We’ve moved floors in our building. After all, it had been a good three months since the last move — there was a real danger we would get fully settled in. On the plus side, we’re two floors down, so the lift ride is slightly shorter. I’m close to a window, so there’s some natural ... [More]
Went into the gent’s at work. Standing at the urinal just about to get on with it when there’s a knock. “Hello?” Female voice. Must be a cleaner — one of several middle-aged women in dusty blue uniforms, generally seen spending an inordinate amount of time polishing the brass fittings in the building’s foyer. She’s ... [More]
An update about my colleague who lost his laptop computer on Friday the 13th last month. A couple of weeks later he was playing with his kids in the front yard when a male youth walked past on the footpath. With a laptop under his arm. Colleague recognised the laptop, ran after him and rugby ... [More]
The plethora of milk formerly in the fridge at work (which at one point topped 25 one-litre non-long-life cartons of various varieties) has been pared right back, and now totals a mere 2.5 litres of Rev. Luckily for me, Rev is my preferred variety of milk. Not that it matters much since I’m only using ... [More]
A lot of Melbourne’s bloggers are taking things a little more cautiously at the moment, following Jenjen’s sacking (just after she gave notice anyway) due to the alleged content and work time involved in her blog. For my own part, I’ve scrupulously avoided naming where I work or going into too much detail about my ... [More]
Ah, Friday the 13th, traditional for bad luck. So, what bad luck did I have on Friday the 13th? Erm… none really so far. (Admittedly the day is not over yet.) This morning I slept through my alarm, which had been cunningly set to play the radio very very quietly. I blissfully slept until almost ... [More]
Mystery Man has gone. Vanished. His desk is cleared. His computer is off. His deodorant is all gone. The nameplate from the top of his computer has been removed. Only his chair remains. His last hurrah was his arrival on Tuesday morning, when he found his chair missing. This prompted that most rare of events ... [More]
Had a fire drill today. The fact that we knew about it in advance made it easier. We probably weren’t meant to, but one of the fire wardens had helpfully given all of us a photocopy of the drill schedule. Took something of the element of surprise out of it, though even the skivers who ... [More]
Bills arrived so far this week: 2 Awaiting payment: 3 Letters for other people that have arrived in the postbox this week: 2 Telemarketer cold calls since I changed phone numbers and got a silent line: 0 Number of e-mails in my inbox at home: 238 At work: 165 Smoke alarms at home: 2 Requiring ... [More]
I left my mobile phone at home. Why? It’s a long story I’ll elaborate on later. But how will I survive? I feel almost naked. No SMS. No wondering around the office and the city having conversations. It’s like a flashback to ten years ago. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll live. 9:45pm. Actually it’s not ... [More]
It’s late. Or is it early? 2:49am and I’ve been sitting here almost an hour and a half, watching the work computers, waiting for some guys to finish their night time firewall work. It looks cold and grey outside. Thankfully it’s only very occasionally that I have to do this kind of thing. Anyway usually ... [More]
Everyone who has a speakerphone apparently understands not to use them in an open office. People who need to talk hands-free all have headsets. Some of the womenfolk have fluffy toys on top of their monitors. One bloke came in on Monday and accused one of the new people of stealing his chair. “Not so!” ... [More]