Why My Blogging Sucks Lately

Okay. Work: busy. Holy Moly: busy. Home: somewhat busy. Folks in Utah: incredibly busy.

There’s so much going on in various arenas lately that there’s not a lot of time for blogging. This bothers me, because I keep having experiences that are worth blogging, or seeing oddities that deserve to be noted.

I used to do a lot of blogging at work, but things keep changing there, and the call volume is high. So it doesn’t really do to spend a lot of time farting around on the web… so I’ve been using del.icio.us a lot lately to keep track of web pages I visit, because although I may not have the time to blog about them at work, I still encounter them during the day, mostly because I keep an eye on the news as a part of my routine. The days go fast, at least.

Still, I’d rather have more “non-pressure-cooker” time at work. Lately, I’ve adapted to using a completely new web-based method of searching for, using, and updating traveler profiles, that is pretty much a piece of cobbled-together crap. It’s a bitch to update unless you’re just doing ONE thing. My team leader is suspicious of all new technologies, with some basis for her attitude, and so she has mandated that only specific people (myself included) are allowed to update profiles using the new method, because
she wants to be sure that it will be done correctly. Hey, it’s not that difficult, but there are things to be aware of, and you have to concentrate on what you’re doing.

In addition to that, we’ve had 4 or 5 people from an office in Pennsylvania helping out on our phones – the joys of corporate networking – and to help them out with questions, I was using an internal IM client. Meanwhile, people are always stopping by my desk while I’m either working on a group or attempting to take a few “normal” calls. It’s a lot of balls to juggle, believe me. It’s not as stressful as it was at first, but I do have a few outbursts of frustration per day on “bad” days when all kinds of things
are starting to pile up, and then someone hands off a message that the client wants a new hotel project started from scratch. ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHH.

Holy Moly, as stated in an earlier post, is about to go through a lot of interesting changes. At least we’re starting to have some small successes with the food pantry, which we are running on a shoestring and which will probably have to be re-designed if it REALLY takes off, because the local authorities will start to get interested in things like storage and vermin and so on. Meanwhile,
we have a rather nasty mold problem in the “nursery,” which has never been used as a nursery because a) there were no babies and b) there was no one willing to do child care as a volunteer and we couldn’t afford to pay anyone. That project was done years before I came on the Bishop’s Committee, and in retrospect, there was no thought given to how to run it or how to maintain it, just build it in the hope that babies would come. And, in the last few years, every time someone comes with a baby, they don’t come
back. So the nursery sits unused, the few kids that were coming used it as a playroom, and no one ever cleaned it.

Honestly, unless a bunch of new people materialize due to the word of mouth and some other things I’m working on to raise our visibility, we can’t go on much longer with such a small group of committed people, and a somewhat larger group of people who come to church only. At least with sharing Stephen’s services with the other parish, we can stick to our budget. I suppose the next pledge drive is going to be critical, and we’ve lost several families since the last one (admittedly, one clan wasn’t really
pledging, but they showed up for all events with food, and stayed away from all fundraisers).

My sisters, nieces, and great-nieces and great-nieces are all gathered together in Salt Lake, welcoming Alexa, our newest family member. Mom, of course, is there only in spirit. The family home went on the market this week as a “<acronym title=”For Sale By Owner”>FSBO</acronym>” property. There’s been some interest from a couple of people already, so we’re hopeful that it will sell. By the time I’m next in Salt Lake on our fall road trip, the house may be in someone else’s hands.

Weird.

Well, there’s more, but I’ve got to get out the door and do some errands. More later.