... and it's back

I'm pretty sure that the last time I posted, I was sitting at this same desk in the back of my office... granted, then I was staring at mountains of Office Depot boxes. Today it's just the computer and the bags we're putting together for move-in weekend. While move-in doesn't technically start until tomorrow, I moved into my gorgeous new apartment on Wednesday and promptly fell in love. It's brand new, beautiful, clean, and there are windows everywhere! We've got a great view of the Charles and of Nickerson Field (so that we can watch BU sports games and their fans... or lack thereof), and the elevators talk to you. I love it (especially now that all of my roommates have moved in), but I learned a lesson: moving does not agree with me. I have bruises, scrapes, and sore muscles. My body hurts, but I'm now completely unpacked and thrilled with the apartment... and ready to kick off the school year, starting with working move-in weekend in the same information booths I did for Commencement. Expecting tons of questions and a lot of rain tomorrow, but hey, that's Boston.

Things to come: [quick] summer recap, pictures of the new place, and maybe posts with more frequency than every couple of months.

Dear Office Depot, what??

As I sit right now in my office I'm watching my boss unpack the twelve huge Office Depot boxes that arrived mysteriously about an hour ago. That's right, twelve. And they were strangely light - as if they were packed with air. Now that she's here unpacking them, we know why: each box contains one of the boxes we ordered and a ridiculous amount of AIRplus bubble wrap. Someone in the Office Depot warehouse must have been incredibly bored (or just really screwed up), because all of those boxes could have been shipped in one single box (without bubble wrap... who needs to protect cardboard boxes??), but no. It's just entirely ridiculous, but also hilarious. On the bright side, we have free boxes... and bubble wrap. But sad - how wasteful! They wasted boxes, shipping fees, and labels. But at the office, we're all amused. Think of all the things we could do with that bubble wrap! Make bubble angels, rake bubble leaves and jump into the bubble pile, make a bubble ball pit... sounds like an office carnival to me. If only I had brought my camera into work today...

Lessons from the inside

Lesson of the day: just because someone is sitting inside of an information booth does not mean that she knows everything. Nor does it mean that she finds it funny, charming or entertaining when you ask random and absurd questions, even though she'll awkwardly laugh along because, hey, she's getting paid to sit there.

This weekend was BU's commencement weekend (congrats to the recent graduates, by the way!), which meant that, for me, it was a weekend of sitting at those special little red information booths up and down Comm Ave answering questions. All weekend. It was nice to be outside (even if I did get a little burnt!), and the people watching was good, but I'm so glad it's over. So much outside, so much smiling, lots of exhaustion, and ridiculous questions. The highlight was yesterday, when some father came to ask us what the winning Powerball numbers would be that night. We awkwardly laughed it off, and as he walked away, his son said "Dad, you're such a tool." Actually made my day.

Commencement was ridiculous, though. When you see/meet people's families you finally understand why they are the way they are... which is either great, entertaining, or both. There were SO many people here, it was crazy. Today, especially, because it was the all-university commencement (featuring Hillel's own Danny Bellin as the student speaker!).

Before that, though, we went to Weislow's graduation at the religion department. It was super small (about 16 graduates), and so all the graduates introduced everyone they brought, which was cute. Some pictures...

Josh, Weislow and Barney en route to commencement.

Champagne toast.

At Weislow's graduation.

And now they're all officially alumni and off to grad school next year. Crazy.

Hey, big spender

I'll be honest: sometimes I talk to inanimate objects. Or really, just people who aren't there - names on sheets of paper, like tonight when I'm just asking Eric to pick up the phone, or Joseph to donate some money, or cursing Lyle because his phone number is out of service and I really wanted him to repeat last year's $360 donation. There are only so many times that I can initial a sheet and mark it NH (not home) or PP (phone problem) before I get a little frustrated. Even more frustrating, though, can be when people actually do pick up the phone. So, I've compiled a list of things that irritate me about people on the phone.

1. Picking up your phone during dinner. It is quite possibly the most irritating thing you can do, especially if you don't know who's calling. If it's important, I'll leave a message. Or call back. I promise. There's no need for you to pick up the phone only to tell me I've interrupted your dinner and that youi're going to hang up on me now. Unnecessary.

2. People who don't pick up, but whose answering machines sound like they are. "Hi, long enough pause for me to start talking, we aren't home right now. And we wouldn't give you money anyway." Thanks, really.

3. People who are downright rude. I'm sorry if your husband's name is the one we have because he writes the checks and I don't know your name even though you're the BU alum. I apologize, really. We'll fix it in our database, but you don't need to be a bitch about it. And you should probably still give us money. And please, don't be mean to me. I'm trying to be as nice as possible while uncomfortably asking your for money when everyone is poor, so lighten up, okay?

4. Picking up your phone when you're actually one foot out the door. See above with picking up the phone during dinner. I'll call back, really. I do want your money, after all.

5. People who ask awkward questions. Last semester, a guy asked me who I was voting for. He continued (after I had told him I wasn't going to tell him who I voted for) to tell me that I had just voted to raise his taxes but, because he wasn't an SOB (his words, not mine) he'd still donate money. Excruciatingly uncomfortable. Really, are you that bored?

6. People who cut you off. Talking on the phone is just like driving - I don't want to be cut off in the middle of it. Fine if you don't want to donate money, but at least let me finish speaking first. I'm plenty comfortable with the rejection, just don't make me feel like an idiot by cutting me off midsentence. Please.

Even though people can be ridiculous, I do enjoy working in development. Three almost painless hours of calling and asking people for money, while relaxing in the office and hanging out with some friends. Not too terrible. Although today the person I was calling was dead. Incredibly uncomfortable, especially because I felt so terrible about it. But sometimes the calls are good and sometimes they're bad. With today's economy, a lot of the people I call actually do want to donate, but can't because they've been out of a job for the past nine months. And that's really hard to hear, and even tougher to imagine. It's the same thing I tell people who ask me how the fundraising's going - it's got its ups and its down, some better and worse than others.

On the bright side, things I like today about work:

1. Talking to nice people on the phone, especially those who want your advice. And then give donations. And parents of my friends who give donations on credit cards. Fabulous.

2. Rachel's (not me) Pandora playlist - featuring old music, once dearly loved.

3. Entertaining answering machines.

4. Big hitting nights: $569 in one night!

5. People who actually like being called. Yea, that's right.

Even though it was a successful night, I do still kind of miss the old Manhattanites I used to call. If they picked up, they donated big. And if not, they had awesome answering machines!