We had rain today, which is kind of unusual. Usually, in August if we get rain it comes as thunderstorms in the evening, not just as showers in the late morning. But, anyway, that was what we got. The Hub was outside replacing the spark plugs in the jeep and blowing up his tires. Poor Kendi got scared off her perch twice because of the motion of extension cord plugged into the outlet in the kitchen. I guess it looked like a snake. Birds hate snakes.

Anyway, he came in when it began to rain in earnest and I made us grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch before I went to work. Because of the bird being out and the dog being extra sheddy lately I haven’t been getting dressed in my work clothes until the last minute. It’s a lot easier to throw my bathrobe in the wash than it is to pick out a whole new outfit after I get haired, goobed, or bombed. I also made myself a salad to take to work with me and really wanted some fresh basil to put in it….but the longer I waited the harder it rained. Finally I just put on my spring coat over my robe and headed for the door.

“Um. Are you going to work now?” The Hub asked.

“Yeah, it’s Really Casual Thursday.” I said, deadpan.

He was still looking pretty shocked when I came back in with the basil, though he did a good job of covering it up. The poor Hub! “I was thinking ‘well, that’s one way to get a promotion’ (it’s a slinky robe), but I didn’t think that was your style.” he said. It could be worse. He could have thought it WAS my style!!

Speaking of the (possible) promotion, the HR person is right: word gets around. Today a manager in a whole different department asked me if I applied for the UW position and, as soon as I nodded, she said, “And you got it didn’t you?” Thus I stood there and explained the conditions to her. So I guess everybody in the building knows. I have no idea who else applied or who else was accepted – I guess because I make an effort to not get involved in other people’s business.

After all, I figured that, if I got in I’d see who else was in the class when I got there. If I didn’t get in what difference would it make who did?

It’s not that I’m this snob who is immune to inter-office curiosity. I’m probably more curious about the lives of people in general, including my co-workers, than most people. I think people are fascinating, and I’ll listen to almost anything they want to take the time to tell me. Because of that trait, I wind up knowing all kinds of things that I’m not supposed to know, or even that it’s not in the other person’s best interest to tell anybody. And, of course, I keep it all to myself….which creates a self perpetuating cycle, since any Accidental Blabbermouth now knows for sure that they can go on to their heart’s content and even get my sincere advice, and I’ll carry the whole matter to the grave with me.

By the grace of God, after awhile, I forget some of the less shocking stuff, but I’m always worried that somehow I’ll slip up and something that isn’t common knowledge will pop out of my mouth. So sometimes people come up to me and tell me “the latest” which is something that I’ve known for weeks, and I say “Oh my goodness, where did you hear that?”

The consequence of all of this is that, unless I have a funny story to tell, I tend to try to avoid talking to people altogether. But it doesn’t help. I must carry a pheromone, “sympathetic ears” or something, and they come talk to me.

I can only hope that my sympathetic nature has built up a reservoir of goodwill toward me, since those people who got “negative phone calls” were roundly razed by everybody in their departments along the lines of “who did you think you are?” Anyway, the manager gave me a lot of encouragement and some practical advice, for which I was grateful.

“I heard that a lot of people applied for the positions” I ventured.

“Yes, and they were all talking about the psych out questions and the committee interview. But they only take in a few people once a year. You can do it, you know, if you got through all that the tests will be easy.”

They’d better be, because I now know everybody on this side of the floor is watching to see what happens, not for malice but just for entertainment. At least I hope there’s no malice. Mostly, I just don’t want to disgrace myself. Well, not more than I do on a day to day basis.

Back to the books……