Loopy

Trademarks of City Living

2007-07-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

1. You can't walk past a residential building without having air conditioners urinate on your head.

2. You find your impatience exploding as what seems like everytime you ride the bus, a bunch of tourists board and ask the driver for directions, then proceed to fumble around with their transit passes, and have to be corrected by the driver repeatedly after blindly ignoring the bright yellow arrow on them that clearly indicates what end should be inserted.

3. Even old people bother you because they take so much time to board the bus. Yes, I know, I'm awful.

4. Your nose is accosted by a myriad of smells one after the other, ranging from the mouth-watering scent of burning sugar to the nauseating odor of pee.

5. You haven't seen stars in the sky in what seems like years.

6. Sirens are beginning to sound more and more musical.

What's in an exclamation point?

2007-04-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

People tend to abuse the use of the exclamation point. I don't know if it's like that where you work, but it's certainly the case where I do. Take this message in the mail room for example:

Do not touch the zip machine!!!
Contact Sue or Lucy to operate it!!!
This office is open from 8am-5pm M-F!!!

That's three sentences, nine exclamation points, in case you were keeping track. I think that's about 7 exclamation points too many. To me, using it would signify excitement, whether it's in anger or happiness. There's nothing to be happy or angry about when finding out you're not supposed to use the zip machine. (I also just found out what it is today. It "prints" stamps on envelopes, as opposed to you going to a stamp vending machine and getting actual stamps.) Also, did anyone else notice that the third sentence is totally unrelated from the other two? Did they just put it there to save the trouble of printing out a whole new paper with that single sentence on it?

And then there's the issue of mass emails. Something like "Printer 406 (by conference room 101) is out of order" or "Do not use the internet for non-client related purposes" both apply to me. But something like "Matt, please put the finishing touches on document 100009" needs to be seriously re-thought before it's sent out to everyone in the same department (incidentally, there are about three Matt's here) or anyone even remotely associated with it.

You really do see all kinds at the workplace. From finger-quotes guy (you know the type, they have to put every fifth word they say in quotes using their fingers while talking to you) to the when-I-put-something-in-italics-I-really-mean-what-I-say ("The meeting will start at 8am, promptly") lady, the office does provide some subtle entertainment.

Second Chances

2007-03-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today's the day of the vernal equinox. According to Wikipedia, it is the day that equal parts of the earth face daylight and darkness, marking the start of spring in the northern hemishpere and the start of fall in the southern. This single event has resulted in major lifestyle and cultural changes in people for centuries. Ancient farmers, having no understanding of orbital mechanics, planned their harvest period around the solar motion. Monuments in Eygpt and Mexico were erected to celebrate this event. The holiest of Christian holidays, Easter, is timed so that it falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows this occurance. Many also believe that this is a time that the earth is "reborn" and that we are all given a second chance.

Personally, I barely notice this day. The only thing that came to my attention was that it was only slightly warmer today than it was yesterday and I celebrated that by wearing a lighter jacket.

However, I do feel time passing so quickly that it catches me by surprise. Have I done anything remarkably significant lately? No. Have I done something of late that makes me satisfied? Meh. I pretty much have everything I need to live comfortably at this point in my life. I don't necessarily need anything to make me any happier because there really isn't anything that can complete the picture! Yet, the feeling that something is amiss creeps up and leaves me wondering whether or not I made the most effective use of my time. It is at this point that I resolve to do more with my life than I already am. Before I know it, I get lazy and abandon all my half-hearted resolutions, and the vicious cycle persists.

Thank goodness for second chances. You never know when they'll run out, but here's to hoping they never do.