I get this question a lot, and I'm not very good at answering it in a way that makes it sound cool and fun, so I thought I'd fix that with a blog post:
As some of you know, my current form of transportation is quite a trek. A 15 min drive to the train station, an hour on the train, and then a 15 min bike ride. But the bike ride is actually quite nice (and considering I'm currently blogging and watching farm animals out my window during the train portion of my commute, I've got to appreciate that a bit, too).
The bike route I take goes through a residential area, and as long as it's not garbage day, that's always more pleasant than the main street (Garbage days are Mondays here. Just another reason not to like Mondays). It's a very eclectic little neighborhood with houses built from as far back as the early 1900's to one house which was just recently finished. And they're all on this same little street. (There are also two houses that have been up for sale all summer, and I covet them every day as I ride past.) So, I wanted to give you guys a taste of my journey, but really had to think about which would be less creepy: me standing on the street taking pictures of people's houses with my cell phone, or me going on to google earth and taking screenshots of people's houses. I decided on the more creepy, but also more anonymous option, because I still plan on riding my bike down that street.
These are a few of my favorites:
Then, when I get to work I'm tired out from my bike ride, and sometimes a little hungry. So I stop by the break room and get a granola bar. I'm notorious for eating granola bars, but they seem to be the one thing we never run out of (update: in spite of me, we just ran out of granola bars and Dr. Pepper), so I don't feel too bad. At least I'm not the one who's notorious for eating the chocolate covered almonds. This is what happened to that guy:
Ok, not really. But I did find that skeleton in the cubicle next to mine as I was leaving one day. I have no idea where it came from, but it's been floating around ever since.
Then I sit down and make pretty graphs for hours. Or write reports for Comcast. Or try to figure out why my pretty graphs are taking so long to load (which is especially difficult, because I'm typically the "Kam, come fix my computer" type, and know very little--
I just saw a burro! Out the window of the train. It was so short and fat and cute.
Uh, anyway. Then I do boring stuff like that for 8 hours, and then I come home! But I actually really like it a lot. I like being in charge of my graphs. They're actually interactive, not just pretty, and I've been in charge of one project that basically the entire company, including the executives, uses. The CEO presented it at our conference in Park City a couple weeks ago. That's my favorite project, even though it's also very stressful, because it's all mine, and it makes me feel important.
The people I work with are also awesome. They've taught me a lot of important things, like how to gloat about your fantasy football team, and how to fix my wireless mouse, and what wives sound like in their husbands' heads when they're not around (the last one was the first topic of conversation I got in an argument with a coworker about). But they really are great. They look out for me, and buy me pizza when I explode the microwave and give me rides when they want to use the carpool lane. They even care about the well being of my orchid (who isn't doing very well, by the way...), and don't make fun of me for how much I like Startrek, because they all really like it, too.
And as I mentioned a little earlier, I got to go to a conference in Park City! That was really fun. Kam teased me a little, because I was giggling about all of our clients who had taken advantage of the open bar. You've gotta understand, I had never really been to a party with alcohol before, (except for one really bad clubbing incident) and I only just turned 21 in July, so the idea of 40-year-old corporate more-important-than-me people dancing on tables and not remembering it as clearly as I do the next morning, that's pretty exciting stuff. I'm so used to being the one who embarrasses myself, it's really nice to know that by being the sober one at an open bar I have an instant advantage.
And the conference did turn out to be that exciting. Although, I did get called up to the stage to sing 80's songs with a few of our clients. And, wanting to give our clients the experience a fun-loving Mindshare-ite should give, I gave it all I had--and later remembered that everyone else would be recording that for future generations. So I wasn't entirely embarrassment free. Most of the conference was calmer than that, though. We went to lots of speeches and break out sessions about our industry. It really made me miss school a little bit. And then we rode a gondola up the mountain and had dinner and s'mores and hot chocolate, and another open bar. I got really adventurous with what virgin drinks to ask for. And I was very full after the conference was over. They just kept on feeding us! It was a
And and and!...Our company just acquired one of our competitors who is based in Ontario, and the UK. Which may mean some travelling for me in the future. Which I have mixed feelings about, because I really want to travel, but I want Kam to come with me. Maybe we'll just have to make that happen.
Well, if I do go to another country, you will definitely hear about it. But until then, I think I may have just said everything interesting about my work for a long time... so, bye for now!
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