2001-12-03 - 1:53

Applied indifference

I see that my entries are sparse again. Ah well.

The boss is lucky. This summer, he tried to surprise me on my birthday by taking me out to lunch and having the staff bring over a cake and do the whole singing thing . . . which would have been more appropriate, had he not been four days early! I was really hoping to get him back, but it turns out that his birthday (which was last week) comes around during Ramadan; and the whole fasting deal kind of kills any lunchtime surprises. He's lucky, I say.

I did get a laugh out of lunch the other day, even without Dr. J being there. As we were leaving, Steve ran into one of the million people he seems to know in this town, so he stopped to chat for a second. One of the other guys there thought he should pick up the slack by gabbing with Greg and I. That was amusing.

Greg claims to hate small talk, and I'm sure it's true, but there's no doubt who was going to respond almost every time. I interjected a couple of lines, just to try to make an effort to be polite; but as Steve said, I "don't talk to anyone unless [I've] known them for five months." Heheh. (And then, only if I like you.)

That assessment perhaps represents a slight exaggeration (heh); but the spirit is correct. I guess that my main rule is to be indifferent to everyone, and I can never understand why people aren't that way. Honestly, there are billions of people out there who have nothing to offer me and for whom I have nothing to offer. Just because one of them happens to be in a ten foot radius, that fact is supposed to change? I dunno. I stand by the belief that you should assume that people aren't worth knowing and build exceptions as needed.

Even apart from being a tool for philosophical self-analysis, work is moving right along. I guess that I'm down to a three week countdown now, since we will be closed for all of the Christmas week. Barring any last-minute craziness, I'll be heading into this Christmas break feeling much more positive about work than I was last year.

This weekend was particularly slack. Everybody else was out Saturday; and, while that was a good opportunity to practice the electric guitar and crank up the stereo, the day was otherwise boring. I was in my unmotivated weekend mode, in which I eat too little, sleep too much, and move hardly at all.

Despite sleeping in today, I was a little more energetic. Not that I was particularly ambitious or anything; but I felt less lethargic. It was good to get out of the house for supper with everyone and make it back to Loralei's to watch The Simpsons with her and Aaron.

This week should be a productive one at work; and I'm very much looking forward to seeing The Dears in concert this Friday. This will be the fourth time that I have seen the band this year, after catching them headlining in Halifax this spring and opening for Sloan twice in Ottawa in October. It's sure to be a fun time.

This week also really ought to be the one when I finalize my Christmas travel plans, as well, although I have said that before. Chances are, though, that I mean it, this time.

J.