Michelangelo sibyl from the Sistine Chapel

 

so quiet

Here I am at two-thirty in the morning. My shopping trip from yesterday left me feeling out of sorts and I fell asleep on the couch at seven, woke two hours later, looked around and went back to sleep. Now I am awake again. The third shift in me is much stronger than a nine to five schedule, but all of this is old news.

Beth Orton singing greeted me when I woke. The cd player had been left on at a just barely audible level. It was at the point where the words blur unless I concentrate on them.

I avoided my usual Tuesday slump this afternoon by doing some long overdue grocery shopping. For the past few weeks, I have been living off sandwiches with some batches of French fries mixed in there with them to spice it up. There wasn't any real reason to expand upon my limited menu. The desire wasn't there. Now with a freezer full of food I've increased my options, but that doesn't mean that I'll cook anything more elaborate. In economic terms, the supply is there, but the demand isn't. Maybe it is time to haul the grill up from the basement.

After the food was put away, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying out a beta version of QuickTime 4.0 put out by Apple. I had seen a preview of the new look a few weeks ago, but this was my first trial run with the actual application. The interface looks better and the playback of video seems more stable. Now if only they would release the next upgrade to the whole operating system, I would be even happier.

About a week ago two guys from second shift and myself came up with a new running joke at work. We were talking about our unending loyalty and dedication to the company. Then it came to us. We would invest in a camper and keep it in the parking lot in front of the building, so that we would have easy access twenty-four hours a day. Our commitment to the company would be apparent by our continual presence and concern. We would even proudly display the company logo on our new homebase.

Soon we were discussing images that would be seen everyday. Orange extension cords would snake into the front lobby from the camper. People would see us walking up the stairs in bathrobes to the showers. On our off hours sitting in lawn chairs, we would greet the employees as they crossed the threshold. The morale of the company would be our sole responsibility.

Of course this joke reinforces the belief that sarcasm is my sole reason for being at work and second shift feeds right into it. They launch into their problems as soon as I arrive in an effort to get some kind of sympathy from me. At first I would side with them, but lately the negativity has been too much for me and I just have to stop.

 
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