Hello Kitty

Today has been a day full of meetings.  So many meeting in fact that there was no time for debauchery.   Luckily, I don’t have to attend most of these meetings because they are for my boss.  The ones I could attend, I usually don’t because I am busy Battle Captaining (if that is a word).  As fate would have it, I have trouble attending the meetings that occur in my office, and these gatherings are the ones I want to attend and listen in to provide feedback. 

When the night crew arrived, the boss finally sat us all down and opened the floor to discuss shorter shifts!  After the introduction to his point of view, the phone closest to me rang and I answered it.  It was one of our subordinate units calling about the format he sent in for his commander’s situation report.  I walked him through the new format and was off the phone in time to see a new course of action had been created but I was clueless on what was happening.  I wasn’t able to input my opinion and now I was lost in the conversation. 

As I fervently tried to catch myself up in this meeting, taking clues from what was being said, the doodles on the LT’s paper, and the looks on co-worker’s faces, the phone rang again.  It was the Battle Captain for our higher headquarters.  He wanted to inform me of a teleconference that was going to occur in an hour that none of us were aware of because it was just scheduled.  As he gave me the details, phone numbers, and who was supposed to attend, the meeting behind me ended.  I hung up the phone and announced the details of this message to the office.  Heads began to shake as we realized this would be a long night. 

As I asked the outcome of the meeting, the phone rang yet again.  It was the Battle Captain again with more details.  I feverishly took notes in hopes to finally learn what my schedule would look like in the coming days.  I passed on the additional information for this teleconference and once again asked for details of the meeting I missed.  Before I could get an answer, the phone rang again.  I pointed to the night shift and said, “You get it!”  As the LT answered the phone, I got the scoop on the meeting. 

Our boss is accepting the idea of shorter shifts…for now.  He is still against an eight hour shift but is willing to look into a ten hour shift with some overlapping elements.  This is progress!  We are in the process of creating new courses of action.  Once the boss approves of one, we will try it out for a week.  If he likes it and can see that we are still functional, it will stick!

Also in happy news today, I have decided to get back to my feminine roots.  This may become a Thursday event, but I am wearing a Hello Kitty watch that was sent to me by a friend.  It is nice to be able to wear something feminine in a combat uniform.  Little reminders like this really make my day!