Blog Week 9: The return of recently-absent colleagues.
Monday 23 January 22.16
Mockney was finally back. He looked so relaxed, it was as if he had spent the last week on holiday.
There is some big meeting taking place later this week about where the new office is going to be. Even the staff are getting involved now. People are hoping that access to shops, metros and trams will be taken into account. Yeah right!
Jo stopped by with her little baby Chris this afternoon. Needless to say it brought the office to a standstill (well at least the female part). We all rushed to the conference room where they were and spent 30 minutes cooing over Chris. I could see Bill, Rodney and Pierre outside the conference room getting impatient that work had come to a standstill. But as Cherie - one of the other partners - was in the conference room also getting maternal with the rest of us, they could not do or say much.
In fact, after a while Rodney came in and had look at Chris too. He congratulated Jo and said "whatever else happens just make sure the kid gives you respect." Everyone else started smiling and trying to suppress their laughter. It was the first time I had heard him actually use that phrase. Then he started laughing too. I guess he knew that Jo had nicknamed him "Rodney Dangerfield"?
Tuesday 24 January 20.12
Today was the return of Yoda! I cannot say that name without the dramatic Star Wars music going around in my head. I loved the music for those films, it was just a shame the dialogue was so poor.
Anyway it was not so much her return as a brief visitation.
I was passing through the reception area when she turned up mid-morning, unannounced and demanded to see Pierre. As it happened he was out on one of these neverending potential office visits. She did not seem very happy and left an angry message that he had better call her "damn" quickly. Something strange is going on there.
As I was leaving work Rodney was having a blazing row with Mockney in the corridor. Apparently one of Rodney's teenage kids had "borrowed" Rodney's laptop and tried to use it to download porn. The laptop is now in "quarantine" and being debugged. However Rodney needed some material stored on the hard drive and Mockney was refusing to let Rodney anywhere near the laptop. That was something Rodney would not tolerate. I'll find out who won that particular battle tomorrow.
Wednesday 25 January 23.05
I am in shock. Well slight shock.
I was passing through reception just before lunchtime, when 3 Bears appeared and asked for Goldilocks. I thought oh no here we go again. Yesterday Yoda turns up to do battle with Pierre, today it is 3 Bears with Goldilocks.
So imagine my surprise when she comes into reception and kisses him - on the lips.
It turns out they are engaged and getting married in the summer! I had no idea. Why do I always feel like the last person to know anything around here?
All 3 Bears' moodiness last year had nothing to do with me or this place. He must have been falling in and out of love. I think it was the first time I have seen him looking happy. They walked out, hand-in-hand, smiling from ear-to-ear, snowflakes suddenly starting to fall.
Got back to my ofice and told Mockney the news. Of course, he already knew. Most of the rest of the office seems to have known too.
Mockney is a bit quiet at the moment. I gather he lost yesterday's laptop argument with Rodney. Rodney's laptop is working ok and it is unclear why Mockney was insisting it had to be kept in "quarantine".
Thursday 26 January 23.06
Everyone in the office is suffering from PMT - Pre-Meeting Tension!
Tomorrow is the big meeting that will decide the location of the new merged firm's Brussels office. Everyone seems to have a view and no seems to be agreeing. Still lets see what happens ...
Bill was away today so I spent most of the day helping out Cherie on one matter. It was very busy and I ended up having to make a mad dash to the Commission to deliver some documents. Why does it seem like these matters are always a rush?
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Next Entry - Blog Week 10: Jokes and "graffiti" about the merged office's new location.
