The new assignment

On friday I returned to my first temp assignment,now in the Membership Department. I'm not fully set up but they kept me busy with data processing. They're still vague as to why the person I'm replacing went on leave and how long she'll be out. There is a big backlog of work so I should be kept busy. The woman who sits next to me is kept occupied the entire day fielding phone calls from new members. I wonder if at some point they're going to be put on the phones? Not sure how I feel about that. The most interesting material I processed were Leniency Committee disposition letters. Members who fall behind on their dues have a mechanism to appeal for leniency in paying up back dues. They write letters (full of emotional appeal from the few letters I glanced) at and the Committee meets every two weeks to consider each case. Sounds a lot like IRB, but with more drama and hopefully more straightforward rules and regs. I'm going to investigate this Leniency Committee--sounds like the kind of work I can administer.

Last fall before I landed the UCLA job I interviewed for an IRB job at Cedars Sinai. They never contacted me for a follow up interview. I'm not sure if it was because they felt I wasn't a good fit (and if their culture was similar to UCLA, I wouldn't blame them) or because I was in New York at the time. I just applied for an open IRB Analyst position. I've got nothing to lose. I'll be curious if they call me or not.

Smoldering hot all weekend. I'm wrapped up in the book Pictures at the Revolution by Mark Harris, which profiles the 5 Best Picture nominees of 1967 and how Hollywood and the American Cinema were and were not changing during this time. I remember when I first became an old film buff in the early 80's and how I disdain the cinema of the 60's as too modern. Now it's vintage history and I'm into it! I also amused myself with watching John Garfield in They Made Me a Criminal and watching the TCM documentary on Garfield's life which is an extra on the Postman Always Rings Twice DVD. Next weekend I might just watch Force of Evil and Body and Soul. Garfield was so ahead of his time and such a dynamic, sexual performer. Here's a tribute: