I Often Wonder....

Golden Gate Bridge
Originally uploaded by EdnPHX.

I often wonder if Emily Post would have written a book for “Polite Rules for Conference Calls”. I’m currently sitting in my San Francisco office on a conference call. I’m merely on this call for observation, and to make sure that no one is doing anything illegal Human Resources wise. Unfortunately the guy talking on this call is the most insanely boring monotonous Indian guy you have ever heard. So imagine: a thick accented and monotone voice talking about some technology issue. It’s enough to make you jump off the Golden Gate Bridge (at least here in SF). There’s about 9 people on this call, and each person is doing SOMETHING not very polite. For example, there’s one person, who we’ll call Edie the Eater. She’s talking on the call chomping on her breakfast of Crunchy Crunch Bark and Styrofoam cereal. I can tell by the annoying crunching that people in Nevada can hear…cause it’s so damn loud. I guess she never heard of the saying “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Another person, who I like to call Tim the Typer, seems to love beating up his keyboard to the point I can hear the plastic flying off the computer. I know he’s not taking notes on the meeting, I suspect he’s chatting with his next trick on AOL or some other instant messaging service. You can just tell, short bursts of typing and then short pauses. I suspect his screen name would be TIMTOPTYPER4U. It’s called the mute button, buddy. Then there’s my favorite “impolite” conference caller: Trish the Telecommuter. Since when does a conference call involve having your 3 month old on the phone with you? This baby was crying like it was being shaken by a British nanny. Then of course her dog was barking in the background, and the doorbell rang twice. I think the cable guy was installing in a new cable box and the other one was Fed Ex dropping off a package. The fact that I even KNOW this is a sad example of how annoying it was to have her on the call. Of course, there was also a person on a cell phone at the airport, who was leaving for flight 149 to New York on American Airlines. I know cause it sounded like the gate agent was announcing the flight on the phone, it was so loud. SO now, I have the incredible urge to announce “Will all off you rude people, please MUTE your lines so I don’t have to hear your business!!??” ERRR….freakin’ annoying!!!

Having a great time, otherwise, here in SF. The weather here has been insanely beautiful: 80 and sunny. The weekend was wonderful. Paul and I tore up the town on Friday night and Saturday. Visited a number of watering holes and just an all around fun time. Paul is a great friend to have in such a fabulous city. He knows SO much about SF and is able to maneuver the city like a well oiled machine. He is the ultimate guide to SF, and I consider myself lucky to have him as a good friend. Friday we went to a club called 8. We had a great time. Good drinks great music, but a lot of Asians. And let me tell you, these Asians were quite forward….my ass was grabbed way too many times. They must have a thing for 6’3 Midwestern guys. One practically tore my jeans. I was a bit PO’ed on that, but I think he got the idea that I wasn’t into Asians. Now if he was a hunky Italian? Well, that would be a different story.

Sunday we ran away to Sonoma to escape the city. Paul had use of a fabulous Mercedes SLK 2 door convertible. Top down, driving in wine country, perfect weather, sun shining,…..I mean, could it get any better? I just needed a pair of Jackie O’s and a long white scarf flowing in the wind….too glamorous. We also had use of his friend’s house in wine country, which included a huge pool. So there was 4 of us up there and laid out by the pool, and had a fair share amount of beer. It was just wonderful. The drive back was amazing as the sun was setting and as we drove over the Golden Gate the moon was full, and hanging low just over the city. It was like a post card. I do love this city. Very romantic.

Well, it’s back to PHX, and looking forward to the sunny weather, and the Taylor Dane concert I’ll be attending on Friday. Should have lots to write about that.