Windows 3.1 and a Brain-Draining Day (Part 2) – Mad Chaos: April 15, 1999

Raiding the Garage for Bus Fare

Beginning now with chronology for Wednesday, I did get myself a good night’s sleep. Tuesday night I decided to get to bed just before 10:00 p.m. again and that gave me no troubles of waking up at 5:40 a.m. in the morning. Because of my great sleep I had no trouble showering, eating or getting dressed in time.

However, the only drawback for my planned Wednesday of work was that I didn’t have a cent to my name for the bus. With time quickly running out I knew I couldn’t walk and when I asked mum I found out she too was broke. With dad still sleeping I cared not to ask him for money again so for a one-off time I snuck into the garage, quietly opened his car door and raided the change.

While this was taking place with the squeak-of-a-mouse accuracy mum made her way downstairs. Leaving the garage door slightly opened she walked in but she knew what I was up to before even opening the door. Desperation was surely running through my veins so mum didn’t care and with money in hand I made my way to the bus stop.

Barely Catching the Train

The morning bus was a couple of minutes late and if it was even a second later I would have missed my train. When I arrived down the stairs the train doors were just closing and if that had happened I would have been fairly late to work and to the City, by at least ten minutes.

Taking my seat on the train I didn’t notice anyone from Lyssa’s work as before but I did notice a couple of people I used to go to school with. There were also a heap of beautiful girls in my carriage and lining each station as we paraded past them. This world really does have an awesome array of beautiful women. The enormity of beauty rings my ears and startles me. How lucky this world is with such elegance in women and me, I would be lucky to see them all, even if at a glance. The City sure is a place for hot women, a dime for a dozen would be the immensity.

Devon Waiting at Leumeah

Passing Leumeah I looked around to see if Lyssa was jumping on but as the train was leaving I only noticed Devon, patiently waiting by himself. This did seem strange as it was his train that he didn’t jump on but later when I spoke to Lyssa she informed me that he was waiting for someone. “I arrived at Leumeah Station at 7:10 a.m.” Lyssa uttered which was twenty minutes before me “And Devon was there”.

From this I gather he must have been waiting for over half an hour, eerie. Passing Minto I glanced for the scintillate of my lost years but she was nowhere to be found. With these two setbacks to my unfortunate longing I heeded not a whisper of care but to wrought silence.

Collecting Cash at Lyssa’s Work

Arriving in the City at 8:25 a.m. I immediately headed to Lyssa’s work as planned. Catching the elevator to level 9 I wasn’t at all nervous about work or about seeing Lyssa.

Once there I did notice Lyssa at Reception and as I made my way to the door Lyssa noticed me. Greeting each other with a smile Lyssa’s lips strayed to a concern that perturbed her mind. “My bag’s in the office” she uttered and as she deliberated for a couple more seconds she noted “I’ll get Penelope to bring it out, you’ll have to see her”. While Lyssa jumped on the phone to give Penelope a message a girl came out to use the fax machine right next to Lyssa’s Reception area, Bronte came out and a couple of other people that I didn’t notice peeped.

Later in the day Lyssa informed me that people were inquisitive about who I was, they thought I was her new boyfriend. When I left she was given the third degree about who I was so I guess they all would have been disappointed to find out that it was only me. However, Bronte gave me a friendly smile when she came out so I guess she didn’t see me as too bad a person for Lyssa to go out with.

Hearing a door open in the hallway near the elevator’s Penelope started walking up to Lyssa with the handbag. Turning around on the last second as she handed Lyssa the bag she was rather silenced by her pride. Penelope had no idea what I was up there for so she got a surprise to see me but what’s more Lyssa dogged Penelope to head home with me when she finished work.

As Lyssa gave me the money from her purse she told me to pocket it and after a couple of minutes on the phone I said goodbye to her. Making my way to the elevators I waved once more and then I was on my way to my first job in years.

First Day at the Temp Job

Trekking across Darling Harbor Bridge and onto the right road as opposed to Tuesday I made my way to the building at 9:00 a.m. Perfect timing was on my side but I had started to sweat as a result and I’m not sure if the sweat comes through my shirt. The sweating was only light and as I was asked to wait by the Receptionist downstairs it gave me some time to gather myself and subdue my sweating.

However, time kept ticking and after twenty minutes of patiently sitting down Mandy finally came down the stairs. Trying my hardest to be bubbly and talkative the lack of experience in confidence led me to be less contrived.

Making our way to a room that was generously allocated to me by a lady worker I sat down with Mandy as she told me the fundamentals of the job. Basically for the next forty-five minutes she told me all the facets of the job and I tried my hardest to make sense of it but just like an exam, it was just too much to cram in for one day. Not for one second did I drop off when she was enlightening me on the task at hand but the aim and structure of the project went over my head.

Old Software and a Slow Computer

There was a folder in her hand which showed all the prewritten documents and my job was to make it look pretty. However, Mandy had already started on making it look decent which made it more confusing for me. Some parts didn’t look like they had been worked on at all and that made me ask myself “Does she want me to leave this as it is”.

On top of this, there was a disk with at least twenty documents and a rough layout on which was to be completed first and little pointers on what to do. I didn’t want to do a little job on what Mandy had already done so that she would consider me as lazy and I didn’t want to make too drastic a change as it would probably offend her and take too much of my time, much more than needed.

On top of that, the word processing package and excel package were outdated. Add to that the use of Windows 3.1 as well as the severely slow computer and you have what I call ‘A brain-draining experience’. Compared to my computer’s speed, this thing was ultra slow, that’s saying something. The basic plan of what she wanted was imbedded in my mind but the process of getting there, what to take out, what to leave in, what to change, it was hobbling.

Feeling Like George Costanza

With our little pep talk finished and her showing me where the printer and kitchen were I tried to make myself at home. Looking out of my room where I was alone I felt like a proper office worker. Outside my prepped up room there were other stalls set where people worked, one man with a laptop. Beginning on my work I felt like George Costanza from ‘Seinfeld’ when he began working for a company but just sat there for the whole day.

This I didn’t do myself but it felt as if I wasn’t doing much. Proof reading some documents I started to make some changes, a bit of dabbling with word-art and then I looked to another area for some inspiration. What else made me anxious was the fact that Mandy had fixed up plenty of mistakes in the files as she was explaining them but what worried me more was when she remarked, “Why am I doing this when you could be doing it.” This made me feel that Mandy expected me to learn the whole business within forty-five minutes. It just wasn’t possible.

Lunch Alone in Work Clothes

Mandy only came into my room once to check up on me, which I appreciated and as she did she asked me when I was headed for lunch. The time was nearing 12:30 p.m. and with an hour lunch for myself I decided to take her up on her offer.

Before I left I asked Mandy a question about the work I was doing to see if I was doing it right but when she noted that it was best to leave it the other way I knew I didn’t know what I was doing. From what initially was supposed to be me just creating an artistic or contemporary outlook of a booklet turned into fixing it up and I wasn’t ready or taught for it.

Heading out for my lunch I decided to make my way up to Darling Harbor but feeling a bit tense in there I made my way back out. Being dressed in my work clothes and being alone on my lunch break always makes me feel uncomfortable. I guess that’s the reason why it took me almost my whole lunch break to get something to eat because I hate eating by myself.

For half an hour in my lunch break I walked around and just got sweatier. The empty feeling in my stomach was growing and I knew I needed food but the beating sun was making me absentminded. After visiting a couple of shops in search of food outlets and finding none of them appealing I made my way back towards work but I knew I was still hungry.

Luckily on the way I spotted Macdonald’s but buying my thick shake and fries I felt weird to sit down. Not wanting to look like a loner I began walking with my food and taking a sip every now and again on the way back. The chips I didn’t touch because I felt awkward and withdrawn to munch while walking. This is because I always see people who eat on the run as loners as I know how it feels.

Turning Back on the Bridge

Thoughts of turning back and retreating as I made my way back to my duties harped my mind. The pressure of working and showing myself I could face the music was urging me to push on but I knew that I would not enjoy what I was doing. Slowing my pace down despite my lagging on time I started deliberating the consequences of not going back to work.

To keep my mind focused on a job there should never be a break in that work like lunchtime. In those times is when I become reluctant about my duties, my responsibilities and these are the times I plan my retreats. That is why I stopped midway on the Darling Harbor Bridge and walked back towards the City. This was the beginning of the ending of my career with ITP as I knew it.