I moved desks... again, which is exciting I suppose except for one thing. When I arrived at my new cube it took me all of two tenths of a second to notice a tone. A tone of the kind that catches the material my head is made of and reverberates infinitely there in a way only physics can explain. A tone that has the potential to drive one mad. After a few frenzied moments in search of its source, I discovered it and resigned myself to the sad truth. The tone would remain. And not only that, but it creates a kind of "white noise" effect around my little space so that when others walk by muttering salutations, or grumblations I find that I hear nothing.
So to ensure that I don't grow even more mad than I already seem to be, I came up with a quick solution.
24-hour NPR program stream.
It's great. They repeat themselves quite a bit, but it's much better than the alternative, and I find that I can repeat news tidbits with almost 100% accuracy by the end of the day.
On Mondays I treat myself to the previous week's episode of Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! (Hang
with me here, I have a point... of sorts) where they cited a study that said that those that blog about their personal lives and woes are happier than those who do not (we can thank Wait, Wait for this kind of random, lacking-in-the-repeatability-area, study).So, here goes:
When people say, "Everyone has these kinds of anxieties..." I wish they would elaborate.
And there you have it. I'm testin' the theory.
By the way, someone mentioned also (on NPR) that people with jobs, even if they aren't the best fit, are happier than those who do not. And at the end of the day, I'm extremely grateful for my job.
Thanks, NPR for saving me from madness.
7 comments:
I'd feel better if you were listening to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity.
Josh loves Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
Thanks for reminding me that I really am glad I have a job even though I spend 95% of my life grading and I hate it. I think in the end I'd probably hate life more if I didn't have a job.
Still, I think I'd really like a different job.
Are you going to watch ANTM this season? It starts Wed!
I enjoy myself a little NPR every once and a while. Sounds like you've found a great way to keep the white noise out. At some point, you may find that you have too much radio and will have to switch to music. I've had to do that lately. I needed a break (I knew all of the hosts names, what times the traffic was given, and hearing the latest news reel several times during the evening took a toll). You'll have to tell me how it goes. Don't you wish you had a little Doug Wright and some 1160 jingles to go along with your workday? heehee
I can totally see you as an NPR-addict. I, myself, am an email addict.
Nathan and I finally found the NPR station in UT and have been followers ever since. Too bad you're probably not there during Prairie Home Companion-I think that's in the evening.
If you get tired of NPR, I once listened to this over and over and over again for the whole work day as an experiment.
http://www.rathergood.com/independent_woman
And I didn't go crazy or nothin'.
there's also the free 'This American Life' podcast. we're big fans as you know. NPR has been a good commuting buddy for me too.
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