Sizzled Frazzled Izzie
18/02/2004 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaIzzie hates cookies. In this evil netcafe they are completely crazy. No matter how many times she logs in, Iz keeps getting the blank user name screen and the usual crap 'you must log in to use this feature'. Three computers lately - finally found one that succumbs to the charms of the Imperius curse.
Izzie has had a very bad hair day. After spending a hot sultry steamy night mostly in the bath tub-Izzie almost brought her pillow in there and being ever so thankful for not having a 7-1 shift today, was with a great sigh of relief that I finally found my way to the cool air conditioned Min of Fin. Apparently the electricity company was utterly overloaded and was asking for people not to use their air conditioners. Izzie obeyed for the simple reason that she hasn't got one. Unfortunately the idiots who design modern day houses break all the rules of passive solar design. At least unlike those pseudo Tuscan two storied monstrous carbuncles, Izzie's lair does have eaves but it faces directly east west which is an absolute no no. If not for the grapevine outside the kitchen, Izzie would be totally pickled. Oh and they are ever so tasty too. Upstairs is another matter. Hot and horrible.
Many of these modern places are utterly uninhabitable without airconditioning which is really rather stupid. Good old fashioned verandahs and high ceilings are so much prettier and far more suitable for our sizzling summers.
Well - it was nice to potter around Cyberia before catching the bus to be at work for 3pm. Was a nice bunch of people rostered on this evening so things looked pretty good and Iz was rostered on until nine and not 10pm as is happening way too often lately
Well - that was good until the boss whom Izzie calls Dolores got it in her head to get us poor house elves to check all the clothes in the wardrobes to make sure they belong to the right people without any regard to the stuff we normally do in that time. At the moment she has it in for the laundry elves and is on the rampage to find incriminating evidence against them - especially as one resident has had another woollen cardigan ruined (after a previous six)
The daughter has every right to be peeved about it but the boss is taking up everyone else's time in this crusade.
Well we would have managed to catch up eventually but then came the wonderful adventure after dinner of trying to get Creepy Caley to put on her nightie and dressing gown.
This creature arrived one week after the departure of the Diva of Dementors and got her room too. Iz thinks that she will also be acquiring most of the titles that went with the previous occupant.
Iz very rarely gets such freaky first impression feelings but the minute I set eyes on this women - just got the jeepers creepers heebie jeebies oozing all over the place. Evil is a bit too strong a word for it but this woman is uber creeeeeepy.
She looks like the sort that would go around putting pillows over the faces of people she doesn't like and has already started trying to smack one of our nicest residents - an Italian woman who is always walking around with a collection of bambinos.
She is a hatchet faced thing with jagged jutting jaw and a look of arrogance. Yessss - a veritable blond blue eyed aryan.
If the troll hadn't already knocked over the Precioussss this one would have been eying her up.
Funny how beauty is skin deep but ugly goes to the bone. One of the registered nurses declares that she is a classic case of Alzheimers -sundowners syndrome - confusion and a total change of personality in the late afternoon - usually aggressive and vicious.
Oh a lot of the residents do get terribly restless in the afternoons and this one is much quieter in the mornings but she is still just as creepy only less actively so.
Iz thinks that claim of 'classic behaviour' is pure crap. Like - in the years that Iz has been working as a house elf in the place - we would not even have had anywhere near ten residents with such a level of nastiness.
Iz suspects that the the afternoon personality is the real one and that with age - the ability to prepare a face to meet the faces that we meet deteriorates and the mask sometimes slips. The worst offenders always seem to have had jobs like receptionists, bar staff or air hostesses (and nurses are worst of all) where they were required to put on a smily face all the time no matter how much the customers pissed them off.
Most of them are demented but are usually often simply confused and lash out and get aggressive more out of fear or frustration than spite or malice and many of them are incredibly affectionate - so much so that they just ooze vibes of cuddly squishiness.
It took two of us to get her changed into her nightie with a lot of hissing, screaming, scratching and kicking. Previously she has snatched a zimmerframe from some one else and was hogging two frames even though she can walk perfectly well without one. And what a nasty carry on and fuss she made when Iz tried to get the other lady's frame off her.
So we were both totally pissed off then and between the heat and that freak were grumpy for the rest of the evening. It is very rarely these days that Iz lets herself get knocked off her broomstick but today was one of those days.
In contrast, the lady who arrived today and who is replacing the Troll who has now departed for St Mungos' closed ward is an absolute gem. Another Precioussss. Funny - one of the other elves has fallen in 'love' with her at first sight. Iz was also immediately entranced. She is sweet and friendly and has a twinkle in her eye and even though she keeps repeating the same thing over again because she has forgetten she told you five minutes ago - there is an aura about her that is -well - the sort of person who recharges your batteries and makes one's job a joy.
It is funny - so much is chemistry. Some of the folks that Iz likes - particularly the Precioussss annoy the hell out of other elves and vice versa but there are some people that absolutely everyone adores and also some that are universally despised.
And so so much of it - one gets to see what happens when the chickens come home to roost and it is time to reap what one has sown 50 years ago. One man who is really placid and friendly now, many moons ago was an alcoholic and beat up his wife and disowned his son when the son turned out to be gay. Now all those years later, he is alone and friendless. We all like him now and find it hard to imagine how he used to be. But it's too late to turn the clock back and he now has to reap what he has sown so long ago. And saddest of all, he does not even remember what he has done but his family has not forgotten and certainly not forgiven.
It's a shit job (literally) but there are certain things one can learn that are usually only discovered by experience. Life is too short to repeat other people's mistakes and here you get to see the consequences of lots and lots of them.
Izzie has had a very bad hair day. After spending a hot sultry steamy night mostly in the bath tub-Izzie almost brought her pillow in there and being ever so thankful for not having a 7-1 shift today, was with a great sigh of relief that I finally found my way to the cool air conditioned Min of Fin. Apparently the electricity company was utterly overloaded and was asking for people not to use their air conditioners. Izzie obeyed for the simple reason that she hasn't got one. Unfortunately the idiots who design modern day houses break all the rules of passive solar design. At least unlike those pseudo Tuscan two storied monstrous carbuncles, Izzie's lair does have eaves but it faces directly east west which is an absolute no no. If not for the grapevine outside the kitchen, Izzie would be totally pickled. Oh and they are ever so tasty too. Upstairs is another matter. Hot and horrible.
Many of these modern places are utterly uninhabitable without airconditioning which is really rather stupid. Good old fashioned verandahs and high ceilings are so much prettier and far more suitable for our sizzling summers.
Well - it was nice to potter around Cyberia before catching the bus to be at work for 3pm. Was a nice bunch of people rostered on this evening so things looked pretty good and Iz was rostered on until nine and not 10pm as is happening way too often lately
Well - that was good until the boss whom Izzie calls Dolores got it in her head to get us poor house elves to check all the clothes in the wardrobes to make sure they belong to the right people without any regard to the stuff we normally do in that time. At the moment she has it in for the laundry elves and is on the rampage to find incriminating evidence against them - especially as one resident has had another woollen cardigan ruined (after a previous six)
The daughter has every right to be peeved about it but the boss is taking up everyone else's time in this crusade.
Well we would have managed to catch up eventually but then came the wonderful adventure after dinner of trying to get Creepy Caley to put on her nightie and dressing gown.
This creature arrived one week after the departure of the Diva of Dementors and got her room too. Iz thinks that she will also be acquiring most of the titles that went with the previous occupant.
Iz very rarely gets such freaky first impression feelings but the minute I set eyes on this women - just got the jeepers creepers heebie jeebies oozing all over the place. Evil is a bit too strong a word for it but this woman is uber creeeeeepy.
She looks like the sort that would go around putting pillows over the faces of people she doesn't like and has already started trying to smack one of our nicest residents - an Italian woman who is always walking around with a collection of bambinos.
She is a hatchet faced thing with jagged jutting jaw and a look of arrogance. Yessss - a veritable blond blue eyed aryan.
If the troll hadn't already knocked over the Precioussss this one would have been eying her up.
Funny how beauty is skin deep but ugly goes to the bone. One of the registered nurses declares that she is a classic case of Alzheimers -sundowners syndrome - confusion and a total change of personality in the late afternoon - usually aggressive and vicious.
Oh a lot of the residents do get terribly restless in the afternoons and this one is much quieter in the mornings but she is still just as creepy only less actively so.
Iz thinks that claim of 'classic behaviour' is pure crap. Like - in the years that Iz has been working as a house elf in the place - we would not even have had anywhere near ten residents with such a level of nastiness.
Iz suspects that the the afternoon personality is the real one and that with age - the ability to prepare a face to meet the faces that we meet deteriorates and the mask sometimes slips. The worst offenders always seem to have had jobs like receptionists, bar staff or air hostesses (and nurses are worst of all) where they were required to put on a smily face all the time no matter how much the customers pissed them off.
Most of them are demented but are usually often simply confused and lash out and get aggressive more out of fear or frustration than spite or malice and many of them are incredibly affectionate - so much so that they just ooze vibes of cuddly squishiness.
It took two of us to get her changed into her nightie with a lot of hissing, screaming, scratching and kicking. Previously she has snatched a zimmerframe from some one else and was hogging two frames even though she can walk perfectly well without one. And what a nasty carry on and fuss she made when Iz tried to get the other lady's frame off her.
So we were both totally pissed off then and between the heat and that freak were grumpy for the rest of the evening. It is very rarely these days that Iz lets herself get knocked off her broomstick but today was one of those days.
In contrast, the lady who arrived today and who is replacing the Troll who has now departed for St Mungos' closed ward is an absolute gem. Another Precioussss. Funny - one of the other elves has fallen in 'love' with her at first sight. Iz was also immediately entranced. She is sweet and friendly and has a twinkle in her eye and even though she keeps repeating the same thing over again because she has forgetten she told you five minutes ago - there is an aura about her that is -well - the sort of person who recharges your batteries and makes one's job a joy.
It is funny - so much is chemistry. Some of the folks that Iz likes - particularly the Precioussss annoy the hell out of other elves and vice versa but there are some people that absolutely everyone adores and also some that are universally despised.
And so so much of it - one gets to see what happens when the chickens come home to roost and it is time to reap what one has sown 50 years ago. One man who is really placid and friendly now, many moons ago was an alcoholic and beat up his wife and disowned his son when the son turned out to be gay. Now all those years later, he is alone and friendless. We all like him now and find it hard to imagine how he used to be. But it's too late to turn the clock back and he now has to reap what he has sown so long ago. And saddest of all, he does not even remember what he has done but his family has not forgotten and certainly not forgiven.
It's a shit job (literally) but there are certain things one can learn that are usually only discovered by experience. Life is too short to repeat other people's mistakes and here you get to see the consequences of lots and lots of them.
