OT: Work

[absenter]

I find that work is much more difficult when one gets no sleep before coming in.

What's up with yer daily grind? Feel free to complain about your situation or taunt others with your cake-walk gig.

I'm somewhat hard up for something to do at the moment, which may get some jeers from the crowd, but this kind of inactivity is its own brand of torture. Especially with no sleep.

Is it against the rules to start a thread out of boredom? I don't think so.

Please! Keep me awake.

[ChrisTheHomunculus]

I'm at University, Film Studies and Sociology, and I work in a cinema.
Its just too easy to sit around, read comics or customise action figures than it is to settle down and do some work.
I can see the deadlines approaching on the horizon and I still do nothing about it. It may be more to do with the girls in my life than anything else at the minute...

In fact, I had a dream the other night.
I was riding round my town on a bicycle with 2 unidentified passengers. (bear with me)
I finally stopped, the passengers got off, then I realised that I'd been carrying a bookcase full of books around. Which promptly collapsed at the end of the dream.

Anyone interested in my far out analysation of this? Or anyone care to have a go? Heh.

[The Mirrorball Man]

I wake up at 2am, get at work at 3, I write until 6 o'clock. From 6 to 9 I'm on the air. From 9 till 2pm I'm preparing the next show. I don't work on the afternoon, except on monday and wednesday, when I'm preparing and recording two weekly radio shows.

I'd say it's fairly unusual.

[Aaron King]

I'm a soda jerk for forty hours a week, a full time ice cream scooper. I wear a white shirt, black slacks, a black apron, a black bowtie, and, at times, a paper hat. The 85-year-old who comes in every morning to make our homemade candy and ice cream says that when he dies, I get to run the store. I'm 22, a college drop-out.

[Sparky]

Here's Aaron at work -- he's the one on the right:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Nighthawks.jpg

:)

[hellboyone]

I wanna be the nighthawk with the girl!

[E. Spears]

I wake up most days at 10:20ish and then I take a shower, have a bowl of cereal, cruise some forums, maybe do some homework, then by about 10:45 I realize I had class at 10:30 and that I suck at going to class.

[absenter]

Yes, more...more...I can feel my eyelids growing lighter and I'm beginning to get my second wind.

Where are all the "Work Sux" people?

[Ken O]

Normally I wake up with sun in my eyes and a banging that starts at my office door, picks up a few of its closest friends, and then decides to have a party in my skull. In an almost holy event, a cigarette is somehow between my lips. I decided not to look a gift miracle in the mouth, just in case the man upstairs is petty, and decided to light up. Walking to the door reminds me that I fell asleep in my chair last night. It's much too early for a beer, so I take a shot of the rot gut sitting on the desk before opening the door.



Oh wait....


That's someone else entirely.
I wake up at 7:30, and am at work just before 8:00 having my first cup of coffee.

[absenter]

Home again, home again jiggity jog! Another day, another international dollar. Thanks for your entertaining stories about werk, werk related annoyances and famous pictures of coffee shops wherein, apparently, you werk. I think tomorrow I'll try to tie this somehow into Hellboy and comics in general (in my delerium I forgot to do that). I bet that drawing comics is much more fun than my job, which, although it can sound kind of sexy, is really kind of boring. Gotta get out there with the old resume and hit the pavem



...snore...

[Myron L]

Up at 6 AM, coffee and internet with you guys ;) , then off to the grind of a retail grocery for nine and a half hours or more..then home, dinner...play some guitar or drums, snog down a few brews, then pass out to do it all over again the next day.

Occasionally a band gig from 10 PM - 2 AM on top of that...getting too old to keep that pace too often !
;)

[Mike Cross]

Yes, i'm a working normal shlub..
Wake at 5:30, SSS, then feed cat and turn on computer, muck around on there until about 7:15am, then down the road to the bus
Hour on bus, at work at 830am
Typical day is people pester me for 8 hours, but mondays are busy, as i tend to have to work at least a day behind, and on mondays i'm 3 days behind.
People seem to think i have all the answers for them, including things outside of my departrment..i'm a money cruncher, not a towel folder as we discovered during Hurricane Juan
Anyhow, bus home, arrive around 6pm, make supper for myself and daughter, await wife, watch my stories (24, Heroes, My Name is Earl, simpsons, whatever is on depends on the day), maybe play some City of Heroes or read an old comic trade, then bed by 10 or 11...yup, Monday to Friday in the 9 to 5 world ain't no Dolly Parton song..

Boring eh?

[Catlin]

My industry crashed six months ago, and I've been out of work that long. But any day I will have a new one, I know it :)

[parrish]

I am in the 9-5 grind, too.

I'm usually at work around 8:30 or 9. I then send art proofs to people, then orders to factories, check the news, Hellboy forums, poke around on ebay some...etc.

Then I go and pick up my son and we hang out til my wife gets home.

Then we usually watch a movie or something.

[dogboy443]

Daily schedule is up at 6:15, log-on and check out e-mails and Hellboy.com. Catch the local news and weather, feed the dog and cats and make coffee. By 7:00 coffee is done, fiance gets the coffee and I get the shower. Stroll into the office around 8:00, deal with any firestorms that need to be put out, design some award winning graphics, brochures, catalogs, packaging and national ads. Head home around 5:00, chill out for an hour, start supper and eat around 7:00. Catch some TV or a movie, try to jam some drawing in down in my office and pass out with a book in hand around 11:30...so exciting. Almost as much fun as when I was freelancing in the comic field, drawing and lettering pages in the same clothes all week. No one saw me and I didn't care. Cats looked at me slighly but they're only cats.

Mk

[absenter]

A happy Friday to you all!

I was watching The Office last night and cracking up and it made me think of this thread. Even though I love Steve Carell, I didn't really like it at first (American Vers./Office 2.0), but I've grown to like it. although i still don't like the whole authentic-and-not-goofy romance thing they're trying to inject, GF loves it and says the two have "great chemistry", but i don't think the actors' pH has anything to with how entertaining a comedy it is

As i still have very little to do, I will now take the time to respond :

Mr. Thehomunculous- Sounds fun! I miss university and lots of girls in my life. Your dream is clearly a manifestation of your casual rides with two different women, who you fear are unimpressed by, or incabable of relating to, your booksmarts and you find that maybe your intellectual curiosity (possible superiority?) is a burden upon your otherwise comic-book-reading/toy-customizing coast down life's bike path. Am i correct? Tell me more about your mother...

MM - Slawsome! I listen to NPR religiously. I find it much better than Tee Vee. My favorite show is Radio Lab. It's really, really cool. I want them to put the episodes on cd or something. I wish they could do more shows a season too, but quality takes time. Ask Mike Mignola!

Your Highness- Stop pulling my leg man. I want pictures of you and your benefactor.

Sparky- Suite! Thanks for the prompt response to my request. Please disregard last answer, unless that is you would like to provide more pictures.:D

HB1- I totally agree, but be careful. Sometimes those kind of chickens have talons. And by 'talons' i mean the clap. Chicken the clap.

The Cure- I have never been good at going to class, but I excel at exuding it, particularly when i'm wearing pants.

Absenter- Dude, calm down.

Hipopta Agavis- You clearly lead a double life as Sam Slade.

Absenter- I'm glad you got some sleep. You really need it.

PsychoFyre- What is the name of your band?

Skinnymikec- I sympathize. It's floods or droughts around here. I try to write on the train and doodle pretty regularly while at my desk. A lot of good ideas come from these quick moments of creativity, but it can be tough to be hip at werk or if you have children.

Naiad- :( Good luck. Your positivity can only help. Have you tried temping...

Lobster Johnson Fan Club Representative- I like how you said you and your son "hang out" until your wife gets home. It has inspired me to loose my flow. Step back cause here we go!

Spouse out of the house
Me and my progeny chillin.
Hungy, Hungry Hippos
Wit little, innocent villain.
"Mac and Cheez dawg?"
Yo, you know that he willin,
As you peep the family values you can't front I be instillin, kid!
WHAT?

Experiment 443- Ah, the glamour life! Same old stinky clothes for days...no human interaction...coffee...cigarrettes (bad!evil! cigarettes!)...procrastination via housework...unending self-relexive thought and criticism...if only i could get back to that place! i used to love having no 9-5 and sitting in front of my drawing table all day. I got very little done, but I loved sitting there!

[Aaron King]

That was decent flow.

[Sparky]

Forsooth, he did indeed rock the mike like a vandal.

Exeunt, pursued by a bear

[Otto66]

Studs Terkel says, "Most of us have jobs that are too small for our spirits."

George Burns said, "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day
in your life."

I've been lucky in that I've enjoyed the places and people that I've worked with.
Always tried to make a difference. Hasn't made me rich, but its kept me happy.

[Hellmistress]

I'm on the 9-5 as well, mostly, but it's not really a grind.

Wake up at 6am as Hubby comes in from nightshift, give him a hug and ask him if he's had a good night. Get up, coffee, switch on PC and check out the boards and for any emails that might be important. If it's light, go check the cattle - if not, I do that just before I drive to work at 8:00am. A 25-minute drive through rural Aberdeenshire (our idea of a traffic jam is a tractor and a couple of livestock trucks on a narrow road) to my work at our museum store.

What I'm supposed to do is catalogue our collections, but my work has broadened out to doing everything from helping plan disaster management, to dealing with enquiries, to assisting our amazing conservator Catherine check out early Victorian dresses, to sorting out and suggesting objects for display or to take out to schools to help educate the little darlings. It has become pretty high pressure but it's worth it. I love it. Just love it. There are frustrations (no money and even less extra staff) but hey, what's new?

Any time between 4:30 and 6pm I head home in time to eat supper with Hubby, spend a bit of time winding down and talking about our day, and maybe see a movie if he's not working. Feed mutts, cats and calves, and then depending if Hubby's home or not, check boards and work on Doug's site for a bit. Bed around 11pm.

HM

[Catlin]

Naiad- :( Good luck. Your positivity can only help. Have you tried temping...

Temping in this city? I'm more likely to work 8 hours and not get paid. About 80% of the temp agencies have lawsuits against them right now.

Nah, its the Wheel of Fortune, it had me on top and spun me back down, but its goign back up again. I simply must be patient. See, that's what happens when you believe in Tarot and Astrology, it makes you optimistic for the future. I'll have my new job by Christmas :)

[absenter]

Thank you Aaron King and Spark...wait...uh-oh...i...can't control...lyrical...style!...HONK HONK HONK, REMIX!

Fifty thousand grains a rice
And thirty beans.
Take the shower once or twice
Jim and Johnsons clean,
So if she make it right on weekend night
Then you best believe
Every scrap of clothes we got hangin from the eaves, kid!
WHAT?!

...phew...it's like...it's like i'm dr. jykell er something and...mr. hyde or sir mixalot er something and...and i'll just get back to the post here um...again...thank you for your comments. I'll just...I'll just um...I'll keep my day job.

Hellmistress & Otto66- I once worked on a ranch for a very short time, actually a couple of short times, and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Don't get me wrong, I know how much werk it is: fixing fence, feeding animals, cleaning their shits out of the stables, fixing fence, keeping other people's cattle out of the alffalpha (how does one spell that?), moving hay, the sun burns, the aches, the rot! from working so hard all day long, the fence fixing, but it was great to be outside in some really spectacular surroundings and under big sky. And the best part, almost like your reward for working your butt off all day, was to cowboy. At least for me, someone who was not necessarily surrounded by that kind of thing as a kid, the cowboy part was the best and most fun part. I feel like this post is turning into a commercial for beer, and is becoming somewhat romanticized, but I really felt perfectly at home inside myself during my time there. Maybe it was because I was so tired from fixing f-ing fence all day long that I didn't have time or energy to worry about work or life like I do now, or maybe just because I was younger and the land was so distracting and appeared so endless, but it was beautiful. I often think about this kind of thing while doing Excel spreadsheets.

I totally understand Mr. Terkel and really need to take Mr. Burns' advice.

I was once dead-set on working in a particular museum which I have always been a little obsessed with, but never got a job there. To become even a volunteer, you would have to take a six month course. Kind of a drag.

[treden]

I work full-time in an art museum. My job is to make connections between the technology resources available to visitors and staff and the collection.I put together curricula for training and professional development workshops. I also facilitate or lead these workshops. I cover everything from the effective use of our web sites in the classroom to best practices for PowerPoint. Another one of my responsibilities is to research new solutions involving technology and the visitor experience. I really like my job. There are some great problems to solve and I like the people I work with.

I have worked at the same place since 1995. I have had four job titles during the past 11 years.

I am also teaching a college course this fall, Art Methods and Materials for Elementary Teachers. I have taught drawing classes in the evening through community education. I enjoy teaching and art making. This has lead to my career in museum education.

In addition to all that I am working hard to get studio work done. I have been a professional artist for since I graduated from art school in 1992. You can check out my current work here (http://formandcontent.blogspot.com).

Sometimes it seems that work keeps me from doing what I really want to be doing such as drawing, painting, and making things. I haven't found anyone to pay me to do that yet. As long as I am engaged in my work I am happy.

Treden

[absenter]

Naiad- I've tempd on and off for the better part of 2 r 3 years and it's a thankless, degrading and desultory gig. However, it can open the proverbial door as it did for me and my present job. I know they can be...how should i say it?...shifty:mad: , but finding a job in cities can be tough and sometimes temp agencies are your only bet; you just have to find the right place. However, it sounds like wankan tanka already has something else lined up for you and living in a city as close to paradise as SD...could anything really be considered werk?;)

Treden- Nice studio you have there! I've often thought of becoming a teacher, as i've been told by numerous people that I would be good, but i don't think i could handle it. My girlfriend is a teacher and she's really devoted and good at what she does, but I can see her becoming disillusioned with the system and needing a change too; we're both wiped out when we get home. This can make it dificult to get anything else done, particularly the creative stuff which is really the stuff that both of us want to do. You really have to hussle if you want to persue art-for-money/career and it can be daunting. Jeez. Somebody call the WAHmbulance.

I think it's interesting that so many werk for museums in some aspect. I love museums. And comic books.:D

[Kelly Tindall]

I work at a t-shirt company, cleaning up jpegs and designing new shirts.

I'm up at 6:15, out the door at 7:20, drop the wife off at work and negotiate the incredibly trying traffic to be at work by eight. I work eight hours, listening to music and working in the same office as one of my best friends.

It's somewhat dull work, but I enjoy what I do, and I get to go home to my lovely wife and spend the evenings painting and drawing and playing games or watching DVDs. It's a good life, so far.

Oh, I'm a clown on the weekends, too.

-K.

[absenter]

Wow.
It's always really difficult to make it in after a holiday weekend. I made it, but I was kinda late.

Everyone is so positive about their work! It's actually kind of uplifting. I also work with one of my best friends (though he's in a different department) and it's nice to know you've always got someone to go to lunch with or complain to, just knowing you've got someone in your corner (which can be particularly helpful in a political atmosphere). We always talk about ditching our current jobs, possibly recording an album of sea shanties (seriously!) and then traveling the world. Thanks to everyone for your half-full glasses. I've needed it.

Sounds like a cool gig KT. I'm a clown 24/7.

[Catlin]

When you are positive about your work, your work becomes positive. Which is why I'm very positive about my vacation from work ;)

[Otto66]

Thanks to everyone for your half-full glasses.
Its not about half-full, half-empty. Its, there IS a glass and have I drunk
from it or have I poured something in.;)

[absenter]

Its not about half-full, half-empty. Its, there IS a glass and have I drunk
from it or have I poured something in.;)

I think I just knocked it over. Can someone get me a paper towel?
...
...
:o ...'cleanup on aisle 5!'...:rolleyes:

[Aaron King]

I'm so positive about my work because I have about three glasses, one third full of whiskey, topped with Coke.

Kidding. Actually, I just quit my job to go on an extended vacation in Texas before I go back to school.

[sofaking]

work permenant nights as a printer, home by 6.30 am walk the dog, go to bed till 1.30 pm go out on the mtb if its fine 2 or 3 times a week, house work chores on other days, live for the weekend when i can read, watch films go away somewhere nice with the girlfriend and then start over again on monday night

[absenter]

Booze + Werk = Goofy Emails

Happy Friday! Word.

I hope you all had a good week. It's been pretty slow over here in Absenterburg. BUUUUUUUT I've got an exciting two day vacation planned! I embark tonight via subway to a warm place that feels just like home (because it is) where I will dine on imported (ordering in) italian delicassies (pizza) and the finest spirits and sweet victuals as pleasing to the eye as to the pallate (miller high life, m&ms). After a brilliant one night stay, I will be whisked off to such luxurious destinations as:

The Laundrymat - Let the smells of paradise embrace you in their heady grasp as you are lured into a bordello of sensations, the shaking rythms, the softened fabric on your fingertips, the sudsy smell of bathing clothes all gyrating in estatic unison! Wow! Getting clean has never felt so dirty.

The Supermarket - Prepare to be dazzled by the sights and sounds of the outdoor market, brought inside! Indulge your appetites in anything one could ever desire, all under one roof and modern neon lighting. Languish on the "check out lines", a popular spot for fun seekers of all walks of life to enjoy each other's company and the free exchange of ideas. You'll swear you're in a Parisian cafe!

The DMV - Marvel at the majesty of civil institution and the brilliance of the Founding Fathers. Take a tour through history, but don't forget to take a number! It's your ticket to an adventure with our well trained and courteous staff of..... shit......this is exhausting.

Have a great weekend everyone.:D

[absenter]

Was recently put on duty as the Holiday Party Coordinator at werk. Pretty ridiculous as far as getting everything together, but nothing too exciting. I saw on msn that this is the time for xmas-office-party lawsuits. Does anyone have any stories/lawsuits?

[Catlin]

Well, at my old office, the copy boy got fired because he got drunk (and was 19 years old!) then squeezed the behind of the CFO's wife. He had it coming, he was known for making lewd comments and no one liked him.

And I just happened to be taping it all, I volunteered to un a video camera for those "company memories." Of course I had to burn multiple copies for everyone.

[absenter]

sounds like youtube material to me.

[Mikolaj]

I wake up at god knows when and the same thing with going to sleep. I'm a Law student at the Jagielonian University, Cracow. And right now, due to a huge, massive hangover I'm going back to bed. All in the hard students working day. ;)

[Mike Cross]

My 2 collegues in my office both came down with the Norwalk virus, so far I've been spared..so far

[absenter]

"People get Norwalk virus infection by swallowing food or water that has been contaminated with stool from an infected person. Outbreaks in the United States are often linked to eating raw shellfish, especially oysters and clams. Shellfish become contaminated via stool from sick food handlers or from raw sewage dumped overboard by recreational and/or commercial boaters. Contaminated water, ice, eggs, salad ingredients, and ready-to-eat foods are other sources of infection."


eww.

[parrish]

YUCK! Where do you work, Mike?

[Mike Cross]

No real correlation to the above Norwalk info, but i work in the accounting department at a hotel, my co-worker got it from her significant other and she spread it to my boss, through means other than him eating poop-spread. Norwalk has so many offshoots of the virus that that's not the only way to get it..we tend to pass each other lots of papers and the like so we figure it got spread from that method..who really knows? I know she's having it bad from both ends...

I tend to get al kinds of stuff from my daughter's daycare..when she gets something, i end up getting it cause i pick her up.

[Otto66]

ZINC and B-12.
Just say'n.

[absenter]

i work in the accounting department at a hotel, my co-worker got it from her significant other and she spread it to my boss, through means other than him eating poop-spread. Norwalk has so many offshoots of the virus that that's not the only way to get it..we tend to pass each other lots of papers and the like so we figure it got spread from that method..who really knows? I know she's having it bad from both ends...

I've heard that accountants "do it by the numbers", but this is uncharacteristically kinky. (poop-spread....is that like nutella?)

Has anyone heard the story of Typhoid Mary (the real woman not the DD villian)? It's totally related to work and anyone in a relationship with an Irish woman should know this one.

She was working as a cook in a wealthy household outside of New York at the turn of the twentieth cent. When eleven people in the household came down with typhoid, the hunt was on for the carrier of the disease. Typhoid is transmitted through fecal matter that turns up in food, not unlike Norwalk. It turns out it was Mary, who reportedly went after the inspector with a carving fork when he told her because she thought he was insinuating she didn't wash her hands and it's a little weird to be asked for blood and fecal samples from a strange man. In fact, Mary, though she remained healthy, was spreading typhoid all over the place. Her employment record was oddly similar to a trail of typhoid outbreaks. After repeated attempts, most of which were thwarted with brandished kitchen utensils and hurled insults, the inspector finally captured Mary and she was quarantined for a number of years on a small island not far from Manhattan. Her health led her to believe she was the victim of a tragic miscarraige of justice and she continually pushed for appeals. She was finally granted her freedom as long as she agreed to never work as a cook again. This unfortunately led her to employment that payed less and diminished her socially (as if the whole typhoid thing, which was now all over the papers, wasn't enough) and she disappeared.

But...five years later, another typhoid outbreak occured and the same inspector went to investigate, tracing the outbreak back to a 'Ms. Brown'. He immediately recognized Ms. Brown as our dear, infected Mary, again working as a cook for a wealthy family! She was not nearly as aggressive the second time she was caught and was sent back to quarantine, on the same island, for another 22 years.

Moral of the story: Irish ladies love to cook (and manalive are they stubborn!)

[lerochelle]

Don't know what exactly is going around up here in Minnesota but my daughter has had the Woovie Flu (open at both ends) for three weeks now...

UGH...

Doctors finally gave her meds to stop her from puking, and it has helped. She will be attending daycare for the first time since she started getting sick.

WHY???
Why does this stuff allways hit you at night? During the day she was fine, then around one o'clock in the morn. We would both be awake til at least five...

I don't go to bed usually until at least two... so... soooooo..... tired.... must.... sleep...