last week in the office - day 2

as I expected...
yesterday's rain was only a little taste for the rest of the week...


today: the library

I mentioned yesterday I have been updating the office's library catalogue
and when I say updating, I mean starting from scratch

the office is located in a restored wood keeper's house that is cleaned weekly by the cleaning lady; it's library is located in an antichamber
since nobody knows exactly the content of the library I was asked to deal with this situation
not only by putting data in an online catalogue, it also included inventing "order"

so I added authors, titles, editors, year, key words, remarks etcetera
and sorted books per theme or subject

I came across books about religious heritage, industrial heritage, fortifications, architectural styles, theory, materials and techniques, interior, inventory, conservation of heritage...
in short: discernible topics
I catalogued and put them away neatly per theme

but there was also stuff about wine (indication for my boss's preference?), birds (as in...?), cartoons...
and there was stuff without any biographical information, severely outdated brochures, or magazines that were not supposed to be there
in short: stuff lacking a discernible topic and stuff not to catalogue yet

to keep up the working pace, I placed them in the category "diversity" and stacked 'em on an orderly chaotic pile: one for the category "diversity", one for "yet to do"

a process which took up already about a week or so

this morning... I enter the antichamber...
where did my pile of "yet to do" stuff go?
ah! there's one of those b.o..o..k..s
why is it in the middle of the "diversity" pile?
and why is the "diversity" pile so neatly organised all of the sudden?

when... "good morning C.!" - "good morning cleaning lady" - "I reorganised everything a bit, it was such a chaos in here" - O_o - "isn't it neat now" - O_O

oh crap...

last week in the office - day 1

after 6 weeks of ‘fun’ at the restoration office I have been working for as a student employee, my last week started today.

it was a day of … ehm… challenges

let’s see if it’s an indication for the rest of the week

Monday morning… so good to me…

…or not…

it rains… or actually it’s pooring rain L

all right, no biggie, let’s “colour up” (I’ve made this my personal interpretation of Barney’s “suit up” J): green trousers, red top, aubergine tunic and a yellow jacket…

that’ll do

… oh… and a hideous XXXL rain suit… in case it doesn’t stop raining and I’d drown on the way to work

ok, the weather gods are quite good-humoured

not too much rain during the usual 20 minutes bike ride, yippie J

I arrive, lock my bike and put the key of my bike in the pocket of my green trousers

well, since it’s my last week there’s stuff to finish: for the historical evaluation of some wrought ironwork, I needed to go back to the site one more time with a colleague

so.. off we go

we arrived in the city and I distinctly remember thinking and saying: “the weather is nice now! I hope it stays this way”

my colleague thinks (also out loud): “maybe I should take an umbrella, just in case... there’s one in the trunk of the car, next to the survey material”

we park the car, take the survey material out of the trunk, walk to the city centre (about 10 minutes)

at the site, we discuss some materials, techniques, joints etc.

my colleague starts surveying, I take pictures when...

*d r i p...... d r i p... drip drip dripdripdrip DRIPDRIP*

no need for a picture, we are ... of course... in Belgium (though the weather had been nice last couple of weeks, I must say!)

“let’s go for a drink until it’s over,” my colleague kindly suggests

we dive (I dive, my colleague walks cause she is pregnant, so diving wouldn’t be the brightest idea) into the nearest coffee shop and order a tea

10 minutes later, my tea is gone, as is the rain

fully encouraged, we start again

my colleague surveys, I continue taking pictures when...

*DRIPDRIPDRIP DRASH DRASH DRASH*

no tiny rain drops this time, let’s go immediately for the shower, the heavy kind

“this is pointless, let’s go back to the office... I think you have everything you need? I can still come back later,” my colleague suggests

so...

we go back to the car...

the walk of 10 minutes...

without... oh yes... the umbrella that is still in the trunk of the car

and without the hideous rain suit, cause... oh yes... I left it at the office to ‘dry’, even though it wasn’t actually that wet...

I presume you all know the effects of a shower

needless to say, we were SOAKING wet

“I’ll stop by your house so you can change clothes,” my colleague offers

“that’ll be great, it’s on the way to the office so we don’t lose time,” I say

so, we pass by my house

I take of my green trousers and change them for a pair of jeans and dry shoes and we’re off to the office

I filled my afternoon by finishing the evaluation, adding some of the pictures to the document, describing valuable aspects, etc. and by updating the library catalogue

5.30PM: after being almost locked up (story expected soon), I wanna go home and start looking for the k..e..y...

... bike... this morning... pocket... green trousers... soaking wet... changed... at home... oh crap...