Gains and Grievances

Today's achievements:

1. I successfully rewrote my CV for the PA/Executive Assistant arena - this involved deleting everything I believe to be impressive about my employment history and flagging up non-events such as typing words per minute and the fact that I can organise a meeting.
2. I finally completed my application for a writing job at the Red Cross that sounds gripping - unfortunately, having finished the online form after a substantial amount of time spent grappling with awful drop-down menus and reams of equal opportunities questions, I spotted the salary in the job description. I had got the idea from somewhere that the salary was around £28K. I was wrong. It is precisely the salary that one would expect from a fascinating job at a charity: a pittance.
3. I checked in at MacFixitForums where Apple geeks share info, and found that my post about slow running programs had been answered. I thus rebuilt Entourage, my email programme - and installed and ran OnyX, a deceptively small programme that rooted out all the space-filling rubble on my system and gave me an extra 1.5 Gb of available space. Very satisfying.
4. I sellotaped the spine of my borrowed copy of Duruflé's Requiem as it was falling to pieces.

Today's gripes:

1. People who are clearly at their desk and who are, in some small way, holding my future in their grasp, but who do not reply immediately to my emails. They should be culled.
2. Part-time job ads that use pro rata payment information: it's misleading and irritating. A new position that I thought sounded extremely appealing was advertised as four days a week, salary £30K pro rata. It all seemed lovely - but then I took a fifth of the salary off, to account for me working four days rather than five, and it emerged that the actual salary would be £24K - not an insubstantial difference. How annoying.
3. Cats that don't run down the stairs fast enough when I'm trying to reach the front door before the postman sprints gleefully away down the street clutching my undelivered package. Loitering on the staircase in front of me is not helpful - particularly when I am in a hurry. Of course, my frame is delicate and fragile, and I am well-known in my family for being fleet of foot, but even so, in a contest between my descending weight and a feline spine, I think we all know who would win.

With the day's achievements outweighing the gripes, I think I can afford myself a virtual high five - although high fiving oneself does smack of desperation and loneliness. Additionally, I must make sure I don't get too cocky - it's only lunchtime and there's still much potential for further events of both negative and positive persuasions. I'll put the high five on hold 'til the flower of Tuesday has unfurled a few more petals. Check back soon for more terrible metaphors and self-indulgent musing.