Gapers Block has ceased publication.

Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Tuesday, October 8

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Fuel

karen / December 27, 2005 12:29 PM

Slow...painfully slow at work...
What I do to pass the time?
Place fake work in front of me...
Surf net until eyes bleed...
Take 2 hour lunch...
Yawn...

appopt / December 27, 2005 1:04 PM

Right around this time every year, I get two weeks off. I use part of the time to explore the city and blog about it, and the rest to travel. Last year, Dublin. The previous one, Krakow. This year, probably the weirdest choice yet, an eight-hour drive north to the U.P. Yeah, sucks to be me.

hench / December 27, 2005 3:11 PM

programmer/systems tech -- always busy, regardless of holidays etc... knocking out one of six heavy-duty projects while everybody else is *this* close to taking a nap... fine by me.

julie / December 27, 2005 4:22 PM

tons of people took the week off...but i never have work to do anyway so it's no different! it is nice though when nobody else is here to pop into my cubicle and scare me while i'm playing alchemy on yahoo games.

Y A J / December 27, 2005 4:28 PM

Pretty slow at my office. I got mostly caught up last week. Now I'm purging files and cleaning out antique emails and paper files. My office will be totally clean and organized when I start the new year. And that will last 10 minutes or so.

Leah W / December 27, 2005 4:57 PM

Usually not too bad, but this year, due to systems upgrades, it is crazy busy, and will peak on the 30th. This will make the three day weekend even sweeter, and my drinking on the 31st even heavier.

Moon / December 27, 2005 5:06 PM

It's slow ALL the time. I automated my job 2 years ago.

/Here's a lesson I learned many years ago. When you automate your job, DO NOT TELL ANYBODY. Make it look like you are doing as much work as the next guy, even though they are still doing things manually. When the busy time comes, you can take on extra work if you like and look good. But if you tell somebody and everybody starts automating their work, you're just going to get more and more work and the only thing they'll remember you for is that "he's the guy who can fix the automation program". So you spend your whole time fixing other people's computer and programs. And then you get laid off because there's not enough work. Trust me on this one.

Amy / December 27, 2005 5:42 PM

Hotels are slow right now but I'm gearing up for the weekend which will be crazy! I pass the time by walking around and talking to coworkers, cleaning and organizing, surfing the web, and doing sodoku puzzles.

steven / December 27, 2005 5:54 PM

i take vacation

brit. / December 27, 2005 8:27 PM

Slow? I work at Marshall Field's! Slow is a pipe dream!

Angie / December 27, 2005 10:00 PM

To Moon above, what is "automating" your job? I am curious.
I help laboratories across the country buy vacuum pump systems, so this morning while I was at Pottery Barn I was patched through to a customer in North Dakota. We talked for about twenty minutes, and then I bought a rug and worked out.

Brian / December 28, 2005 6:17 AM

Painfully slow. The office is still open while our two factories are on vacation. Lots of fake work, looking busy, etc. I'm not complaining, though. 'Coz they could have closed for a week and a half like the factories, and being the new guy, I wouldn't have gotten paid for it. Pay is good.

Paula / December 28, 2005 9:01 AM

S......l......o......w. So slow that we were given Mon., Tues, Thur., Fri. off of work (paid holidays).

Emily / December 28, 2005 10:34 AM

Slow? Kind of. I am leaving on Saturday afternoon for a 3 week vacation to Australia and New Zealand, so I spent a good amount of time yesterday researching Sydney. That being said, I actually have a lot of work to do given the fact that I'm going to be gone for 3 weeks, but my motivation is waning......

Cinnamon / December 28, 2005 10:37 AM

Being the bottom rung on the ladder, my department is always busy this time of year cause everyone above us works extra hard to clear off their desks just before this week so they can justify not being here.

Son of Richthofen / December 28, 2005 11:16 AM

The work flows semi-normally but no one is here to do it...I just got back from vacation myself. And it's too quiet to work.

Leah / December 28, 2005 11:28 AM

Yes, it has been very slow. But a bit of holiday food bourne illness kept me home yesterday and now I actually have some work to do.

But yes, slow.

jen / December 28, 2005 2:35 PM

slow? are you kidding me? the ad world doesn't stop just because of a few nationally recognized holidays. in fact, i'm probably busier than i would normally be because i have to compensate for some vacationing coworkers.

Rebecca / December 29, 2005 9:15 PM

Absolutely crazy 'round these parts. Everybody and their grandma wants to buy vibrators as Christmas and Chanukah presents. And I must say, it's damn hard to gift wrap a dildo. Seriously.

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