Life at Scholastic

Well, this is the beginning of Week 5 of my 10-month contract, so I thought I'd post about my workplace, for a change. :)

My supervisor seems a bit scatter-brained from time to time, but it's justifiable, as she appears to be co-ordinating activities between Studio, Production and Editors. The other freelancers are all easy-going, and the ones who've worked here previously are very helpful. The guy who sits beside me has a tendency to be a little too helpful: telling me things that I learned in Graphic Design 101, like how to lay out a page for readability, but I know he's just trying to ease my transition here, so I can't complain too much. He's also eased up on constantly making sure I have something to do. I still don't get where he was coming from with that, but I don't really care enough to ask him directly. The point is that I can now kill time as I please.

As strange as it is for me to be posting this picture, the quality of a washroom facility can really make or break a placement. Out here, there's a secluded hallway with several, compartmentalized washrooms. Each has a toilet, a toilet paper holder (with two giant rolls of TP, no less), a really cool sink, soap and a paper towel dispenser. The two washrooms that are on exterior walls have frosted glass, while each successive washroom has a frosted plexiglass window between it and the next washroom. I gotta say, I'm impressed. Another place I've been to in the studio district had a single washroom for a floor with as many people, and it was a scary-looking place, with a toilet that looked like it didn't work half the time, plumbing that had obviously seen some troubles and a door that didn't close properly.

Here's a picture of the two flights of stairs I climb twice daily (lunchtime being the other time, of course). Some of the full-timers here will not climb the stairs, for whatever reason, electing to use the elevator(!) instead. While I could see the fact that it's a straightaway being a concern if I'm in wet shoes, I can't imagine not bothering to climb two flights...but then, I don't know if there are medical conditions involved, or something.

Been pulling my hair out...
...but not literally.

Ah, the editors at Scholastic. Give 'em 3 days, or 3 weeks, to make revisions to a project and they will use exactly the specified amount of time to make those changes, with the last 5 rounds of changes made in one day. Such has been my week. It's only now, a half-an-hour after approval — and after my usual quitting time — that I have time enough to breathe and figure out what my status is on the next project.

Had I not gone swimming last night, I'm sure I'd be wound so tight, I would have been extremely unpleasant to work with.

In other news, that guy who sits beside me gave his notice today. He won't be returning after the holiday hiatus, and most of the employees, including him, got far enough on their upcoming projects that they won't be in tomorrow either. So, I won't be seeing him again. I'm of mixed opinion about this: some of the time, he was a bit of a kiss-ass, but some of the time, he let his frustrations show (proving he was human, after all). Well, I hope for the best for him any way, it sounds like he was experiencing some anxiety over freelancing. He seems quite happy to have found full-time work close to home.

I'll be coming in tomorrow to get as far ahead as I can on my next project, and to give my supervisor her Christmas gift. Then, hopefully, I can leave early and kickstart my Christmas vacation.