my work mom

So I was sitting at work the other day (not in the building where my desk is, so in a smallish room designed for 3 people) with my legs bent and leaning back quite a bit...certainly not the most professional position, I'll admit, but I was alone in the room, doing my work and minding my own business. Suddenly a woman I didn't know stuck her head in the room and said "You really shouldn't sit like that...you're going to hurt your back." I gave a half laugh of agreement and went back to work. A second later I realized she hadn't left and actually had walked into the room. She continued on "not only your back, but you are really restricting the blood flow to your legs!" I suddenly realized that she was very serious about this, so I sat up in an uncomfortable but completely professional looking manner until she finally went away.

Ever since this incident I will look down and realize I'm sitting cross-legged with my laptop in my lap (I must be CRAZY, right?) and realize I have a decision to make--should I a.) sit correctly b.) should I sit like I want and ignore my new work mom or c.) should I close the door so I can sit like I want without her seeing me. Usually I just sit however I want while willing the woman to pass by again and dare to say something to me. I'm really not a confrontational person, but she has proved to me that right now I hate everyone...even strangers...and I'm looking for a fight...

Wooo Game Night!

So last night I went to Game Night at the mall...that's right, the MALL! A bunch of people I work with have these nights about every two months when they get together at the local mall and play games (not your typical Monopoly games...more the ones you find at a game specialty store at a mall) in a section of the food court. It's definitely one of the dorkiest things I've ever done... when people walk by, you can tell they think we're crazy. In spite of all that, it's usually a pretty good time just 'cause it's something different to do. Aaaaand that's why I'm the dorkiest person you know (or don't really know...).

woah chinese new year

I was taking a nap on Saturday afternoon when I got calls from my brother and a friend asking me to come to Philly for Chinese New Year. I was quite comfortable in bed, but I dragged myself out and got into the car. We first got to Chinatown around 10:30 and did some wandering around trying to figure out where the festivities were going to take place. I was starting to fear that we were never going to figure it out when we heard drumming in the distance and saw a parade of dragons in the street. We found it! We hopped up on some stairs and got a great view as they danced on by...

We followed the dragon parade around the corner where they danced a bit more in the street before going inside a restaurant. We were told that they would meet up with a few other groups later in the night. We headed over to a bar a few blocks away to wait.

When we started walking back, we heard the sounds of fireworks in the distance. My brother knew that was part of the celebration, so we weren't surprised...until we got closer and started seeing them set off from windows and in the street right where the crowds were watching the dragons dance. None of us had ever seen anything like it. It's a little hard to see, but in the picture on the left, to the left of the OPEN sign in the background, there is a giant strip of fireworks that was being set off from a window above. The people in the window set off at least 5 or 6 of those while we were there.

We stayed for awhile, walking up and down the street checking out the different groups of beautiful dancing dragons, the drummers and of course the fireworks. I started to realize that for all the people that were out for this planned celebration, there was no real opportunity to go home with bags full of souvenirs. Most of the Chinese restaurants in the area stayed open late until the celebration, but there was no one selling the Chinese food and gift items you might expect if you were at such an event. It was kind of nice to be at something where it was just about the fun of what was going on and not someone trying to sell you a $5 bottle of water.

When we were getting ready to leave, I realized that I didn't have a lot of good pictures of all the fireworks that we had seen in the street and I wanted some proof that this craziness had occurred. I saw a big pile of whatever you call the leftover stuff from fireworks, so I thought I'd take a picture of that. Just as I was pushing the button on my camera, some fireworks were set off from what seemed to be VERY close to me. The three of us ran, but I slid on some icy snow and fell in the street. I can't imagine what it must have looked like...us running away like we were being shot at. As ridiculous as it might have looked, though, it was a surprisingly smart reaction because there were certainly no assurances that the fireworks weren't being set off right at our feet. Safety and organization didn't seem to be a super high priority for the night.

Even though I walked back a little banged up, it was quite an amazing experience...one I'd certainly recommend to anyone who finds themselves in Philly on Chinese New Year.

yay happy things

i've been hating everyone and everything an especially large amount lately, so i've decided it's time to finally do some things to fix that a bit. here are my small successes from today (super crazy exciting, huh?)...

1. went to get a 15 minute massage during lunch...the masseuse wasn't fabulous, but it was still MUCH more enjoyable than eating a cheese sandwich in the cafeteria

2. got something important accomplished at work today...all week i've been working on so many things at the same time that i've done a little of everything, but never really crossed anything off my to do list. it may have taken until after 7pm today, but i finally felt productive.

3. okay this was not my doing, but watching wonderful thursday nbc tv made me quite happy...the office was amazing...a possible vampire and michael throwing candy bars at a college class...fabulash!

4. ran on the treadmill...i didn't get too too far, but i think missing exercise is probably part of my shitty mood lately...i think next i'm going to search for a gym where i'll be motivated to actually do something....

Ooooh the Office

The DMV, the strip club, on their way home at 1pm...just a quick list of how some of my coworkers spent their days today. I'll try not to spend pages and pages bitching about that wonderful fact (that's really not supposed to be the point of this...), but it's starting to drive me quite crazy. I used to be quite happy with the fact that my department was pretty flexible--no problem to leave a little early, come in a little late, take a long lunch and all of that good stuff. Unfortunately, it didn't take me long to realize that although I wasn't taking advantage of the situation, that didn't stop plenty of other people from doing so. Now I'm at the point where I'm frustrated with my absentee coworkers, but not looking for things to change into a super strict work environment. Ugh...I hate everyone.

Okay, now that is out of my system for a bit...doesn't seem like I'll be in a good place to write anything too brilliant anytime soon, but maybe we'll go with putting up some of the more ridiculous things that happen in my favorite land of cubicles...it's sometimes hard to believe it's not one continuous (but much less funny) episode of the Office...oooh coroporate america....