MGK Mondays

Why? because i managed to somehow get caught up on last weeks work (woohoo!) and i have a few mins before i feel like starting this weeks work (i'm already behind anyway, what's a few more mins?). Background on this little tidbit: at the end of last winter (before we played musical cubes and sales moved to the other side of the building), it had snowed a lot. so there was a LOT of salt and sand everywhere thanks to the very safety conscious plowing company.

The international sales manager walks by the outside cubes (there are 3 rows of 2 cubes. i am in row 2. i cannot see what is going on.) with a broom. All the offices are carpeted. i didn't even know there was a broom. I guess he was going to brush off his shoes because they had sand/dirt/salt on them from walking in the parking lot. the following takes place: (with only a few embellishments i might add)

Diana: why does Bill have a broom?

Me: he has a broom? as in a kitchen broom?

Diana: yes a kitchen broom.

Francisco: that’s how he gets to his car at night. Didn’t you know that? He just goes up and jumps off the roof.



Me: wouldn’t a jet pack be easier?



Diana: nah, he’s not a modern witch. He likes to kick it old school.



Me: like Sabrina the Teenage Witch?



Fransisco: wasn't that the one with the weird talking cat?

Diana: yep.



Bill walks out of his office with the broom: what are you guys talking about?

The three of us in unison: nothing.



Bill: you guys are weird.

says the guy who finds a broom and brings it to his carpeted office to brush off the shoes that are on his feet. :)

MGK Mondays

on a tuesday! why? because i am trying to kill time before a glorious council meeting.

so it's halloween time at MGK. and like another other place where the receptionist inherited the job from someone who spends way too much time with ms living (that would be martha stewart. i don't say the name too often. it's like a swear word to me), of course there are tons of decorations to be put out. Jane has spent several days laying out the happy looking skulls (seriously, they are all smiling) and pumpkins, she decided we needing something more 'halloweeny". Jane was gifted a bag of plastic spiders. She put a few out, and then one of the Research and Development people took the rest of them and put them up for her. They are everywhere. it's become a game to see where they can hide them. there is one on the glass, one on the change return on the vending machine, one on the stairs...

now i have been gone from that office for several weeks. i have been spending a lot of time at our plant. so i have been having fun looking for all of them. i noticed something funny about a few. here is the conversation i had upon discovering these 'interesting' spiders:

Me: um...why are some of the spiders upside down?

R&D: because we make insecticide.

Me: ummm...ok.

R&D: we can't make people think we left them alive, that would be bad for business.

only at MGK!

MGK Mondays

This week has so far been a lot better than last. Though I did reinjure my ankle slightly. It was still a pretty good Monday. At work at least J So to continue the MGK Monday thoughts, here another good one from Cubeland.

Background: Fransico and his wife bought a house a little over a month ago. They are still fixing it up before they move in and are temporarily living with her parents. Gina is his mother in law and she is a stay at home wife who loves to have 2 other people to bustle about.

Diana: What are you eating Fransico?

Fransico: my breakfast. Gina made blueberry-strawberry-raspberry smoothies and egg sandwiches this morning.

Diana: so are you going to get up early and make yourself breakfast when you move into your new house, or is your wife?

Fransico: neither of us. We won’t eat breakfast. We will just to go work hungry and crabby. I’m not getting up any earlier and my wife doesn’t cook.

Diana: so what did you do for breakfast before you moved in with Gina?

Fransico: I don’t remember.

Fransico is a very easy going guy who is very funny. But that might all change once they move now that he’s been spoiled for breakfast.

MGK Monday

Today is a Monday is all it's glory. I don't feel like trying to appreciate this one in the least, however.

This morning, I completely forgot about a lab appt until just before I was supposed to be there. I was able to call and reschedule for an hour later. It gave me some time to pay bills so I am not going to look that gift horse in the mouth. I was leaving for the Dr.'s when my ankle went out on me. Thanks to an old soccer injury, my left ankle is very weak and the nerves are not where they are supposed to be. Every now and then it just 'goes out' aka. the nerve impulse is interrupted and I roll it. my biggest fear has always been this would happen when I was going down stairs. This morning fate was against me. I not only rolled it while stepping down a stair, after the loud distracting pop and flash of pain, I actually fell down the next 4 stairs on my knee. I crawled back up the 6 stairs and laid on the landing to put my ankle up until it stopped throbbing enough to crawl up the rest of the stairs to grab and ACE (thank you makers of ACE bandages...I could not live...errr walk without you somedays). Needless to write, i was 10 mins late to the rescheduled appt. And because of the blood draw, I couldn't take any Advil until AFTER the appt. Those 40 mins felt like days. My ankle and I are still not on speaking terms yet. It's been very slow moving.

I hate Mondays.

Monday

Does one really need to add anything after that word. They are terrible. I was planning to start posting some of the funny antics of my co-workers and call it MGK Mondays as a way to make them more interesting. My co workers say some hilarious things. What a great way to look at Mondays...all the things I would miss if I weren't at work. But after this mornings commute, there was nothing that was making today light hearted. I am a cautious driver. I really like my car...and more importantly, it has a lean against it, so it technically belongs to the bank until I pay it off. I really don't want to total it because I can't afford to buy another one. Not to mention the guilt I would feel if I hurt someone. That being said, this morning was horrendous. I left the house early knowing I would be late no matter what I did. So there was no need to rush. I planned on taking it nice and slow. Well, trying to go north bound on 169 was not an option this morning. It was so backed up, traffic was solid right through the light where I get into the lane to get on the highway. I watched one guy try to cut in and slide into the ditch on the other side. So I decided to go to the next exit south (Canterbury Rd about 2 miles down the road) and turn around and go north. Yeah that was not happening either. That was just as backed up. I decided I would head to the Chaska plant instead and wait out the traffic. I got between Canterbury and the next exit (another mile down the road) when a BMW SUV came flying up behind me and almost clipped my tail to get into the other lane since I wasn't going fast enough for him. I had to slow down so he didn't slide into me as he went around me. (And yes I had visual confirmation it was indeed a male. I am not being sexist.) That's when I realized it was pure ice under the snow. Now I like roller coasters, but this is one I never wish to ride again. Growing up in Minnesota, one is always told to turn into the spin and not out, and tap your breaks even if you have ABS. Probably the only things that kept me from hurting my car, and/or someone else. I did a 360 spin out and ended up off the side of the road. Thankfully I slid off the right and not the left. No ditch on the right. I still got pretty stuck, but at least my car was alright...and so was I. Aside from being completely pissed and shaking. Another good thing about learning to drive in this state...I knew how to get out: pack the snow around the tire so it had something to turn against. Still took me 30 mins to get it all packed in, all the while soaking my shoes, socks, and pants. I waited until there was a significant break in traffic before attempting to get back on the road. The next person behind me was 500 feet back when I got back on. The person 'behind' me decided to switch lanes and not slow down, even though all they had to do was take their foot off the gas pedal. Always fun to watch someone try to stop and realize they can't. 'He' started to spin out, and 'she' was not slowing down. I punched the gas the best I could to get my car to move ahead as fast as possible so this car wouldn't hit me. Too close for comfort. The car stopped spinning about 5 feet from my back bumper. This was the point I decided I was not going to attempt to drive to Chaska on the frozen river that was 169. I turned around at the next exit (which was only a few yards in front of me at this point) and attempt to go home and wait it out and try again a little later. 169 north was in much better shape (more people to trample the snow down) and even though I was only going 5 mph, at least we were making progress. So I kept going. 2 1/2 hours later I finally made it to work. I saw 12 people in the ditch on my 3 south and then 3 miles north on 169 this morning. I was one of them. I was lucky there was no one around to hit, and that I didn't do any damage. Not an experience I ever care to have again.

So there were no funny anecdotes from work today. I am sure the people around me were saying amusing things, I just wasn't paying attention. I spent the whole day exhausted from crashing after the endorphin rush that was my morning commute, and shaking for hours. It was intense. If I hadn't been on vacation for part of last week and didn't have 200 emails still to go through, I would have gone home and crawled back into bed and not moved. If I had access to my email, or a company laptop to sign in from at home, I would never have attempted it. Tomorrow I have to be in Chaska for a meeting at 9:15. If the drive is anywhere near as hazardous, I will not attempt it. I like my job, but I like not hyperventilating in my car far more.