How to make someone appreciate a desk job

I really don't like it when people complain about the weather.
It's just something that:

1. Everyone you're talking to is experiencing as well
2. There's nothing you can do about it

That being said, it's been a little slow work wise this week. And because of that, I got the opportunity to go out in the field instead of being stuck at my desk all day.

Monday morning around 8:30 I was asked to visit a site in Selma and take some photos for a project we're working on. I spent about two hours walking up and down the streets taking some photos and then on the way back grabbed an iced drink from Starbucks. It was quite nice and made the day fly by when I got back. So yesterday, when I was asked to go out to another site to take some measurements, I was more than willing to go. I jumped in the work truck and started to drive and it was at that point I started to doubt the "fun" of this trip. I looked at the rear view mirror and saw this:

Yeah... having even your eyeballs sweat kinda puts a damper on the novelty of being out in the field. Needless to say, it was nice to get back to the office that day.

This one is for the ladies...

In stark contrast to my techy nerd post yesterday, here is a post about fashion (sort of).

I went to my co-worker's office to ask if she had any work that she needed my help on. As I walked in she said "Oh! You have a wife... you'll appreciate this". Now that is one of those phrases sends shivers down my spine. Following that phrase, I've had women tell me stories that had too many TMI facts to count. I don't know your birthday, why do you think I care how frequently or intensely you menstruate (unless you ARE my wife, in which case this information is very useful). So as a side note to women who work around or even know men, here is the rule to remember: Having a wife/girlfriend/sister does NOT equal having a vagina. We may understand whats going on, but doesn't mean we want to know what's going on (as I'm sure other women don't want to know sometimes).

Anyway, back to my story. She showed me two pairs of pants that she had taken to a tailor to get "patched". My first thought, was why the hell does anyone get jeans patched? Then she pulled them out and I noticed the [for me] terrifying yellow swoopy stitch of Sevens. If you're a married man and don't understand why Sevens are terrifying click here (scary huh). So taking a $200 pair of pants to get stitched seems like a good move... unless you use this guy. She had dropped off a few things and was kind of going through them when she saw the jeans. This is how they turned out:

Yeah... pretty much completely ruined.

As she came across them in the pile she jumped and asked, "What have you done to my jeans?" The tailor, flabbergasted by this question, responded that he had fixed them just as she asked. My co-worker explained that these jeans were unwearable as anything but PJs now... the tailor disagreed. His wife soon walked in and my co-worker asked her, "Would you wear these out of the house?" The tailor's wife explained that if she had a long coat it wouldn't really be a problem (if you look at the bottom picture, you can see the original hole wasn't even that big). So their solution was to pay them $20 per pair of pants the "fixed" and then hide it... nice.

The bright side is you can think of it as getting a pair of "distressed" Sevens for 90% off!

Meet my nemesis at work

I'd like to introduce you to my nemesis.

"It looks like a chair" you may say. Not true. It's a torture device that tests ones resolve and patience disguised as a chair.

First of all, when I sit down on it, the "lean back" lever kicks out and basically throws the chair forward almost knocking me on to the ground.

"Why don't you just sit down more carefully?" Because I shouldn't have to think just to sit down! Secondly, the "lean back" lever likes to randomly pop out, usually choosing the moments when I have a mug of hot coffee at my lips.

"There are probably a ton of other chairs, why don't you switch?" The chairs in the office are kind of a mishmash and are not all the same, so if I take another person's chair, they'll know. The extra chairs have terrible lumbar support (wow, I sound old).

So I basically have to make the choice to either have a sore back or look like an idiot. I have way more experience with the latter.