[Tentatively] Back on the Wagon

So, as addictive as blogging is, even the best of us fall off the wagon. My last post was in October, and after that, I finally figured out what the big hubbub about "graduate school" is really about. So, I had to devote time to that. Plus, with the holiday season and finals and everything...

Ok, Ok, I forgot I had a blog. That's the truth. Boo for me. I remembered this morning, though!

And my boss isn't here today. And no one else is working in Special Collections with me today. I'm all alone in this windowless cement place, and therefore no one can yell at me for slacking a bit. Which, after an incident last semester, I have been frightened of doing. I call this incident "Internet-Gate 2009"

Preface:
My graduate research assistantship is, in a word, boring. It just is. It's the grunt work that everyone has to do before they get anywhere, and I appreciate that and understand its necessity. However, I literally spend 5 hours per shift erasing and relabeling file folders, and removing staples, and making copies of post-it notes. That, my friends, does not make time pass quickly.
We have computer access during this 5 hour time frame, and we have been told we are allowed to check our mail/facebook/etc. Well, after sitting at a desk for 5 hours, every so often, you need a quick 5 minute reprieve. So, I'll glance at Perez Hilton and see if Amy Winehouse is out of rehab, or if Joe Jonas is really back with Selena Gomez or if he's still writing T-Swift love songs. Or, I check out my personal favorite blog, www.2birds1blog.com (the language is horrendous, but it is laugh out loud hilarious). Now, these are all in no more than 5 minute increments. I do not, by any means, spend all day looking at these sites and not getting anything productive done.

Cut to November, when the computer in the main office gets an internet-based virus.

My boss pulls me and my other co-worker into her office and chews us a new one, and won't let us defend ourselves. Even though it is an internet virus that any computer IN THE ENTIRE 3 FLOOR LIBRARY could have contracted because of the connected system...it's clearly our fault. She then checks the internet history and chews us out even more, once again, not letting us defend ourselves.

Couldn't help it, I went home and cried.

My boss is your typical librarian. Pinched lips, narrowed eyes, glasses, slicked back bun, only weighs 90lbs, etc. She's very passive aggressive and, quite frankly, just makes me uncomfortable. However, I don't like it when people are mad at me. So, as a result, I did not touch the computer or the internet for the next 6 weeks until the end of the semester.

However, I'd like to take this moment to thank eb3 for teaching me something bout computers and therefore how to delete browsing history. Just in case.

And then, on our evaluation sheets for the semester, she gave us, on a scale of 1-5, all 4's...with a 3 in the area of "ethical and professional behavior." SERIOUSLY?! Ugggh.

Therefore, I've decided that I will stick it out for this semester, then go ahead and take the massive pay cut and be a TA for next year. This pins-and-needles thing just isn't working for me. And also, I need some human interaction. This office makes me feel cut off from existence. And, I already live by myself - I'd prefer not to work by myself.

And that, was [Internet-Gate 2009]

And, for my next entry, I will delve into the social historical importance of Watergate and how, as a result, anytime there is a major incident, people in America tend to just add a "-gate" to the end of it.

Not really. That would be such a boring entry. I'll probably post again before I leave though. It's too quiet around here.

Back on the wagon. Go 2010.