Category Archives: Work

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So around 3 times a year, I am “on-call” for my company. I work around client services in a technology/marketing services company. (I don’t do anything top secret or controversial, or anything, but I don’t post about work.) This means, that I need to stay local and near a computer in my off hours time for an entire week, including the weekend. So, I couldn’t go out this weekend. Instead, I had my old friend Daniel come to me.

We had another pretty epic board gaming session yesterday. Over all, we’ve been pretty spoiled with gaming, since my H.S. friend Jay came over for another epic board game session last weekend. (Last weekend we played some “Betrayal at House on the Hill,” “Love Letter,” “Masquerade,” and “Eminent Domain.” It was kind of Halloween themed.)

This is what we played yesterday:

Pathfinder
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This is a new game my husband bought. He thought it would be more my style and it’s growing on me. I realized that I like a certain type of strategy games. This is a card/deck building RPG co-operative game. I picked a human sorcerer character. My husband, of course, picked the dwarf fighter character. Danny was the human wizard character. You basically go through missions and build up your character stats and items. Similar to “Legend of Andor” and “Descent: Journey in the Dark” you keep the final stat and keep building your character on an on-going basis. Come to think of it, we have a pretty good collection of co-operative RPGs, if people want to start campaigning with us. Kind of like D&D on a smaller scale… probably without B.S. drama.

City of Thieves
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So… husband gives me a hard time about these guys. They have beautiful gorgeous gothic figures and artwork. It’s actually pretty fun, but I have a mental block about these types of board games. I don’t think I am as much of a fan. I like deck building games with a Eurogame twist, like Eminent Domain. I get super bitter and competitive in games where you can actually screw with your opponents. I think this session made me a convert.

Wizwar
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This is always fun, because it’s so zany. Did you know this game is pretty old (although we have the new edition) and is a precursor to “Magic the Gathering?” You are a bunch of wizards trying to steal each other’s treasures and/or kill each other. You get to zap one another. I think I had a “Ka-Bonk” card where I produced a giant mallet to attack Danny, at one point. You run around a small map creating walls, eating walls, throwing fireballs, etc. Overall, it’s a game where if you lose, you can’t really take it too personally, so it’s good. It’s a good laugh.

Overall a pretty active late late night.

I’m home, “on-call” for work. So what did I do? I cooked a bag of dry black beans so we can have a little for breakfast and the rest for the week. I cleaned my aquarium (hopefully to fill with colorful platys), hooked up the XBox to YouTube and discovered Vice Japan Channel, and now I am watching reruns of Sex and the City. I randomly picked the episode where Aidan leaves Carrie for the second time after she cheated on him with Mr. Big. In that episode, they say goodbye in her bathroom… and that shower curtain!!!!! I NEED IT! I searched for the last 50 minutes and I cannot for the life of me find that particular screenshot.

It’s long and sparkly.

So this is what it has come to. Season 4 has pretty good outfits, I must admit.

At least I have some Rose wine.

I’m looking forward to getting my freedom back next week.

Edit: Pebbles Silver shower curtain from Bed Bath and Beyond! Voila! Pretty close.

I’m also digging the discontinued Tender Falls Anthropologie Shower Curtain.

And a little more affordable Kate Spade shower curtain from Bed Bath and Beyond.

Everyone knows that I LOVE THE OFFICE. Parks and Recreation got off to a bumpy start, but I really like Amy Poeler and after a while, the show really grew on me. It was a subtler humor, not as sad or as sardonic as the office, but kind of light hearted and zany. And some of the humor is SO abstract. I love Ron. He is my favorite character, I think. I love how he loves breakfast foods, enough that there is a mention of it in almost every other episode (how there is a larged framed picture of eggs and bacon as his decor. I too had a picture of a banana… committing suicide…).

I love how Parks and Recreation is different. All the main characters on the show are quirky and weird, but in a different way than in The Office. I like how, “Middle America” it is. I like how it’s a departure from the British-based show and something completely different. I like how both shows are feature bosses/management being completely passionate about a thankless job that most people wouldn’t think twice about. I was really skeptical about the show, but I think it’s really well conceived and has finally developed a great identity. I’m just afraid that it doesn’t have too many fans as of yet… (And I am secretly afraid it is turning into a show that focuses on romantic relationship/melodrama… instead of awkward encounters and other work based quirky work relationships.)

And really, work is just like The Office and Parks and Recreation (and even 30 ROCK!). Seriously. People get really bored. For example, at my last job… I had an on-going “cube war,” with the guy who shared my neighboring super cubes. (As people left, we would poach and take over other cubicles, as F-ed up as that sounds.) One time, he spent … I don’t know how long, making like hundreds of tiny paper balls. And then waited until precisely the right moment to ambush me showering me with it all, shouting, “CUBE WARS.” Unfortunately I was in a really foul mood and he almost made me cry. :P But yes, this was also the same guy that made creepy masks of people in the office so that a bunch of us could wear it and walk around being … a group of really creepy people.

You know, fun times.

I think work comedies are a really good idea, because it kind of forcibly brings together a diverse group of people, the audience can definitely relate to most situations, and zany shit really does happen.

One time in one of my other jobs, someone high up was getting fired. As one of the managers of the IT stuff in the office, I had to watch her pack up and walk her down. In the process the woman took out a crystal ball (and I all ready knew she had some zany new age stuff up her sleeves) out of her desk, and asked me to keep it for her. An awkward exchange happened, where I just said, “No.” And she was trying to be sweet and leave it behind. Yeah. Don’t ask. I think she pawned it on the controller until around 6 or so months later when she had some random guy pick it up.

Everyone has odd coworkers, right? When I was in my government job, there was someone everyone referred to as “Inspector Gadget,” because he was a hoarder and would go dumpster diving. All the weirdest stuff (like when I needed to get my key altered (cut/trimmed a little), you would go to him and he would have EVERYTHING and the most random-est shit ever.

Everyone has crazy work stories. Next time, over a few beers, ask me about the time I came back from the Consumer Electronics Show and had to deal with a bleeding crack addict in my work elevator… coming at my coworkers.

I am convinced that I have enough true life material to come up with at least a season’s worth of materials. I really do.

(Hey I noticed something funny. I’ve worked for a sales oriented company, aka. a Dunder Mifflin, a government office/branch, like Parks and Recreation, and am currently working for a network… kinda like 30 Rock!)

At work I’ve witnessed several moments where people “lost it,” this week. I don’t know what it was about this week that did it, but it was from all the different corners of my work life. Seriously. I’ve appropriated my supervisor’s analogy that we’re all in a sandbox, and no one is behaving nicely. Pails are being tossed about and shovels used to hit each other.

I was running through entries on my blog and I had one post right before I started at my current digs. I was apprehensive and unsure whether I made the right choice. There are several snags, you see, such as whether you will like the work culture, coworkers, etc… Then there are other sacrifices you make, such as, changing health insurances, downgrading insurances, or maybe even a pay cut. Stuff like that make the process really nerve wracking and you’re most of the time unable to see whether your leap of faith will work out.

This is all to say that things have gotten much rockier at my previous job and I feel relieved to not be there anymore. I’ve been meeting with old coworkers for the past couple of weeks and I’ve been getting a lot of the dirt. They tell me that I’m lucky to have gotten out when I did, which was a combination of luck, timing, and connections. Either way, this is a rare thing, where in hindsight you are proven right and glad that you made the choice you did.

So what if I pay more now for my dentist (that brought out that bling-ed piece of tooth). I made the wrong choice there in opting in for a DMO plan, rather than a PPO that they accept (although since they used to accept the DMO, they are still listed on the DMO website – what the hell is up with that?). Clearly, wrong choice, but I had no way of knowing either way. (Also when I had to make my choice my dentist’s office was closed)

You know choices…

So here’s another one to think about. I am content enough right now with my current job. It challenges me sometimes, but I am confident that I can do whatever they ask me. My skill set is sort of perfect for this job… in that the only anxiety comes from finishing multiple things in a timely manner and not that I can’t do something. Sure I want to be paid more, appreciated by upper management more and all that… stuff normal people want… So here’s the thing. My field right now has an influx of openings. I get calls from head hunters ALL THE TIME. Like, at least 1-3 a week, either by phone or email. I got someone actually calling my work phone the other day and that sort of creeped me out.

So my instincts tell me that I should contact them just to see what they have and to keep my people skills sharp. I always encourage friends that are looking for jobs to apply for everything and talk to everyone. You want choices. You should have the choice to turn them down. It’s hard for me to keep to this adage, you know? Even if I am not looking for another job, if they come looking for me, I should always keep my options open. I should, right?

I had a dentist’s appointment on Monday morning. I figured that if I went early, that there would be less of a wait. I had to reschedule this appointment (since my crown wasn’t ready) and I was anxious to just get it done. I kind of dislike to take time off work for these “personal errands.” I would much rather spend a lazy day home on my day off. Either way, I was ready to get in there and out in minimal time.

The whole visit was a waste, because as soon as I sat in the chair, they opened up the package and took out my crown… And folks, it was gold. GOLD. Shiny. Very shiny and gold. Seriously? And the doctor was speechless, but the nurse had the gall to ask me, “This isn’t what you wanted, right? Well, do you like it? Do you want this in your mouth?” And really, it’s a molar, but it is my front molar that is quite visible. I want a shiny smile, but not by those standards. I might have done it if I had matching grills or if I was going to go meet Flavor Flav. I mean, c’mon!

So, they had me get out of the dentist’s chair and ushered me into accounting to wrap up my billing / insurance, and booked me for another day. Again. Monday morning… 2 weeks from that date. So I can take another morning off of work. I rolled in and I think my story made up for a lot, but it still didn’t make up for the fact that I wasted my morning. It was lost between a bad commute to the dentist’s office, getting my crown NOT put in, and then going back downtown into work. Uhg.