There are downsides to my job.
Sure there are upsides–the paycheck every couple of weeks, the benefits, the paycheck…
But, as I really came to realize, there are downsides too. Having slogged into work through the slushy mess left on the roads by the snow, I settled into my chair, and one of the first calls I got was from our desktop tech in our Jacksonville office. She needed help with something, and called me to walk her through it. Because I like her (though, mind you, I’ve never met her, just talked to her and IM’d her from time to time) we chatted to fill in the dead air while we waited for a disk decryption.
“So how’s the weather up there?” She asked with a chuckle.
“Just shut up, Mona,” I told her, laughing.
Yeah, at that point, her temperature was only about fifty degrees warmer than ours. Snow is nothing more than something they see on TV, in movies, or in their dreams. Here, it’s a way of life for at least four months of the year.
“Oh,” she added. “But it is raining.”
“Yeah. I’m done now.”
Our D.C. office closed before lunchtime today due to their snow storm. I know this because the admin I was supposed to help called me to cancel our afternoon appointment so she could get out of the office, catch the Metro and get home before it got really bad.
That made things look up a bit.
Oh, but I did get a gift to celebrate my four years as an employee yesterday (which was actually a month ago)–a salad. Well, okay, a gift card to the cafeteria downstairs. Which I used to buy a salad for lunch today. Which anniversary is salad? Was that right after paper and before aluminum foil? Or after Ziploc bags? I forget.
I know–it’s the thought that counts. And many places don’t even give you anything. And at five years, I’ll get a bonus week of vacation.
But then Diego called. An Acrobat problem. Okay, no, not like the Cirque du Soleil troop, but Adobe Acrobat. First off, I think I’ve had to fix an Acrobat problem every day for the last two weeks. Adobe is starting to sound like a four-letter word in my head. Another 30 minutes of my life I’d never get back.
And then the capper: Diego was calling from Columbia. It was a beautiful day, he assured me.
Yes it was. It turned out well. I got home and spent the evening with my family. The job’s the job. The family is so much more.
See you tomorrow.