3 books, 2 CDs, and 1 person
Posted on May 31, 2006
Filed Under culture, funny ha ha, nature, work |
I have a work colleague who has strict boundaries between her private and work lives. She also has a ‘no personal questions‘ rule as well. Conversations tend to be quite strange since nobody is quite sure what’s personal and what’s not.
Think about it. Random example –> did you watch the Late Late Show last Friday? If you did, does this imply that you’ve no social life? Did you miss it? Does this imply you’re a raging alcohol who hits the bars at 5.01pm? Or does it just mean you’re behind in the housework, your feet ache, and you’ve decided to do the ironing with Pat Kenny and a bottle of wine? Why are you asking anyway - are you digging for private information?
Since she introduced this rule a year ago (The 1 year anniversary is around now), there have been some delightful episodes. My most surreal was about 6 months ago. I noticed she was wearing a nice watch and I mentioned it (I like watches - just can’t afford the nice ones). The watch-face was slightly bigger than you would expect for a woman’s watch and it appeared to have an unusual design on the face. Looking closer, I noticed the design was a ‘claddagh heart’ and presumably a romantic present from someone. ‘Oh sugar‘, or similar, was my 100% complete internal reaction. I quickly changed the subject to the radio - we were in a car and she was driving, hands extended, hence exposed wrist — I can’t believe I have to write that to justify myself. Anyway, I decided there and then never to have an original thought in her presence again.
I meet her regularly in the course of my work but there’s usually an approx 20 minute period before, during (coffee break) and after where we can’t/shouldn’t talk business. Our recent meeting was no exception. It’s amazing how far you can stretch conversations about the weather. ‘Nice day today‘. ‘Not as good as yesterday‘. ‘The weekend is looking good‘ (just don’t ask why nice weather is good at the weekend!).
It’s even worse when she does volunteer information. She might say, ‘I’ve going to location X on Friday’. Hmm…I have a millisecond to ponder, is she volunteering information or is she opening up or is it a slip of the tongue? Since it happens so infrequently, I’m usually caught out and it might take me a whole second of time to reply, ‘that’s nice‘. I’m convinced that she thinks I’m mentally slow.
It’s kinda sad because, underneath it all, she’s actually a nice person.
Apologies for the vaguesness of the preceding paragraphs, but I don’t want to be accused of identifying my co-worker. Based on the details above, I reckon it could apply to at least 4 of my co-workers. Not sure if that’s good or bad but, hey, welcome to 2006!
Speaking of the weather, Gavin Pretor-Pinney has a new book out called ‘The Cloudspotter’s Guide‘. I first saw him on BBC breakfast TV about a week ago where they had a bit of a laugh with him/about him. He seemed like a nice guy - at the very least, someone useful to have in the pub when the conversation dropped a bit. Though having read the Sunday Times review, I think I might buy it. The review, by Richard Hamblyn, starts, ‘One of my favourite Peanuts cartoons features Linus and Charlie Brown lying on their backs, gazing up at the passing clouds. When Charlie asks Linus if he can see any shapes in them, Linus replies that he’s just spotted the outline of British Honduras, the profile of the painter Thomas Eakins, and a remarkably detailed tableau of the martyrdom of St Stephen: ‘There’s the Apostle Paul standing to one side. What about you, Charlie Brown?’. ‘I was going to say I say a ducky and a horsie, but I just changed my mind.‘
Definitely one to buy - maybe I can put it on expenses?
Driving home from one of our recent meetings, I was sooo glad to have the air-conditioning on (yes, ‘nice’ weather) and Geoffrey Keezer’s CD, ‘Wildcrafted - Live at the Dakota‘ playing. I was literally able to forget about everything. Even the occasional (bad news & it’s always bad news these days) phonecall didn’t perturb me. I just used my discretion (motorway noise etc) and made arrangments to return their calls the following morning. Then it was back to the sunglasses, nice weather, a brisk (ahem) motorway speed, Geoffrey Keezer and 16C air conditioning. Does this make me a bad person when I enjoy this?
If you get the chance to listen to this CD, ‘Mirrim‘ and ‘Ghost in the Photograph‘ are highly recommended. These are the 4th and the 8th tracks on the CD. Speaking of 4th’s and 8th’s which I believe have some musical significance, another book worth checking out is ‘The Gold Bug Variations‘ by Richard Powers (1991). Very briefly, it’s about a 1950’s scientist, working on the then cutting edge of Molecular Biology (DNA etc), who gets obsessed with the ‘underlying’ structure of classical music, particularly (drum roll) The Goldberg Variations! Oh, and there’s a love interest as well, just in case. As a former scientist, I understand half the book and struggle with the rest. But it’s one of those books that you finish and immediately make plans to read again because you’re convinced there’s more to get from it. Not many books do that nowadays.
My title is a lie but it’s catchy? I trust you’ll agree that ‘2 books, 1 CD and 1 person’ is not quite the same.
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Personally, I wondered how this all came about. I am in the air conditioning industry and maybe just dont get it. I enjoyed visiting though!! Have a great weekend!