— पांच हजार एक सौ —
Okay! The photos are uploaded and tagged—though not captioned—from yesterday's PCC Ugly Holiday Sweater Brunch—you can find the full photo album on Flickr
here. Counting a gif I made of Kwanteria out of two photos I took and then uploaded as its own image (you will plainly see that below), I kept 30 of the shots I took yesterday. Another 8 shots start the album, mostly of when Tracy and I decorated the Christmas Tree she brought to put on the desk space between our two desks, pushing the full album shot count up to 38. That doesn't break any records but it does make it
one of the larger of my PCC Holiday Party albums from through the years.
I just took a break from writing this to write up the history notes on that collection page dedicated to the holiday-party history at work. I feel it needs clarification on the twists and turns of its history, given that company-wide holiday parties occurred 2003-2007; we only had parties within our department 2008-2011 (although in 2011 we did one combined with Marketing); and we did none at all 2012-2015, until we moved to the new office location in 2016 which provided us with amble space to have an informal office gathering
every December, and really we haven't skipped a single year since. Last year, granted, nothing was in-person, but we still managed
two virtual holiday parties last December, one for the whole office and one for the Merchandising department, both of which I deeply appreciated.
A certain irony is only just occurring to me now. We moved to this new location in 2016 because our office on Roosevelt Way in the U District was bursting at the seams; we had needed a larger space for several years by that point. And now, even though we had five years as Cate the CEO being adamantly against anyone working from home, the pandemic in 2020 forced her hand on that point, and we all discovered that by and large working remotely was quite easily done in a pinch. We're currently in a mode where so many people quite prefer working remotely (even setting aside any virus worries) that this office has far more space than we can fill. Cate had told us in 2016 that we had signed a 10-year lease at a fantastic rate for this space, and the increasing consensus is that we will have to relocate again when the lease is up. Presumably that takes us to 2026 and right now we're halfway through that lease, and there's really no telling where we'll be in 2026. Probably the pandemic will finally be history, by and large, but who knows what kind of environmental and/or political bullshit will be swirling around the country at that point, two years into the next presidential term. I kind of shudder to think, honestly.
Whatever the case, I'd love to
not have to relocate again, but who knows. Even if most people are back to working at the office regularly, in all probability the rent here will get jacked up when the lease ends, which alone may force our hand. Time will tell.
In the meantime, I remain delighted to be able to work at the office every day again, as I have been doing since June 25, and the depths of my appreciation for the return of both a "PCC Harvest Potluck" in November and this new version of a December holiday event cannot be overstated—how many fewer people are willing or able to attend notwithstanding. I still get a gathering, I still get pictures, and I get this delightful gif of Kwanteria, who was so taken with it when I emailed it to her that she actually replied, "I've officially made it, I'm a gif!"
— पांच हजार एक सौ —
Yesterday's event was officially a potluck, as well as a "Secret Santa" gift exchange (a later addition to the proceedings that was Kwanteria's idea, she ran it by me, and I told her it was a great idea) and an "Ugly Holiday Sweater" brunch.
Click here to get the full view of the holiday sweater I wore, which also came with matching socks (deliberately visible in the photo), actually sent to Noah by the probiotic drinks brand KeVita a couple of weeks ago, and he gave it to me. You can also see part of it I the shot below with Tracy.
When Kwanteria was very first planning this event, I had talked to Karen about it on one of our virtual lunches, and she mentioned the couple of Christmases ago that Anita got everyone a gawdy Christmas sweater as a gift. She showed me a photo of them all in them, which was hilarious, and we determined that hers might actually fit me and I could borrow it if I needed to for this party. (I never wore a holiday sweater at any of the previous incarnations of this event, as I have never owned one.) And that was indeed my plan, until Noah regifted the KeVita sweater to me.
I can't say I think this sweater is "ugly." It actually has very nice colors and design that I looked great in. It is, however, sort of baffling, and maybe weirdly cheesy in a subversively capitalistic way. It's really just a walking advertisement, plus no one I asked could confidently say what the fuck that cartoon character on the sweater is supposed to be. I actually found a
post on Kevita's Instagram account featuring the creature, and posted a comment asking if they can tell me what it is. As of my writing this, they have not responded. I eagerly await their response.
As for the potluck, although I baked blueberry raspberry banana bread for the November potluck, I decided participating in the Secret Santa would be enough for this one. I already wrote about shopping around with Tracy last weekend, looking for gifts for the new Produce Operations Manager named Tyler, and finally settling on a 3-pack of doughnut shaped chew toys for this three Dachshunds. I had it wrapped and ready on my desk since Monday, and I set it out with
the rest of the presents when the event started. But, I learned from Adrienne when I came in this morning, Tyler never actually made it to the party yesterday. I did meet his new counterpart in the Meat Department, the Meat Operations Manager named Jeff, and Adrienne told me they often go out to stores together so he probably took the gift to him. I'm kind of wondering now how he liked the gift, and I may just never know.
I don't even know what the traditional rules are of "Secret Santa," anyway. Do people typically tell each other who the gifts are from once they are exchanged? I get the feeling they do; Adrienne immediately let me know that
she had
drawn my name—and she did a fantastic job with her gift, I must say. The "daily desktop calendar of sarcasm" could not be more perfect, and I love both the intent and the apparent mistake of the chocolates: she thought she was getting me the Toasted Corn Flakes flavored Tcho Chocolate and
Earl Grey flavored Leith Chocolate, as a theme to reflect my morning regimen of getting cereal and tea. She only discovered when she got home, though, that she accidentally grabbed the
Gin and Tonic flavor of Leith Chocolate. But whatever, I love cocktails, am not averse to them in the morning (okay, I don't do that at work), so it works! Even though I truly hate gin but whatever. Maybe the chocolate still tastes fine. I still haven't tried it yet.
Kwanteria, as the Receptionist, was a bit part of planning both last month's and this event, but she's only going through that process just this once: she shifted positions and is now in the Social and Environmental Responsibility ("SER") department, leaving the duties for next year handed down to Mel, our new, gender-neutral receptionist. (Mel is a perfect name for such a person, I think.) Mel seems to be pretty enthusiastic about taking the controls for next year, and much as I did for Kwanteria, I sent them brief(ish) overviews and links to my long history of records of these events. For now, though, since Kwanteria started the planning before getting the new position, followed through with finishing them, and she did a fantastic job. She kept talking about how much she appreciated everyone coming but that also "I'm never doing this again."
I have a feeling Mel will do just fine. In the meantime, I have new memories to cherish, including several unforgettable dishes (including a "bananas foster French toast casserole" Kwanteria made that was otherworldly), which leaves me heartwarmed in a way I really missed last year.
— पांच हजार एक सौ —
[posted 12:29 pm]
