For the first time I did an afternoon overtime. I did a lot of different stuff, like typing out names for printing onto labels, and creating folders for new employees, and copying and stapling and shredding. (Shredding is really fun.) At the end of the afternoon I finished sorting a pile all the way down to the "Z" names!
At the start of the day I went to chat with Human Resources boss Dan Keon. (He's a cousin of 1960s Toronto Maple Leafs star Dave Keon.) I told him that if there were any problems I wanted him to bring them directly to me instead of working through the Hawkins Institute. He said he'd heard nothing but good things about me.
Dinner was lasagna.
At the Geneva Centre we played some more Trivial Pursuit.
Marjorie agreed to cancel today's afternoon overtime, fortunately. I can still do it tomorrow.
It turned out that someone [probably my mother] accidentally left the phone off the hook for over a day, and I failed to return a message from the Hawkins Institute. It must have looked to them like I was ignoring them! [Debbie came and made an issue of the pants I was wearing not being clean enough, but that was because my two new pairs of pants were both being taken up and the only alternatives were jeans or the same pants I wore the day before, both a no-no.]
Dinner was roast chicken.
Went through the long Elixir of Love run-through. As we approach performance it gets tiring, especially for Giuseppe.
I've decided that it would be better to have a full work day just once a week for the first month or so.
At work I put up the poster of our opera at the bulletin board. Some people are already interested in seeing it.
Went shopping.
Dinner was salmon.
It turned out that we were rehearsing Suor Angelica instead of Elixir of Love. But I did get a chance to try on my costume. (It's pretty cool.) Now I'll probably have to get Marjorie to cancel tomorrow's overtime.
Met my niece Merle on the subway on the way home. She seems interested in joining jus at the Queen of Sheba for my birthday, and seeing my opera.
Dreamed of visiting a house that John was renovating and hearing popping sounds; Father explaining that the sound came from a gadget that released small amounts of natural gas then ignited them to burn off the gas that was already there(?).
Work was more of the same. Marnie appeared briefly, but didn't say much.
Marnie phoned in the afternoon and said Marjorie had asked if I could do afternoon overtime on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting this week. [I'd said earlier that I didn't want to be asked to work extra at such short notice, but she evidently didn't "get the memo."] I carelessly agreed to start it this week (I'm eager to please over the phone), but soon after realized that working a full day then doing a four-hour opera run-through might not leave me with enough time to wash my hair and shave. I phoned Marnie back to ask about changing to Wednesday afternoon, and she gave me an earful about how reneging on a commitment is unprofessional and would undermine the Hawkins Institute's credibility. Then I went down to see Marjorie and she had no problem with the change.
[This still annoys me. There was no problem until Marnie created one, then she defined her responsibility in a way that left me out in the cold. Fortunately, I lived close enough that I could go straighten out the matter myself, but if I'd lived further out I would have had to break it to Marjorie the following morning, which might have ruined her plans--all so that the Hawkins Institute could keep its fingers clean. It wasn't like I'd agreed to it a week before, then changed my mind at the last minute. Marnie did her job badly, then called my reaction "aggressive"!]
Dinner was steak.
The choir did two new songs, "Paese Me" and "Tiritomba." [In my diary I spelled it "Trimbolina"!]
Moira and I saw The River at the Cinematheque. It's a curious movie about an English girl in India and her first romance, directed by Jean Renoir with Satyajit Ray lending an unofficial hand. Dorky but visually lavish. (Moira compared it to the Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger films.)
About 20 minutes into the movie everything stopped when the AGO's alarm system was accidentally activated. It was over half an hour before it got started again because they couldn't figure out how to turn off the auditorium's emergency lights. We overheard a group of people discussing In Cold Blood.
Dinner was takeout Chinese food. (My fortune said that I tackle problems immediately.)
On Six Feet Under Dave and Keith were unfaithful to each other.
Dreamed of an Around the World in 80 Days-type adventure movie starring two women in English riding clothes; being Gandhi and lying in a hallway completely hidden in a blanket.
Unusually warm weather. I got a new pair of long johns yesterday, and I don't have to wear them!
Went down to the Cinematheque to see The River. When I got there I realized I'd forgotten my ticket! Oh well, it's showing tomorrow too.
Moira and I went out to dinner with Puitak and Gordon at Babur's. Very spicy Indian food!
The New York Times Saturday crossword puzzle was especially tough this week.
"While the Christian Brothers talked on and on about the sacrifice for nationhood, in 1965 we were all mad for The Man From U.N.C.L.E."--A Great Feast of Light
"Midnight mass was short and sweet now that I'd become an atheist"--C.R.A.Z.Y.
At work I finished filling the top row with folders of the 2005 job competition, then typed out shelf labels. Afterward I filed more payroll stuff, etc.
We went to Dufferin Mall and Father bought me a pair of dress pants.
Dinner was the rest of the stew.
Saw Jean-Marc Lavalee's C.R.A.Z.Y. at the Bloor with the North York Movies Meetup. It's a great film, though very hard to classify. The group's first meeting attracted four people. Afterward we talked about the movie over pizza at Panzerotti. It was a great time! George had a lot of ideas about what to try with the group.
Mailed out a package of Terry and the Pirates Sundays to Sharhal in a trade.
