July 20th, 2021

Hey, I don't think I mentioned I'm back working at the museum!  That's a picture of it up top.
It was nice to be back. But wow, it's been awhile.  And in fact, when I checked  (Naturally I was curious, wouldn't you be?) to see when was the last time I logged into the museum computer, it turned out to have been almost exactly 17 months before. Wow!

So last Tuesday, which was my first day back, I was more than a little concerned about how much I would remember, or perhaps it was more concern of how much I had  forgotten.  I knew that some things had changed in the interim of course. There were some protocol and procedural changes which would be new to all returnees.  But how much of the facts & figures, how much history, how many important bits of information have fallen off the memory shelf in my brain?

Well,  as it turns out, I was right to be concerned.  The first thing I forgot, right off the bat,  was my log-in password. Dang it!  Passwords are the bane of my existence.  I was hoping that muscle memory would kick in, that the simple act of sitting at the keyboard in the museum, after typing in my name the password would just automatically follow. It did not. Ratz.

All of the new P&P have been written down of course, so my first course of action (once past the password debacle) just involved reviewing the new information.  But the "cashregister" which was fairly new just before lockdown, was a vague and distant memory.  The first guest  who made a purchase last Tuesday had me drawing a complete blank.  And so I did what all the greats do, I faked it.  On the outside I was all smiley and pleasant and began to engage her in conversation.  On the inside I'm thinking..."Hmmm that looks like  touchscreen...let's see what happens if I.....oh yeah!" And I did that all the way through the process.  It worked!

Answering questions was......interesting.   Some things I actually remembered exactly perfectly and correctly (YAY).  Other things I remembered well enough that I could be fairly vague and still accurate while pointing the guest in the correct direction toward various displays and/or pamphlets. And luckily, the one  question asked that my answer would have been dead wrong  (dang!) my boss was in the room and answered for me.  Whew!  Clearly I need to study up again!

I muddled my way through the first day back similarly to the way I muddled my way through my first day ever.  And way back then, I improved as I went so I can only assume the same will happen this time.

Oddly some of the biggest things I'm having trouble remembering have nothing to do with the museum directly.  But remembering how to Dress to get back to work has been tricky. I haven't had to dress nicely since March of 2020.  So remembering which top goes perfectly with what skirt or trouser?  Which shoes did I wear with that? What earrings?   And, just to add another layer of complexity, it's always a little too cool for comfort inside the museum so while it's hotter than aitch ee double hockey sticks outside, I always must remember to bring a sweater or jacket to wear inside.  But which ones go with which outfit? Frankly, it's a mystery whose solution involves spending a ridiculous amount of time trying and discarding clothing each work day.

Then there are there other little things I have forgotten like, What time do I need to leave home to arrive when I expected?  Where the heck did I put my ID badge?  And how on earth do I put makeup on properly?  It's been awhile.

I'm sure, in time, it will be smooth sailing again.  Hopefully soon, I will know the answers to our guests questions. And if I don't know the answer, I will at least know where to look for the answer.  I will be able to dress in under an hour and look halfway decent when I'm done. I will remember my ID badge and my password every day.  And mostly importantly,  I will once again develop the knack for putting mascara on my eye lashes and not also get it on my nose, my forehead or my cheeks.

It's good to be back and in a few weeks, it will be even better.