Saturday, February 24, 2007

Working Stiff

I just got back from working for the second nearly full day in the office.

I really hate working in an office. It's so depressing that I'm eating a brownie and coffee for dinner to make myself feel better. Which won't work, because it means I have to go to the gym class tomorrow where they make me roll around on a dirty ball while doing leg lifts and holding weights. And that makes me feel even worse that going to the office.

This is going to sound ridiculous to people who always have to work in an office, but I get nothing done in that environment. Too many distractions. "Is the internet broken?" "You want me to drop everything and print what?" "How do I get on the printer server?" I have work to do, so actually, I don't have time to go to work.

One nice treat today was that Nabeel from Kuwait came by with his wife. They got a cheap deal on Jazeera Airways to Luxor and had come up on the train to see the pyramids. The Omani designer and I went to lunch with them. I listened to Nabeel talk about what things were costing them here, and I thought "Wow, that's a lot" and then I realized I was thinking in Egyptian economic terms and he is thinking in Kuwaiti Dinars. Twenty Egyptian pounds sounds like a lot, until I realized it's only 1 KD.

I have to go back to work again tomorrow. Friday is our day off here. My schedule is that I work four days a week, but I thought I'd try to set a good example for our new employees by working every day for a while. Now I'm not so sure that's a good idea. I think it's going to last about one week, and then I'll have to settle for being a bad influence.

3 comments:

Amanda Castleman said...

You're not being a "bad influence" to work only required hours, Marie. That's how companies SHOULD function, leaving folks time for friends and lives and activities, like rolling around on dirty balls.

Ax (who worked an 18-hour day Wednesday like a FOOL. But at least I did it my way – from home)

Anonymous said...

jeez and i thought i was getting a good rate

oh well

Marie Javins said...

You did! 1 KD is a great price for two people on a camel. It's just that I was thinking "20," which sounds like a lot more.