One of the nicer things about my job is that I work on the 16th floor facing a window overlooking the City. At least five times a day you can find me staring longingly out the window, enjoying the view, or lamenting the clouds.
Last week I brought my camera to work and took a few shots from my high flying floor in St. Aldgate House and from the Highwalk area just outside. It was a nice way to spend lunch.
Speaking of nice ways to spend lunch, yesterday the soon-to-be head of development took us all out for lunchtime drinks. To give you a quick idea of how things went: we got to the pub at around 1pm, and I never quite made it back to the office.
This outing was fantastic on several levels. I was able to meet people I’ve never met before and have lighthearted conversation with the people I already knew. I felt like I really hit it off with the boys in development, who seem like a really fun group of people once you get them away from their computers.
At around 3pm I was feeling pretty happy. I remember thinking: “wow, I’m going to go home from work with a smile on my face today!” Then things kind of changed a bit, right around the time two separate individuals handed me a fresh glass of wine. I should have seen this coming when I realized that drinks were in lieu of actual lunch.
So, it’s all kind of annoying because it seems to be such a regular pattern in my life: I meet cool people, and suddenly it all turns drunken. I feel a distinct lack of self control in these situations, and so continues the cycle: Monica finds herself in a new social situation - Monica feels nervous about talking to new people - Monica finds herself with a beverage in hand - Nervous Monica drinks quickly - Monica starts feelin’ like a rock star - Rock Star Monica gets drunk after drinking too much too quickly - Monica meets loads of new people and laughs the night away - Monica stumbles home - Monica sobers up - Monica realizes she has little recollection of the good time she had the night before - Monica settles into a dull hangover - Monica feels like ass both physically and mentally - Monica feels a deep sense of regret for drinking so much as to not remember half of the night and for feeling like shit as a result.
Like it was all a waste of time.
It’s just not worth it.
So, I hope that when I get back to work on Monday that I will a.) still have a job, and 2.) have a few more friends at the office.
Oh, and iii.) a firmer grip on my priorities.
Since I lost Friday night to Work Drinks Gone Wild, Saturday has been all about being good to myself. I took a trip this morning to the local fish monger and gathered supplies for a weekend of yummy dinners. Tim and I expanded our fish cookeriness by baking an entire sea bass! We stuffed it with basil, tomato, and salt (always, loads of salt), and it came out great!
Needless to say, there was no wine happening at dinner tonight.
Tomorrow is Halloween, which I hope to celebrate with London’s inline skating community on their 10.5 mile Halloweeeen Rollerstroll.
Latest Comments