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Mike's Blog

To boldly blog what no man has blogged before. Enjoy at your own risk!!

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

The Give and Take of the 8 to 5

I realized this morning that I love being able to drive to and from work wearing my sunglasses. A strange observation I realize, but favorable none the less. Besides the fact that I really love my sunglasses, the real reason is the time of day I am en route, to and fro. I am really diggin the 8 to 5 gig. At my previous job (daily beating) I worked a Sunday through Thursday 6am to 2pm schedule. Although I had rationalized it at the time, in hindsight it REALLY SUCKED! The 8 to 5 has a few drawbacks, but for the most part it is definitely a welcomed change. The traffic is the biggest drawback as it is 3x worse then what I would hit going to work at 6am. But then again, I'M NOT GOING TO WORK AT 6AM, so always a plus. And I have actually been very surprised at the lack of traffic after work. I usually leave here somewhere between 5 and 5:30 and the traffic is actually pretty bearable. There is the occasional snarl, wreck, etc, but in most cases it continues to move.

The other great advantage of the normal work schedule is the hour for lunch. At the previous job we had two short breaks which we were not allowed to combine for eating and whatever. Ahh the joys of having to rush to one of the many fast food joints close by and spend 3/4 of your break standing in line. Then having to scarf your food down, only to get massive indigestion and suffer with that for the rest of the day! YES, AWESOME! The first couple of days I went out for lunch I found myself rushing around. It was a very new concept for me to be able to relax and sit down to a nice meal. Alison and I went to Eatzi's last week and I caught myself checking my watch to see if I still had time to make it back. I had to delete that program and load the newest patch which allowed for the longer lunch cycles. I'm such a computer geek. Anyway, so many new things to get used to. But I am not complaining. Everyday lately is feeling like the first day of the rest of my life.

...and that feels pretty damn good!

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Monday, March 07, 2005

The Office

I think I've finally found the office chi I have been searching for. After several variations, several minutes of standing and staring, and even a dream(!) I'm pretty sure I have it laid out the way I want it. No, I'm not saying my office layout came to me in a dream or even that I believe in that chi crap, so just let it go. It was weird that I dreamed about my office though. I guess I'm still trying to get my brain around it.

Friday I packed the old college mini-fridge sitting in my garage in the Rover and brought it to work. My boss had given it the green light since we are on the other end of the building from the breakroom, snackroom and general food keeping areas. So before I left on Friday I set it up in my office. I stocked it with Red Bull, Orange Juice, Vodka, and Arizona Green Tea. It was very nice to come in to a fully stocked fridge full of cold libations. Since I had the weekend to forget about doing it, it was almost as if someone else had done it for me. "Congrats on making the big time Mike! Here are three of your favorite drinks!" As far as I'm concerned, this was the finishing touch for my office. In fact, I had to move around a couple of pieces of furniture to accomodate it. Yeah, I have furniture in my office! It's crazy! I even have a door, which after they re-key it, I will be able to lock. For all of you with office envy, I feel your pain. I anguished in a cubicle for just under 3 years which was PLENTY long enough for me.

One funny thing about my office is the temperature. I am very interested in bringing my desk thermometer up here and getting an actual reading, but it's waaaay down there. Now anyone that knows me can attest to me NEVER being cold, but this is far beyond cold. The reason for this is my location. My office is right next to the server room which, uncooled could easily get up to 95 degrees with all the computers in there. So they have an A/C unit devoted solely to it, my office and a small closet office on the other side of the server room. In the mornings when I get here and open my door I am smacked in the face with an artic blast. I am constantly surprised that icicles aren't hanging from the vent. It's so cold that my nose runs. Yeah, COLD! Luckily, I wear a long sleeve dress shirt everyday and so I'm not sitting here shivering or anything. Although, there have been mornings I have sat at my desk with my coat on for the first 15 minutes to acclimate myself. I would MUCH rather it be cold than hot. So I am definitely not complaining. The irony of it all is many moons ago my office was a storage/breakroom so hanging above my door is a sign that reads "MICROWAVE IN USE." There is no way I'm taking that down!

1 Comments:

  • Tue Mar 08, 12:43:00 PM CST
    Blogger Mike sat naked at the computer and typed…

    In the interest of keeping my job I left the Shiner, Sapphire, and Grey Goose at home.

     

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Monday and I'm Not Mourning

Ever since starting my new job I'm not filled with the dread of having to go to work like I was before. I'm genuinely excited to be embarking on my career in a new job. Lemme just tell you that this makes Monday mornings soooooo much easier to like your job. I'm hoping this lasts because it's really a good feeling.

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Thursday, March 03, 2005

She Left On A Jet Plane

Well I am alone in the Big D for 10 days. Ally left for her Tour of Italy (the real thing, not the Olive Garden dish) yesterday. I have to admit that I already miss her. Usually she will call me while we are on the way to work in the morning and we always talk before we go to bed at night, but today makes two days of no calls. Being a creature of habit and routine, these are the things that really put the screws in you.

So I instituted a plan of preoccupation, which took effect last night. On the way home from work I called up my brother and cousin to invite them out for some Buffalo Wild Wings. Kev and his wife agreed to come out, but the cuz was a different story. Like a poonanny he had already made plans to have dinner with his trying-to-be-ex-girlfriend and her mother. SUCKER!

Kev and I swilled massive amounts of Shiner in order to put out the flames projecting from our months due to the oh-geez-these-little-wings-are-hot boneless wings. We started off with Caribbean Jerk and then moved on the downright HOT. We both agreed that while the Caribbean Jerk was extremely spicy, it was "a different kind of hot." By the time we got to the HOT our mouths were numb, our sinuses were clear, our eyes were watering, and odly enough my scalp was tingling. Keep in mind that this wasn't an experimental run. I order the same thing every time I go to BWW. I guess I enjoy the pain a bit in the process of eating really good boneless wings. As for Kev, I am not sure that he will partake of those mouth scorching sauces on his next visit.

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Wednesday, March 02, 2005

The Struggle

So when do you get to the point where you don't even have to acknowledge that you haven't posted in a really long time and you are a reeeeeealy bad blogger? I feel like I am reaching that point. All apologies to my loyal and becoming increasingly disloyal blog reading audience. Things have been a bit of a whirlwind for the last couple of weeks with starting a new job and leaving a crappy one behind. I can't say that I haven't had the time to blog because that would just be a lie. I just haven't felt inspired to blog anything as of late. Is that bad? I'm not sure. I've got a call into the blog helpdesk on that issue. We'll see what the professionals say.

A lot of times I go a long time without blogging not because I don't have anything to say, but I don't feel like it will be interesting/thought provoking/compelling/sad/etc. True or not, it totally demotivates and immobilizes my blogging machine. I need to just force myself to sit down and start writing. I know SOMETHING would have to come out. Then there's the whole quantity vs. quality struggle. Whateva!

3 Comments:

  • Wed Mar 02, 12:37:00 PM CST
    Blogger theghosher sat naked at the computer and typed…

    I think the infatuation with blogging has worn off for me too. I was talking to Alisa and she just totally quit. I thought it was a technical thing.. no monitor or something.. but no, she just totally lost interest. So, in conclusion, I feel your pain my friend... I'm having the exact same problem.

    Ghosher Out

     
  • Thu Mar 03, 08:23:00 AM CST
    Blogger DKDFW sat naked at the computer and typed…

    I think you need to bring back your weekend summaries.

     
  • Thu Mar 03, 08:44:00 AM CST
    Blogger Mike sat naked at the computer and typed…

    I was wondering what happened to Alisa. Thanks for the info Ghosh. Maybe she will start back up with her adventures and misadventures of living in Portland.

    Thanks for the suggestion Don. Someone else suggested that to me as well so I am definitely going to have to bring them back. This weekend should be pretty interesting so stay tuned for a good Monday update.

     

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