F is for Valentine's Day

So it’s Valentine’s Day, but anyone who knows me knows that I don’t celebrate such frivolous things. It’s not because I have a great boyfriend that shows his love in many ways every single day. Nor is it because Vals Day was invented by the greeting card companies (it wasn’t)*. It is because I don’t celebrate things like this – including Mother’s Day, Patriot Day, or any of those other days honoring one person. Why don’t I just honor them every day? But that’s a whole ‘nuther rant, that I’ve already blogged about.

But here I am sitting in my freezing office, though it is slightly better than being outside. It sucks outside. It’s ice-raining and windy. I could handle snow, or even water rain, but ice rain is a major pain in the patoot. Tiny ice crystals are hurled through the sky (all directions, thanks to the 30mph winds) and into my eyes and face and any piece of skin that is exposed is ripped off as if being hit with a high-power sand blaster. It sucks. Sucks, I say!

I am drinking hot chocolate, and that’s always good, and I have my space heater, but my hands are still cold. Yesterday after everyone complained about the cold, the Super came in and “fixed” the heater. What he did was hook up a heater that hasn’t been on in 3 years. Right above my head. So besides the obtrusiveness of two (2) ladders in my area and an array of tools on my desk, there was 3 years’ worth of dust blowing directly onto me and all of my belongings. Plus, when it’s on, I can’t hear anything at all. Not my radio, not the phone, not people sneaking up on me, not even the printer – which is my normal excuse for not being able to hear anything.

I complained about the dust, and left my desk quite often (when I could squeeze out through the obstructions) but I still had a really sore throat and a severe headache by the end of the day. I told the future-lawyer Craig about it and he agrees that these are not optimal working conditions. If I wasn’t leaving in about 5 months (yay!) anyway, I’d be out hoofing it for a new job.

* Do some research and you’ll find that there were at least two priests named Valentine, and the legend goes that they helped arrange secret, illegal marriages. Also, February is a traditional month of celebrating fertility to the pagans, so *surprise* the Christians took the middle day and made it their own, in order to convert those heathens.

** The pictures were taken from opposite ends of my cubicle. You can see my pink backpack and the penguin picture in one, and the heater is directly above the blue ladder.

ps - Don't forget to sponsor me in the AIDS Walk!