Well, I blew the Springsteen song picks, but there’s always next year.

We’ve had more crazy weather. Ice, snow, rain, freezing temps with wind chills below zero yesterday, and it’s supposed to be up in the 60’s tomorrow. It’s a wonder we’re not all sick.

But my boss is. He’s got what we call the creeping crud. Kinda starts out like a cold, and in a few days you’re miserable. Not as bad as the flu, but worse than the common cold. I got an e-mail from him this morning saying he’s staying home (where he should be) and is trying to get a doctor’s apt. I e-mailed him back and told him to stay home and get completely well before he came back into the office. Yep, I’m the soul of human kindness.

However, in this case I’m being a little selfish. My birthday is Saturday, and I’m looking forward to some party time. If he comes in tomorrow and shares the crud with me so that I’m sick over the weekend, it won’t be pretty around here.

I haven’t heard back from him yet.

On the writing front, I’m still working on Stygian and something new. Still waiting on tenterhooks for a response on my non-fiction piece. The publisher I sent it to didn’t have a response time listed, so it means I get to obsess about it from the minute I sent it in instead of a couple of months down the road.

That’s why I have chocolate.

Jessie

I’ve often told my bosses we need an emergency bottle of bourbon in the office. (Blanton’s preferably, but I’d settle for Crown.) So, today is one of those days it would come in handy. Our hot water heater is out. Our heat is out. I have no chocolate. And, we have no bourbon.

I simply cannot be expected to function under these conditions. I mean, no chocolate? C’mon.

On another note, I’m really looking forward to the SuperBowl, even though my beloved Colts didn’t make it this year. I’m rooting for the Giants. Yep, the underdogs. Nobody is giving them a chance, (hey, the heat just kicked on…yay!), but I expect a good, tight game. 10 road game wins is nothing to sniff at, and neither is Brady & Co’s. quest for a perfect season. It’s two tough teams facing off Sunday night, and I’m hoping the Giants are the ones left standing.

Have a great weekend.

Jessie

Having to work at the day job when I’d rather be shopping, or writing, is the pits. Surrounded by files, directories, notebooks, filing cabinets, and computer peripherals, just doesn’t put me in a holiday mood. I have a mini poinsettia which looks like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, and it adds a little holiday cheer to my boring, monotone office. But, there are some other, more interesting things I have scattered around.

Here’s a list of 13 unusual objects in my office.

1. A bag of cereal - for a quick afternoon snack.
2. A baseball.
3. A candle (Okay, maybe not so unusual. What’s unusual is they let me burn it).
4. A fire extinguisher. (It’s not that big of a candle!)
5. A minifridge. (Which means I get a lot of traffic in and out.)
6. A zen rock garden.
7. Christmas decorations. (In a box under a table.)
8. A pair of wire pliers.
9. A vacuum cleaner.
10. A silver-toned serving tray.
11. An empty purse.
12. A bottle of ground cinnamon.
13. A salt lick. Yes, the kind you usually find in cow pastures.

Honestly, my office is not in a closet. It just has more room for stuff which really shouldn’t be seen in the boss’s offices. However, I really need to find out how the salt lick found its way under my desk.

Jessie

Not the movie. (And to be honest, as much as I love Hitchcock movies, I’ve never seen more than a few minutes of this one. Rear Window is my fav.)

Picture this: I’m sitting in my office at around 2:30 p.m. Outside, it’s crisp and cold, around 38 degrees Everything is quiet. One of my bosses is still at lunch, and the other is in the conference room with clients. I’m working away, caught up in the daily grind, when I hear the sound of chirping birds. The very loud sound of chirping birds, like a whole flock of them has invaded our office. Which I knew hadn’t occurred because there’s a signal when our door is opened, and then I realized the sound came from the conference room.

A few seconds later, one of the people exited the conference room with cell phone in hand.

About 10 minutes later, the person got another call, and again the birds were chirping wildly.
Now, I’m not one to call the kettle black. I’ve got my own custom ring tones on my phone. I have the chorus from Tell Me Something Good as the ring tone for an editor I’m waiting to hear from.

However, hearing the sound of chirping birds in my office really threw me for a loop and off my stride.

So, what about you? What strange ring tones do you have on your phone? Or, better yet, do you have a ring tone that will invoke images of any Alfred Hitchcock movie? I’m still seeing Tippi Hedren trapped in the phone booth….

Jessie

The sense of smell triggers more in our brains than the other four senses. (At least, I believe this, with the exception of possibly sound.) But, the problem with smells is that they linger. So, while the single rose on my desk is pleasant, the guy who just walked into our office reeking from an overabundance of Polo is offensive. And, the bad part is that the strong scent has stayed in our lobby, our hallway, and our conference room, and will probably stay for hours.

Why, oh why, do people feel the need to bathe in a perfectly good cologne, or aftershave, or perfume, when as the old slogan for Dippity Do goes, “A little dab’ll do ya.”

And for those of us with allergies…I shiver to think of the many times I’ve had to leave an event because my eyes swelled, and I couldn’t stop sneezing when someone close to me liberally applied enough smelly stuff to make it impossible to breathe. This was especially embarrasing at a funeral.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good scent as much as the next person. However, I prefer my Chanel No. 5 in a light spray, not a gallon bucket.

Have a great weekend!
Jessie