DG Pity Party: You come ovah!

Otay so Thursday was my last day at work.  Of course, no one from upper management or my supposed boss (the upper management guy who could never figure out if I really  worked for him or not) said goodbye or wished me well.  I sent around the standard "goodbye and good luck" e-mail to everyone- yada yada.

My long-time boss is an American guy who I have worked for/with/for (on and off - depending on the whims of upper management), for the full 4 years I was there.   He is a highly ethical man of very few words and has kept his job for close to 15 years by keeping his head down and giving out just enough information and never more.  He has always kept his cool (and in turn, helped me keep mine).  He wrote me the NICEST letter of recommendation I've ever received from anyone and it made me tear up.He's never been emotional, but has always had my back when I needed him the most.  He is a guy who doesn't take sick days or days off for no reason.  Thursday, he didn't come to work.  It actually meant more to me than if he had come in.  I know that he didn't want to say goodbye because in contrast, I am an over-the-top, mushy, huggy-kissy person who would have embarrassed the heck out of him with my emotional display.  He really honoured me just by not being there and it meant a lot.  Flip-side:  Who knows, maybe I'm reading too much into it (as usual?) and he was just out looking for a new job too!  I plastered  his office door with yellow smiley faces - which I know he hates - and left him a mushy thank-you letter (which I'm sure that he'll feel squirmy about but it was heart-felt).

I didn't have to go into the office for the last week of September, but I did.  On one of those days, the only other female manager in my  office brought in a corporate document that I wrote, with a gazillion little sticky tabs down the side and that was full of red ink and exclamation points (!!!! hate them !!!!).  She said, "You need to do this..."  oh no she di'int....  She's a nice woman and I'm sure she was just the messenger, so I feel bad for biting her head off (I did).  The guy who had given it to her to give to me obviously wasn't man enough to face me directly and no one is left in the company who can do the work that I do (it  appears to be an easy task but I used 4 programs to get it there).  I refused.  He ran to the HR manager (waaaaaaaaaaaaaa).  HR dude told him to let it go.   I hear they are already seeking less-ethical local-market candidates to replace me - probably for less pay.  Good luck with that.  Maybe they can work on it.

So, this leaves me jobless this coming week.  I have meetings; I have appointments; I still haven't been paid for September (puhleeze - at least pay on time when I'm walking out the door - just once?  Respect.).  I'm a very active person and I just can't get used to having nothing to do during the work week.

Do any of you readers need consulting work done?  Copy writing?  Website content?  Comedic scripts?  Carpentry?  House keeping (no, I don't have a french maid's outfit and I'm not wearing one).   I feel WEIRD and I'm not liking it.

Having said that - do you think I'll actually do my dishes or laundry this week or clean house?  Hell no I won't!  That's not real work.

I still don't have a solid job offer; although it is early yet.  We'll see how that goes.  It's all very scary.

The company's policy  is never to give an employee a going-away party:  Not a card, rarely a handshake, nada.  I got in trouble once for throwing a lunchtime gathering for a teaboy who had been with the company for 15 (yes FIFTEEN) years.  HR called me and asked me why I had done it.  Because I'm a HUMAN.  It's what we do....

So, I decided that I'm really not a 1-hour-over-lunch-break McDonald's or Hardee's farewell party girl.  I would rather just not do that.  I throw birthday parties for myself, so why not a farewell party too?  I have invited everyone to my place this coming Friday.  God help me - I hope that I get paid by then otherwise I'll have a bunch of people just standing around.

Ok, so let's talk about more practical issues:  My Hair.  (Sorry guys - girl talk now...)  Butterfly put in extensions about 10 days ago with micro links (which are SUPER expensive as it turns out in the beauty supply shops here).  I always wanted long, silky hair (everybody secretly does - even some of you guys - you know it.  If you didn't have a mullet, you wanted to look like Fabio back in the day.)  So, she put in the extensions and toned up my roots.  I know - I looked damn gorgeous.   It's true.... I have the photos to prove it...   and a week later, I was squealing in pain every time I went to bed.  'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!  It huuuuuwts!'  Desert Dawg even when skittering under the bed every time I turned and let out a wail.   I'm sorry - I'm a frail white girl.  I will never be up to sistah-standards.  I have a low tolerance for pain.  Butterfly did her best to console me, "Just a few days... just give it a try...."   I called my friend, the girl formerly known as Sheesha Girl.  She wears extensions and had similar extension advice:  "Get used to it..."   How DO other women deal with it?  Butterfly didn't even put them in that tight.  I'm just a wussy.  I can't help it.  So, many hours of Butterfly's precious time-with-her-husband wasted later, the extensions came out.  Ah, deep sigh of relief.

Let me publicly say, I AM SO SORRY, BUTTERFLY!  I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY.  I just couldn't deal with it.  You did everything you possibly could, but I'm a hopeless, whiney cause.

Ok, having said that, she gave me a kick-ass haircut and the color is great and I'm happy with my real hair.  She did with the scissors what no one else I have been to in Kuwait in 14 + years could:  She cut my hair on a slant.  Sounds simple, right?  Try asking someone here to do it:  chop, chop, chop.  The latest to do that was T&G by the way.  She did it fine on one side and chopped down the other.  Is it me??

I'm bored.  Can you tell?