First of all, I feel like every "issue" (wrong word... "topic"?...) Every thing I think when I sit down to write I feel like I've written already. (Have I already written that I feel like I've already written everything already? Probably.) I may have asked "why do people have such terrible phone manners" before but I know I haven't talked about it for the reasons I want to talk about it right now because this is the first few weeks of working for Bill on the phones at Weber Gaming and that's what got me thinking that people are terrible on the phone. So during parts of the day when Don and Bill have to do more Home Plus stuff?which is a lot of the time, they forward the Weber calls to my house and I take messages and do a little what-not here and there (pretty much just keeping the ship from sinking ) but in the process, I have to deal with some real pieces of work. What happened to, "this is so-and-so. May I speak with so-and-so, please?" I didn't grow up with many manners. Trust me. But even I was taught that one. What am I supposed to do with this:

"Hey, it's Charles. Tell Bill me and Sinclair talked about it and we'll take fifteen of the twenty-three hundreds for six months, flat, and then 15% after that."

I hear that and my head spins. You know how many calls I get an hour? A lot. I haven't been keeping really good count or anything but I get a lot. And the reason I'm perfect for this job is because I have the time. Bill brought it up real casually a few weeks ago and I didn't really know how he or Barb or Nicki would feel about me working for Weber Gaming, but all I'm doing is taking phone calls, and like I said, I can't do much more than sit on the couch anyway so while I'm sitting on the couch, why not answer the phone and try to move a few slot machines, right?

I can't go out anywhere anymore. I look like the Outback Steakhouse blimp and I pee every nine seconds, so instead of doing nothing, I throw on a hands-free head-set and clock in for a few hours. I can be with the kids. We got a phone line splitter that's easy as cheesy to work, and I'm just sitting on the couch watching "Jeps" re-runs, talking to people like Chuck, Sinclair, Loom, Doc, and Carlos. If this is what a career woman is, I'm it. But seriously, these guys - it's only guys I talk to - just call like they're the only person we might do business with and they just jump right in with their stuff. That's so conceited, right? I mean?I don't even like when people say "it's me" on the phone (Barb does that), but people that do that, at least, know you. I'm talking to strangers all day and they, more or less, do the same thing. "It's Charles.' Thanks. And?who's Charles, again? Right. The guy I talked to an hour ago. Get real. Be a grown up. Tell me who I'm talking to when you call me. Teenie does it. Why can't you, Chuck? Huh?

I am kind of loving this little part-time job, though, and I never thought I would. I was on the phone a ton when I was working at Home Plus and it stunk. But this is kinda groovy, actually. At first, last week, it was all messages. Truth be whatever, that was pretty boring. When it was just messages. But by Thursday or so, I branched out a little. I had to know what people were talking about so I more or less pretended to be a temp last Friday and asked a bunch of questions and by this Friday, I was almost wheelin' and dealin' a tiny bit. I mean. Not for real, but kinda. It's great. Especially cause it's only a few hours a day. I might could do it a few more hours here and there, but...if Bill wants me to, I will. I'd like to if he asks me, though.

I'm "on" again tomorrow. I've never had a "job" where I've liked saying that. A few hours in the morning after the boys go down and I take a bath, and then a few hours after lunch, after the boys go down and I take a bath. (That's right. Multiple baths a day. You better believe you'd do it if you could. I can. I'm always pregnant. I KNOW I've said that before?but get used to it. It works. Every time.) It's amazing that work can be somewhat enjoyable. That's new to me. I've hated every single job I've ever had. The first restaurant I worked in wasn't too bad because I was 16 and they'd let us have a beer or two after we closed out our section, but that place got shut down quicker than Nick's Grill out by the movie theater (3 months), where the health inspector found semen in the biscuit batter. I have no idea how long Bill'll need me, but I'm game for whatever. It's more fun being on the field than just being a cheerleader, that's for sure.