Half Staff Days

As a goodwill gesture my company decided that they would have several “half staff days” which allows for people to basically make a 4 day weekend. Sounds pretty sweet, right?

Well, this being the Friday before Labor Day this was one of the Half Staff Days. So by working today, I get the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off. Okay so far.

But what really sucks? That would be me, sitting here in my cubicle, feeling lonely because I HAVE TO WORK UNTIL 6 THIS EVENING!!! Every forth Friday I have to work late and it falls on the day when no one is calling in with new business and there is no one here to even pass the minutes with. Most people left at 4:30. But no, I am stuck here for another hour (it’s around 5 PM). And I have no idea what to do with myself.

I have visited all my usual websites, debated McCain’s VP pick with those still here, ate and ice cream cone and did work that isn’t due until next week.

So in preparation for the next Half Staff Day, I ask, what is a good way to waste time at work? You have until January 2 to come up with an answer because that is the next day I work when ½ the company doesn’t.

Send suggestions to: TheOfficeScribe@yahoo.com

I’ll publish the ones I like the most here.

So until then, I think I’ll wander around and reenact scenes from Office Space.

The Office Scribe

Non-work related work related e-mails

Sometimes a Wednesday is just a Wednesday.  And sometimes a Wednesday is the day you get two of the best e-mails you have ever received...

E-MAIL #1

Here's a good working in an office story for you.

This morning we see fire trucks come into the parking lot. We figure
that there's going to be a fire drill later in the morning.

I go into a meeting and come back to my desk, and everyone is all
atwitter. I ask what's going on, and the guys tell me that when they
went outside to have a cigarette, they heard what the ambulances/fire
trucks were for - there's a dead man in a van in the parking lot.

Best part? Apparently, he's been parked there for a few days and no
one noticed.

E-MAIL #2

I'll keep you updated on any further information. Since I
sent you that email, we've now got reports that the truck was parked
there for a week. A WEEK. We've also got some reporters from CLTV
(lucky for them, they happen to share a parking lot with us) who have
just arrived.

Just now, we got an email from the CEO's secretary saying that the guy
wasn't an employee and asking us to "refrain from speculation and
rumors." Um. Too late lady, there's a FREAKING DEAD PERSON IN THE
PARKING LOT.

One of my coworkers is on the phone with a girl in our British office,
and told them the story. Her response, totally deadpan, was: "today in
our office, we had a dead squirrel in the break room."

Wow.  What can you say to that?  I'll tell you what.  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  All you can do is forward it to 15 of your co-workers and put it on your blog.

The Office Scribe

Still here

Hello everyone

I know what your thinking, that how dare I show up here after not posting for so long.  How dare I come here and put some thoughts down on my own blog which i haven't updated since the mid 1970's (a good 7-9 years before I was even born).  But the truth is, I missed everyone.  And for my continued absence, I am sorry.

So from this day forward, I promise to post on a more regular basis, like in the beginning.  I'll go to counseling and I promise to be more involved in this relationship.  You don't have to go and find another blog.  I'm back and I'm not going anywhere.  (Plus it helps that we finally got the internet installed in my lake house where I spend most weekends.)

But I might as well bring you up to speed to how my summer has gone so far:

As I mentioned before, my entire office up and moved.  It was quite an undertaking, but we have finally all settled in.  But I have been bored out of my mind since the actual move, because the person I was assisting moved to a new department and they didn't replace her right away.  So I have been spending a lot of my time wandering around the new space a la Bill Lumberg, chatting up the co-workers and trying to look more important than I actually am.

But other than work I haven't been doing too much.  I see my friends sometimes, hang out with my mom, go to an occasional party.  The normal kind of stuff people do in the summer.

Summer is almost over though.  School supplies are on store shelves, school buses are doing there practice routes, and I started to get e-mails about Halloween costumes.

So here's to hoping the fall is as spectacular as the changing colors of the leaves (little to Hallmark-ish?  Yeah, I thought so.)

The Office Scribe