June 3rd, 2008 8:32 pm

Today was my first day of work after being loosely oriented and checked into housing yesterday. I crept back into the apartment at six thirty after dropping Mom and Dad off at Tampa airport for their eeeaaarly flights home and startled Flatmate H, who was asleep on the couch in the air-conditioned living room and who I had never met before. (I had met Flatmate S and Flatmate M the day before, and both seemed nice, but I left them in favor of spending one last night with the Ps.) I rolled into bed and slept soundly with my contacts in until nine o’clock when I peeled my eyes open, rolled out of bed, got dressed, said good morning to Flatmate M, and hurried off to food shop before heading to work at ten. Ordinarily we start at nine, but BossLady apparently had pity on me. The food store was crewed entirely by old people. Let me tell you, to have an eighty-year-old checkout lady call you ma’am is a supremely disconcerting experience.
After the joy of lugging the food back inside and storing it in my corners of the fridge and pantry, I hurried off to the theater where I met BossLady, who had evidently had pity on herself as well, on the way in. We headed to the office (henceforth called the Library, because that’s what everyone else calls it) where Intern T and Soon-to-be-not-Intern D (he’s nearing the end of his shift and will be replaced by his summer counterpart next week) greeted us cheerily. I learned at dinner tonight from Flatmate H that Intern T almost went out with one of the Spring Awakening leads, and I squealed over one degree of separation. I got logged into my computer and taught the finer points of reading scripts, entering information into the database, and filling out reports until lunch, when I grabbed a bite to eat back at the apartment with Flatmate M and Flatmate H, who I met properly.
When I got back to work I read two plays, filled out two reports, battled with the photocopier, learned that we have an official intern orientation meeting tomorrow morning and Friday morning, got assigned parking lot duty for tomorrow’s matinee during the heat of the day (I will wear jeans and A LOT of sunscreen), researched the Amazon Kindle, went to a Company Meeting where the theater director gave us the “when I was in high school I found myself through theater” speil, and walked with Intern T back to housing. He confirmed that I had heard about tonight’s Applebee’s Karaoke Night and I confessed to him that I am, in fact, a karaoke virgin. He said, “That’s kind of awesome, actually.” I asked him if he thought I would be scarred for life. He said no.
I had Chinese food for dinner with Flatmate H and Neighbor C, where it finally emerged that not only am I the youngest one, but I go to Princeton. There was highly vocal exclaiming that I will not reprint here.
So here I am, showered and dressed, and waiting for the karaoke to start at ten thirty. I think I’ll drive myself so that I can come back early if necessary. I am completely exhausted from the drive, and from my first day. Intern T told me that the first day is the longest, and if that’s true then I’m in luck, because I had a great time at work.



June 4th 2008, 7:40 pm

I fell asleep before karaoke time. Go figure. Oh well. I clearly needed the sleep and I made Flatmate S promise to drag me next week.
I am ensconced in Panera for the evening, wallowing in the internet and air conditioning and lemonade. It is HOT. But work today was good. It started out a little earlier than usual, at 8:45, with an intern orientation meeting. I and several other interns met with our crazy company manager, IntenseLady, and went over the theater's mission statement and manifesto. Friday morning is part two, when we will talk about the theater's core values and housing cleanliness. Maybe I'll actually learn something at that one. I shouldn't say that, actually, because I did learn that I'm the youngest intern by two years. Even Intern T, who I had thought was only a year or so older than me, is 23. He's skinny and has a squeaky-ish voice, though, so that's okay. :)
After the meeting we joined Soon-to-be-not-Intern D and BossLady back in The Library and I started in on my work for the day, reading and reporting on a play (it was so-so) and photocopying four more (and foiling a gigantic paper jam which involved taking the photocopier apart with the help of Soon-to-be-not-Intern D) before heading outside to do parking duty. This involved donning a gigantic red shirt emblazoned with our theater's initials and the word "PARKING" on it. I felt like a landing strip. The old people were for the most part nice when I told them that they couldn't park in the lot I was guarding, but one woman insisted on pushing through even though I told her she was sure to be towed. And hour and a half after that, when I came back from lunch (I investigated Starbucks and the library and found both to be quite satisfactory) her car was still there, so maybe she was vindicated. Who knows.
Upon my return I read another play (it was pretty good, and I recommended it only to find that it was some sort of test and they had in fact put it on before. BossLady didn't tell me this, but I looked at the database and there was a little check mark next to "Produced."
Then I photocopied some more, learned how to turn VHS into DVD and DVD into mp3 pending working with a guy on Monday who is compiling songs for next year's Cabaret show (and who referred to me--in his reply to my e-mail informing him that I could indeed do the technical stuff he was asking of me--as "my Knightess in Shining Armor.") This was followed by more photocopying before the day was over and I retired to the apartment to cook pasta (which nearly drove me insane; I think I should stick with cooler meals from now on) and help Flatmate S search for Intern T's flatmate's cell phone number. Intern T, who lives beneath us, was locked out and it turned out all his compatriots were at Coldstone.
Then I drove here, eschewing a Panera more close by in order to clear my head a little. I'm really enjoying work, but socially I feel like I did at the beginning of the school year except this time there's no Roommate J to rescue me. I remember this feeling, though, and I remember what I did to assuage it last September and October: lots of The West Wing, tea, and Bergers cookies. I think I'll substitute ice water and carrots, but I think the recipe will still hold. :)