with my stupid hat so I could share the fun with everyone. As he got started everyone got into the act. Dick’s is a fun, loud and raucous place to be. And yes, the name Dick’s does refer to the male anatomy..not a man’s name.

Life’s Little Ups and Downs

Posted on April 27, 2014April 27, 2014 by Dusty Roads

What a week it’s been so far. Only one more day and I will get a break…sort of.

But really, Monday was marathon Monday and I spent the day at the T- Mobile cell phone store dealing with the first of the technology glitches. That out of the way I don’t even remember Tuesday.

Wednesday was the computer fiasco and I had to deal with that all week.

Friday I had my interview for the new position. My invitation (that’s what they call the appointment) was for 10-10:30. Well it started at 10:00 but I didn’t finish up until 1:30. Interviewed with 3 different people and sat with the person I’ll be replacing so he could give me an “overview”. (Assuming I get the job)

Saturday I was working 9-6 but I didn’t finish up until 9:30 pm. I finally told the last client that I’d have to get back to them in the morning. On an up note, the IT department called me back and finally had time to take over my computer “remotely”. Once they did that they saw what a mess they’d made. It took a good hour for them to go through everything remove junk, add correct stuff and run the security scans but in the end I was back in working order! Yay!

I had turned on the TV to see what horrible kitties Jackson Galaxy had to deal with in his show “My Cat From Hell”. It’s like the cat equivalent of the Dog Whisperer but I think dogs are much easier to understand than cats. Did you know cats can make 100 different sounds and dogs can only make 10.

Just like in the Dog Whisperer, most of the time the problem is in the owners not the animal. I enjoy both shows but as a Cat Momma I like Jackson’s show best.

Oh Oh, I’m writing this post at 10:30 pm and my phone just chirped. I picked up the email and it was from the client I put off until the morning. She told me to stop working and she’d talk to me in the morning. LOL

Rocky must agree with my client. He just hopped up on my desk and is refusing to sit quietly. Trying to proof my post around his head is a challenge. Now you know why he was named Editor in chief.