Of course I'm "here," I just went around the corner for waffles...

While I am not crazy about my job per se, I always enjoyed working with AuntieM, who totally rocks. And, of course, the special agent is a pretty great guy. Assisting in saving the world economy is not a bad gig, all things considered. However, now that AuntieM is gone, I have to put up with the other nuts in this place all by myself. Her "replacement," Miss Punctuality, is certainly no substitute, and furthermore, she seems to be on a mission to get me fired.

It's no secret that I can't be counted on to arrive on time for anything unless my life (or my voice) depends on it. I'm reasonably punctual for lessons, auditions, rehearsals, and the like, but showing up at the office on time (whatever that means now) is a completely different matter. I have a terrible time waking up in the morning, and the fact that I kind of abhor life in the financial services industry doesn't exactly spur me onward towards the office. I do make an effort if I know that the special agent may need my help before 9:00am, but otherwise, my beauty sleep (and my vocal health!) takes precedence.

However, although everyone seems to know that I'm rarely at my desk at 9am (or even 9:30am lately), I don't think it's appropriate to broadcast this fact, which Miss Punctuality does on a regular basis. Is she trying to teach me a lesson? Is she trying to make the special agent angry with me? Why does she persist in telling anyone who calls for me or stops by before I come in that I have not made it to work yet (emphasis hers)? What is to be gained from this? Can't she just say that I'm not at my desk? Or that I've run out to get breakfast? While I realize that I should just suck it up and get up in the morning, she should learn that it doesn't pay to make your colleagues look bad -- especially when you don't know how to do their jobs and would be completely screwed if they got fired. Which probably won't happen, but still -- I don't want the special agent to become unhappy with me. She told him at 10:15 that I wasn't in YET, and I have a feeling that I will receive a stern 90 second lecture when he returns from his current mission.

Speaking of missions, it has not been a good week thus far for the special agent. He's run into some pretty icky snares lately. Canceled flights, UPS bungles, stolen toiletries -- it hasn't been pretty. To top it off, we discovered this morning while he was waiting for yet another delayed flight to a far off land (destination TOP SECRET), that someone had cloned his cell phone and run up a large bill in the thousands -- probably by making calls to Namibia or Nigeria. Needless to say, he is not a happy camper today, and I don't think that being told that I wasn't in yet at 10:15am did anything to help his temperment. And really, the Number 1 Most Important Task of an assistant to a superspy is making sure that said secret agent is in a good mood. The economy depends on me, and I cannot fail!