well, in the grand tradition of things, when i got to work today, there was something missing.

what was it? i couldn't quite put my finger on it, at first and then, as we crossed into the start of the day (that is, after 8:30), i realized it.

M2 hadn't shown up.

She didn't show up all day. or call. Jessica put a call in to her house, and nothing.

hopefully nothing has happened to her; but more likely, she simply quit without notice. it's sad how often this has happened. i'm pretty immune to it by now. i kept laughing to myself all morning about it.

we heard from N that M2 had expressed her disgruntledness last week: that Sarah was mean and Jessica needed to get her temper "under control". We've been running with that last one, cracking jokes at everything Jessica does or says, admonishing her to get her temper under control.

Good times. we're down 2 employees as of last Friday. not only did M2 not show up today, but last friday was M1 (Foxy)'s last day as well. difference? she had given us 2 weeks notice prior to it.

I will say this for M2's disappearance: Jessica's relieved and virtually giddy over it. At least now she doesn't have to fire her.

ok, in a previous post, (June 13th - and i'll figure out how to link to it soon enough), i told a story about how M2 (my co-worker, so named because there are 2 people with her name) got locked in the fridge, even though there is no lock on the fridge.

So, here is another one:

the day after she got locked in the fridge, she took the towels and aprons from the washing machine to the dryer (to be dried, of course).

Jessica, my boss, went back to where the dryer is for something else, and saw M2 standing by the dryer, looking confused.

Jessica asked, "Do you need help? What's going on?"

M2, "i'm pressing the button and nothing is happening. i can't seem to get it started."

Jessica looks at the dryer, looks at M2, and then the dryer and back at M2, thinking, "is she on CRACK?"

So Jessica says, "did you try closing the dryer door?"

the dryer door was WIDE open. Not ajar, not "not-quite-closed". WIDE OPEN.

man... she is 63 years old. you would think she could figure out how to work the dryer by now.

Have you ever endured the horror of driving off with something on top of your car? Thursday, I drove off from work, merging onto the highway. As I was leaving, our regular UPS driver, Tristan, was pulling in, and he honked at me. I thought it was a greeting.

But no.

30 feet down the highway, I hear a “whoosh” and look in the rear-view mirror, only to see my red purse tumbling under cars, papers flying, and things-a-scattering. I am horrified and terrified at the same time. I pull over to think, and decided to do a loop and drive back to my purse. I can only think, “IDIOT. My mp3 player. Idiot. My license. IDIOT. My credit cards. IDIOT.” And then I think, “how am I going to stop traffic on this busy highway?” “I am going to look like such a dork!” (pride always seems to make an appearance, huh?)

So, as I’m doing the “U” around the massive median, I look over to where my purse is, only to see cars slowing and trying to get around the purse. But also, Tristan, our UPS regular delivery guy is in the highway, stopping traffic, holding my red purse, collecting as much of my stuff as possible. He waves as I drive off to make the next “U” turn, and I don’t know the last time I have been that thankful! I pull up behind him, and he hands over the purse, reminding me about all the stuff I had in it, “you had a camera in there! And there’s a toothbrush over there, and…” He rescued the camera (still works), the mp3 player (I think it actually got run over, but the store exchanged it with no questions asked), my wallet – virtually everything (credit cards and license included)! (I let the toothbrush go.) I did lose a bottle of meds, but thought, “ah, I don’t need to comb the highway for that. it was my backup meds. No problem.”

However, 2 days later and I can’t find my glasses. So, my friend (THANK YOU, Super!) and I drive out to comb the highway for them. Nothing. All I found was a piece of the broken case and the toothbrush. Alas. For the record, I still didn’t pick up the toothbrush.

I am still saying things like, “idiot” to myself over it (as I pick up a new glasses prescription), and I check for my purse when I’m in the car, like, 8-10 times. Sad, huh? :)