Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Whistle While You Work

I don't know about you, but I had a rough day at work today. Well, I suppose it wasn't so bad compared to last Friday when a teacher came up to me to ask if so-and-so, who did something terribly wrong, was in my class... at each recess... all different teachers. On top of that we had Girl A in my class tell Girl B's sister to steal something from her Girl B's backpack to give to Girl A so that she can give it to Girl C in the other 3rd grade class to give to Girl D, also in the other class, so that when Girl B asks Girl A if she took it she can say, "No, Girl D stole it." Smart, but so wicked. (You can download the image as a wallpaper here)

Yeah, today I just had a lengthy list of names on the board and sent 2 students out of the classroom to "talk all [they] want out there." And Mr. Woo brought me a heaping plate of lunch. :) Even one of my students commented, "Mr. Woo must really love you to bring you that much food!"

But for those of you who work in an office and don't get enough spice at work (not all of us get to have Nurf Wars), I stumbled across some tips to make work more "fun." I don't endorse all of the following, but let me know how it goes if you try any out!

ONE-POINT DARES
1) Run one lap around the office at top speed.
2) Ignore the first five people who say "good morning" to you.
3) Phone someone in the office you barely know, leave your name and say, "Just called to say I can't talk right now. Bye."
4) To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
5) Leave your zipper open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, "Sorry, I really prefer it this way."
6) Walk sideways to the photocopier.
7) While riding in an elevator, gasp dramatically every time the doors open.
THREE-POINT DARES
1) Say to your boss, "I like your style" and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
2) Babble incoherently at a fellow employee then ask, "Did you get all that, I don't want to have to repeat it."
3) Page yourself over the intercom. (Do not disguise your voice).
4) Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle (there must be a 'non-player' within sight).
5) Shout random numbers while someone is counting.

FIVE POINT DARES
1) At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (5 extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2) Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3) For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as "Bob."
4) Announce to everyone in a meeting that you "really have to go do a number two."
5) After every sentence, say 'Mon' in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in "The report's on your desk, Mon." Keep this up for 1 hour.
6) While an office mate is out, move their chair into the elevator.
7) In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, "Shut up, all of you just shut up!"
8) At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, "As God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again."
9) In a colleague's DAY PLANNER, write in the 10am slot: "See how I look in tights." (5 Extra points if it is a male, 5 more if he is your boss.)
10) Carry your keyboard over to your colleague and ask, "You wanna trade?"
11) Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: "Do you hear that?" "What?" "Never mind, it's gone now."
12) Come to work in army fatigues and when asked why, say, "I can't talk about it."
13) Posing as a maitre d', call a colleague and tell him he's won a lunch for four at a local restaurant. Let him go.
14) Speak with an accent (French, German, Porky Pig, etc.) during a very important conference call.
15) Find the vacuum and start vacuuming around your desk.
16) Hang a two-foot long piece of toilet roll from the back of your pants and act genuinely surprised when someone points it out.
17) Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuits, smashing each biscuit with your fist.
18) During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
19) Arrange toy figures on the table to represent each meeting attendee, move them according to the movements of their real-life counterparts.

A Dozen More Ways to Shake Things Up
1) At lunchtime, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
2) Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
3) Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
4) Put your waste basket on your desk and label it "IN".
5) Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over his or her caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6) Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."
7) Don't use any punctuation
8) Use, too...much; punctuation!
9) As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
10) Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
11) Put mosquito netting around your work area. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.
12) Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name, "Rock Hard."

You're going to sound/look so crazy...

Monday, September 22, 2008

Planning your wedding while keeping your job :)

Hey there Bees,

As I write my post, my 3rd grade students have just come in from their Lunch recess and are doing their Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). During this time, I don't have too many questions to answer, tattle-tailing to deal with, nor questions like "Why did they name the dog Blue if it was black?" It gives me a little breather to take care of some things (like comparing various caterers side by side) from my To-Do list and/or Timeline.

So I leave you with a few tips on how you, too, can continue to plan your fabulous day while still keeping the job that secures your means of paying for it...


  1. Stay on task.
    The quickest way to lose your job is to not do your work. So don't give your boss a (very legit) reason to fire you. Be a hard worker, and your boss can't say much to you. However, if you could not resist the urge to look up today's posts at the Hive or TheKnot.com, just plead guilty, let him/her know that you needed to refresh your mind before you plunge back into the deep hole, and that you'll (try) not to let it happen again - but do mean what you say. If your boss is suspicious of you, you're going to have the eagle eye watching...

  2. Leave the highly organized yet very full 3" binder of your wedding plans at home.
    Oh, the binder of our beloved fabric swatches, latest runway fashions, and dreamy locations... too obvious! We know that you're organized. If anything, import that organization to the web. By doing your planning online, you can save articles, e-mail vendors, and look at photos. But do remember that your boss could walk in at any time, and you wouldn't want him/her to find you comparing periwinkle to lavendar all the while having your desk piled with papers yet to be completed. And now imagine him giving you an empty box for you to take and keep as a sovenior for when you pack up your things. Dread the thought; keep your job.

  3. Maximize your free time.
    Instead, if you've been doing your job and are found blameless in any way, use your free time to take care of things off the checklist. Use your workout time to read wedding-related articles; Look for photos of what you like before you visit a store or meet with a vendor; Make phone calls while you're walking to/from the bus stop; Milk the 5-10 minutes you have on the night that your honey has offered to cook for the two of you. Remember: Organization is key, and efficiency is the lock that seals it.

Here's the schedule I try to follow...

During the Day:
Look for photos, research vendors, call vendors (Don't forget your list of questions to ask!).

During your Free Time:
Visit vendors, read articles, squeeze in the bridal bootcamp.

At Nighttime:
DIY projects, all of the above if scheduling allows.


This kind of juggling is less tricky for me since I'm a teacher. If I'm done with lesson planning and/or correcting papers, I create more free time for myself during my students' recess time. And I do my researching and planning online so that I can save it or e-mail it to myself (and Mr.). I've flirted with the idea of having my students do some of my DIY projects for extra credit (esp. if we decide to have a teacher theme since we teach at the same school) but I've decided that I'll spare them. :P

How are you managing to keep your full-time job and plan your wedding?