“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 946 (Wednesday) – triumph

Today saw a victory. After months on a project that had been fraught with delays and challenges and a high level of frustration, my department’s role was completed. The final step involved printed letters, which we usually outsource, but due to the project timeline and the smaller volume, we chose to handle it ourselves. Yesterday was consumed with list sorting and file preparation. Today saw the printing, stuffing, and mailing of three different letters in three different mailing envelopes with various enclosed documents.

The triumph was aided by our real-life Mail Room Action Hero. For whatever reason, in all the project starts and stops and discussions and plans, the specifics of the envelopes had never been discussed and I was prepared to run hundreds of envelopes through the printer and then match them to the letters.

When using window envelopes was finally realized as a possibility, a question was sent to the mail room. Faster than a speeding bullet, window envelopes were in my hands, delivered with a smile by our very own superhero colleague. Thank you, kind sir, you saved us a bunch of time. Teamwork really does make the dream work.

Buried!

There was a brief interlude for our weekly team meeting, and then it was back to envelope stuffing and the mental game of “I can eat lunch after I finish stuffing this stack of letters.” It seems I respond well to a reward system, even when I make it up myself.

Carried-in lunch of leftover fusilli, hot Italian sausage, and sauce was heated in the microwave. My desk was uncharacteristically buried in stacks of letters, inserts, and envelopes and I couldn't eat there like I usually do. While eating at the little table near our kitchenette, a safe distance between spaghetti sauce and white envelopes, we got word there was leftover catered food from an event in the suite downstairs. The homemade lunch went back into the fridge and colleagues and I dashed downstairs to grab some mushroom ravioli and butternut squash ravioli. It was delicious.

After the fine dining, the 239 letters were sealed (with help from a colleague) and bagged for the mail room. It was a huge relief. I wanted to cry tears of joy. Instead, I ate way too much of the cookies and candy that had magically appeared on our work counter. The sweet taste of victory was supplemented by the sweet taste of Hershey Kisses, M&Ms, Reese’s Cups, and apple caramel oatmeal cookies. Finishing a big task has never felt or tasted so good.