That Deadline Already

So the month has come to a close and I’m far from completing my NaNoWriMo novel. A few of my writing buddies, who did rise to the challenge, have “winner” marked on their word count bar. Since I’m not a winner, does that make me a loser?

Okay, so I don’t think I’m a loser. I didn’t start this task with the notion that I would finish in a month. And, honestly, anyone familiar with my writing process didn’t think so either. But that doesn’t mean I won’t. Because, again, anyone who knows me doesn’t believe I’ll give up. They know instead I’ll just push out the deadline.

Now setting deadlines have never been something I’ve been good at scheduling, but even I know a month isn’t a realistic one. As far as when I’ll finish my NaNoWriMo novel, I’m not sure. I think I’ll keep my commitment to finishing it open ended for now. I’ll leave the bar up, but will rename it with my working title, Glitch.

So there might be an “L” stamped on my word count bar, but it’s not for loser. I say it’s for late.

Take 2

The role of New Girl has been recast. Her first day was last Monday, but I figured no sense in bringing it up if she couldn’t cut it the first week. That accomplished, she’s earned a post.

Right now she’s in what I consider the Honeymoon Phase of working for my boss. He asks how she’s doing, makes witty comments, and refrains from really yelling at anyone.

During this time she’ll probably wonder why “Crazy” would leave such a nice place with no other job or unemployment check to fall back on. Silly New Girl, no one quits a job in this economy without good reason.

Run, New Girl! Run!

The new girl my boss hired lasted only one day. My boss thinks she got spooked after she took a tour of our manufacturing facility. I’m not convinced that was the reason, so I put together my own list of possibilities:

1. While the “Crazy” co-worker was training, the new girl asked why she was quitting. "Crazy" told the new girl that she didn't get along with the boss, but assured the new girl that she might get along with him better.
2. The boss told “Crazy” to take the new girl out to lunch, he was buying, “Crazy” took her to McDonald's.
3. The new girl’s work history was in a completely different field than the one she was hired into.
4. A half hour before “Crazy” arrived the new girl was alone with the boss. If her alone time with him was anything like mine when I first started, he was standing way too close for comfort.
5. The mortuary silence in the office is enough to creep anyone out.

Enough said.

Bringing Crazy Back

I use to love Gnarls Barkley’s "Crazy." If your not familiar with it, take a listen:

Whenever I heard it on the radio, I’d turn it up and sing along. You all can be thankful I don’t possess the technology to post that.

Yes, I really enjoyed that song until I experienced it as my co-worker’s ringtone. The first time the "Crazy" intro broke through the mortuary silence of our office I was ready to take cover. And it wasn’t like she answered it immediately, but my boss didn’t blow. The second time it happened, which was the next day, nothing again. And it continued every day thereafter and every day I held my breath wondering if that was going to be the time he lost it. Because with him, it's all a matter of time. So when we reached her last day, which was this past Thursday, I felt like we might have dodged the big one.

Friday morning couldn’t have started better. My boss was out of town, "Crazy" was gone, and my favorite co-worker brought us McDonald’s for breakfast. My perfect workday lasted for one minute because at 8:01 my "Crazy" ex-co-worker called to say she’d be back on Monday. I almost choked on my hash brown.

Apparently after "Crazy" left the building, my boss realized there was no new person to take over the vacant job, no one to train the new person we didn’t have, and no one to do the job until we found someone new. That left my boss with one option: to bring "Crazy" back.

Off To A Slow Start

No, I’m not talking about the week, although, that would be a perfect description for that too. I’m talking about my progress in NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. Basically, authors around the world try to write a novel in one month. The task is about quantity, 50,000 words to be exact, not quality. Yesterday participants  had to start a new novel. Truth be told I already have enough on my plate, I really don’t need to be starting a new one. But I decided to join NaNoWriMo for the support and networking opportunities I hope it will bring.

On this blog I’ve spend a lot of time venting about my job, but so far I haven’t really said what I’m doing to better my situation. Believe me, I’ve exhausted playing the lottery and hunting down a suitable sugar daddy. That leaves me stuck doing it on my own. Hopefully writing will pan out better. I guess if you’ve been reading this blog you might have an opinion about that. Hopefully it is one of encouragement, and not one that advises me to embrace my day job.

So back to NaNoWriMo, the goal is to write 50,000 words by November 30^th. I’m at 475 words. This isn’t looking so good. If I can figure out a way to add the progress meter to my blog like some of the other writers have on theirs, I will. Because having all eyes on me, gulp!, sounds… motivating.