staying on the roller coaster

I'm now laughing at myself for thinking I wouldn't need three whole days off between jobs to take care of loose ends (and laundry). Just when I thought I had things under control, had all my financial and other information for the forms, I get an e-mail from stoner HR guy saying,

"You must submit an official copy of your graduate transcripts to verify that you meet the education requirements. If you fail to submit the required documentation to verify your education by your start date, you will have 3 work days to submit the documentation. If you do not submit the documentation within 3 work days, you will not be permitted to continue working."

Two business days before I am to start, I get this. I ran over to Georgetown and submitted a request for an official transcript; they said they could have it by Monday afternoon, as long as I came to pick it up. Anything that goes by mail is not guaranteed to be seen again. Luckily, the visa service I'm going through is in Rosslyn, so I could take care of that at the same time.

I found an official copy of my undergraduate transcript, in case they meant that, too. See, my filekeeping is actually pretty good. I ordered an extra one when I was applying to grad schools. I also had to have a few sent once I started at Georgetown; thankfully, I learned that "had to" really meant that they asked you to in case you would need them on short notice, because even though I paid for them (yes, the money-grubbing Smith registrar charges for transcripts) none made it there. I called Smith's registrar's office to inquire about them, only to have a rude student say, "tell them to look again." It's a wonder I ever gave another penny to Smith after that, but it wouldn't be fair to not support scholarship students because of one rude person. Not that my support counts for anything, especially considering that even after I'd made a donation last year, the advancement office continued to send me correspondence saying they missed my donation that year. I have much better feelings about the pecan sale, since that goes directly to students in this area and is managed through the Smith Club of Washington, which has its act together, puts together great events, and boasts some great people.

Now for my taxes.