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I’ve been spending a lot of time writing my “book.” There is so much I want to say that it has been really hard for me to get it on type. Lately I have been struggling with a lot of different emotions, but I am also surrounded by such positivity that it is hard to stay down for too long.
I did manage to write about one of the single most happy and liberating days of my life. Here it is:
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“Andrew, can you come into my office for our 10 o’clock.”
I was sure that those were going to be the final words of my boss to me before my termination.
It was Wednesday morning, right in the middle of the work week. Earlier that week my immediate supervisor had told me that we were going to have a meeting with the head boss. I remembered reading somewhere that people only get fired on Fridays, so I thought nothing of it.
As I walked slowly to my boss’ office around the corner from mine, my mind started to race like crazy for some reason. Was I in trouble? Did I do something wrong? Were they finally smart enough to go through my internet browsing records? I knew I shouldn’t have clicked on that NSFW link off Digg. Even though I hated my work, it still would have sucked to be reprimanded or even fired for doing something idiotic while on the job.
The twenty foot walk to my boss’ office seemed longer than an eternity. I had so many things mulling around in my head that I started to perspire. The red polo and khaki pants that I always wore to blend in with my office environment was starting to stick to my skin. I passed by a majority of my co-workers’ offices on the way to my meeting; most of whom I loathed. How did it even get to this point? I’m about to get fired from a job that I should have quit months ago.
When I got to her office, my supervisor was already there, sitting there solemnly next to the big boss. “Go ahead and shut the door behind you, Andrew,” she said as she motioned for me to sit down. My chair was on the other side of the table, facing both of my superiors. I took my seat while trying to analyze the whole situation. I spotted some reports and paperwork piled on the table in front of them. Those are probably my internet records, I thought to myself.
Before I had a chance to figure out what they were, my boss opened up her mouth. “As you know, our company has been facing some huge budget cuts.” She paused for a bit, as if doing so for effect.
“Unfortunately, your position was included in our budget cuts. We want to assure you that it had nothing to do with you personally or your job performance…”
At that moment it felt like someone had injected me with 50mg of heroin. I have never tried heroin, but I was sure the euphoric feeling that I was experiencing could only be brought on by some sort of intravenous drug.
Did I really just get laid off? It felt so surreal; I was in a lucid state of mind. It felt like I was strung out on some phantom drugs that had been administered to me one after another. On top of heroin, it was like adding psychedelic mushrooms to the mix, another drug that I have also never experienced. In case you’re keeping count, I don’t really do drugs, I can only imagine.
I tried to keep my composure, and even managed to well up my eyes a little. “I just want to thank you for the opportunity that you have given me, as a student straight out of college…” I’m pretty sure I added some other shit in there to fluff my goodbye, just to ensure that I didn’t burn any bridges. The meeting was coming to an end, and as I made my way out of the office, I could see that my supervisor really was crying a little. It made me want to give him some of the metaphorical ’shrooms I was tripping out on.
Once I was out of the office and plain view of my soon to be ex-coworkers, I began to attempt to understand what had just happened. I was just laid off from a job that I really hated. That much I knew.
I’ve been bringing my lunch to work more and more lately, and have been experimenting with idiot-proof salads.
One of the easiest lunches to prepare has to be the tofu/fruit salad. I just chop up some tofu, slice some strawberries, throw in some garden salad, and top it off with some fat free croutons/low fat dressing.
Throw the reusable Tupperware into the fridge, and she’s ready for lunch the following day.
If you’re like me and like preparing your food the night before, hold off on throwing the croutons in, since they’ll get soggy. Instead wait until the day of to throw them in.
I had to travel to Cupertino today for work related training, and will be going there for the rest of this week.
Since I had to get there super early, I decided to get there by bike and bus to forego the early morning traffic. It only took about 35 minutes! I think that it would have taken even longer if I had driven on the freeway.
For those of you who don’t know, Cupertino is home to the mother of all Whole Foods. I would have to say that it is at least twice the size of your regular Whole Foods.
The instructor gave us an hour for lunch, so I biked over to Whole Foods, and grabbed lunch. It was kind of pricey, but it was fresh and healthy. I packed everything into my bag and went back to campus to eat.
I bought a bunch of vegetarian food, and threw it into a box. By the time I got back to campus, it was all nicely mixed from the ride haha. I pulled out my trusty point and shoot to document.
Along with the main entree, I snagged an Odwalla bar and some sushi. My beverage of choice was water filled up from the campus break room in my Klean Kanteen.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been forcing myself to bring my lunch at least twice a week. Eventually I hope to bring my lunch the majority of the time.
That means preparing meals “healthy, budget conscious meals” for myself with random ingredients I find lying around.
Needless to say, my foray into cooking has been quite hilarious.
Pictured above is a 100% vegetarian peanut noodle dish; with some meat. Yeah, it kind of reminds me of Rachel from Friends when she made custard with a layer of lady fingers and meat sauteed with peas and onions.
The bottom line is that I’m saving money, and also using re-usable Rubbermaid Tupperware for the green effect.
I should add that I stopped eating for taste circa the dorm days in college.
Cluttered desk bogging you down? It just might be time for you to re-design your desk space. Link
