Category: truth is stranger than…

Is it the air up there?

Today one of my employees stopped by my desk, and she was fuming. To be fair, she’s a black cloud kind of a gal, so I take her fuming quite lightly.

“Did you see what happened over there!?!?” she said, pointing in the direction of the corner where the “big boss” sits.

“Yes, I saw,” I replied calmly.

She sputtered. “But…but!”

See…there is some retrofit work being done in the building where Big Boss used to sit. And on an emergency basis, they’ve moved their operations over to our building.

Needless to say, Mr. Big Boss is going to make his space as comfortable as he wants it…even thought he will only be here for three months, tops.

My employee sputtered on, “Did you see that he had all the cubicles rearranged and then booted (her friend) out of their window cube so that his admin could sit there?!?!?”

“Yes, I saw,” I replied.

“But…doesn’t that make you mad!?!?” she howled.

“No, actually…in the scheme of all the crazy things execs have done at this company, this is mild.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she said, sullenly walking away, “It’s still not fair, though.”

So that got me thinking…at what point in the escalation of your career path do you flip over from “wow, thanks for doing that for me” to “WHERE IS MY ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER!?!?!?!”

When do you get a hall pass for acting like a turd? How high does the title have to be?

I’m firmly lower middle management, and *clearly* it’s not that level.

I guess the real question is…how hard do I gotta work so I can get to the level where I don’t gotta work much at all?

For now, I can only gaze UP at the ivory tower.

A quiet place to rest

Yesterday at work I had a meeting in a nearby building. I decided to be all eco-friendly and stuff and walk over.

As I toodled along, I was surprised to come across this:

I found it…peculiar.

It’s a nice cement bench with detailed Fish and Wildlife stuff about the “creek” that lay there in view of the bench (behind the, uh, chain link fence).

Here’s an unobstructed view of the “creek” from a small bridge.

(yes, the quotes around “creek” are on purpose)

Folks, where I come from, we call that an arroyo.

And we don’t sit by it and watch the weeds grow. We just don’t.

Is this like the LA river, where, to quote Wikipedia: “For most of its length, it flows through a narrow concrete channel?”

Does something that flows through a concrete channel really qualify as a river (or creek)?

I found it strange, on this walk, to find one random bench with a view of…a weed filled arroyo.

Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Photos by Karen Fayeth and her trusty iPhone

What’s Next!?!?

Seems the New Mexico State Fair Expo New Mexico has gone and gotten a little Puritanical this year.

Sure, you can still getcher corn dogs and gaze at prizewinning rabbits.

But you *cannot* get a peep at The World’s Smallest Woman OR Angel Snake Girl.

Nope, Fair Expo management shut down those two attractions, saying “We don’t really condone that kind of thing at the fair.”

I’m sure they were concerned that your average everyday Fair Expo freaks on the Midway would feel the heat of competition. Cuz the regular ol’ normal people freaks on the Midway are where the real oddities begin…

Source: ABQjournal

Welcome to my hell

From Wednesday’s ABQjournal:

“LOS LUNAS — Thieves ripped off a 300-foot section of copper phone line in Valencia County, knocking out service to more than 500 Qwest customers.

The Valencia County Sheriff’s Department says the line, worth $75,000, was stolen late Monday night.

Qwest workers spent the next day restoring service to the customers.

Deputies say the thieves likely stole the copper to support drug habits.

The wholesale price of copper is about $3 a pound.”
____

You should see what they are getting for stolen fiber. The theft of both copper and fiber has been a pain in the tookus for those of us who work with, near, around, kinda close to, the telecom industry.

Especially if…oh say, you have a c-level executive who wants fast network at his house and you and your IT team move heaven and earth to get the fiber to the properly line..and while waiting for said c-level guy to get a trench dug to his house…the fiber is stolen…all hypothetically, *of course*…

A local assemblywoman has decided she’s going to clear this up by passing a bill to put stern limits on recycling.

Scratch yer head a minute on that one, whydoncha.

Ok, my head hurts. It’s been a long week. Happy Weekending everyone!

Oh yeah, raisin’ ’em right!

From today’s ABQjournal:

“When Christopher Lucero was stopped by State Police for weaving in and out of traffic on Interstate 40, authorities say he had an excuse: His passenger spilled his beer, he told the officer.”

Yeah, man! It’s not MY fault I zigged across four lanes of traffic! My buddy spilled his beer!

One of four open containers found in the car.

Needless to say, APD doesn’t have a sense of humor about such things.

Oh Fair New Mexico…we gotta do something about the drunk driving in our state. Because whatever we’re doing now isn’t working…

edit…faboo, this little tidbit made Yahoo’s “Odd News”. Good times.