Some weeks are packed with major events. This wasn’t one of those weeks.
A summary of the week would include watching a family of hawks search for a new home, finally getting rid of a tree I’d hated for years, running headfirst into university red tape, Billy Zane somehow earning my hatred all over again, and finding satisfaction in helping people at work.
None of it was life-changing, but together it made for a week worth remembering.
Saturday was supposed to be a day for sleeping in, but I was surprised awake by the rumble and growl of chainsaws across the street. This marked the third weekend in a row that neighbors had trees removed. What is it with tree trimmers working weekends?
Since I was already up, I decided to go ahead and knock out my yard work. It was time to tame my yard, for she was getting out of hand. While mowing, I watched the tree removal with great fascination. I even contemplated asking them for a quote to remove the pesky oak I’d despised ever since moving into the house eight years ago. It had clearly started as a sapling beneath a much larger oak and had been left to its own devices over the years, growing into a formidable tree of its own. The problem was that the damn thing grew at a strange angle toward the street. One year, half the damn thing ended up lying in the road. Cleaning up that mess wasn’t cheap.
When they finished working across the street, I decided to ask for a quote after all. The guy offered to remove the tree right then and there for two hundred bucks. I countered with one hundred. He came back with one hundred twenty-five. “How about one-twenty?” I asked. “All I’ve got are twenties.” He laughed and said, “Sure thing.”
It worked out to an extra forty bucks for each of them, and the whole job only took about fifteen minutes.
It was pretty impressive. With the truck already parked across the street, the boss walked his chainsaw over and cut the tree down in about five minutes. Once it hit the ground, they hooked a winch to the stump, dragged it across the street, and fed the whole damn thing into the grinder. Fifteen minutes after I’d asked for a quote, the tree was gone, and I was finally rid of the fucking thing.
That made six trees on my block that had been removed within the last three weeks.
One of the more entertaining—and unexpected—bonuses of all the tree removal has been the displaced hawk family. This truly solidifies my status as a nerd because my bird-watching ass was absolutely enthralled.
In all seriousness, I do feel for the hawks. They likely lost their home, and hearing their distress calls genuinely made me sad. I’d never seen—or heard—birds so obviously upset. It was heartbreaking, but damn if they aren’t cool as hell to watch. What I first thought was a single hawk turned out to be three. I think they’re broad-winged hawks, though I’m no expert. They spend their days flying from tree to tree, calling back and forth to one another. One evening, Yvette and I watched one swoop down and snatch a dove right out of the street. Poor dove.
They’re truly a pleasure to watch, and I’d be perfectly happy if they decided to make my yard their new home. Maybe they’ll chase away all the shitting doves that keep decorating my car.
Monday was my sitting week. Dammit.
I also had an online orientation for the fall semester that I needed to complete. It consisted of a bunch of online modules. I probably could have skipped the whole thing, but considering I haven’t taken a college class in seventeen years—and certainly never an online one—I figured I might learn something. It was terrible. The dean giving the orientation had all the personality of an elementary school teacher talking to first graders. Everything felt overly simplified. Managing my time? Self-care? Really? I suppose some of it might be useful to an incoming freshman, but my Lord, I don’t know that I learned anything I didn’t already know.
I also received my tuition bill on Tuesday—in full, of course. Human Resources had submitted my exemption paperwork that very same day, so naturally Student Accounts hadn’t had time to apply it yet.
I tell you what, I started this process back in April. I thought I was being proactive, but apparently that didn’t accomplish much.
To make matters even worse, I discovered the woman in HR I’d been emailing back and forth with had left the university for greener pastures. It would’ve been nice to know that. I just assumed she’d been ignoring me. From there I got bounced from one office to another, each pointing me toward someone else who supposedly had the answer. Eventually I was told to contact an entirely different department because they didn’t know either. Typical.
It’s getting harder and harder to find anyone who actually knows what’s going on these days.
I was also left wondering whether I’d been selected for the Staff Senate Scholarship. No one in Staff Senate seems to know who serves on the selection committee.. Wild.
The week itself was hot and surprisingly quiet. Teegan was away at an Aggie camp, while Lola and Alaya were rarely around. Yvette and I ended up enjoying some quality time together.
My mother left town Thursday for a girls’ trip, so we watched her dogs and picked up some Thai food near her house. It was just the two of us… and four dogs.
We watched another Sam Neill movie from my childhood that I hadn’t seen in many, many moons—Dead Calm. Also starring Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane, it’s really just a three-person movie. Neill spends much of the film alone aboard a sinking ship, desperately trying to get back to his wife while she’s trapped on their sailboat with a madman played by Zane. It’s a really good film, and Sam Neill conveys desperation almost entirely through his facial expressions.
Of course, when I first watched the movie years ago, my biggest complaint was that he wasn’t playing Dr. Alan Grant and didn’t get to foil the bad guy until the very end. Watching it now as an adult—and being much more familiar with Neill as an actor—I realize how good he really is. He makes the character feel completely believable, even without the memorable dialogue he had in Jurassic Park.
I will say this, though: I still find Billy Zane completely detestable to this day, and this movie is probably to blame. How dare this ass clown think he can fuck with Dr. Grant?
Friday wrapped up the work week with a meeting between my boss and several department heads from around campus regarding Receiving Documents and Okays to Pay. Since I process them every single day, I was invited to participate. Who better to include than me?
Before the meeting, I created a simple step-by-step guide with screenshots explaining the entire process. I thought it would make things much easier. Unfortunately, Bruce accidentally told me the wrong Kimberly would be attending, so I sent the guide to the wrong Kimberly. She promised to forward it to the correct Kimberly. She didn’t.
Early in the meeting, the right Kimberly pointed out that the attachment had never been sent. I quietly excused myself from the meeting, emailed the guide to everyone, and jumped right back in. Thankfully, it ended up being exactly what everyone needed. I barely had to explain anything because people were able to follow the document on their own. That felt incredibly validating after spending the extra time putting it together. I’d call the meeting a success, and hopefully the gears will turn a little more smoothly around the university because of it.
And that was my week. Nothing earth-shattering happened, but sometimes it’s the mundane bullshit that makes for the best blogs.
Happy Friday!!
Jalapeño
En Fuego 