It's amazing what an effect music can have on you. My work place has been a pretty negative space lately. Due to recent events that are neither appropriate for me to disclose nor necessary for you to hear about, the last thing I wanted to do was walk through that door this morning. Not unless I was armed with a baseball bat and could use a few specific people for batting practice. (I consider myself a pacifist but that doesn't mean I'm not occasionally tempted.)
This is the second time in a week that I've almost hit a turkey on the way to work. By "turkey," I don't mean a person who lacks competence in the operation of a motorized vehicle. I mean a large bird of the genus meleagris that goes gobble gobble.
Last week there was a group of turkeys (which I just learned is called a "rafter") foraging in the grass along side I-80 south of campus. This morning, there was a hen hanging out on the off-ramp coming into Dixon.
I just got this email from a friend with an invitation. Hey guys, come over tonight and watch a movie. Maybe I'll bake something. Which starts me thinking. Mmm...baked goods. Do you know what sounds good? A cookie. I could really go for a cookie. Something warm and gooey out of the oven. Wow, that sounds good. It might even make the rest of work seem bearable.
All day I've wanted to be at home, curled up on the sunny spot on the living room carpet, where undoubtedly at least one of my cats is at this moment in time.
That, and this cookie. That would do it.
It's amazing how much a cup of tea can improve my disposition at work. It's been a busy day--a busy couple of days actually--and an hour ago I was counting down the minutes until I could split. I was starting to fade a bit and decided on a cup of tea and a snack. Now I'm sipping peppermint tea and chugging along through my work, happily enough that here I am at quitting time and I've decided to bank an extra half hour and finish up this project I'm working on.
It's February. It's Friday. No one seems to want to work. The recently located Star Wars quiz (see previous blog) has inspired a round of Star Wars forwards around the office, meanwhile, in an entirely different galaxy, my friends are emailing around questions like who would win in a fist fight, Data or Spock? My money's on Data, for the record.
The soda machine at my office is possessed. If you push the coke button, you have probably a 2 in 3 chance of getting a cherry powerade. Mr. Pibb is slightly more reliable though the powerades do pop up from time to time. Now if you want a Sprite, you are almost assured of getting a Diet Coke. The only button on the machine that seems fool proof is, in fact, the cherry powerade button.
I'm really not fond of powerade.
I have a long to-do list of things to get done at work. I've had a long list of things to do for months, probably years. I need a few clones. A small collective, perhaps.
Yesterday at 4:15 I was tying up a project for a co-worker and tying up my hair for ballet. The phone rings. It's one of my clients. A new client actually. "Hi. How are you? I was wondering how that map is coming along. I need to send it out tomorrow."
PANIC ATTACK: Map? Map! The map he told me he needed by Thursday or Friday? The map I totally forgot about and haven't even started yet? That map?! Ack! Ack! Ack!
Now Stretch This:
It's a busy day. I don't really mind. Of course the instant I leave the office for a few days all hell breaks loose and I walk back into the middle of it. My co-worker -- the only other person in my department -- has been run ragged in my absence and called in sick today. I told my boss to stop killing off the help.
Still, the distraction from life is nice. I've got a lot on my mind and I don't mind digging into work full force so I don't have to think about the rest of it for awhile. I'm just plodding through. The work makes the day pass quickly.
