I'm going to the BEACH today!

[camwyn]

I got into the office today around 8:20, as yesterday I'd been told that we'd be open 'around 8 or 8:30, certainly by 9'. I sat down and pulled out all the batches of gifts we'd accumulated that had been entered but not officially posted to people's records, checked them over, and posted them. Then I went to enter the addresses for a batch of people I'd been working on yesterday; there's a few hundred of them and it's a bit of a slow process.

As this was going on, the Chapter's in-kind donation person came in to finish up some work she'd had left over from Friday as well. When she started to leave I leaned back and asked her when they'd be locking the doors, since there's no one else on this floor really and I didn't much fancy spending the night here.

Turns out the front doors are being locked at 1:30 and the only other people in the building will be our call center folks. The direct disaster services folks will be out on the job, and there'll be people in the other Red Cross building, but no one else here. The Chapter lady said that unless I had an awful lot of immediately urgent stuff, I should just go home at 1:30. Her specific words were something like 'Go home. Enjoy the beach. Don't kill yourself working.'

I've got a lot of stuff stacked up, but a) none of it is immediately urgent- we covered that Friday - and b) it's all stuff that I and the temps will be working on next week as well. Donation data entry, really. Nothing that must be done NOW NOW NOW. I also have no supervisor at the moment, since my function's Officer and the Coordinator above me were both sent home on Friday. The Chapter lady is officially the closest thing I have to a supervisor here on the job; the only other candidate is our National Fundraising officer back in Washington, DC.

I'm not going to phone DC, I don't think. I'm going to go back to the hotel at 1:30, grab my bathing suit, and get on 8 West, then find my way to Mission Beach. Sure, I could probably go to the Museum (assuming it's open on Saturdays), but the skies are clear, weather is relatively warm, and tomorrow is Sunday. I can go to the zoo in the morning and bip by the museum later, or at least poke my head in the Museum on a lunch break or something. One only gets so many chances to go to the beach in November. Even if it sucks, I can go, stick a foot in the Pacific, and then head over to the Museum.

I still wish I were serving directly, rather than working in the offices, but... I'll take what I can get. At least helping the people who help directly has the occasional perk. This feels like God compensating me for Wisconsin and Texas, or something.

Comments

[mountainspeak.livejournal.com]

Don't forget to take pictures! Must be some very pretty places over there.

[camwyn]

*glances at clock* I'm gonna stop at the RiteAid near here in half an hour, then wheel over to the In-n-Out Burger nearest my hotel. I just phoned the people at Silver Strand State Beach and they said that while there are no restrictions today, the water is 'not very clean'. I expect I'll be fine to stick a foot in and get some photos, though.

[zomg-its-stace.livejournal.com]

... make sure you clean your feet VERY well afterwards, doll. Dead serious on that. The water in SD isn't the cleanest, but at least it's better than LA/Venice. If you want a GOOD beach to go to (Nice, clean water) it's Zuma all the way.. but that's up here, between Venice and Santa Barbara, about a stone's throw from Peperdine University. It's a hell of a drive, but SO worth it.