jazz fest redux

Today I did a 5k with my friend Dorothy and then I met up with Jess and Edge for the five points jazz fest. Since I worked it last year and it was their first event I thought it would be fun to see how much everything had changed.

A lot had changed. Last year we didn't really know what we were doing. This year we were like a well oiled machine. Though I fucked up the second I got to the tent.

There was a guy in the tent who was talking to Jess. I realized Jess was uncomfortable but I thought it was because the guy was going over the food tent with a fine tooth comb. I was like "hey, I'm Franki, who are you?" and he said (I thought) "I'm Jerry and I'm with the help team." I knew Jess was going to be bringing other people to help this year and for some reason I thought "he must be part of Jess' mentor program and is here to help streamline our process even more."

So as Jerry was criticizing something that seemed to me irrelevant I decided to try to engage him in conversation again. "You must be like a total specialist in restaurant stuff," I said. He gave me a look that was possibly meant to bring on my imminent death. "I am," he said. Jess was giving me a look too but I couldn't figure out what it meant.

I moved to the back of the tent and took a puff off my fake cigarette. He looked at Jess and said "she isn't going to be smoking in the tent is she?" I was like what a fucking bag of dicks this guy is. And I'm going to have to work with him all day. I already want to punch him in the face.

Then another guy came into the tent and was like "let's move along Jerry". As it turns out, Jerry was with the health inspector team (he said "health team" not "help team"). When I found that out I burst out laughing and explained to him my misunderstanding. He cracked a small smile, perhaps because I was laughing like a lunatic because I was so embarrassed. Anyway, we passed inspection (Jess is as anal as I am, no surprise there). But all day I think she was worried that they might come back. I think I scared them away with my stupidity.

Everything was going along smashingly until it started raining. Suddenly the day went from warm to cold and my back and shoes were completely soaked. It rained for about 30 minutes. Total suck.

Everyone is probably tweeting "this sucks" on their phones

really rain? really?

Anyway, I'm not as sore as I was last year, and there seemed to be less idiots than last year, and there were no fights in the street. My neighbor even stopped by to say hi. All and all it was another successful jazz fest except for the stoned idiots playing bongo drums right across from our tent and having to breathe in charcoal smoke coming from the vendor next to us.

the many, many monitors

The poor gangly white kid just can't win.

I have gone through a protracted argument since I arrived at my new job with my EM (equipment manager) to get rid of three monitors so I only have one to look at. Apparently I was seen as a little ungrateful for not want four huge monitors. I realize they are expensive and they're seen as a status symbol in my office (the more monitors you have the more important you are) but I found them fucking annoying.

Anyway, I finally unhooked the monitors on Monday and piled them unceremoniously at the end of my cube desk to ensure the EM knew I meant I didn't want them anymore. This caused me great stress for days as it made my desk look messy. Finally on Thursday the EM said he would take them back to the warehouse.

Meanwhile, gangly has for some reason imprinted himself on me and decided that, since his haircut didn't get him any street cred, maybe eliminating one of his two monitors would. So around the time I unplugged my three monitors he unplugged one of his and used the same excuses I did (headache, nausea, feelings of claustrophobia, not used to looking at screens since I don't have a tv, fear they will fall on me, etc.).

I'm not sure who organized this, but either on Thursday evening after I left work (which is improbable since I didn't leave until 7 PM) or Friday morning (I didn't get in until 7 AM so that's more likely) someone (or, I'm guessing many people) unhooked all but a single monitor so every desk in my cube area only has one monitor.

And guess where they put the unhooked monitors.

Poor gangly showed up today to a cube so full of monitors there wasn't even a place for him to sit down.

Not sure what happened to the rest of the monitors in his cube but I know for a fact mine went back to the warehouse.

post it note social media is taking off!

I have received these post it note social media posts in the past few days.

a colleague finally realizes the easiest way to socialize with me is to put the social interaction on a post it note - note that the office is divided between people who identify with puffins and people who identify with penguins - my penguin should have longer legs to be accurate

penguins generally wear glasses and have no social skills - also, we seem to be worse at drawing than the puffins

Also, some people have been taking a test to see if they are aspies. I thought I had sent them the link to the test I took but the internet of things at work wasn't letting me open the link. It turns out it was a different test than the one I took.

I still failed (or passed? let's have some positivity here).

 Ahem.

I passed the aspie test.

Jake has nine lives too

My friend Jess sent me this picture this morning:

if that branch had crushed Jakey I would have had to kick its ass

Lots of branches are down in my neighborhood too. Good job snow!