Days with Unexpected Twists

Well, I still haven't found a way to take a tropical vacation but today was, at least, not the typical run-of-the mill day at work which may not be the same as jetting off to Aruba but it's something.

It started when I got to the office. I noticed our HR manager was sitting in the car park in front of the building, on her cell phone. "Uh, oh," I thought. "What's up?"

I'm usually the first one in. Today, our HR manager beat me in but we were the only two. Turns out that after our power outage yesterday at work, the electric company hadn't restored power to our building. It was still out.

Our poor HR manager. She's come a long way in the past months. She still has very special moments but, for the most part, she's been doing a good job. She's the type of person who feels responsible for things when she's part of them, even if they're not her fault. Last night, for example, the power company had called her at 1 a.m. to tell her the power had been restored to our office building. She did what most normal people would do: She grunted into the phone, hung it up, relieved and went back to sleep. She trusted the power company which isn't such an extraordinary thing.

Nevertheless, this morning, she was furious at herself for not getting into work early enough to let everyone know there was no power and notify the power company. Given that it was 7 a.m., it wasn't like she was later.

Between us, we managed to let people know and our president sent out a text message to us all to tell us not to go to the office until further notice. Since I was there, I felt like I should stay to help out the HR manager. Besides, a slightly twisted part of me was reveling in the fact that I was at work and I couldn't work and that was a very small adventure but an adventure nonetheless.

When our receptionist showed up along with our tech support guy, we did the logical thing: We decided to go to IHOP for breakfast since it's pretty much in our car park and we could get there in less than 4 minutes. We left a note on my car so that stragglers could see it and we went for breakfast. A couple of others joined us but it was a pretty small group and there was a small sense of glee about us. Honestly, it was like being in school and finding out that the substitute teacher was going to let you watch a movie. Well, not exactly like that but the same sense of "we're getting away with something!"

The power came back on within an hour. On a normal day, I would have groaned but today, I actually had a ton of work to do so having a late start to the day with breakfast was good enoguh for me.

The rest of the day past by in a blur. I had a lot of work to do in preparation for a meeting but I ended up getting it done and, as a bonus, the day moved so quickly, I forgot to keep track of time.

By the time I got home this evening, my brain felt tired. It's the type of evening where curling up with a book is a nice option. Only the slight interruptions of puppy yips has disturbed me and, while I know the yips are probably annoying the neighbours, upon investigation, I discovered that it really wasn't the puppies' fault.

The bunnies have come to take their revenge, you see. Before you picture them with their Rambo gear, taking aim at the puppies, I should probably amend that to say that the bunnies are getting their own back on the puppies. It started with one. Now there are four. The bunnies gather in Possibly-Joe's garden which, as I've mentioned, shares a back fence with mine. The bunnies stay close enough that the puppies can smell them as well as see them but far enough that no amount of noses pushed through the fence can reach them. The puppies, as you can imagine, are going balistic. They so badly want to catch themselves another rabbit but the wretched things aren't stupid. They just quietly graze on the grass as the puppies become a frenzied mass of frustrated barking and futile digging.

I feel bad for the puppies but, at the same time, I'd rather they didn't catch another rabbit. The last one was a bit of a shock. The bird the other night was quite disgusting but not as bad. I've decided that the cicada bugs are nowhere near as disgusting as they used to be. It's all relative, you see.

Yet eventually the puppies give up for a while and peace is restored. I can return to my book and relax in the knowledge that tomorrow is Friday.

It's not a tropical escape but it works for me.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

An Ode to Gingerbread Pancakes...

It's a wet night out there. The streets are dark and shimmering with puddles. I think the rain has calmed, at least for time time being but, ever since I got home from work, it's been hammering downwards, making me glad I'm safe inside, the glow of my Christmas tree reflecting against the rain-spattered windowpane.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow morning again. I hope that doesn't mean the roads will be bad for the commuters who have to come into the office from further distances than me. Naturally, I'm concerned for their safety but, also, selfishly, I don't want to hear how 'lucky' I am that my house is so close. I am 'lucky' but, really, it just means I'm quite smart. I bought my house with the full knowledge that I had one left turn from the street on which I live in order to get to my office. Mostly, this is because winter driving still scares me a little; I got a lot of practice last year but the unpredictable nature of tires on ice and snow still keeps me alert in bad weather.

Yet, tonight, it's still just rain. I'm safe inside my house. It's been a festive day for me. Though I had an almost-insufferable three-hour meeting at work, the day was made better by the celebration of a coworker's birthday. All I can say is "Gingerbread Pancakes." We went to IHOP for lunch because there is a restaurant, literally, in the front car park of our building. I think our CEO may actually own the IHOP as well as our office park. We didn't get a discount though. Our birthday girl chose the brunch location specifically because of the gingerbread pancakes. Normally, as a pancake non-enthusiast, I'd be apathetic about speciality pancakes. Yet, I cannot resist gingerbread. Thus, it came to be, that I decided to be adventurous and order them.

Let me tell you, if you like gingerbread, you simply should try these things. The pancakes are basically warm slabs of the delicious baked goodness. You can get them with whipped-cream and festive decorations. I chose just powdered sugar. They were, like a good cup of chai, a celebration of Christmas in my mouth. There's nothing like a bite of warm, soft gingerbread to kick home the fact that it's the holiday season.

It's hard to go back to work in a bad mood after such a thing. Even though the afternoon passed slowly, I didn't mind. I even had a cup of holiday tea to make the day seem even more Christmas-sy. It wasn't the best day at work. It wasn't the worst. It was just another day in which I realized that my job and I are not made for each other. I don't think anyone can say I haven't tried. I've now approached my boss three times with suggestions for ways to improve my job so I'm more productive and help be an asset to the company. Each time, I end up watching my coworker be put on every new project and I get to sit at my desk and keep myself busy.

To be fair, I'm learning that it's not so bad to sit there and keep myself occupied. I'm undertaking a project that has needed to get done for several years. It's coming along nicely. As long as I have time where I'm not instructed how to spend my minutes, I'll keep working on this. I like it because it's the first time in the entire year and couple of months in my job that I've found something I like to do a lot and I think I can do well. It's writing, really. Just like this blog. Just like my novels. Yet the writing at work is instructive and formal, a way to get newbies who are using our software for the first time to understand how to use it. Too many times I've read technical documentation that makes me feel like I need to be in MENSA to understand it. Thus, I tend to try to not make my readers feel dumb and inexperienced. That's the nice part of being on both sides of the fence: You get to know what really is needed, even though the Powers That Be try to be high falutin' and fanciful with their efforts. The people who actually do the work just need instructions in English as to how to get started. That's it.

So, in actuality, work isn't horrible, as long as I can cut most of the people out of the equation. Granted, my desk is literally falling to pieces which I handily repaired with a paperclip and tape (thanks, MacGyver!), my chair is still not dried from the gluing and my computer is the only non-Mac in the entire area, as long as I keep my mind occupied, it's not so bad. Also, I've decided that until I'm told off, I shall continue listening to Pandora and KROQ online since I caught one of the bosses streaming media to his computer the other day. These are the small perks.

Also, there's gingerbread pancakes to be had, just across the parking lot. Combine this goodness with coming home, having a mug of mulled wine and watching "Elf", you have a rather nice, festive day. I love the Christmas season, it makes everything pretty with the addition of fairy lights, spices and Christmas cheer. Yes, as I've said before, I'm a walking cliche but I don't care. It makes me happy and, sometimes, that's all we need in life.

Happy Wednesday!