Tag Archives: work

I Don’t JUST Talk!

I had some extra time this morning, which I could have used to write a really good blog post. Instead I fell into conversation with a co-worker, which I must say I enjoyed very much.

There I was, enjoying myself, when Joanie came along and said, “Do you ever stop talking?”

“Very rarely,” I answered, which of course she already knew. Then I thought of something else: “When you’re talking I have a hard time getting a word in edgewise.” Which I believe she also already knew.

She laughed and agreed we were alike in that respect.

“I’ll shut up now,” I said. “I’ll go write my blog post.”

She suggested I write about how I never shut up. Since I don’t have much else going on today, I did.

I was going to end it just then. See what I would be doing? I say I never shut up, then I shut up. Well, we all know that’s just not me.

A short time later, I saw Joanie talking to another co-worker. Naturally, I asked, “Joanie, don’t you ever stop talking?”

“No! Never!”

Later yet, I was working away at my machine, and Joanie was doing something nearby. Somehow, something wasn’t right. Finally, I called her over: “Psst, Joanie! Joanie! Come here, Joanie?”

“What?”

“Did you notice neither one of us is talking?”

We corrected that deficiency right away.

OK, for anybody else who works in my place of employment, especially any bosses (oh yeah, like they read my blog, but just in case): WE ALSO GOT OUR WORK DONE!

Maybe More Coffee Would Help

So there I was at work. I had written a page on my novel before my shift began. You may remember, that novel that keeps me from writing blog posts. I was determined not to let that happen today, Lame Post Friday or not.

I was going to think about my blog post all morning till I came up with something. It’s worked before. In any case, I had reached the end of a scene in my novel and had no idea where to go next. The novel is at that stage. I’m sort of limping along till I get to the top of the next hill, to speak metaphorically.

I began to work and think (my job is the sort where you can multi-task like that) (although in general I am no fan of multi-tasking). I was drinking coffee (no, that does NOT count as another task. Sheesh!). That was it! I would write about coffee!

I began to think about all the good things I could say about coffee. I even had a few good memories to share. Oh dear, would that make it more suitable for Middle-aged Musings Monday? Well, that would be OK. I could write it today and be ahead for Monday. I could hardly wait for the nine o’clock break to write that blog post.

The break buzzer rang. I sat down and took out my notebook. And began to write a whole new scene in my novel where the characters were sitting around drinking coffee. I worked on that scene for the rest of break and most of lunch!

So once again, the novel wins, and I write a post on Why I Can’t Write a Post. I don’t think that’s so bad for a Lame Post Friday. We’ll see what the weekend brings.

Musings After the Deluge

You see what I was trying to do there, that internal rhyme with the “oo” in “Musings” and the “oo” in “Deluge”? Oh well, my other idea for a title was “Hi Ho, Hi Ho,” because I went back to work today, but I felt certain somebody would say, “Who you callin’ a ho?”

Yes, after a Wrist to Forehead Sunday and a Saturday post about Why I Couldn’t Write a Post, I am indulging in another Middle-aged Musings Monday. I’ll have to get back to the murderer dumping bodies in the Seine (that I had been going to write about Saturday, for those of you just tuning in). Today I’m tired.

I had all last week off (regularly scheduled factory shut-down, not emergency flood-related leave). I spent a good part of the week saying things like, “It’ll be a relief to go back to work!” and “I can’t WAIT to be back at work!” And now, here I am at work, once again facing the fact that work is, you know, work.

It really isn’t so bad.

For one thing, it’s a lot more cut and dried what I’m supposed to do next at work (and after my flood experience, I REALLY appreciate the “dried” aspect of it). I admit to spending a ridiculous amount of time last week sitting in a daze or wandering from room to room, wondering what to do first.

In my defense, there were times when there wasn’t a whole lot I could do. Sometimes I just had to wait for the sump pump to do it’s thang (no, that’s not a typo; I meant to say “thang.” Is that too precious?).

I made my blog post every day, and I worked at least a little on my novel each day. I took my dog for several walks, which was not the relaxing activity it normally is. We had to pick our way around oceans of mud as well as avoiding the various clean up crews (who were doing a very good job, by the way). I went running twice and exercised at Curves twice.

So much for non-flood-related chores. I almost included going to the laundromat in that list, which I did once (and wrote a blog post about), because I didn’t wash things dirtied in the flood. However, since the flood made it impossible for me to do laundry at home, I deemed it flood-related.

Typing this post into the computer now, after work, exercise and a cold shower (haven’t replaced the hot water heater yet), I reflect that it was not a bad day at all. I got some sympathy from my co-workers about my lousy vacation. Some of them had pretty bad ones, too.

I will end with a musing which my husband, Steven, mused on Sunday, about the time he was holding a towel on the cracked pipe in the bathroom and I was frantically on the phone with the plumber. “What,” he asked, “did we do to deserve all this?” I believe that calls for some half-baked philosophy suitable for Lame Post Friday. It’s nice to have something to look forward to.