It's that time of year.....

No- not "The Most Wonderful" as that old song would have one believe-

For me, personally- the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" would probably be the opening day of NFL season, or something like that- Not saying this is the worst time of the year- but, as I've previously stated the last couple years- the 13 days between my birthday, Christmas and New Year's Eve/ Day are hardly the greatest of the year, either- there's no particular bad story/ painful family memory/ whatever behind it- Yeah- I have the literal "two gloves, one for your birthday, one for Christmas" story for the season from a family friend when I turned 13, the fact the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" has quantified the day before my birthday (19 December) as the "height of holiday spirit" (due to some sort of promotion for a programming marathon) and others- But, to some degree, I've grown to appreciate a birthday that flies under the radar- No big deal about it most years- no fake spectacle or any of that type shit

But, I digress- the "time of year" I refer to is the Work Holiday Party Season- which had its '08-09 personal debut for me Wednesday night at the site I work at (as part of a contractor deal)- There was a short stretch where tonight's mirth was supposedly canceled- along with the actual company party for the one I'm on the payroll for that was 86'ed last summer - But, as luck would have it- the actual worksite party was re-instated and held 17 December and the payroll one has been tentatively put back on the docket for some point in January- though the silence since the initial announcement of the festivities - and lack of follow-up on announced fundraising/ shakedown from certain members of the organization for it- has led some (most) to think (hope) the company party may still be mothballed

I think the most current metamorphisis of the Work Holiday Party seems to have been borne out of Soviet-era Russia or whatever countries were held sway under the old communist bloc- Rules translated from Russian, German or Polish like "You may have as much fun as possible- but only 3 drinks from the coupons we provided - No more!"- a good idea for some- especially since I've worked long enough at my place to recall the year when one guy brought the Colombian equivalent of moonshine to a crowd that seemed more out to get wasted on the company dime than have a good time- That particular year- I was personally stunned- when I went to work the next day with the shame of thinking I was one of the worst drunks the night before- drank a lot and must have accidentally ingested something I was allergic to or whatever- found out I would have been no better than 7th or 8th on a Top 10 list of such- had it been officially compiled

Anyhow- aside from a couple consecutive years I imbibed- about 4-5 years back now- I've either gone totally straight-edge or nearly so (no more than a beer or two) during the worksite party- seems to make no difference- I'm just as miserable after two drinks in some settings as I'd be with zero or twenty- especially since I've actually been working all the years I've cited- sauce or not- Days like today (17 December) where I'd be miserable if it was a regular other-51-weeks-of-the-year-Wednesday without the festivities of my cohorts at work

I was in a rather miserable mood throughout tonight's festivities- just not in a great mood in general- aside from extra work involved for the work bacchanaila- Had back-to-back-to-back piss-poor rides to/ from work- that included usual unbelievably late-season Boston-area road/ utility work, me actually flipping someone off on the highway- I usually shy away from that- always think of the LA freeway shootings of 20 years ago or so- did it after some guy flipped me off when I thought the 'Yield' sign he blew past to almost side-swipe me as I was in travel lane- applied to him- I slowed down to drive next to them to do it back to him as I exited a bit down the road- went home during 2-3 inch December snow that seemed to confound local drivers/ snow-removal efforts- then was followed-up with today's trip- where I was so nearly T-boned while making a left turn Wednesday afternoon- I had to pull onto the sidewalk of the intersection I was at- after having what seemed like the optical illusion of something still coming towards me when it shouldn't be- being piloted by someone on a fucking cell phone- great time

In conclusion, I hope not to repeat last year's experience where I was at about 4 work galas- between the company I work for and the places I've worked at- I also hope nothing will top last year's tiara-wearing ersatz high-school prom court from one of them- still one of the more unbelievable things I've seen that did not instigate some sort of class conflict or some sort of chair-throwing incident

Random Thoughts
-No one under 35 has a good or logical reason to ever listen to the Eagles of their own volition- I was 6 when "Hotel California" came out and older brothers/ sisters owned it- and I still side with the Dude (from "The Big Lebowski") and "hate the fucking Eagles" as the Dude says- heard some younger people blasting it recently and could not believe it- not cool by any measure- though I shudder to think they could be the "next Journey" among the young people- another band I hated when they were current and became sort of nostalgia act