It's the middle of the week. Some people like to call this "hump" day. I've personally never really liked that phrase. It's not even because it sounds a little rude and a bit animalistic, it's actually more because I've never viewed the week that way. I suppose Wednesday is the turning point of the week, the day in which we go from being stuck in the drudges of the workweek to being able to see the glimmery hope of the weekend shining ahead. But I never really see the week as having a hump in it.
Still, it's definitely a move towards the better. It's another wet sort of morning here. I went to bed last night with the sound of rain pounding against the window. It was a delicious sound.
Now I'm here in the office. There aren't many people here yet. This means I had to make the coffee. I don't mind that too much. I actually think it's a bit easier. The cover that sits over the power button on the decaf coffee pot recently fell off. Having made coffee a couple of times this week, I've had no problem getting the coffee pot to work. Just because the cover fell off, doesn't mean the power button is dead. However, on the days on which I haven't made coffee, I've walked into the kitchen to watch coworkers doing complicated things to get it to work. They used a knife and a lot of tape to rig it up so it would work. Yesterday, I discovered someone attempting to push in the power button with an ice-cream scoop. I find this amusing but not quite sure why they're making McGyver attempts to make coffee when I've found it fine to just hit the button. Still, it's quite fun to watch.
We finally found out when our office is moving. Yesterday, we got the date. November 23rd is the day the movers come to take our stuff to our new building. That happens to be the week of Thanksgiving. I suppose it's good we're finally moving but it seems like an odd time to choose. Ah well, again, I state, I am not a manager. If I were, I probably wouldn't have scheduled a product release on the day we're supposed to move, especially as we all may have to work from home that day and that will make it slightly hard for us working on the product release to communicate.
But I'm keeping my positive attitude. Besides, yesterday, I had a really good fifteen minutes in my office. Yes, I actually took an official break and carved the mini pumpkin I've had on my desk. It was given to me by a manager who was not my own. He was giving his staff little mini pumpkins a couple of weeks ago as a gesture of 'team spirit' and to 'celebrate the season.' He had one extra. I happened to be nearby. I was given the gift of a mini-pumpkin. I think it must have been just to celebrate the season since I'm not on his team. It was nice of him though. It's been sitting, faceless and uncarved on my desk for a while and I thought about drawing a face on him and then, yesterday, after lunch, I realized I was holding a knife.
Yes, your reaction to that phrase is probably similar to that of my cubicle mates when I declared, "I have a knife!" with excitement. They looked a little wary. They've discovered, you see, that Captain Monkeypants has a wee bit of a dark streak and likes the creepy side of life. Thus, because this is an unfamiliar notion to them, they therefore think I'm a little scary. I suppose, looking at it from their point of view, when someone declares, "Hey, I have a knife!" in the middle of the office it might be a little alarming.
Anyway, I had the knife merely because I'd used it to eat my persimmon at lunch. I'd been so excited to find persimmons at Jungle Jim's on Saturday. My friend's family in L.A. had a persimmon tree in the yard so around this time of year, there were persimmons galore to enjoy. Here, however, they're a bit more of a delicacy and not as easy to find. I did find them on sale on Saturday. They're a little nutty tasting with a firmer consistency than an apple and a slightly pear-y taste. I love them. The best way to eat them is to slice pieces off with a knife and eat them.
Thus, this is the reason I had a knife. My declaration of excitement in saying "hey, I have a knife!" because I'd looked at my mini pumpkin was apparently not terribly obvious to my coworkers because they didn't share my glee. Which leads us back to where we were before I started rambling about persimmons. I simply decided that I absolutely must carve my mini pumpkin since how often do I have a sharp enough knife in the office?
So, I spent a rather fun fifteen minutes carving the little blighter. It came out quite well- a very typical Jack O'Lantern with triangle eyes, a little nose and scary looking teeth.
I was sad when I was done. It was the most fun I had all day. Actually, all week. Last week, I discovered the highlight of my week was the meeting I had at the end of the day on Friday in which I freely got to doodle. I came up with some interesting new little doodles. I drew Camembert the KangaSnail, Pumpkin O'Clock, The Improper Starfish, Nanosaurus Rex and the Christmas Tree of SILENCE!!!!! And yes, I drew the exclamation points.
I have decided that my next writing project might be to put together a series of stories based upon my doodles. I think I'll call it Adventures from Doodletown. It will feature the Strawberry of DOOOOM, his inevitable vanquishing by the formerly dull raindrop who became the RAINCLOUD OF DOOOOM and many other rather odd little tales.
On the plus side, at least I'm finding a creative outlet at work. On the negative side, I'm not so sure it's why they're paying me. Still, I figure until they tell me to cease and desist my artwork, pumpkin carving, original origami and paperclip sculpture-making, I'm going to keep on doing it. Although, I have noticed that any time I attempt to get creative with my job, people get this wary look in their eyes. Then they ask my coworker to help them brainstorm creative ideas in a meeting. Literally. This happened again yesterday. I'm not exaggerating, either. This is what happens every single time a new project comes along. I'm really, really trying not to take it personally. It's actually working at the moment. I'm choosing to believe that it must be because I look so focused on my work and so very good at it that they think they can't disturb me from the exciting world of software testing.
Of course, if they'd seen me carving my pumpkin yesterday, they might have changed their minds. Sadly, they didn't. I think I'll explore Adventures in Apple Peeling today since I have a knife again. I'll let you know how that goes.
Happy Wednesday!
No comments:
Post a Comment