Office Drones

Summer is coming quickly to an end. Winter is knock knock knocking on our door ready to blow it over and fill our lives with frigid air and beautiful snow.

After last winter, I can't complain too much. We got off easy here in the Twin Cities. Did we have any accumulation? At any rate, I could not wait for summer to begin. I love the heat.

This summer has been rather different than previous summers. For the past two years I have been inspecting houses either for insurance purposes, or for hail damage. Not great paying jobs, but I was outside enjoying the heat everyday. This year I am in a call center. I will say right now how thankful I am for my job, so there are no misconceptions.

I do miss being outside, though. If I stand up in my cube, on my tip-toes, I can get a glance out of the window and see a great view of the Mississippi and the Hennepin Avenue Bridge located on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. I take every opportunity to go down to the bridge during the day. I get a morning break, afternoon break and a lunch break. Pretty typical, I guess.

These breaks are spent at the river talking to ducks, chiding Segway tours or just going for a leisurely stroll along the embankment. Rain or shine, I spend my time off the phone outside.

The trade off for working in an office has many more positives than negatives. I have not had coworkers for almost two years. My coworkers keep my days very interesting. I get weekends off. I get to ride my bike into work.

Now, someone once told me something about bikers and motorists. Drivers hate pedestrians. Pedestrians hate drivers. But bikers hate everyone. Including themselves.

I have learned the truth of this statement by becoming a regular biker. I wish everyone would just pay attention like I do! And then I will almost run into someone's car and feel like an ass. So it goes.

Now that my temporary position is winding to a close, I am having mixed emotions about it. I am ready for school to start back up again, but I am not ready to cut my income. I am ready to have a more relaxed schedule, but I don't want to lose touch with my new friends.

Someone said every good thing must come to an end, but he didn't say I have to like it. I guess I'll deal with it when September rolls around. For now I'm going to go throw bread crumbs at ducks.