Team building excercise in futility

Due to peer pressure, I caved in and attended a team building event at lunch today.

I will never have those two hours of my life back. Oh well.

We watched a movie..."Office Space", ate pizza, and had freezer cake.

I watched the movie, did not eat the pizza, and passed on the freezer cake.

I never eat lunch with any of the other people on the team. In fact, I really don't care for them. Being in the same room was pure torture. Also, my boss Mr. We Don't Want to Start a Precedent was there. It is really difficult to feel team spirit when my Boss flippantly canceled my Thanksgiving vacation this past year.

On a lighter note, I don't know how people can eat pizza and cake within 20 minutes of one another. They must have stomachs of steel. Then they drank Fresca. Good Grief, I am getting queasy just thinking of this unholy combo.

Take this job and shove it up your cherry blossom!

This is in response to a vacation request during a major holiday. I am gearing up to request a another. I must be strong!

Metro most foul!

I honestly do now understand how people survive MetroRail for more than one year.

It is to be quite frank, terrible.

Today took the cake. I lucked out with a seat. I was thrilled...for about 2 seconds. The person in front of me was very very stinky. As you may know, I am not a crass person. However, in this case, I must be once again be quite frank. The person in front of me smelled like a wet dog that rolled over a dead skunk, ate part of the dead skunk, and regurgitated said skunk. It was skunky de parfum.

I never thought of my allergies were a blessing. I thanked God that my sinuses were not clear and were shielding me from this terrible human being.

Well, this person left at the Reagan station. I didn't have to hold my breath for the entire trip.

I wish they had emergency potpurri sprays on the Metro in case of these dire situations!

Oh my heck, we lost Bertie!

I heard this on the metro train the other day. A very nice group of tourists lost one of their brethern. They didn't realize that "Doors Closing" means "Get your a## on the train now!"

As the train left, I overheard one say "Well, she can get on the next train"

I thought, "Oh my heck, I hope Bertie pays attention and picks the right color train or they won't be seeing Bertie for a while"

There should be a tourist primer for MetroRail!

Plant bouncers

I love Spring. I love the pollen in the air. I love the backbreaking yard work for a 6x8 space.

But I especially love the number of concrete yard animals and fruits that magically appear every spring! I swear it looks like Noah's Ark out there!

So far I found a sheep, a frog, a deer, and numerous pineapples. I often wonder where they buy these things! Do they all go en masse to the Williamsburg Pottery Factory. Or do my neighbors buy their goods at Smith and Hawkens.

I am always quite amused by the number of pots and front stoop decoration. One townhouse here had a plant pot on every step. It looked like you had to squeeze between 5 plant pots and the railing to get up the stairs.

Also, there is a new plant pot development. I noticed many neighbors buy 3-4 ft plant pots and stick them right outside their doors. They are huge! Especially if you had shrubbery. They look like a security detail or bouncers! Do these people realize that two 5 ft behomoths are a little bit out of proportion to their door and front steps?

Coffee coffee everywhere but you gotta get in line to drink!

There is one thing I really like about DC. I have numerous places where I can obtain coffee!

I have developed a serious coffee habit. I expect nothing less than perfection if I pay about $3.00 for an espresso or abour $2 for drip. How difficult is it to make good coffee for those prices?

My favorite place is definitely my local Au Bon Pain. They really do a nice job and are very consistent about my coffee. Plus the people there are super nice.

I tried my local Starbucks and found the drip coffee undrinkable. This is the one near 15th and K. It had a bitter chemical aftertaste and was terrible. I am not a Starbucks hater. I'll happily drink an espresso drink there. So I was quite shocked how bad their regular coffee was. I see people there line up about 15 deep in the morning! I began to wonder if their specialty drinks with milk and flavorings just mask a terrible taste?

Earth to Starbucks.....improve you quality control!!! I'm off to Carribo Coffee on L street or as I like to call them "FauxBoo" because of their fakey western decor.