Second Week Out

The snow was less of a hindrance today. I wore pants that did not hit the wet pavement. That helped too. I headed out at what I thought was going to make me late. I wasn't late, but the hurry vindicated my motivation.

Today I did pretty much the same thing I did yesterday. Saturdays are quiet in the building. We're one of the few offices with open doors. When I came in Mike was there with Renni (sp); the other intern slated to come in today was sick. Renni is another intern. She's in her last year at Hunter College for creative writing. She's much more pop oriented than the rest of the office seems to be, but that's okay, a liberal manner is conserved by all.
Mike wanted to order pizza, since he had not had breakfast yet. Though it was lunch time when I came, I made no complaints about free food. We got a mushroom and a pepper pizza (with random mozz. splotches for cheese) delivered from The country's first ever pizza shop, Lombardi's. New York pizza is fine, certainly gourmet, but (and don't tell them I said so) it's just so different from the doughy, cheezy, greasey yummyness that I grew up with. The pieces are bigger here, yes, but they're definitely not as bulky. I imagine if New York pizza went deep dish, it would be a bit more like the hometown favorite.

As the day grew on, it became increasingly more obvious to me that Mike was really just here to oversee us as a man with the keys to open the door at the beginning of the day. Maybe there was some work he needed to get done, but shortly after Renni and I got into folding flyers, he joined in. Stellan came in shortly after and then Carlin. I have seen Carlin in the main office once or twice, but I met her officially today. Another of the paid assistants. She didn't have much to say, but again, today was Saturday. She, with access to the flyer template, printed out another 500 copies for us to fold. So, in the thick of the day (my shift is 12-5) there were 5 folders. The system for these flyers is: Fold into thirds, staple both corners, place an address label on each one, and stamp them with the nifty stamp machine. By the end of the day we had folded all the 500 that were already printed and were about 300 away from being complete. Now, though, it's out of my hands. I overheard Mike saying it was the fault of the calendar tracker (whoever that might be) that the task was handled rather late.
Anyway, I believe Stellan was the one to start this day's entertainment by asking Carlin how she enjoyed the old episodes of Arrested Development that he and Mike suggested she watch. Somehow all of that eventually launched into an internet video viewing spree, mostly the stuff from Will Ferrell's repertoire and website. I don't really like Ferrell all that much, but everyone else gets a kick out of him.

I worked a couple hours late, not realizing the time. It doesn't really matter on Saturday. I like to stay in the city until after 8pm, because the peak time for trains (the time when they charge you more because it's busier) ends then. I finished my Elizabeth Bishop reading and am still about half-way through Ann Carson's The Beauty of the Husband. I love it. It's provoked me to write an expanded dialogue.


More from me next weekend! Let me know how you all are and what you think.