I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that there's no such thing as a telecon
that's not two long. Certainly not when they last for two hours and are held
weekly, anyway -- doesn't matter how interesting the subject is, and sometimes it
really is, it's too damned long. On the other hand, the telecons are no longer
physically uncomfortable, since our admin person found me a cool headset, so now I
don't have to hold a phone to my ear for two hours. Of course, now I look like an
old fashioned telephone operator, with my little microphone. and I have to keep
stifling the urge to say, "Hold, please," in a nasal voice. Fortunately there's a
mute button.
The headset had been used before, but fortunately the
admin also brought me a couple of alcohol wipes to sanitize it with. What looked
suspiciously like foundation came off on the pad when I wiped off the earpiece.
Ick. One major problem with being new in the office is that everything I have is
inherited -- when I first moved into this cube I spent a good amount of time
getting the dust and in some cases stickiness off of everything. I can't claim to
be any better, though; my semifortunate* addiction to Snyder's Sourdough Hard
Pretzels invariably results in crumbs in the keyboard. Every once in a while I go
fishing with scotch tape to clean it out.
I went to lunch today at a
place that combines Chinese and Mexican food. It's an institution for people who
work out here, and I had heard of it for years, from a former coworker who had
worked here before (aerospace is a small world) and used to whine about how much
he missed the place. I'd have to give it as my opinion, though, the idea is better
than the execution. Or rather, the whole setup is cool, but I wasn't all that
thrilled with the actual food.
Oops, almost neglected to say that
Rudder actually rowed with us in the quad, since one woman (the only one without a
nom) is away. It actually went fairly well, though he's still not impressed with
our power. Then again, he has no idea what a woman's boat is typically like, and
he's not much impressed with the power of most people out there.