Slip Sliding Away

Today I was supposed to head out to meet with Kathleen’s boss to talk about doing some part-time work.
I didn’t feel like sitting at home waiting for it to be time to go, so I decided that I’d head out a bit early and do some shopping.
While I was at one store, Kathleen called to tell me not to bother, as there had been a miscommunication and that her boss wouldn’t be in, but that if I wanted I could possibly meet her (Kathleen) for lunch and the she could show me the office, but that she’d have to call me back.
So I went on with my shopping.
Among the things I was thinking about buying were one of those paper shredders from Staples (the kind Kevin once used to make a salad on The Office), and a new chair mat for my desk, as I’d just thrown out the old one because it was all cracked and broken.
I decided against the paper shredder for now, and the most affordable chair mat was the exact same one I’d just thrown away, which I didn’t want to get because it moved around too much and didn’t last very long before breaking. The next cheapest was $40, which seemed a bit pricy to me, so I decided to do without the chair mat for a bit.
From there I went to Ross to look for a slipcover for my couch, which, in addition to having a design that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of my stuff, is all covered with lint balls that I just can’t get rid of.
I wanted the kind of slipcover that has separate parts for the couch itself and the cushions, as I really don’t like the look of the draped over one piece style. I found a couple of two piece covers, but the colors were less than ideal, and even though, in contrast to what you’d find elsewhere, they were dirt cheap, I couldn’t bring myself to settle.
So it was off to Super Target where I found the “ultimate” slip cover. It’s “ultimate” because it’s Scotchguarded and is designed to fit more snugly than other covers.
I found one in a nice chocolate color and bought it even though it was $60 more than the slipcovers at Ross and, in fact, at $99, actually cost me four times more than what I paid for the couch itself.
(At $25, it was a bargain, considering that it’s a sleeper. Of course, being a sleeper is what makes it so heavy, and its heaviness is what will lead Brian, who helped me move it in, to say, “Fuck that couch,” if I ever mention it in his presence.)
(I just learned that if you misspell “fuck,” Word will catch it, but will not offer “fuck” as a suggestion.)
Once I got home and was struggling with the slipcover, Kathleen called back t say that lunch wasn’t going to be happening today, and I rescheduled the whole thing for tomorrow. I’m not foreseeing having to actually make a trip out there happening tomorrow.
Up until a couple of years ago, in addition to the merit increase, my company used to grant us stock options as part of the annual review process.
As a result, like many employees, I have a bunch of options that become exercisable at this time of year.
(Having exercised some in 2004 and 2005 is the reason I’ve been audited – pointlessly and inaccurately, as the profits of the sale are included as part of my total wages, and are, therefore, taxed as part of my wages, in addition to the taxes taken out at the time of sale – by the IRS for both years.)
Our company’s stock price had been making gains in recent months, so I was kind of holding onto the options to see how high the price would get. In the meantime, everyone else, seeing that we were at a four-year high, dumped their options immediately, which has led, like it does every year when this happens, to the price dropping like a stone.
*Sigh* I guess there’s always next year, and I probably would have just ended up getting audited again if I had exercised them.
(Just got a voicemail – not sure why the phone didn’t actually ring – from Kathleen telling me that the person I was going to meet with tomorrow won’t actually be in, and will, supposedly, be attempting to contact me to set up a time and/or explain the whole thing to me over the phone. Good thing I didn’t have my heart set on driving out there, I guess.)
In any case, I suppose I should do some work on a picture or something. I know that hardly anyone reads this with any regularity, but I also know that the occasional picture breaks up the monotony, so I feel like I should be posting pictures, but I just haven’t been cranking them out.
Every time I think about working on a picture, I get this “Do I have to?” feeling that’s very difficult to overcome.
But I guess I’ll try.
But do I have to?
*Sigh*