Mark this day down on your calendars: June 26th, 2005.
This is the day that I started to commit my thoughts to a computer screen for others to read at their leisure.
It was a bright and sunny day...
That serves as a calculated constrast to The Oldest Cliched Opening that most mystery readers would come across when they start on Spillane or Hammett or Chandler. It also serves as a short-handed weather report through the old-fashioned method of "looking out of the window" of what I've designated my study. It's really a spare bedroom that I've planted my computer and several boxes of books in. The plans I have for this place...
When my finances are straightened out, I'll probably shop around for inexpensive bookcases, file cabinets and storage drawers, provided I can fit them all in and stay comfortable here. That tends to be the top priority of writers who write at home: comfort. While I haven't achieved the status of a Stephen King or a Peter David, I would like to think that I'm setting a goal that each of them would have envied when they were in the early stages of their careers. Of course, I have the advantage of not having a wife and children to divide my time...if you can call it that.
Instead of children, I have two cats that demand to be fed at least twice a day and petted and played with when they feel like it. One of them, YumYum, is a calico or tortoise-shell, depending on how much of an expert on cats you are. She's very friendly and out-going, especially if you let her ride on your shoulder and clean your ears and the tip of your nose. The other one, Tara, is a tuxedo cat, as in "she looks like she's wearing one" with a matching black face mask.
"How on earth did you come up with those names?" I hear you ask. A very nice lady named Mimi found these two near her house completely abandoned. This was after one of my cats, Emma, died. Emma was also a tuxedo cat and named after Emma Peel from the British TV show "The Avengers." Since Tara King became John Steed's partner after Emma left him, it made sense to name the cute little kitten, that looked so much like her, Tara. YumYum came about due to a discussion of Gilbert & Sullivan heroines that I was having with Mimi. "She doesn't look like a Mabel nor a Buttercup, does she?" "No, she looks more exotic." "How about Piti Sing?""Somehow, I don't think that she could play a supporting character in anyone's opera!" "Then, call her YumYum!" And it stuck ever since.
That pretty much covers my home environment.
As for work, I'm an Acounts Payable clerk at a nationwide retail chain and from January to mid-April I'm a Tax Preparer for an internationally-recognized tax-preparation firm. Since neither company are paying me to give their names, I won't. Let's just say that at one time, you've probably bought a coat or a pair of pants or a dress or a pair of shoes from one of them and Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings blew The Final Jeopardy Answer which featured the other company. Personally, I think that was rigged, but then I believe that there was a Mafia hitman stationed at the "grassy knoll" in Dallas, in case Oswald lost his nerve and he had to kill him too. If I'm dead tomorrow, you'll know I'm on to something...Ha. Ha.
My day job consists of making certain that the vendors, whose wares we sell, get paid, either directly or through factors, or "banks for businesses" (I didn't know that either until I started working here) and keep track of those payments until I'm instructed to store or discard the information. To put it simply, I create, shuffle, file and, if instructed, destroy paper when I'm not typing on a computer, answering telephone calls, receiving faxes and creating and responding to emails. I also create and modify spreadsheets that store data on the vendors' accounts. This activity keeps me on track regarding whether the stores have received the merchandise the vendors shipped and whether our pre-set computer programs acknowledged that the vendors sent bills, or invoices, for them. Once a month, reports are generated that confirm that these invoices are processed and, upon the A/P clerks' approval, checks are generated to be signed, by the merchandise buyers and one of the company Vice Presidents, and mailed out to the vendor. Sometimes this is done more than once a month when unforseen events occur, like the merchandise was delivered and the receiving manager/computer operator didn't enter the information before she/he generated price tags for them. This requires me to contact the vendor (or the factor if there is one), and request a Proof of Delivery. After this is sent, I contact the Receiving Manager or the Computer Operator and confirm the delivery, prompting either her/him to enter the information into the system or I would do it instead, depending on whether there was a store inventory after the delivery date or if the manager/operator knows how to pre-date an entry(enter the information on the proper date instead of "today's date," which would affect when the vendor gets paid for the merchandise). I also field complaints from the vendors when they wish to dispute the shortage of a shipment. This prompts research of shipments as well, sometimes months after the store discards the shipping information. This tends to get re-directed to management when a "ruling" is required.
That is my day-to-day in summation.
I'll record variations on the routine from time to time along with my reflections on "current events" and my movie/TV viewing and book reading. When any one subject outweighs the others, I'll create additional journals so that I can give them equal time (and space, if I'm able).
I'll also be setting up special journals for writing projects. When I start them, I'll either create a link here or tell you how to access it. Like a baby taking his first steps, I'm starting to "learn my limitations," technically, as well as journalistically, speaking.
Watch your step and don't bump your head as you go down and please try not to step on YumYum's tail. She won't always remember to move it (I don't think that she's always aware that she's a c-a-t).
In the words of another of my favorite writers, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., "Thank you for your attention."
Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment