In which I complain about work for what are probably silly reasons

[batskeets]

The fancy work party was all right, I suppose. I'm not sure why I went, because I knew hardly any of the people there, but the dinner was really tasty. The bad part, of course, was sitting through a bunch of speeches before they served said dinner. You always pay for it in some way, right? ;p

There was also a moment where a speaker commented that the Org. was older than some of the people working there, and then he asked for everyone who was younger than 41 years old to stand and be recognized, so I stood up... and there was a very pregnant pause where I was the ONLY PERSON STANDING. A few people in the opposite corner popped up a moment later, but it was less than 10 people, and there were probably 100 or more in the room.

So, yeah, I already felt like the "kid" of the group before--and that's at 27, which is closer to 30 than it is to 20!--but now I feel *really* feel young when I come to work. Jeezy creezy.

I'm also wondering if The Job is going to slowly turn me into a lard-ass again. I wouldn't normally think about it, but I've actually noticed some marked changes in my behavior since I started here, so it gives me pause.

See, when I was working at my own office, it was easy to just forget about meals and avoid snacking, because I'd get so immersed in my work. And if I didn't have a lot to do on a given day? I could go do something fun instead. I wasn't chained to my desk, and I could come and go as I saw fit.

Now that I'm back at a regular office job, however, I'm sitting here for 8 hours a day. If it's a slow day, then I may not even be doing very much, but I'm still stuck there until quitting time. So, I sit there doing very little, and then I get bored, and my mind wanders, and then it's "oh, wouldn't one of those candy bars from the honor box be good right now?" I now find myself checking the clock constantly to see if it's lunch time, because that means my day is over half done. I don't want to be wasting that much brain energy thinking about lunch, people!

I think I understand how people in this country get really, really fat: they're sitting on their asses all day at work, and how do they break up the monotony? FOOD! There aren't a lot of activities or diversions around in a conventional office... but there is ALWAYS food. And it's not even good-for-you food; it's horrific junk food. I don't even want to eat anything from the honor box we have here, because it's all sugar-laden crap that I'll burn right through, and I'll be hungry again in 20 minutes or less.

I'm sure providing that stuff is just their way of being nice and ensuring that our needs are met, but I don't think it really helps anyone in the long run. There must be another way to make people's jobs more bearable, without encouraging them to eat when they're not even hungry.

This is yet another reason why I need to get my own company off the ground: to create a livable work environment that doesn't send me to an early grave. :p

Tomorrow will be busy: I'm doing the runway show callback, and shooting backup for a wedding. Wushu school is closed until next Friday, so I'll probably go to the gym, too.

Ben will be gone for the weekend, so if you're doing anything fun around these parts, give me a holler!

Anyhoo, that's all!

Comments

[aniline.livejournal.com]

::deletes publicly complainy comment about person just in case they find this one day for whatever reason:: heh.

[divadrummer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in a place where there's not a lot to do, I also find myself saying "let's go out to eat!" as a form of entertainment.

You need a new 15 minute hobby. I'm sure it wasn't so bad when you had foozball breaks ;)

[alleycatsphinx.livejournal.com]

fooz is the sport of kings

[skeets.livejournal.com]

I miss foosball ;_;

[alleycatsphinx.livejournal.com]

If you're ever back here in the south you can play with us at Buzz.

[skeets.livejournal.com]

Hey, eating out is a perfectly legit pastime! (and yes, I will keep telling myself that and continue the delusion)

Sad thing is, baking has recently become one of my more significant hobbies, because I know nooooobody up here to go do things with. ^^;

Well, at least it's vegan baking, so I won't die quite so fast. ;p

[remix79.livejournal.com]

Hi, random person here.

I've been thinking about placing a flywheel and set of pedals attached to a fan beneath my desk at work. That way I'd have a chance to exercise my legs and have a reason to do so.

I, too, am sick of sitting all day. :(

[skeets.livejournal.com]

That totally reminds me of one those wacky concept products they came up with back in the 90s, like attaching a treadmill to your desk, thereby forcing you to walk while you work!

Seriously, though, at least once, I've seriously contemplated making like the guy from Office Space, and quitting my computer-based job and getting a new job in something physically taxing. But then I remember that I'm too wimpy for construction. ;p

[remix79.livejournal.com]

I'm totally googling that and see how much they cost. Screw my reputation! :)

Yeah, finding that perfect physical labor balance is hard. I actually got just about the correct level when I was in the military; lots of moving stuff and cleaning, combined with the inside work of a computer/radio technical job.

Soooo...join the Navy. ;)

[xplo-eristotle.livejournal.com]

You know, when I was loading trailers for Walgreens, we had a temp for a while who was this little Navajo lady. She was about five feet tall, proportionally built, and probably in her 50s. I dunno how she loaded those trailers by herself, but she did.

Aside from that, the most important attribute on a lot of labor jobs isn't strength, it's speed and stamina. If you can lift 50 lbs, you have the ability to bust ass for ~10 hours at a time, and you're not a screwup, you can do a lot of those jobs.

Of course, they don't pay very well unless you have some kind of skills you can bring to the table. Unskilled labor is a job for teenagers and desperate people. But, y'know, just sayin'. ;p

[randvek.livejournal.com]

Personally, I blame our working habits more than anything else for the shape Americans are in.

[bodhranist.livejournal.com]

The gaming I'm doing in town, depending on how many sessions I play, could go as late as midnight. It would totally rock if I could crash at your place, but I'm not sure how I'd get there late at night. I'll be gaming a block off of I-5, exit 298. Could you email me, to maybe work stuff out more clearly? And maybe on Sunday we could find something cool to do. pan(at)panix(dot)com

[bodhranist.livejournal.com]

Nevermind, I finally heard back from a good friend who lives within walking distance of the game, and tends to stay up late, so I'll be crashing at his place. But on one of my trips up there, we'll have to do something fun. I'm totally bummed that I missed plunderpalooza. And the zoobomb century (100 miles of downhilling). And every other damn cool thing that you guys up there have enough non-lazy weirdos to pull off. :)

[skeets.livejournal.com]

Okay; it sounds like it might've been a long-ish trip between the game and my place anyway. (I'm up by exit 305)

But yay fun things! I'll have to try and post about Big Cool Portland Things farther in advance so y'all can actually plan. :)

[bodhranist.livejournal.com]

For Plunderpalooza at least, you'd given us the heads up in plenty of time, if I'd been motivated enough to get up there.

[xplo-eristotle.livejournal.com]

I'd hang out with you, if you weren't way the hell across town. I mean, I still want to hang out sometime, it's just terribly inconvenient unless we're meeting up downtown or something like that.

There was supposed to be a Minibosses show here next month or so, but apparently they cancelled it (and some other shows) so they can work on new material some more. Feh.

[skeets.livejournal.com]

Dude, when they schedule another Minibosses show, WE ARE SO GOING. XD

And hey, if there's fun happening, I'm willing to go towards it. We have other friends who are literally in the opposite corner of town, so hopping in the car or on my bike is no big. :)