Shakylegs

One of the more interesting facets of beginning a new job is getting used to the various personalities of the folks in your department. I love sitting back and observing who assumes the alpha role, whom the milquetoast is, etc. I've already been given the third degree by one person, and only because someone from IT came by and took a software CD. Sat there and took it for awhile, but seriously considered giving back as good as I was getting. To quote Utah Phillips, "I'm on a low-cholesterol diet. No fat heads."
Then again, probably not the best thing to do on my first week.

On another note, boy, do I ever enjoy receiving packages. When I got home on Wednesday, I had on of those little notices in my mailbox, telling me that there was a parcel for me at some postal outlet. Head over to said outlet, which turns out to be a rinky-dink, cigarette-smelling dépanneur staff by Dow beer-drinking holdovers from the '70s. I'll tell ya, this is what dépanneurs should be. Back when I was a wee lad, these places were called "tabagies," you could buy Richie Rich and Archie comic books for about 15¢, and Mad magazines for a quarter. My brothers and I used to scrounge for pennies and buy Joe Bazooka gum, 2 for a penny (yes, you heard correctly) or, if we were feeling flush, we splurge and get the "surprise" 10¢ bags, which the tabagie owner would make up in the store himself, usually with 5¢ worth of candy.
But I digress. So, yeah, get to the dépanneur and, after about 15 minutes of looking around, the clerk hands me this huge box from Mountain Equipment. Lovely. Head over to the grocery store to pick up some supplies for the weekend, all the while trying to balance the box with one hand, race through my shopping in order to get home and open my package and, once I get home, realise that I forgot to pick up more cat food. Regardless. Get the package open and drool over the gear I just got. Look at my credit card balance and realise that I won't be making any more purchases for awhile.

posted by Michel @ 9:47 AM