21 posts tagged “office space”
Whoever guessed we'd be calling the first audible in our Rocktober gameplan a mere week into the month is the big winner today. We just got home from from a workday that began shortly after seven this morning, so the photograph above is both timely and serves the larger purpose of us not putting too much effort into this post. We were out in Herndon for the kick-off of a new project, and walking around we noticed that some forward-thinking resident (Herndonite? Herndonian?) decided to preserve a succinct truism in wet concrete. Yes, anonymous Herndogander, metal does rule.
Dabysan tells the same stories over and over (and over and over and over), so even though I didn't see the Darkness at the 9:30 Club in late 2003 or early 2004 I feel like I did. The highlight of the show was when that big bouncer with all the piercings carried lead singer Justin Hawkins around the club on his shoulders. Hawkins was wireless and he continued to both sing and play the guitar as the bouncer carried him through the adoring crowd. It. Was. Awesome. Or so I hear. I keep forgetting I wasn't actually there.
As it turns out, that bouncer has a name. It's Josh. And he's a pretty nice guy. I know this because I met him at my co-worker's wedding a couple of weeks ago. Ironically.... No, wait. That's not the right word exactly.... Coincidentally, my co-worker and her new husband entered the reception - that whole "first time as Mr. and Mrs. McG" thing - to the Darkness' "I Believe In A Thing called Love." It. Was. Awesome. I know. I was there.
One of my co-workers got a dog recently. His - the dog's - name is Zeus. Zeus comes into the office occasionally, which really pisses me off. He stinks like you wouldn't believe. He has fleas. He pees everywhere. I have a welcome mat at the entrance to my work area which was hand woven and a Christmas gift from my very first gift exchange at this job and is treasured greatly by me. The filthy fucker peed on it. He bites and is generally disruptive to a productive work environment. I give Zeus a good healthy kick every time I see him. I don't even try to hide it. I just haul off and give him a boot to the midsection. I can't decide which is the more pleasing sound - the crunch of his shattering rib cage or his pathetic whimper. Check it out. How could anyone not hate this mutt?
Dear Hotrod,
My closest friend at work is getting married in September. She had her invitations in the office today, and when I made a joking comment about who might be my date, she informed me that I would not be able to bring a guest. Now it's likely that I wouldn't be bringing a guest anyway, but being told flat out not to bother irks me a little bit on principle. For starters, I'm reasonably certain that other of our unmarried co-workers will be bringing their boyfriends and that a former co-worker will be there with his girlfriend in tow. And what's more, I've already heard more about the planning of this wedding than I really cared to. Every minor crisis that has arisen - from the save-the-date notifications to the selection of the band to the proper invitations - has prompted an instant message. I understand that weddings are expensive and that tough decisions have to be made, but I believe I am being treated unfairly just because I am not currently in a relationship. Am I wrong to feel this way?
Sincerely,
Singled Out
Dear Singled,
Your co-worker sounds like a real bitch. You should skip the wedding entirely.
Hotrod
I arrived at work this morning to find a post-Christmas present left on my chair by a co-worker. It's no Death Star, but it's still easily the best thing I received this year. Legos were without question my favorite toy until I was about fourteen years old and they were all I ever wanted for Christmas except for the time I wanted a stereo that my parents lied about and made me search the house for before they gave it to me and the time I wanted a guitar which I didn't get. And all those times I got coal. In short, as always, Christmas blows. But I digress....
Anyway, I always liked the space Legos but I never seemed to get many of them. I always got the buildings (as if buildings are any fun), and every couple years I got another section or two of road so I could continue to make a town with all those buildings. BO-RING! Space Legos were the shit, but I never even dreamed that there might one day be Star Wars Legos. That would have fried my little brain.
One of the things that sucks the most about working in the private sector in Washington, DC is that a lot of people get days off that I don't. On the one hand, my commute is considerably easier and less crowded without all the government workers. But on the other hand, fuck them.
I had another shitty day today. Fortunately, debilitating knee injuries never fail to cheer me up. My plan for the evening is to watch the clip above fifty or sixty times, then put in my DVD of the Steelers v. Bengals 2006 AFC Wild Card game. That ought to do it.
This past week most certainly did not go as we had anticipated. After several weeks of near-constant scrambling down at the lab, we thought on Monday we might actually be able to relax a little. As it happened, this was our busiest week in a while and we didn't have any time even to manage the ol' blog. On behalf of the entire staff of hotrod.vox.com, we apologize and offer an overdue and abbreviated glimpse of the week that could have been.
hotrod's birthday (observed): Many, many thanks are due the organizer and attendees of our birthday festivities, which transpired Sunday evening. Our official birthday is in September, but we didn't celebrate then. We never do. It usually takes people about six months to remember that they missed it.
challenged: The New Pornographers played two sold out shows at the 9:30 Club this week. We didn't attend either performance, but we did read with some glee the interview with Carl Newman in which he stated that DC is the best town for music but that despite that fact the New Pornos always play shitty shows here. And that he's a hack. Get your shit together, Post Express. We already knew all that.
mum's the word: Some losers at our college started a movement (of sorts) to paint their fingernails red on the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre as a way to honor the victims. For the record, Virginia Tech's colors are orange and puce. We suspect these guys were just looking for an excuse to wear nail polish.
holy shit: The Pope seriously fucked up our morning commute.
hungry heart: Danny Federici - multi-instrumentalist and original member of the E Street Band - died this week. Rest in peace, and cue the video.
seven-inch: Today is Record Store Day, so get out there and buy some CD's from somebody in your neighborhood. Steve Jobs is killing music. He's evil incarnate. And we realize this item could have stood on its own now that we've got some time. But fuck it, we're on a roll.
Aussie Bob's KttD VIII victory is Exhibit A in why presence at the Rock It Grill will always be required to register a vote in Karaoke to the Death. Listening again to the audio, yes - Bob is terrible. But he's not that terrible. You'd be hard-pressed to make a case that he is significantly worse than Daby or me, and you'd really have a tough time arguing that he's worse than the remaining clips to come. And yet, you can hear in our reactions a strong aversion to what we were witnessing. KttD is a singing contest, but there has never been any denial that stage presence is an important factor in the voting. What you can't see in this clip is Bob cowering in the depths of the Rock It stage. You can't see him curled up into what can only be called a standing fetal position. You can't see the karaoke monitor filled with interminable "oooohs" and the same two lines ad nauseum. You can hear it, but it had to be seen to be appreciated in all its uncomfortable glory.
