Morning conversations

I got to sleep in a little this morning, since I had an early meeting at a place half-way between home and work and would meet my team there. I was nonetheless groggy--just like people who exercise tend to overcompensate with food later, I react to the knowledge that I'll have another hour to sleep with a tendency to stay up later... and it backfires just as much, since I wake up around the same time anyway. In any case, I came downstairs just as RM was setting up the coffeemaker, and I actually asked him whether he'd make me a cup. He said he'd be very happy to, and indeed, he seemed thrilled to be in the position of being able to help me out. The coffee hit the spot, and I resolved to be more tolerant of his quirks (but not genuine annoyances). So it was that I shrugged off a comment earlier this evening about "learning from me" about eating healthy-- I got a McD's coupon book in the mail and offered it to him rather than sending it straight to the recycle bin. I asked whether he ever ate there, and he said he used to but now he's learning from me... and I think that's weird. I mean, did he not know before he "learned from me" that eating healthy was an option? What exactly have I taught him? But I digress.

I met my team onsite. G. pointed out her non-matching blazer; she'd spilled "grape" gatorade on the matching one that morning. That's so the kind of thing that I often do, although in my case it would be tea or toothpaste.

After the meeting, we took the metro to the office. It was packed, and I was surprised to see hordes of people get off at Archives. Hordes do not get off at archives between 6-8am. B. pointed out that those were the tourists: their one-day metro passes become active at 9:30, and that's when they flood the system. Thank goodness for that rule, because we don't need more people on the metro during morning rush hour.

G. also said she hated the metro for the germs. I said I hated driving--people here are so crazy and stupid that they're more dangerous than metro germs. Also, with all the horrendous signage, you're prone to getting lost. This sparked a conversation about the worst trouble spots for getting turned around. J. said that there was an article recently about a study that found that someone taking GW Pkwy to Rosslyn (which is one of my frequent routes), going the speed limit, cannot possibly read the signs in time to make a decision as to where to go. He said he'd send it if he manages to find it.

As we walked into our building, I put my suit jacket back on. G. told us that when she worked at Arthur Andersen, the management insisted that suit jackets be on at all times, should a client be present. They also discouraged employees from frequenting fast food restaurants, should they be seen there by clients. I remarked that perhaps the management's efforts would have been more effectively directed toward discouraging employees from helping Enron cook its books.