Grand Freakin' Central Station

I should have known it was going to be a long day. It isn't even 3pm, local time. I've had 4 people knock on my door, so far, and 6 or 7 phone calls. Like I said, I should have known it was going to be a long day. When you get three phone calls before 8 am...I should say it was three phone calls from the same person.

Could have been thought of as one long call that got chopped up. Of course, the break in between was long enough for me to take bite out of the breakfast bar, but not enough to gulp it down. *chomp*, *ring*ring* Hi *chomp* how *chomp* can I *chomp* help *swallow* you. Finish call, take next bite, *ring*ring*. I suspected who the caller was the second time, and definitely knew whom it was the third time. I think I used a colorful metaphor before answering the third call...Oh, for the love of Pete! Or something like that.

There's another person who has a bad habit of making several calls to me in a 5 minute period. That one tends to wait til 4 pm or later to do so.

Its the people who knock on the door that really kill me. Some knock so softly that I wonder if I'm hearing things. Others knock so hard that I think there's a crowd of Orcs, and a Nazgûl awaiting the great battering ram Grond to batter the door into oblivion.

Since these folks want something from me, they have various strategies in asking in a manner that will give them the best chance of success. Ok, I do that, too. But going on a long-winded, 5 minute description of the back story usually gets me to the point of cut to the chase and tell me what you effin' want! Even if what they want to tell me is the server is on fire! Ummm, why didn't you just say so?

That's particularly annoying when I've stopped working on something that requires concentration - like writing a program - to listen to a soliloquy that goes on an on. Just ask me the question so I can cut to the chase and say NO!

Of course, there's always someone who mixes the incessant phone calls with the knocks on the door. So I'll get 3 knocks on my door in a 10 minute span from the same person. There are days I wish I had the Jason style hockey mask so I can display my true feelings on my face and yet not show them to the world.