redbird | minor skills (Reply)

quility called around lunchtime today to offer

cattitude and me a few hours of temporary office work: her company needed some collating done on short notice.

We both accepted, and headed downtown after a quick lunch (brie and tomato sandwiches). She didn't ask, but this happens to be one of my skills: I've been collating for 30 years.

We got there, we were shown the work, we quickly came up with a suitable division of labor, and a little while later Quility came past, looked at the table, and said "You guys are fast!" We are. We were also being paid by the hour, but I collate at the speed I collate at.

We finished the first project, and waited around for the second one to arrive from Kinko's so we could collate. Time passed. I asked again when it was likely to arrive (because I wasn't prepared to be there all night). It transpired that the job hadn't gone out to the copy shop yet, because the original hadn't been finished. The person responsible said he'd be done "soon", which eventually translated to about two hours from then.

The arrangement thus changed to him sending it over whenever he finishes it; Quility and someone whose name has eluded me getting in early tomorrow and getting it to Kinko's; and me and Cattitude arriving mid-morning to finish the collating by noon. And yes, we will be paid for the time we spent waiting around for the job to return from the printer who hadn't yet received it. This is good, as well as fair, but I'd rather have spent that time at the gym.

Also, I'm to bring my large stapler, to speed things (they have one, but a second can't hurt).