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Amen to That!

I have a colleague—let's call him "Coworker #2"—who is guilty of this shit.

He's always taking work home that doesn't need to be taken home with the excuse that "it's just easier to do it then."

He's currently on vacation in Hawaii and is answering calls from users that come to his personal cell phone—and then passing the info on to the rest of us to take care of.

What I don't understand is why he's always doing this shit; it's like he's kissing up to someone in an effort to look good. He's been at this place since the dawn of time and is as close to retirement as I am. (He could, in fact, leave tomorrow and receive his full pension, no questions asked.)

It's making me look bad because I am the exact opposite. My work-life philosophy is something I adopted at the urging of one of my supervisors twenty-five some years ago when I was slaving away as an IT tech in the basement (why are IT departments always in the basements?) of a national law firm in San Francisco: take your lunch, take your breaks, take your vacation, and above all, stay home if you're sick. I do what is expected of me, but I'm not an over-achiever. I don't stay late, I don't bring work home. I arrive at 7:30am, I take my full alotted 60 minutes for lunch, and I'm out the door (or logged off, in the case when I'm working from home) precisely at 4:30pm.

And except in very rare occasions, I don't check work email after-hours, and I silence and do not respond to any texts from my team. We aren't 24/7 support, so don't expect me to act like we are.

Posted on

I Visited Yosemite Only Once

And as stupid as it sounds now, it was simply a means to an end, not my destination. I was far more interested in seeing Mono Lake, and driving through Yosemite to get there was the most direct route. Of course, once I entered the park I was blown away by the scenery.

I remember when I rounded a corner and was greeted by the view in the photo above (sadly, not my own). It took my breath away. Why I did not stop to take photos at that spot still puzzles me.

The trip was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing I undertook over Labor Day weekend 1996. I was working at a job from hell (one of many in my illustrious career) and I wanted nothing more than to get away from the City. Not planning ahead (something I was wont to do at the time) was a big mistake. I hadn't made any plans where to stay overnight, figuring it wouldn't be an issue.

It was an issue. Everything was full up. TLDR, I got some great pictures at Mono Lake…

Finished with my photos and unable to secure lodging anywhere nearby, I turned around and started back to San Francisco around 6 pm.

I took a slightly different route back through the park, and after night fell I was convinced that if there was any road in California that was ripe for alien abduction, it was the road I was on: no traffic and absolutely pitch dark. No abduction and no missing time, but the stars were so amazing I did stop at one point and took some night sky photos. I have no idea what happened to those photos. I got the film developed and was told there was nothing on the entire roll. Did I forget to remove the lens cap? Unlikely, but as tired as I was at that point it's entirely possible.

I finally got back to the City sometime after midnight. I crawled into bed and slept until noon the next day.

Ben has never been to the park at all, so this may end up being a future road trip…