2001-10-11 - 2:32 p.m.

Hurmph

Hurmph. My new word for the day. I don't know what it means, or even how to spell it. But it's perfect for my mood today.

Hurmph.

Allow me to give you an example. RadioVoiceBossMan comes into my office and says "I realize that you've been assigned to work on a subsystem that nobody really understands, and I realize that we changed the database schema three times this week, but I wanted to see if you've got it done yet."

My response: "Hurmph."

Another example. I tune into NPR this morning and hear "In an amazing and completely momentous statement today, the president said..." Then the local radio station breaks in and says "Despite the fact that you give us money several times a year, we're going to interrupt now and hold your news hostage until you give us *more* money, and there's nothing you can do to stop us, mwahahahaha."

My response: "Hurmph."

I mean, what is it with pledge drives? I give money. I do. Every year. But I *hate* pledge drives. Because wether or not I give them more money right then, they continue to hold my news hostage for two weeks. I've given up on giving money during pledge drives, because I believe it reinforces negative behavior. Like petting your dog after he pees on the rug. Sure, he did it to get attention, but if you give him attention right then, you only prove to him that that's the best way to get attention. Hence more peeing.

Am I making any sense?

Hurmph.

I need to send some follow-up emails tonight to those companies that I sent resumes to. None of them has yet contacted me and offered me a high-paying job with difficult to define goals where I can telecommute and get my checks by direct deposit.

Hurmph.

I wish I could fast-forward about a month, to a time when I can get away from work for a bit. We have a ton to do before our deliverable, and no one is allowed to take any time off until then. Today we got the big Rah-Rah "Let's all work overtime until we're whistling zippe-de-doo-dah out of our assholes" speech.

Hurmph.