DAY FOUR - THURSDAY

raver mommy was still on vacation this day. mommy two and i conversed about how they had not received a raise in two years.

i watched her as she spoke bitterly, and thoughts of her adorable little son floated through my mind.

i couldn't believe that i started off just a few months ago at the same pay that they are receiving now, with them being four year veterans of this fine establishment.

leaning back into my chair, i stretched my arms and legs and glanced at the air conditioning vent just above our desks. i suddenly felt motivated.

in the back of my mind, i knew that there was a ladder somewhere near by. on thursday afternoon during my lunch break, i sought out this ladder and perched it right over raver mommy's empty desk-

for the past few months, i have witnessed much battle-of-the-air-conditioning-system, with admin-lady and raver mommy, against yes-man. the majority of our office believes that the air conditioner is much too strong. yes-man believes that anything above his set temperature of 71 degrees is "a boiling furnace".

put on a sweater right?

well, the fact is, yes-man is never in the office.

thus the battle.

one month ago, i approached the maintenance manager (martini-man), and kindly asked him to have the vent above our desks to be closed or diverted. "i've seen it done before. it's possible", i told him. he fussed, but ultimately agreed.

apparently, nothing was done.

- i grabbed my scissors, intending to poke at the vents my myself. i then began to climb the ladder...

at that moment, just by chance, the gm returned from his very long lunch. he looked horrified. "what are you doing??", he exclaimed.

after my explanation, he sternly requested that i not climb this ladder. "liability !!" was written all over his haggard face. part of my brain was relieved that i didn't have to do this myself after all.

gm disappeared down the hall to have a chat with martini-man. ten minutes passed, when the both of them returned to the ladder and stared up at the ceiling. martini-man promised to call the technician right away. i was also lectured by gm, to write a memo next time. i am to submit this memo to tall-man, who is "administration" according to gm.

why i need to submit a technical request to the "admin" instead of the "maintenance manager" is beyond me, but if this is what he'd like, so be it.

i was pleased to see martini-man return with a technician later that afternoon.

they both craned their necks upwards and rehashed the situation. technician is a kind man; he assured us that he'll shut this particular one off completely so that we will not "freeze to death".

it's about freakin time ! i thought to myself.

once more, martini-man appeared at the edge of my desk. he uttered softly, with an air of spite, "you do realize that summer is coming up, and that it's going to get really hot in here if you have that shut off".

i quickly pointed to the seven other vents in close proximity. the fifty year old shook it off and trudged back to his office like a hurt little boy.

continued to next entry...