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I have had several similar conversations over the last few days about at what point in our lives do the rules change?  For example when you are a child and the adults are all sitting in the sitting room after lunch and someone starts to doze off, as a child you cannot understand this behaviour  you think, “it is the middle of the day why are you sleeping?”  Kids on the other hand won’t go to bed then as teens they won’t get out of bed and as an adult all you want is your bed.  In a similar vain, at what point in your life do bodily functions such as wind (passing gas for our American friends) become revolting and how confusing is this.  When a child burps or does something related to burping people say “oh, good boy, better out than in…”  When you are a bit older and you do the exact same thing you hear “oh, you filthy pig!”  Amazing that any of us grow up completely sane.

It this age of open plan offices there are several things you cannot avoid.  I wrote a post previously regarding the do’s and don’ts when working in this kind of environment.  Today’s post is more about the other aspects of working in the same space along with 80 other people.  Firstly, it is important to note that your immune system is going to take a beating.  The way germs move through an open plan office can only be compared to that of a wild fire in California during a dry summer.  Once the first person comes down with symptoms you can see how it then rolls through the office taking your colleagues out one row of desks at a time.  The sound of sneezing, wheezing and coughing tells you that it is now only a matter of time before you too will succumb to the bug that grips the office.  It does not matter that you just got over the last round of crud that hit…oh no you will once again be caught up in the tidal wave of this latest viral or bacterial attacker.  The open plan office is really a large petri dish!  It is the closest thing to a nursery school for passing nasty stuff back and forth.

Secondly, the other things you cannot avoid are cakes, sweets, chocolates and other culinary delights that your office mates bring in.  In a large team it is always someone’s birthday or some other occasion that is traditionally marked by bringing food to the office. If you are trying to watch your weight this is especially difficult.  Here you are preparing to eat your salad but in order to get your extra light dressing you must enter the Room of Temptation!  The fridge shares space in this room full of tempting treats.  How are you supposed to ignore and even have to move these items to get to your healthy option dressing?  You feel you should partake and share the happy occasion by eating one of the sweet offerings.  If you can resist this temptation and forge ahead to the fridge, get your extra low fat dressing and turn a blind eye to the selection of goodies, you are truly a hero!

To summarize; Working in an open plan office is dangerous to your immune system and your weight. I think those of us who work in this kind of environment should get hazard pay or at least extra sick days as well as hazardous duty pay!

I am starting my second week in my new job and that means the second week in the pub that I will call home Sunday-Thursday for the next 2 years. Tonight when I checked in I was expecting the aged piano player that was here last Sunday. However, he made way tonight for a “Soul Group”. They were 3 Irish guys ranging from their 50’s to 70’s. Guitar, keyboards and drums. I walked in to an enthusiastic,Elivis type, rendition of Amazing Grace. Sucked further into this time warp, they played some Art Garfunkel, followed by Purple Rain. After 5 songs I still could not find the “soul” part of the music. Oh well, they were enjoying themselves and it was better than sitting in my room. They asked for requests so I figured “what the Hell” and requested Piano Man. They did a half descent job on it and it was the first real applause of the evening. I did give up when they shifted to Doris Day followed by Judy Garland’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I moved to the Sports bar section of the pub and played a game of pool by myself. What a difference 30 years and much larger breasts has on one’s ability to play the game. I’ll keep you updated on the upcoming events at the pub…oh tomorrow night is homemade burger night!

In the past I have travelled long haul next to Mr Stinky, Miss Stinky, Toddler From Hell, the Silent Flatulence Assassin and the Sneezing, Coughing and Blowing Group. However, last night’s trip across the Atlantic I had the Snort, Swallow and Gag Couple. It worked like this; he would snort like bull then swallow loudly. Now I understand why at check in, the female part of this duo tried to get her seat changed so she was not sitting near her husband! This is because she provided the gag in the trio of bodily noises that stretched across the 6 hours, 55 minutes and 22 seconds of the flight. Headset on full volume did not work, ear plugs did not work, even a whiskey did not work, my imagination and personal gag reflex worked overtime! Needless to say I was not very interested in the food on this leg of my journey. I must admit the Toddler From Hell doesn’t really seem so bad now.

Yesterday afternoon I flew into one of the worlds great cities. This morning I am preparing for a 9:00 a.m. meeting, then it will be back to the airport and home. Meaning, another one of those business trips where you get to see absolutely nothing of the place you are visiting. This has happened numerous times in my 20 years of business travel however this is probably the only time that I did not even see anything on the way from the airport to the hotel. Reason, the customer that I am seeing this morning has their offices on a business park just off the airport so I am staying at a hotel also just off the airport, hence a 3 minute shuttle ride to the hotel and never actually entering the city of Geneva! Plus it is a Friday, prime opportunity to make a personal weekend of it but did Pam travel with me? No. Why? Because Donna has an afternoon of meetings once I get home this afternoon. Very sad huh? Not what I would like to be doing but it is “business travel” after all not a holiday.
Keep an eye out for further travel updates as I am embarking on a month of both personal and business trips from Texas to Oslo and 2-3 destinations in between. There is bound to be some travel stories coming out of that group of trips!