Web Log Entry #0073, Wednesday, June 4, 2003: Day 198

Anchorage Sunrise: 4:31am Sunset: 11:24pm High Temp: 67° Low Temp: 40° I was going to tell you about a tedious part of my job, a simple process I've repeated over a thousand times at a rate of about fifty times a day, but I'm not allowed. So I'll tell you a story instead: A friend of mine worked for a company that did a lot of business in an undisclosed Foreign Country in the '80s. He was at a construction site, and he noticed a group of men with shovels filling a front-loader. (For those readers who don't work construction, a front-loader is a piece of heavy machinery with a huge scoop on the front, capable of digging up yards and yards of earth tremendously quickly and efficiently.) "Why are you using shovels to fill the loader?" he asks. The answer: Using the loader to dig puts too many people out of work, so the government requires them to fill it by hand. Of course, that story has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with me, if you know what I mean. There are NO PARALLELS WHATSOEVER. And even if there were, I wouldn't be complaining because 1) I'm employed, and 2) My job doesn't actually involve a shovel. I can tell you that one of the things that crossed my computer screen was a name-change request to "Al Tingley." Being bored unto the brink of sobbing quietly (did I mention a thousand times?), I imagine a wine-and-cheese scenario: Al: "Hi, I'm Al Tingley" Me: "Wow! These parties don't do that for me!" Sadly, in real life I don't get these fabulous opportunities. If I do, I think of my witty repartee in the shower the next day (which actually has some strong humor potential, but I can't imagine a situation where I'd be meeting someone named Al in my shower). So the best I can do is relate this imaginary dialog to you in my journal. I hope it helps keep boredom at bay for you, too.

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© 2003 Evan M. Nichols