Friday, June 29, 2012

pants mystery deepens

Okay, I don't get it.

I got home a few minutes ago, fully expecting to find my lost pants and shirt hanging on my closet door, where I assumed I left them after I ironed them (yes, weird to iron clothes BEFORE you pack them but I've had enough bad experiences with hotel irons...oh, never mind).

They aren't there.

Nor are they in my closet. Or my laundry room.

As anyone who has been to my house can attest, I am a *bit* of a neat freak and a super organizer. I don't lose things in my house. I don't even have a "junk" drawer. I put every thing in the same place (thanks asperger's!) and DO NOT deviate from my routine.

What. The. Fuck.

My suitcase was under my control at ALL times (who checks luggage????). I have NO idea where my clothes are.

Data point - I lost my favorite shirt last year (Tahari, with silver leaves on it, even my lebanese friend S liked it and he hates all of my clothes). I thought maybe the maids had stolen my shirt or that it had fallen into a bag I took to good will.

I guess I'll look again tomorrow when I'm not so tired and jet lagged. But for real. My pants are GONE. My shirt is GONE.

Weird. I wonder if the aliens were coming after me and then said "Let's take her clothes instead and see what happens". If you are up there STOP FUCKING WITH ME.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

just call me x

I have a new nickname at work. They call me "Franki X". I think it's in part from a joke I made at dinner on Monday about how in EA mafia instead of putting a dead horse head in my bed they would put a ripped up class diagram (that is a joke only funny to EAs) under my pillow.

I also think it's because most people's reaction to me is to turn to my manager and say "where did you find her????" It's always said in a positive way (I think :). Because now that I have a captive audience I can talk about all the stuff my old company didn't understand.

For real, I said "eigenvectors" 11 times today at work and people LISTENED and were like "that's a great idea".

Monday, June 25, 2012

we don't need no stinking pants

Well, I almost royally fucked up my first day on my new job.

I got in late last night (flight was delayed an hour - I know - shock!). And I guess I'm more burned out than I realized. I swear I packed my suitcase on Saturday. I distinctly remember putting my just ironed clothes in.

I woke up this morning at 530 and read in bed for a while. I finally got up and showered. No rush, didn't have to be in the office until 845. At 8 am I decided to get dressed and discovered I had forgotten to pack pants.

Awesome. I tried on a dress to see if I could pull it off at work - no way. Fully panicked, I pulled up the internet (which is slow as fuck) and checked out the nearest Target (only store with clothes that I could think of that would be open at that hour). Literally 10 minutes crawled by while I waited for the "store locator" to return something.

Luckily there is a Target 2 miles from my hotel. I rushed there, driving like a pakistani taxi driver, ran in, and within 5 minutes had a sort of passable pair of khakis. The staff, who weren't busy because I was the only one in the store, was laughing hysterically as I explained my predicament and ran around with me trying to find pants. The ones I bought are a size too big, and totally unflattering, but at least they're pants. No one seemed to notice my poor outfit.

I made it to the office on time, shockingly. Had a hell of a rush of a day, was taken out to dinner by the VP I work for and the rest of the team joined (they all honestly seemed happy to work with me). I'm pretty sure I aced my first day, down to the most important question, when the VP asked what kind of wine I like and I said "Red, and anything but a merlot." She also asked about my impressions for the first day and I rattled off a summary of what I think I need to do the rest of the week. She looked at me for a minute, and I thought I had said something totally crazy. Then she said "Everyone else usually comments on the onboarding process, or how complicated things are, or how they're pissed they didn't get their computer first thing. I've never gotten a status report before." But I could tell she was glad.

I just got home, thinking "I'll chill out in my hotel room and relax".

Only to discover I had forgotten to pack more than one shirt. Fer fuck's sake. Dammit.

No more shopping for me. I'm going to wear my travel shirt and hope no one notices. I've already wasted $33 on a pair of pants that don't fit me.

And next week, when I'm back out here again, I will strive to do better. In all the years I've been traveling I've never fucked up so bad with my packing...