They can't take that away from me

Gosh, has it really been that long? I could have sworn I wrote a couple of posts in the last month, but I must have just thought them. Insert other mumbling apologies of your choice here.

Well, something just happened that might mean I'm here a bit more often. The chess site that I'm quite fond of going to at lunchtime in order to unwind seems to have been blocked by work. This has thrown me a bit. Yes, we have an internet policy that says the internet is primarily for work-related activities (duh), but as I had understood it, there was an allowance for reasonable non-work usage. And I would have thought that playing chess in a break was perfectly reasonable, if not downright beneficial.

Despite that, it seems it's allowable to while away the hours in what is essentially an online diary.

And yes, I will admit that very occasionally I would sneak a peek during the 'unofficial' breaks for morning tea and afternoon tea. I'm not a robot. Some days I can plough through my work and concentrate intensely, other days I can't. I still turn up and do the best I can.

It's official. It's now less enjoyable to work here.

So, the question becomes, what do I do during lunchtime? One of the attractions of using the internet at lunchtime is that it's possible to eat AND do something else at more or less the same time. I could go for walks I suppose - although there really isn't anywhere to walk to around here, so it would be a case of going through the motions purely for their own sake - but munching a sandwich at the same time will be tricky. There aren't many pleasant spots to go and sit to eat - park benches are virtually non-existent.

I could drive places and soak up half of the hour either being in traffic or looking for a parking spot (at both ends of the journey - even though I'm located in an isolated area, I'm stuck here with thousands of other people in the same situation), polluting the atmosphere and nourishing neither my mind or body. Yay.

I could eat my sandwich while staring blankly into space. The human screensaver.

Or, I could sit here and type. At least, I can until they decide to block Blogger as well. I'm sure it will come to that.

Sigh.