Bored now

In my line of work, this week is quite literally the slowest time of the year. Yesterday, the last significant piece of work I did was four hours before the end of my shift.


All this reminds me of a job I had in 1997, the summer after my sophomore year of college. I was supposed to be helping a research group put up a Web site, but they never got around to the part where they actually gave me something to put on said Web site.

So, I spent most of my days thusly: Eavesdropping on conversations. Cursing at the computer for cheating at Hearts. Opening and peering into my (empty) desk drawers. Looking through every directory on the network to see if something was ready to be posted on the Web site. Hitting the computer for giving my shitty cards in Solitaire. Counting down the last hour until lunch. Taking a two-hour lunch and having no one in the office notice. Coming back from lunch and immediately looking at the clock. Playing with Photoshop in an effort to create graphics, on the off chance I eventually had reason to create a graphic. Becoming an expert at locating and marking explosive devices. Counting down the last hour until it was time to go home. Leaving the office to a cheery "Thanks for coming in!"

(By the way, residents of New York state, I was paid with your tax dollars for doing all of this.)

It got so bad that at least once I actually went to my other job just so I had something to do. The real kick in the gut, though, was that this lousy job was located in the same building in which I was taking a summer class two nights a week, so on those days I had the distinct pleasure of spending the entire friggin' day in the same stuffy building.

After that summer, I distinctly remember vowing never to have any sort of job related to a Web site again, so I'm glad things worked out for me in that regard.