When the going gets tough...

When the going gets tough, the tough take on a slightly hysterical giggly edge. Here is my favorite image for high-stress times (if you read this blog you've seen it before):

Yep, that says it all. Laugh at the picture. Then really look at it and try to figure out why someone in a full Darth Vader costume is at the beach. Laugh some more. Then wonder why he's filtering water into a non-beverage-container bottle - that shape looks like a vinegar or ammonia bottle to me. Not ridiculous enough? Did I mention it's Darth Vader? Standing in the ocean? Did anyone tell him that Brita filters don't remove salt? Is the person in the photo doing this out of necessity or were they inventive enough to think this was a good photo op? I'm always laughing out loud by this point and whatever my problems are seem farther away.

So what's my problem that made me pull out my Sense picture? My company is "restructuring" the entire Marketing department. For anyone who's worked in a big corporation, you know what that means. Because the new positions don't quite align with our current ones (some are eliminated, some are meldings of 2 current positions) they decided the best way to handle it was to "eliminate" all of us and have us apply for the open positions. I updated my resume today, always an embarrassing thing to summarize your current job for your current employer. Interviews are next week. Everyone has told me not to worry, that I'll be hired for the position I apply for. What has me stressed is that the new position is one of the melded ones, so I'll have a much higher workload. And the threat of more travel looming. My current rate of travel is 2 weeks traveling, 1 week home. I'm trying to get it shifted to alternating travel weeks, but stuff keeps popping up at the last minute. I'm still home for most weekends, but not sure how much longer I can keep this pace.  Think I'll just stare at my Sense picture some more.

Do I win a prize?

We got a fresh batch of samples to test at work yesterday. Someone said one of them had orange string in it, and showed it around while people tried to guess what the item actually was. I thought it looked pink, not orange, and could be a strand of bubble gum. After we had our fun guessing someone opened it and rooted around until they found the "orange string". And lo & behold it WAS a piece of pink gum, maybe Trident from the size. I threw my arms up in victory and cheered. Yeah, it was one of those days at the end of a long week where everyone is a bit more overwhelmed than they can handle and things get silly.

I do have a disturbingly accurate rate of guessing foreign objects in samples. Maybe it's my deductive reasoning that helps me recreate the whole picture in my mind and not be swayed by misleading evidence. Maybe it's just years of experience. But ultimately - Why? Why do I have both the skill and perverse desire to figure out what things are? It's always a little thrill when you realize what you've found, but egads, who really needs this?

(I reread my post and think it's "safe" unless you know exactly where I work)