I have Skype installed on my computer.  It’s an online communication tool that allows you to either chat with (instant message) or talk to (online phone call) people over the internet. 

I’ve mainly used it to talk with family (Melissa’s in Asia, and it’s free to talk to her this way), but I use it at work occasionally to talk to coworkers who are working offsite.  So I leave it up and running at work.

I had a meeting today in which my computer was going to be attached to a projector for a demonstration of some software.  I, thoughtfully, I thought, exited all my email and communication programs so we wouldn’t be interrupted by pop-ups in the meeting, then traipsed down the hall and hooked my computer up to the projector.

45 minutes of the meeting went by without event.  Then it happened.  A chat request from Skype popped up in the center of the screen and interrupted the presenter (turns out I’d forgotten to close Skype since I rarely use it).  This chat request had an avatar - a picture - in the window.  This picture was of a naked, spread-eagle woman.  And it seemed to fill the entire projector screen.

I cannot tell you how mortified I was - I quickly explained that my name must be listed in some public directory for the application.  The guy closed the window, but all the people just kinda… stared… at me.  Thankfully, in the end, they all laughed about it.  I could have gotten into quite a bit of trouble.

I got back to my desk and immediately found the privacy settings on the application.  If you’re running Skype, and you leave it on at work, I suggest you do the same.  =)

This workplace thing is turning into a saga.  Today’s suprise du jour is a horrible, offensive rotting food smell.  I was lazy today and rode the elevator up to our office on the fourth floor, and the smell was in the elevator (but not on the first floor).  I thought, “Man, that’s nasty.  This’ll teach me not to use the stairs!”  Then, the elevator door opened on my floor.  And I gagged.

I’m mouth-breathing today, doing my best not to breathe - at all! - through my nose.   This is ridiculous.

Update:  Someone burned bacon in the microwave.  I don’t know what kind of bacon it was - because the smell o’ rot is still permeating the air.  But, mystery solved.

My officemates are cracking me up.  Our department takes up 2 floors of a 6-story building, my team (Design & Development) has most of the 4th floor.  This building is old.  Most of these folks are saying it should be torn down.  Because it’s old, some vital things just don’t work - like the heating and cooling systems (we’ve had several 90+ degree days INSIDE), building security, and sometimes the water (like for the last couple of days, we haven’t been able to use any water in our building because even drinking fountains are causing major sewer problems - yuck!). 

One of the developers has started keeping a list of all the “quirky” things about our building.  Here’s what he (and the rest of them - this thread has been passed around the office for the last half hour) have on the list so far:

• A/C dysfunction
• Water woes
• Rusty water when we do have it
• “Pock-ridden” parking lot
• Cockroaches (Yes - all over.  Even in the refrigerator!)
• Elevators that make you step up 8 full inches to get on your floor
• Flooding in the bathrooms
• Sticky-fingered visitors (security issues)
• Vagrants hiding in the bathrooms and sleeping at our managers’ desks (more security issues)

So, there’s this old guy who runs up the 6 flights of stairs in the building I work in.  He rides the elevator down to the basement and chats with whomever is riding with him, then he runs back up the stairs - again and again until his workout is done.  He’s been doing it for a long time.  He’s cute - very nice and slightly flirtatious (but not at all in an icky way).

He just got kicked out of the building for harassment.

This guy was shocked - very upset - when he found out what he’d been accused of.  He’d never intended to be anything but friendly, and would have immediately changed his “offensive” behavior had he been told he made anyone uncomfortable.  Because the two women who reported him were passive-agressive instead of direct, he’s gone.  No chance to explain or apologize (he’s nice enough, he’d want to) or try to make amends.  And the women are gloating.

So, we just spent 5 minutes laughing at a richy doctor.  (A coworker came in and took us to the window, laughing and saying, “It’s a guilty pleasure.”)

It’s raining - a thunderstorm.  There’s a convertible out there.  The top’s down.  =>

—

I’m feeling pretty great, laughing at this guy aside.  I have a window again!  I was moved from a private office into what a friend refers to as a “bullpen” and what I thought of secretly as “the pit”.  7 or 8 of us squished into a tiny walkway of a room…  No windows (no natural light) and no air circulation, so it was always 85+ degrees in there.  Now, I’m in a corner office again, and there are windows here!  It’s amazing what natural light and space does for my productivity.

“The Office” in my office… You will get such a kick out of this if you watch that show, and may even find it funny if you don’t. Read the following, which - I kid you not - came straight from my office email Inbox.

A quick intro: I work in the clinical education department of a hospital group. Our department is made up of mostly instructors, instructional designers (like me), and developers (programmers). In an effort to promote departmental unity, a “Fun Committee” was developed. They’re doing a good job of springing random, mostly fun, events on us to break up the monotony of the work week, and they really are good people. But sometimes, they get intense. And funny. =) The latest fun event: an in-office bowling league. We bowl a hard foam ball into hard foam pins down our office hallways…

Enjoy:

Hello Everyone,

Three pins have been damaged due to Horse play and one pin is still missing. Each pin has a replacement fee of $6. Please return the pin to a Fun Committee member today. I am here until 3:30pm and [another Fun Committee member] is here until 3:45pm. Please do not strike each other with the pins as they are made out of soft foam and not very sturdy. We have attached another set of rules for your review.

Please see a Fun Committee member to pay for the damaged pins. The League will resume, after we have received payment for the damaged pins.

[A member of the "Fun Committee"]

–

Good morning,

I am sorry to report that no one has stepped forward and paid the outstanding money for the damaged pins. The Fun Committee paid a total of $60.00 each, for two bowling sets. Even with payment for the damaged pins, we do not have the funding to purchase another bowling set, but we had hoped to recuperate some of the the funds we spent for a bowling set that we are now unable to sell.

Several people have stepped forward and volunteered to pay for another bowling set, but we do not feel it would be fair to ask this of those that were not responsible for causing the damage in the first place.

We are sorry to announce that bowling has been discontinued pending payment for the damaged pins.

Thanks.

[The Fun Committee Head Honcho]

–

Seriously, it’s okay to admit to juvenile acts caused damage to the pins. We ALL get overzealous and carried away at times. I am sure we can all agree there will be no social scorning of the responsible party!! Just speak up and let’s continue with the league. Otherwise we need to have the office exterminated for the large rats that ate the pins!!

[An instructor]

–

It is sad to know that in our department of adults, no one could respect the materials that were purchased for us for enjoyment. This was a creative idea that the Fun Committee came up with so we could have fun together outside work and someone had to abuse that. Our team was enjoying our Friday morning bowling times and it is sad to know that it is being discontinued.

I hope those responsible decide to step forward and take account for their actions.

This doesn’t help encourage our Fun Committee to create any more fun ideas for us if we can’t even handle this one.

Sincerely,

[Another instructor, after having read the previous instructor's email... so much for no social scorning. =)]

–

Ummm, I admittedly have not seen the injured pins, so please forgive me if I’m just uninformed, but is it possible that some of the pins became damaged (or at least began to be damaged) during normal play? Or during storing them into the box? I’ve definitely seen some laser-rocket bowling, and I can’t be alone in my lack of thorough examination before storage.

I’m just simply wondering if a slight tear could go unnoticed and become worse during storage, transportation, etc.?

[A developer]

–

No. The first week of bowling the pins were fine. I stored the pins and the pins were not cracked. I have also checked for damage and I can tell you that the only damage that had occurred, was a slight tear inside the finger hole of one of the bowling balls.

[Head Honcho, responding to the developer]

–

That was not the case. Prior to storing the equipment we went through the boxes. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen during normal play, but it didn’t happen during transportation or storage. We would just like for someone to come forward, even if it means putting the money in an envelope and sliding it under a door.

[Another Fun Committee Member, responding to the developer]

–

I haven’t run this idea past the Fun Committee, but think we could solve this problem for a small additional cost to each of us. There are about 30 participants in the hallway bowling and $120 has been spent for the equipment. That works out to $4 each to cover the entire cost. I know we have already paid $1 each leaving $90 outstanding. I suggest we each kick in an additional dollar for this round and plan on paying $2 for the next round?

[A designer]

–

[A round of people, at this point send emails to the tune of "I'm in" or "Let's just do this so we can get back to bowling"...]

–

Hello Everyone,

This is the final email about Bowling. It is absolutely canceled for this week. If you would like bowling to resume, anyone who would like to VOLUNTEER funds towards a replacement set, is free to do so. The cost of the replacement set is $60.00. We will not be splitting up the cost of a replacement set amongst the bowling league. There is a deadline for volunteer donations towards the replacement. The deadline is Monday, April 23, 2007 by 3pm. Turn in your donations to a member of the Fun Committee.

Signed,

The Fun Committee!

Isn’t that hilarious? We’re back to bowling, so I guess the volunteers shelled out the cash. =)