A Thursday Too Far

Maybe I should actually say that Friday at 5pm is simply too far away. But, as I'm sitting here at work desperately trying to not explode, implode, or plode in any way, I thought I should share some of the strangenesses of the moment:

1) A true series of phonecalls I've just had. (I've mentioned that I now play receptionist for 2 phonelines, right?)

9:54am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"Extension 201, please"
He's in a meeting. May I transfer you to voicemail?
"Fine."
- call ends -

9:57am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"Extension 201, please"
He's not at his desk at this time. May I transfer you to voicemail?
"Fine."
- call ends -

9:58am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"I just left a message on Extension 201. We were talking before but got cut off. I'm sure he'll call me back."
I'm sure he will.
"Fine."
Have a nice day.
- call ends -

2) My office is a casual workplace. When I show up in business casual attire, I frequently feel overdressed. Now, I'm the last person to complain about being able to wear shorts all summer and come in unshaven, but some days it's a bit odd coming in here. Right now someone is meeting with an author. She's in a baseball cap and a cardigan over a plain white t-shirt. Not exactly what you'd expect. Oh. And then there's the person who walked in this morning looking like Little Red Unibomber in a cut-off grey hoodie made of "flowy" fabric, with the hood up. She's still at her desk that way.

3) My email inbox is going crazy this week. I don't know the last time I really looked at my personal email, because by the time I'm done at work, I just don't care to do any more of it. Having been gone last Friday, I came in on Monday to 73 new emails. Between last night at 5 and this morning at 8:45, I received 28 emails. My goal each night is to leave no more than 10 un-acted-upon emails. I think I'm currently leaving about 15 of them un-acted-upon as I type this.

4) Christopher is still in New York. One of the things getting me through my week is knowing that he's having great weather and enjoying some downtime in the big city. When I talked to him last night he was awaiting a delivery of Chicken Vindaloo, which he was planning to eat out on the terrace overlooking the city. Yes, I'm jealous, but I'm also thrilled that he was able to do that. And I had one of my favorite meals last night, too: leftover Orange Chicken while watching "Glee."

I know I owe you more tales of the trip to NYC. I'll try to get to them, soon. For now, though, I'm diving back into my inbox -- which is now up to 21 un-acted-upon emails.

UPDATE:

10:56am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"Extension 201, please"
He's not at his desk at this time. May I transfer you to voicemail?
"Fine."
- call ends -

I think it's going to be one of those days.