Wednesday, April 16, 2008

If you enjoy BBQ, Uruguay might be for you...

I used to work at Prudential. I enjoyed hiding in my cubicle. I developed a new respect for people that must eat frozen dinners everyday.

There were a few reasons I liked working there. First, I liked how stress-free it was. I also liked that, regardless of the overtime, once I left work, I didn't have to think about it until an ungodly hour the next morning. I have since come to realize that "ungodly hour" is no longer eight in the morning. Rather, it is six in the morning. I know this because that is the time I get up everyday for work now. And it is only six because I may be the only girl on the planet that has mastered getting ready in under 20 minutes, and that includes a shower. When it's warm enough, I will probably leave my hair curly and not hassle with styling it so I will be able to sleep in five more minutes. I look forward to sleeping in until 6:05.

Second, I liked that I really didn't have to talk to anyone. I could go an entire day without even making eye contact with someone. There was one person that I talked to. He didn't come in on a daily basis, which would explain how I could so easily avoid human life outside my 4 ft. x 4 ft. box.

He and I used to find the most ridiculous news articles and send them to each other. Once he sent me a story about a German nudist who wanted Bush to join him on the beach. Another time he sent me one about a squirrel that was shop lifting from a Finnish grocery store because he liked the chocolate with the toys on the inside.

Today I stumbled on a story about Uruguay. I can't even think about that name anymore without hearing the episode of The Simpsons in which Homer sees the country on a map for the first time, chuckles and pronounces it "you are gay."

Anyway, the story is about breaking a Guinness record. My favorite line is "20,000 spectators cried with joy when the Guinness judge confirmed the barbecue record had been broken."

If I still worked with John, I would have sent him this article today.

3 comments:

  1. I feel so lucky here as I can unduly sleep until 6:15. Now I made you really jealous.... ;-)

    P.S. 12 tons of beef! I might die just by the sheer smell of it.

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  2. Both of you shut up about your early mornings. I LEAVE MY HOME at 6:10am every day.

    I also miss having a job that I could "leave" at the end of the day. I friggin dream about school. It's sick.

    Finally, on my way to school this morning, NPR did a story about meat consumption and the environment. They said that if Americans reduced their meat consumption by 20%, we would see a significant positive impact on the environment. From the water & fertilizers used to grow cattle feed to the leached chemicals and nutrients at the slaughter houses, meat production is terrible for the environment. I thought it was funny to read this story about people THRILLED with have a record number of cattle BBQed.

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  3. Dear Lisa, you have all my sympathy.

    As for the impact meat consumption has on the environment, it's sadly very true. I am though rather cynic about any drift towards a more considerate global attitude. Particularly now that the elections here have brought back to power the most [bleep] and [bleep] "politician" (even the title has to be put within quotes, as it doesn't fully apply) Italy has ever fostered.
    I now completely rely on Obama and I'm ready to expatriate as soon as he takes over [hopefully].

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