And not

Of course, today is completely different.

Lots of pop today. I resisted getting a Pepsi with my bacon and eggs from the deli in our building (this is the only food served on this Friday morning. Other options include self-serve items like english muffins, toast, oatmeal, etc). It helped that they were giving away free hot cider, leftover from an early morning meeting.

I had two cups of cider. Then I caved.

I had my second serving of Pepsi around 10am. Sometime near noon, I went down for my third. This is (supposed to be) my absolute limit — three cups per day at work. But then a coworker called… it was April.. to say that she was at Taco Bell and did I want her to pick anything up for me?

Our deli was serving chicken fingers, green beans, and mashed potatoes with canned white gravy.

I said, “Sure!”

My meal included a 32oz Pepsi.

I actually refilled it after I ate. Later in the afternoon, I dumped the still full cup of pop from noon into the TacoBell cup and finished it around 5pm.

Maybe that’s helped to keep me sane today.

We are busy in the office getting ready for our new boss. Yes, my old boss left at the beginning of November for a different company. A private-sector company. Somewhere where he actually has somewhere to grow (here, he was at the top of his ladder, and pay).

Our new director of Communications is actually a local anchorman. He starts on Monday. I am anxious to have him start. Not only do we desperately need that position occupied for the simple sake of work-sharing, but he’s bound to have a different mix of abilities than the old boss, and I’m eager to see how those shape up, and how our department reshapes in response.

Greet the new boss same as the old boss.

I get a week to indoctrinate him, then I’m on Christmas vacation at my sister’s, with my folks, in Florida. This is the first Christmas vacation, week long vacation, I’ve had in… 5 years? Usually, Christmas is a blacklist time for me, as I’m the one who stays at the office to cover for everyone else leaving.

I got my request in early this year.

Tonight, after conducting a few interviews for a former employer as they try to select a new key-operator, I joined them for their Christmas party. I am not always invited. Considering the owner was picking up the tab, being invited as an additional (and sizable) stomach was quite an honor.

It was dinner at one of the finer restaurants in The City. Interestingly, our party of 12 arrived just after a party of 30. Our waiter did a good job of serving us, but their kitchen was woefully unprepared. They ran out of orange juice (so several of us had to change drink orders). They took an additional hour to prepare our meals, because the party of 30 got their order in first. They ran out of fresh baked potatoes (offering us another option or a nuked, day old potato).

To top it all off, when we ordered two Bananas Foster to share as a group, our server announced that they only had 10 clean spoons (married couples had to share)!

The food was wonderful, however, and appropriately priced for upscale dining (though the shortages did make one think twice). Our hosts had placed a wrapped rose, tied with a glass Santa ornament (the string of the ornament…neener!), at each of our place settings.

It started at seven. I left at 10:45. It was nice.

But it was enough. Enough people. I did fine – God’s grace is sufficient — but now that I’m home, I’m looking forward to blowing things up and maybe even going to bed soon.