Flickr Photo of the Day

Source: Flickr

In this tough economy, many of us may be looking for additional streams of income. This need for more money in a down economy is creating a new trend now called “daylighting.” “Daylighting” is the act of trying to work two jobs into one shift. Moonlighting by day, as it were — as a hedge against a sagging economy or to maintain their style of living. Some workers do it with the approval of their superiors. But many do it in defiance of company policy.

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“Daylighting” growing among those needing to earn more money - KSDK

Flickr Photo of the Day

Source: Flickr

Many of the quirky and historic spaces are in House office buildings because the Senate is just too, well, senatorial for people to work in elevator shafts and bathrooms. There was a short time when bathrooms were converted into office space in the Senate office buildings. Toilets and sinks were covered, but that situation didn’t last long. Associate Senate Historian Donald Ritchie says there just aren’t too many odd spots left on the Senate side.

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Quirky offices emerge in full Capitol - Politico.com

Watching back to back commercials for Frost/Nixon and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (which opens in theaters today), I mentioned to my husband that it was amazing that the guy wearing the floppy ‘do and sideburns in the former could also be the raging muscular werewolf in the latter. He asked me what I was talking about, that there was no way they were the same actor. I had to go to IMDb.com to prove I was right.

That’s a credit to the chameleonic (and awesomely hairpieced) Michael Sheen, who currently plays David Frost in Frost/Nixon (a role he played on Broadway) and also stars as the lycan Lucian in Underworld (a role he played in the other two films alongside his ex, Kate Beckinsale, with whom he has a daughter. Ironically, Kate is now married to Underworld 1 & 2’s director Len Wiseman. That had to be a little awkward). Sheen also received a lot of acclaim playing Tony Blair to Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth II in the terrific The Queen. He’ll have to get used to the heavy makeup; Sheen will next play the Cheshire Cat in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Here’s Sheen as Frost:

And Sheen as Lucian:

Yep, same guy.

We all complain from time to time about work and the people we have to work with, no doubt. But it’s another thing altogether to feel threatened with unemployment. Although it’s no laughing matter, your boss may be acting funny for a reason. Take a look at some of the following humorous, yet scary signs that may indicate that the ride is nearing an end.

Creation of More Social Events at Work

These are those awkward gathering we’ve all come to know as “office mixers.” A sad attempt at a non-alcoholic cocktail party, trying to boost morale with cookies and punch just isn’t gonna cut it.

Increasingly More Casual Environment

You’ve been asking for it for years — and now everyone can wear flip flops to work. Hey — what just happened? If you find yourself looking like a fourteen year old skater punk at the office, you should wonder what’s going on.

More Contests

You know them, you love to hate them — contests! Yes, this week it’s who’s going to call in sick the most or cash out their vacation pay. When you start having arbitrary contests all the time, start working on your resume.

Your Boss Listens to your Crazy Ideas

Again, he or she used to say no for a valid reason. Try throwing out the most random thing and pitch it to your boss as an idea. If they smile and are looking like they’ll consider it, you know something’s up.

They’re Overly Nice to You

Hey, what’s going on here? The boss just remembered your name, patted you on the back, and tried to get to know you better. What are they up to anyway? Unless this is a commonplace occurrence, which it likely isn’t, this is a sign of the apocalypse. Go straight to your cubicle and start searching craigslist for your future’s sake.

New Faces

Unless you are living in a vacuum and work for the best company ever, you know that new faces asking questions is usually a bad sign. For more examples, watch Office Space. Consultant is Latin for “the guy who wants to lay you off today.”

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the job search. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com.

They’re probably on your office phone right now. They may even be on your keyboard and mouse. And your co-worker in the cubicle next door? He might have them, too. They’re germs. And this time of year, you are probably exposed to them all over the workplace. Here are some reminders from the American Industrial Hygiene Association to help you prevent the spread of flu and other communicable diseases at the office.

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Don’t share germs with co-workers - St. Petersburg Times

This year we are planning a remodel for our living room. Basically demo the whole thing and start over. Our inspiration for the room is a new 52 inch Sony Bravia flat screen TV. Ahhh, so exciting. Can’t wait until the room is finished so we can get it! Except my husband decided to buy it early. Like at Christmas. Well, there were some amazing sales, so it was a smart buy, but now where do we put it?

He started asking where we should set it up until the living room is done and I suggested that we just leave it in the box. Of course that was a ridiculous recommendation. The only logical location was the office, so I agreed.

I was at work when it arrived and I had kind of forgotten how big it was. When I stepped into the doorway of the office, where my husband was happily “working” while watching TV, I almost died. The thing was bigger than the desk! Not to mention that the couch was only about three feet from the screen.

I had to train my eyes to handle the enormous HD images by allowing only brief viewings for the first few days until I worked up enough optic strength for a feature length blu-ray.

For now we are camping out in the office, watching movies and munching on popcorn while we wait for our finished living room. Until then, we have our own little movie theater. It’s a little cramped with the two of us, the dog, and all the furniture, but it’s pretty fun.

Today in the Times, Michiko Kakutani has put a Presidential reading list together, along with a little analysis of Obama as a writer and a reader (”Mr. Obama tends to take a magpie approach to reading — ruminating upon writers’ ideas and picking and choosing those that flesh out his vision of the world or open promising new avenues of inquiry.”), so I thought I’d put a reading list together here in one place, based on her research and ours, to kick off inauguration week:

Fiction:

• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (a favorite of John McCain’s too)
• The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (I didn’t know about that one)
• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Poetry:

• Collected Poems, 1948-1984 by Derek Walcott
• American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander (his inaugural poet)

Drama:

• Shakespeare’s Tragedies

History:

• Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan
• The Defining Moment: FDR’s One Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by Jonathan Alter
• FDR by Jean Edward Smith
• Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch
• Lincoln’s speeches and writings (see volumes one and two)

Essays and Autobiography:

• Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• An Autobiography by Gandhi

Current Events:

• The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
• Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
• Unequal Democracy by Larry Bartels

Theology:

• The Bible (I’m not sure which edition he prefers, so I’m linking to this ecumenical one)
• Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr (a new edition of The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr is coming out in February)
• Confessions by St. Augustine