Wednesday, June 23, 2010

"The Laptop"

So the Admin. Assistant in our office... who self titles herself the "Office Manager" (think Dwight from 'The Office' and his Assistant (to the) Regional Manager antics)... has been having computer trouble lately. Today, the tech guy took it away to work on and hopefully fix. My boss then came up to me and asked if I could set up the above mentioned "Office Manager" with THE laptop for her to be able to work today. Take note, we have many laptops, none of which are in sight range to be considered THE laptop, so using the phrase "THE laptop" meant nothing to me. "What laptop?... which one?!" I asked. After I clarified this with her she proceeded to tell me to use the laptop that was in my neighboring co-worker's cubicle. What you must know know now is that this co-worker offered this computer for use earlier because she has a new Mac laptop and has no use for this other computer. The real kicker is this. The "laptop" in question is in actuality a desktop tower. NOT a laptop.

Oh wait, it gets better! Having known that "the laptop" being mentioned was not a laptop once the situation of THE was clarified, I proceeded to tell both my boss and the "Office Manager" that the laptop they were referring to was not a laptop, but a desktop machine... to which they proceeded to ignore me and talk over me with the "Office Manager" complaining about how she is not used to a laptop and has trouble using one. After I stated again that it was not a laptop, went ignored once again, and then mumbled something to the effect of "oh nevermind, I guess I don't know what I'm talking about" I proceeded to walk over to "the laptop" (desktop tower) and picked it up.

From there, I thought to myself "screw it, let's see how far this goes". So from there I proceeded to use the word "laptop" as many times as I could in front of them and with them (making statements, asking questions, talking to other co-workers about "the laptop", etc.) to see if maybe something would click between the two of them while trying to see if my co-workers would lose it and laugh at the obsurdity of it all.

Needless to say, no light-bulbs ever came on... probably because they've long since burned out.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Doggy Drama and Writing

Last time I posted Molly was a puppy in training (and still is), but Amy and I hit a snag as "pack leaders" (been watching 'Dog Whisperer'). It turns out while Amy's allergies at first were slight in regard to Molly, the began to get worse. Long story short, Molly has turned from the time-share dog to full-time dog with my mother-in-law who lives around the corner. We're still like Aunt and Uncle to Molly, but she's not all ours anymore. Anyway, since we (mainly Amy, but I've warmed up to it) had caught dog fever the search was on for a dog that would not send Amy over the edge in allergies and be a little more chillaxed in relation to Amy and I's personas. Another long story short and an Austin-Houston dog transport we got to know Maggie (originally known as Valerie, but she's not a Valerie). After Amy spent significant time with Maggie, she realized her allergies would not go crazy and we both loved her discipline and demeanor. So next month, Maggie will be added to our "pack" where Molly once was and hopefully Molly will except  a new older cousin.

Now onto writing... or rather more delays. Now that school is over I can finally relax and take it easy, but I'm also realizing that my book(s) need more attention if I ever plan on writing them for real and maybe (in a hail-mary pass) get them published. So far I've been content with jotting down notes and story outlines here and there as they come, but honestly I know I need to buckle down and do some hard, disciplined writing. A few posts ago I talked about testing out my writing chops with a short story that would connect to my story and a few weeks I mapped most of it out, but still had a few gaps.  Realizing I needed to tackle it rather than retreating back to random notes and ideas here and there for my main story I am here... posting. Now, that this post is nearly done I'm doing my best to think of the next distraction. I need to buckle down.