It's A Gift

While working steadfast on my computer here at work, a fellow coworker came in with a big box that he set down onto my desk. Apparently, one of the teams that I was on (and just about everyone in the office from what I gathered) decided to hand out gifts for excellent work or whatever reason they claim. Jessica is right in saying that my employer just loves giving me all sorts of free stuff for doing what they pay me to do anyway. It's almost like they're bribing me to stay with the company. Of course, I don't really have a problem with it. I usually just keep my mouth shut, smile widely and hold out my hand.

After signing the delivery slip, I proceded to open the box that looked like it could hold a small child, or a lamp, or a half-size replica of the Stanley Cup. Inside I discovered a neat portable cooler that could be wheeled around to any sort of social event. Oddly enough, it looks similar to the lunch pail they gave me when I first hired on, only this one's bigger. Can anyone say party?

Snakes and Armrests

A quick hello to my readers out there. I have been busy with meeting participation, making presentations, and spending even more time in training this past week. For those who might be keeping count, that's 4-weeks in a row with at least one training class in it. Sadly, that streak is broken this week as I have to actually put in a full day's work.

Now that I'm back in my office for the week, I'm playing catch-up on all the "fun" I've been missing out on. For example we got "Office Ergonomics" education today from the Health & Safety (H&S) department, telling us about the dangers of sitting at our desks. It reminded me of a similar situation from "The Office" as all of the field personnel were excused to do their "dangerous" work as us office folks learned about the importance of adjustable armrests. A bit sad, but it got me out of 30-minutes of work. Plus, now I've got a form to fill-out detailing my specific work area and noting any non-ergonomic features it has, which might lead to some upgrades.

I also saw my first snake out here today. It was slithering along a footpath that I had just walked by no less than 5-minutes earlier. An office mate pointed it out to me and I was surprised to see one out in the open this time of day. It was a decent sized snake at that, about 3-ft. long, but it didn't look harmful/poisonous. Not knowing of any sort of protocol for this situation, I casually informed our H&S lead about it's presence. Of course, when I went back out to show where the snake had been, there was no trace of it. No action was taken, but if it comes around again, it better avoid any operators with big shovels (which I'm told it the proper protocol).

Yup, it's great being back in the office!

As Paranoia Creeps In

Do you ever get the feeling that everybody knows something except you? Or that everyone is in on something, but somehow they forgot to inform you about it? Wednesday at work, for example, I showed up to the office in the morning at my usual time and found the parking lot practically bare. These people are the epitome of rise-and-shine, and there was no way they were just late to work. This notion was proven throughout the day as the sounds of my lonely keyboard echoed down the empty hallways. It was like two-thirds of the office just decided not to come into work that day. But like I said, these aren’t the people to just miss out on work, so something had to be up, and why wasn’t that something on my calendar?

What was supposed to be a busy day turned out to be a day of nothing. I had two hefty meetings scheduled for that day and both were cancelled abruptly with no reason supplied. I grew more paranoid as I could visualize all of my fellow co-workers off at a barbecue together laughing and chatting, none of them thinking about poor, lonely Chris whom they had forgotten to invite. “Didn’t you get the memo?” they would query once they came back to see me slaving at my desk. Would they even notice?

Some others did show up in the afternoon so I knew that everyone must have had other commitments that just coincided on the same day. Plus, now that schools are getting out, I’m sure people are starting to take time off to go on the infamous family vacation. By the time that work had ended, I had put away any paranoid thoughts that might have been lingering and drove off towards Bakersfield. But while driving I observed a strange occurrence. Where was all the traffic? Usually at that time of day, the traffic is at it’s worse, but there I was happily cruising with no cars in front or behind me. The traffic issue isn’t just with people from my own company, but concerns the employees of all the oil field related companies around this area, of which there are many. So where were they and why weren’t they on the road driving home?

Suddenly the feelings of paranoia started creeping back in as I made record time getting home from work.

Where Has All The Time Gone?

I’m currently in the middle of a barrage of meetings and training sessions at work, so my posts may be scattered around for the month (not that you’ll be able to tell much of a difference). Last week I was in my office for all of one day and spent the rest of my short week in town taking an economics class. As if safe driving wasn’t enough, I had to go through two days of economics that I learned previously in school. Actually, I got some benefit from it because after a relatively short amount of time spent on the basic economic principles we would be using, the class turned more towards our company’s economic policies. As long as I get to sleep in, drive three minutes to work and finish a couple hours early, I’m happy.

I’ve got a training/meeting session in town tomorrow and another next week, giving me at least one for four weeks straight. If it were up to me, I’d try and spread it out more throughout the year so that I’m not gone from my office for too long, but someone decided to schedule all these events together and then invite me to every single one. I’m slowly losing ground on my work since I’m not around to do any of it. Fortunately, it’s been quiet the few days I have been around and today all my scheduled meetings were cancelled.

Actually, I think I’m going to start seeing less and less meetings from here on out. Apparently, a group of individuals held a meeting to discuss the elimination of some meetings. I’m not making that up; soon we’re going to be killing meetings left and right. I never thought I’d see the day where they would actually push to reduce meetings, even if they did so through the use of a meeting.

Maybe I can fit more training in now.

What's Listening - The Softlightes

Every month I showcase a different artist and album that I’m currently listening to. More than just browsing these artists, I purchase an album from each group in order to give them a fair representation and to increase their availability to others.

I’m back in front of a computer after spending most of last week in training class and helping Jessica move back over the weekend. So I have lots of catching up to do, the first being my artist of the month for May.

The Softlightes, with their debut album Say No To Being Cool Say Yes To Being Happy, are not quite The Postal Service, not quite Elf Power, not quite The Flaming Lips, and not quite Boy Least Likely To. It’s all and neither. They have managed to find a niche in between the spaces left by other bands to create a unique and fun pop music experience from the people behind The Incredible Moses Leroy. The blends of pop with these different styles make listening an enjoyable and surprising experience. The song titles can rival Boy Least Likely To for most creative with “The Microwave Song”, “If The World Had Cookies”, and “The Robots In My Bedroom Were Playing Arena Rock”.

I also love the music video for their signature song “Heart Made of Sound”, which I’ve added here for your viewing pleasure. I could watch this all day. For more check out http://www.thesoftlightes.com/