10:47 pm - Wednesday, Aug. 09, 2006
Sweating The Small Stuff

Weds 8/9/06 (7:58 p.m.)

In case you�re interested, the �legendary� Betty White is going to be on the next Ellen, according to the promo I just saw.

(Okay, now don�t get me wrong--I like Betty White. I mean, who doesn�t? But c�mon��legendary�?)

�How could this be of any possible interest�, you ask?

Well, it became interesting to me when I started thinking I�d perhaps read more if I had a comfortable place to read (Or at the very least, it might be nice to have an honest-to-goodness �workspace�, where I could pay bills, do mailings, etc.).

And I looked at my four flat surfaces...all covered with crap.

So yesterday, I started taking things off the built-in desk, and the accompanying chair. Cause using a desk for actual desk-related activities seemed to make a certain sense.

And it was like an archeological dig: T-shirts I haven�t seen in years, my complete wardrobe of turtlenecks and pullovers, the Thomas Guide I bought when I first came out here, sheets I don�t remember ever buying, and various strange artifacts whose meaning has been, quite simply, lost to time.

I�m still not actually done with the project�when it takes me days to basically clean off a desk, you get an idea why I�m so overwhelmed by my pig-sty of an apartment�but the point of all this is that it makes me realize, if I can throw out the crap and dust things off, I pretty much have what I need right here.

(Now for the million-dollar question�When I have an actual desk, will I actually use it?)

And while today doesn�t completely change things, it has made me realize, once again, that a lot of things that get under my skin, things I let bother me more than they should, have a way or working out.

For example...

Thing 1: I took my bike in to the shop on Monday, because the chain had started coming off (This was two days after I had to go in to have them fix a flat tire). And they fixed it, but when I came out (I was on my way to work), things were not right somehow (Turned out the rear wheel was out of alignment. Which it hadn�t been when I brought the bike in).

So when I went back today, I was worried they�d give me grief, and try to make me pay for another repair. And initially, the guy at the counter did want to argue the point with me. But it turned out to be a super-simple fix�which made me feel kind of retarded-- they didn�t charge me anything, and I was out the door a moment later.

Thing 2: At the theater last night, while waiting for guests to come in (I was ushering), I was checking my cell phone, and somehow I lost the back piece of the phone in the semi-darkness.

Not the biggest deal, really�the phone still worked--but still, it�s annoying to me when something like happens. I didn�t want to have to spend time and money replacing this thing, but there�s probably a reason there�s a cover over the battery (Besides, it just looks bad without it).

Again, I thought �that�s another couple bucks down the drain�, but when I went to the Cingular store (There�s one on Wilshire and Western), they just took a phone out of the box, took the back piece off, stuck it on my phone, and sent me on my way, no charge.

Thing 3: When the coming week�s schedule was posted last night, I was not happy; I was scheduled at 4:00 pm this Sunday, for box office, and for a �step forward� Guest Services class on Thursday, which I guess you have to take if you�re going to do emails (Long story short, I had changed my availability on Sundays to 6:00 p.m.-on, so I could attend Actors Management Group meetings in Studio City at 3:00. And Thursdays are one of the days I�ve never been available, because I often go to casting workshops Thursday nights�I have one tomorrow, and next Thursday as well).

When I called work to say �Hey, what�s the deal with my schedule?�, I became even unhappier when the manager I ended up talking to just said �Try to get someone to cover for you�.

I told him, flatly, �that�s not a satisfactory solution�. To me, it was cut and dried�I didn�t screw up, I did what I was supposed to do (in terms of arranging my availability), and it wasn�t up to me to fix things�and earlier this evening, Gladys (One of the QC�s) called to let me know that my schedule had been adjusted accordingly for Sunday.

(She told me I couldn�t do emails till I had the Guest Services class, so when I said I couldn�t do it Thursday, she said she�d let Jeremy, the email person, know. He won�t be happy�he�s about to go on vacation for a week, they just fired someone who did emails, and they�re already backlogged�but you know what? That�s not my problem. I�ve had two days of email training at this point, I�m going to have a third next Thursday�doing emails at this place is a ridiculously complicated process--and I�m a heartbeat away from saying �let�s call the whole thing off� anyway.)

Now that I�ve written all this, I�m starting to feel like it�s all trivial and stupid. But it�s not, really, because a bunch of things like this, mashed together with larger concerns (M-O-N-E-Y, for one example), make Jimmy an extremely stressed-out boy.

A lot of things, maybe most things in life, aren�t worth getting uptight about. And I wish I could get that through my head, so I could focus more on the things that really do matter.

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