Volume 48 - May 14th
Everybody's working for the weekend.
Work. Eventually, we’ll all have to go back to it if we’re not already there. Today let’s talk about the thing that keeps money goin’ into the bank.
And no. It’s not Friday yet. I can’t believe it either. I mean, I don’t even work and I’m equally appalled.
Memes! Memes! Memes!
There’s really nothing like workplace memes. I remember cackling with colleagues at many of them back in my office days. Ah, good times… Well, now that we’re all in our own office, here’s some you might need to print and hang on your living room wall just to get that Cube Lyfe Vibe back.
Has your language descended into sailor territory? Maybe you might need to brush up on less sweary ways to tell your colleagues how you feel.
Constantly dealing with a sensitive sod? Perhaps they need to fill out this hurt feelings report and submit it to HR.
With a lot of you now working like I have for years, you’ve taken to making things up like imaginary coworkers to explain who’s been making messes. Just wait. Soon you’ll be getting those imaginary coworkers gifts like I do.
And, of course, this section wouldn’t tick all the boxes if it didn’t include the very popular Conference Call Bingo card.
Eye yai yai!
I don’t know about you, but I definitely felt an increase in my eye strain at the start of Quarantimes. Now that I’m two months in, I’ve got the hang of it. As much as I can, I’ve been wearing my Blue Blockers. No. Not those. THESE. Science says that blue light from our devices negatively impacts our eyes and disrupts our sleep pattern causing us to miss out on good snoozin’ which leads to tiredness which leads to eye strain which…I think you get it. Since so much of our life is now tied to laptops and phones, including our socialization, eye strain has been on the rise. Nearly every eyewear company is now adding blue light blocking properties to their lenses, but you don’t need to spend a fortune to find cute, helpful glasses. Here’s a gaggle of options for every budget.
Who’s Zoomin’ Who?
Zoom. The reason we don’t have to put on real trousers. But while our butts are happy in sweatpants, those video chats are also a pain in the arse. Lately, loads of pals are opting for phone calls over Zooms because we’re all just a bit sick of them and there’s reasons for it. Multiple articles have pointed out that Zoom calls are more exhausting than actual meetings. Why? They’re confusing for our brains because we have to work harder to pick up facial cues, an intrinsic element of human communication. Plus, the delays in feeds, the forced pauses in conversation, and the inability to actually look someone in the eye are all adding to our Zoom weariness. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still love my weekly Zoom pub quiz, but now there’s science based facts as to why not every single call you have needs to be visual so give your brain a break!
Behind The Scenes Stars!
We tour museums quite a bit here in this little newsletter and, in fact, this week is Museum Week! (Hooray museums!) But in our tours, we don’t usually see people. In fact, even when we are in these museums physically we sometimes breeze right past those that help them run. Well, MoMA would like to introduce us to some of their key employees - their guards! Here’s an interview with Chet Gold, a security supervisor and possibly star of a soap opera with a name like that; here’s a collection of security officers talking about their favorite works at the museum; and here’s an interview about guardin’ the Art Institute in Chicago.
Shedd Aquarium, home of the precious perambulating penguins, highlighted some of their behind-the-scenes team in photos on their Twitter. You can find the Curators Corner featured on The British Museum’s YouTube channel wherein curators describe their particular focus and help you understand just what they do. And here’s a very informative playlist of art restoration videos featuring, um, art restorers from The Met.
Yeah, I Kinda Miss Them.
When you work from home and then quarantine comes and you’re suddenly just at home, there’s times when you really miss your colleagues. I miss the inside jokes, the com conversations while we wait for rehearsals to start, and the instant camaraderie with people I’ve just met. Hell, I even miss sleep deprivation, headset headaches, and flat meat! Seth Meyers gets how I feel. He misses people too, but he makes heartwarming video tributes to them. I don’t have that kinda time, or an editor, so to all those who know what I mean when I say the following things, Elzie misses you a whole lot:
Can I get a Tripp pip, standby bananas, Party Bird Island, Irish Sunshine, Poodle, no ducks & swans, I may be drunk on Heineken 0.0 right now, come out of Trevor in lettuce, family sushi dinners, calls from the 90s, Gailfish, hot dog legs, Tricia, this a party, hold up…is that chicken?, Lady Halloween, what a guy, and Toe Hobo.
Yeah. I miss you. And I can’t wait to see you again.
Love,
A