scccchmick's

some days even i have to admit that my job totally rocks. ok, so it's not like i'm singing for a living or even doing anything that remotely uses the degree(s) i have. and even my boss knows that if i was offered a job in music tomorrow that i'd quit this job and never look back. does she know that? i think so...that was kind of what she told me after she saw my recital.

why does my job rock today, you ask? because at 1145 the whole study staff is off to a free lunch at mccormick and schmick's. that's right, fancy fancy. i momentarily thought about dressing up again today but then came to my senses. at 8:10 when i looked around my room and realized that i'd have to iron something, tie a tie, then be on the shuttle in 20 minutes i decided my good ol' standby gray sweater would have to do. i've never been to mccormick and sccccccchhhhhmick's. if i could afford to eat there i'd probably choose to eat somewhere else--charleston, say, or petit louie. but when the big head doctor's pickin' up the bill? i'll have the lobster.

i thought i'd share with you something i have to do before we leave for lunch: fill bags with air and ship them to tucson. no one in the office believes me when i tell them that that's seriously exactly what i have to do. ship bags of air, via fedex, across the country. it involves hooking this crazy sciencebag (and i'm not talking about t-dog) up to a gas tank, filling it with air while i count to three, then sealing it off. i have to write the tank number, the date i collected it, the serial number, all of this bidness. then i start to flush the gas line thusly: open valve one, open valve two, count to three. close valve one, close valve two. open valve one, open valve two, count to three. close valve one, close valve two. repeat repeat repeat. repeat. and repeat. it's the most ridiculous thing. then i come upstairs and put these plastic bags of air in a big box and ship it--very expensively overnight--to tucson, where i don't know what happens to it. either they evaluate the air samples or suck out the nitric oxide and get high or entertain each other with their funny voices. yes, scientists, i know that nitric oxide is different than nitrus (if i've even spelled that right). it's a joke.

so off i go, to fill bags with air. then to fill my stomach with some free lobster.