Banquet Blues

So today was the annual swim team banquet. It was OK. They gave me flowers, which was quite embarassing because I hate to be singled out in front of large groups of people anyway, and this time I didn't feel like I really deserved it, despite having dedicated probably a weeks' worth of waking hours to getting this book done, with minimal organization. I thrive on lists, and I didn't have one for this job this year.

They also made fun of Megan several times, which at least was funny. That made it entertaining. And with only three seniors who all made very tolerable speeches, that part was most enjoyable.

But tonight is a different story. I have gotten emails from two different people saying that ads that they paid for didn't get into the book. First of all, the book this year had more ads than it has in the past two years, and they're saying it should have been even longer!! I can't find any trail for the first two ads, and the third I find mentioned in an email, then I asked a question about where it was, and I never received a reply. I didn't put any ad into the book until I actually saw a physical hard copy. Second, one of them is asking to refund the business that placed the ad, and I don't even have anything to do with that part of the job. It's been more confusing this year, due to the departure of the man who used to handle the intake of all the ads. I was worried that this might happen, although I did my best to make sure everything was accounted for.

Now I'll just have to wait and see if I can figure out why this would have happened, and if I can prevent it from happening again. It reminds me of my first job, when I placed ads for a classified advertising agency. There were two different functions in the system - csv, which would correct errors in an ad that was already placed, and ad pick-up, which would pick up an old ad and rerun it. Well, I believe what happened was that instead of correcting ads in csv, I changed them all in ad pick-up, so that every ad that had errors in it for every client still ran wrong, but also ran right. I just remember coming in all happy with my new job, and the phone ringing off the hook with customers complaining. My boss was trying to pacify them, and I was the biggest flop to ever hit Madison Avenue (or Lower Fifth, at least). That's the way it is tonight. Not to mention other errors in the book, because other things were told to me incorrectly. So I did everything right, but didn't check my facts, so I may as well have done it wrong. Sob.

And in other news: Kevin is flying off to Denmark as I write this, so I can't even use him as a punching bag. Brian is sniffling and sneezing. Megan lost, but fortunately remembered where, a large sum of cash. But best of all, my new shades and blinds are being installed tomorrow!! They come at 9am. I have two half days of work lined up this week already, and I just ordered two new bathing suits from Lands' End. If only it would feel like it might EVER be bathing suit weather!