That time of the summer

It's getting to be that inevitable time of summer when I become bored with freedom, time off, and jobs that require little brainpower: the time when I start yearning for going back to school.

(Yes, I will always have my inner nerd to keep me company.)

We've enjoyed our time in Massachusetts (it's been 3.5 weeks now). But the longer you're away from home, the better home starts to look - never mind the negatives, the hustle and bustle, all the studying, paying the bills... I'm currently painting myself a much rosier picture of our beloved Windsor.

Things I Miss About Colorado:

• Air conditioning!
• Johnny & Simon
• Going to the grocery store
• Getting to choose what food we eat for every meal
• An awesome, 100% functional treadmill at my convenience
• Sleeping in a firm, queen bed with my husband
• Variety in weather (i.e. something other than [a] pouring rain all day, or [b] 85 degrees and 95% humidity)
• Orange-peach-mango juice
• The fantastic little Windsor library

Things I Will Miss About the Berkshires:

• The beautiful landscapes - hiking through the woods, jogging near the stream, watching the mist rise up from the mountains in the morning
• Free room and board (ok, so we are still paying the mortgage, electric, gas, water, sewer, and electric bills back home, but they are not quite so painful from many states away)
• Sleeping 8 hours straight without waking up (which occurs an amazing 90% of the time here)
• Jogging my one-mile loop around the edge of the campus, just after the sun sets
• The slower pace to life
• Not driving all the time (my vet clinic job in June was fun, but I am not missing the 50 mile commute)
• Earning money
• All the veggies and fresh fruits and salad bar always available in the dining hall
• The ice cream sundae bar on Wednesday nights
• The pasta bar at lunch on Wednesdays
• The omelet bar at lunch on Thursdays

Things I Will NOT Miss About the Berkshires:

• Bugs in our room (flies, mosquitos, ants, bees, weird little brown things that try to eat our food)
• The cheery maintenance and housekeeping staff getting right to work before 8 am (and our room sharing a wall with the maintenance closet)
• Bunk beds
• The 58-stair climb up to our room (yes, I count it almost every time)
• Terrible mattresses (it took three bath towels, a folded blanket, and a mattress cover to make mine bearable to lie on)
• Having to be polite and cheerful 16 hours a day, even when I'm not "working" (after all, choristers are everywhere, at all hours, and I wear a nametag, so I must be friendly and willing to help them with whatever they need...)
• The "well-done" (read: "hockey puck") pork chops in the cafeteria
• Having 4 to 6 different desserts available every day at lunch and dinner (ok, maybe I will miss that a little bit... but my waistline will not)

Box Office Creature of the Day

Today's Box Office Creature of the Day is (I think) the chipmunk that lives inside the walls!

After the mysterious disappearance of Oreos and pretzels several weeks ago (remnants of which were left in various places throughout the office for several days afterward), and the incessant scratches and odd noises coming from the wall today (much louder than usual - leading me to question whether I've just been spending waaaayy too many hours alone in the Box Office - but my assistant heard the noises too!), and the absence today of the cute little chipmunks who normally adorn the sidewalk outside the building, I have put 2 and 2 (3 and 3?) together and decided that the bashful yet hungry creature(s) with whom I share my office must in fact be a chipmunk(s), not a mouse(mice).

Wow. I think it's time to go to bed.

Berkshires Vocab Lesson

Not too much excitement has been happening in the Box Office lately, so here is some fun New England vocabulary for you:

"Grinder": a sub sandwich. Context: It's Tuesday... oh darn, that means grinders and fries for lunch AGAIN!

"Growler": a 1-gallon container of beer from the local brewery restaurant, that you can take home with you! Context: Hey, I can't go out to dinner tonight 'cause I'm on lockout duty - but bring me back a growler, would ya?

Box Office Answer of the Day (2)

[Tonight was my first time handling Saturday evening ticket sales on a concert night. I was assisted by a volunteer who has been doing this for decades. I sell the tickets, and she hands out the Will Call tickets. She is a totally funny older lady with a really wry sense of humor. She wins the prize for "Answer of the Day."]

Assistant: "Hi, how are you, how can I help you?"

Concertgoer [standing in front of the giant sign that says "Will Call pick-up"]: "If my tickets were left at Will Call, is this where I get them?"

Assistant: "Sure is."

[pause]

Concertgoer: "So, like, what do you want, my name?"

Assistant: "Well, we ain't got 'em sorted by ring size, honey. What's your last name?"

Box Office Question of the Day (2)

Concert attendee browsing CDs at intermission: "How much are these CDs?"

Me: "They're $15 each."

Concert attendee: "And how much would it be for two of them?"

Me: "....that would be $30."

Box Office Answer of the Day

[I'm mid-way through a ticket order on the phone when the second line starts to ring. I put Caller #1 on hold and answer the other line.]

Me: Blah blah blah Box Office, this is Becky.

Caller #2: Yes, I'd like to reserve two tickets for Saturday night.

Me: Okay. I've got someone on the other line, can you hold for just a minute?

Caller #2: I'd be delighted.

[Yes, that was with total sincerity. I finished up with Caller #1 and returned asap to the oh-so-polite Caller #2 to complete what I knew would be a pleasant ticket purchase.]

I'd be delighted. You get brownie points with me, Mr. Caller #2! Now you just have to teach your ticket-purchasing brethren to follow your example, and my job will be much easier...

Box Office Rule #2

Rule #2:

If you spend all night dreading the phone call you're going to have to make tomorrow to the really crabby guy whose credit card was declined, he will undoubtedly be in a much better mood the next day when you call.

:-)

Box Office Rule #1

Rule #1:

All credit cards belonging to polite, patient, courteous, respectful ticket purchasers will be approved.

Credit cards belonging to irritated, crabby, impatient, disrespectful, egotistical ticket purchasers have a 50% chance of being declined, so that you can have pleasure of calling them again the next day to deliver the bad news and have another "lovely" conversation with them.

Box Office Question of the Day

[I have just taken a ticket order over the phone for the "St. Matthew Passion" later this summer... I am trying to wrap up the conversation by telling the caller where he can pick up his tickets, when I am interrupted]

Caller: Wait... are you going to have a choir?

Me: ....Yes, it will be the festival chorus, like all the other weeks.

[pause]

Me: So the box office will open on Saturday night at---

Caller: So is there going to be an orchestra too?

Me: ....Yes.

[Caller finally lets me finish talking so I can hang up. What did he think we were doing, like having a tuba play the melody along with a CD recording????]

Justification for hating to clean your house

From my veterinary anatomy textbook:

"The epidermis is continuously renewed. The surface cells are sloughed in flakes (e.g. dandruff) or as smaller particles (those of human skin accounting for much household dust)...."

What denomination are YOU?

CLH and I have decided that we are Congepiscoterians for the summer (although we may end up being Congepiscutherans, depending on which churches we decide to attend in Massachusetts).

By Friday or Saturday, we should know if we will be 100% Episcopals for the next academic year, or if we will return to our former status as Congreterians or create some new and fascinating denomination conglomeration (yeah, say that ten times fast!).

Here's to learning about all sorts of different denominations, although it sure would be nice to get settled in a church again once and for all!

And the Lord said, 'Let there be no more long days of driving,' and lo, there was significantly less driving (though we drove to Connecticut today)

We arrived in the Berkshires last night, at only about 9 pm which was a big improvement from last year's 11:30 pm arrival. Also, it was down in the 60s, as opposed to last year when we made 3 or 4 trips up the stairs carrying our luggage in what had to be 80 degree weather.

We are back in the same dorm we stayed in last year - the dorm with 4 stories, and us on the top floor. No air-conditioning (not an issue yet), and no elevator (so we'll have thighs of steel again by the middle of August).

The car is unloaded; the suitcases and other miscellaneous bags are mostly unpacked. I don't think we forgot anything except some choral music that CLH wanted to return. CLH got the Ethernet connection working (finally, and good thing, because the wireless connection was terrible).

We drove into Connecticut today (fortunately not very far away) to have lunch and get some groceries. The cafeteria doesn't open until next Sunday, when the choristers arrive, so we are on our own for meals until then. We've got food here for breakfasts and most lunches, and will drive to one of the neighboring towns for dinners.

CLH and I both headed over to the gym before dinner for a short work-out. Until the end of the spring semester, I was jogging 5 or 6 days a week at home. While working for the Giant Veterinary Corporation, I think I intentionally exercised 3 times during that whole 6-wk period (although I was on my feet for 10-12 hours most days). So, it was great to get back on the treadmill, and if the weather holds up, I expect to be out on the outdoor track at some point.

I'm in the process of getting set up in the box office. It's been run out of the main choral festival office up till this point, so we moved everything over today to the athletic director's office in the athletic building, which is where the "permanent" box office will be for the rest of the season. It's a nice room, supposedly not air-conditioned but then I don't know what to call all the cool air that keeps coming out of the ceiling.

CLH is figuring out all his apprentice stuff for the summer. One of his previous jobs has been planning "VIP dinners" for big donors, but those have been cut this year for economic reasons, so it's one less thing for him to do.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful in the last 24 hours - mid-70s and sunny, with just a little breeze. That's apparently a big change from recent weather here - somebody said they had 25 days of rain in June! The forecast for the next few days looks like it will have some rain and thunderstorms, but we've already been through several power outages last summer, so it will take a lot to scare us.

I probably won't have too much new and interesting and exciting information to post on here while we're out in Mass., but keep an eye out for occasional updates. Hope everyone's summer travels are going well.