Rain, steady on the roof. It's a comforting sound, but a little melancholy. And I know it will last all day. Fortunately, it's not as cold as it was yesterday and the day before. Otherwise, we would have snow. Although it can be fun, I do not wish for snow today. Yesterday, it was 30 when I came back from my walk. It was about 26 when I left.

It was a busy day. I worked for a couple hours. I helped 3 clients. One did not qualify for the line of credit, but did not seem surprised. It was probably her credit rating. She did make an appointment to have her taxes done with me in January. The second qualified, but for less than she got last year. She was a little disappointed, but also made an appointment. And the third was pre-approved and got the money he wanted. He will come in to have his taxes done too. I did not have to do any "selling." These were all people who came to the office to get the loan and knew what they were doing. I told them all what the costs were. I felt pretty good about it.

I went to the chiropractor. I hurried home for the small group meeting at my house. I didn't have time to finish my lunch before they started arriving...early. There were 9 of us, a good number. I  had to use the folding chairs. We had a good discussion about gratitude. There was a range of people, from 26 to 92, two of them men. They ate cookies and rice pudding and pear custard squares.

After they left, I had a big salad, with hard-boiled egg and bacon and buttermilk and Purple Haze goat cheese. It was pretty darn good. I watched TV. Then I headed to the community center to spend a couple hours knitting. There were 10 women, if I remember right. I was astonished there was that much interest. At least four of them were just talking. They don't even knit. I brought the pear squares and helped Tanya with a project she was working on. I lent Gere a set of needles and she knit up a square, even though she hadn't knit since high school! It was fun and I didn't come home until 10. Walking in the dark woods was beautiful and I slept well.

My life as an environmental activist

As we headed out for our walk this morning, bundled up against the cold--45 or so, not really cold--I could hear something. "Is that rain?" "I believe that is rain," said Ray. Never mind that the forecast was for 0% chance of rain! It was light. The dog didn't care. Ray carried a small bag of trash, lightweight and about the size of a basketball (mostly kleenex from his recent cold). Today is trash day and we hadn't put it out last night. We walked to a neighbor's to leave it in the bin. We share trash pickup, since we both have little waste. We try to make most of what we eat, and/or buy in bulk. When we do have containers (cans of beans, wine bottles, etc.), Ray washes them thoroughly for recycling. We thought about turning back and driving it over, but it seemed like almost more trouble than walking. Of course, it would not be as good for the environment--or us. We enjoyed the gray sky and colorful trees. When we got to Nancy's, she happened to be at the top of the drive and we had a chance to chat with her for a minute. Ray said he was heading back, but I was going on. "No," I said. "Yes," he said. Nancy was admiring of our bravery. And I continued on my walk, while Ray turned back to work on his notes for class. I am pretty steadfast in my commitment to walk a mile every morning. It is not very much, but seems to make a difference in my health--mental and physical. Sometimes I think of my mother and how she pushed herself to walk just this mile many times. I know it was much harder for her, and I can do it easily, so I do. It had pretty much stopped raining by the time we got home. 

self-portrait with hat and scarf

Andropogon!

Pinwheel cookies were a big success. Of course, they have chocolate.

Alpacas at the Science Museum in Durham

Dinosaur Trail

Bears at the Science Museum

spider web season

The chickens are getting their  feathers back after molting

Back to work

It's a beautiful sunny morning here in Georgia, although it was well below freezing at dawn.

Friday was my first day of training for my new job, as office manager for a small local office of a large corporation. I was one of 16 people there, most of whom were coming back for another tax preparation season. I was honored to be one of two new office managers not promoted from within. Two others worked for the company previously, but not in that capacity.

Corporate culture is entertaining and frustrating. We are "client service leaders." Receptionists are "client service professionals," but of course, they are referred to by abbreviations: CSL and CSP. There are many more abbreviations and code words. We talked about setting goals and motivating employees in our offices with clever bulletin boards and rewards of $7.

Yesterday, I worked 8 1/2 hours, with no break. It was fun. Yes, I said fun. I have very mixed feelings about taking this job. If I were going to "sell out" and work for a corporation, I would like to get more than $10/hour! On the other hand, working is way better than not working, most of the time. One of the good things is that I will only have to work until April 17, unless they like me enough to ask me to stay on and do some off-season work. I would probably be able to come back next year and do it again, if all goes well, so I have a fall-back plan and time to look for something I like better. In the meantime, from early January, I will be working full-time, for the first time in many years of un- and under-employment. I will have to work some nights and weekends, something I have always resisted.

Starting a new job, it is impossible to know which people will become friends I will miss a few months from now and which will be a huge pain in the neck. But, they seem pleasant; they seem to like me and appreciate me. I was busy, but not stressed most of the day.

The tax preparers were notified (only a few days ahead) to come by the biggest Athens office, the one that is open before the season. There was a list of things they were supposed to do: renew their tax preparer ID, sign up for the company credit card, order business cards, commit to their hours for 2014, verify their citizenship (I-9), and sign up for "Skills" times.

It was a bit chaotic when I arrived. L. was supposed to be in charge. She had brought an assistant, K. There were several office managers from previous years, assigned to help the TP (tax preparers). Since I did not know much about anything, I was assigned to greet people and send them to the first station, the training room that had plenty of computers.

After a bit, L. developed a checklist she wanted them to fill out. They were supposed to do the steps in order. Then she gave me a sign-in sheet and asked me to make sure to get everyone's name on it. It was pretty busy early on. L. and K. were supposed to verify the documents to prove citizenship: either a passport or a driver's license AND a social security card. I had to go to my safe deposit box on Friday before training to get my passport. I haven't seen my social security card in years. (It's probably around somewhere). Then L. would sign them up for skills training. She was trying to do other things as well, so a bottleneck developed. I felt bad for the people waiting. It shouldn't have taken very long.

Eventually, I was given the task of verifying documents as well, and then, signing people up for training. In between times, I ate food I had brought with me. I hoped it wasn't against company policy to eat at the desk. I had access to the on-line training I needed to do for my tax classes. The exam is next Wednesday, and I have two more classes before then. I am a little behind, due to working! The other CSL's helped me with getting clocked in and doing the things I needed to do and didn't know how.

By the time I left, after 7:30, I had eaten 2 small Snickers bars (from Halloween) and three cookies. My neighbor, Nancy M., had fallen and broken her collarbone. She needed me to pick up her medication at the hospital, so I went there before I went home. Ray had dinner ready (chicken tagine from the freezer, but still great). He was starving waiting for me.

After that, there wasn't much left of the evening. Wheel and the Daily Show and a chapter or so before I fell asleep, for at least 8 hours.