5 January 2000

9:00 AM: I forgot my coffee mug again today, but I started yawning at 8:30, and I really needed caffiene. And I couldn't bring myself to drink soda before ten even if I did have the change for the vending machine. So I emptied out my four-cup Weight Watcher's mug. Of course, I didn't completely fill it with coffee - I'm not that much of a caffiene addict. Yet. So it's only half full, and I'm sipping gingerly from the infrequently-used sipping opening because I can't bring myself to drink coffee through a straw.

I'll have to thoroughly wash the mug out before using it for water again, but that's all right. The office kitchen has a sink and even dishwashing liquid. And already I feel more awake.

10:00 AM: Ooh, I have working e-mail now! Turns out that there's another E. Brooks somewhere in Logicon, and the corporate-wide system got our userids fouled. They tacked a number on mine, but had to call the corporate office to get them to reset everything. Joy.

11:00 AM: Mike I Can See and I just had a nice chat about various computer systems and then branched off into a half-hour of gaming stories. The quietness I reported on the first day must have been a wait-and-see on his part. It looks like we're going to get along pretty well, which is nice. He's trying to talk me into playing some EverQuest, and I gave him the URL for the Meade Hall.

So anyway, if we're going to be friendly, I hereby dub him Mike, because "Mike I Can See" is just too long and potentially confusing. My other officemate - the other Mike - will remain Mike Behind The File Cabinet for now, because it's long but sortof amusing. Yeah, I know, I'm easily amused.

Last night, Matt and I started taking down the Christmas tree. Well, okay, we just took all the ornaments off it. But that took a while, especially since I was trying to organize them (sortof) into this box with dividers that my parents had given me for my birthday. I'd get almost everything in the box, then realize that it wouldn't work like that and have to take everything out and re-organize again. (It's a three-layer box, and I kept winding up with the good ornaments on the bottom and the crappy ones on top somehow.)

So I guess unless something comes up, we'll take the lights down tonight, and depending on how hellish that is, perhaps disassemble the tree. What we'll do with the tree once we get it taken apart is beyond me. Take it back to my parents' house, I guess; let them argue with it!

Wow. It's almost lunchtime, and I've only done about an hour and a half of actual work today. (This is why I come to work at 7:30. I really am at my most productive in the morning, much as I hate to be up.)

I worked from 7:30 until about 8:30, and then realized I was falling asleep. I made some coffee, and did a little more work before one of the IT people came in to tell me my e-mail should be working. They turned out to be right, so I sent some e-mail to Matt and K.T. to let them know how to reach me, and got some mail from my dad asking me to drop by his desk. I went over, but he wasn't in his office, so I came back and did about five minutes worth of work before Dad showed up. I talked to Dad for half an hour, and then Mike for another hour. But I think I'm going to get in another half hour of actual work before lunch!

Yeah, I'm productive...