I hope your afternoon is trucking along quite nicely. I’m PUMPED that it’s Friday. Yeehaw!
I was also quite pumped to dig into my lunch this afternoon because it contained two of my favorite foods… Carba nada noodles and clams!
Clamy Noodle Bowl
Ever since I saw a man chowing down on linguine with clam sauce when I picked up a pizza at Pizzeria Del Dio last week, I’ve been craving the pasta + shellfish combination.
Lunchtime!
I paired about two servings of Carba Nada pasta with fresh spinach, marinara sauce and a can of clams and dug in.
(Newer readers: I am not watching my carbs. I just have a very special place in my heart for Carba Nada noodles because they taste ah-maze-ing and have 12 grams of protein per serving. 10 points!)
I inhaled this noodle bowl while editing my life away.
My job typically includes some editing, but the last few days of this week have been consumed by editing, which I find more draining (and boring) than writing. (Hence the occasional typo you see here on PBF that I then find two days later that makes me want to cry and smack myself in the eyeball.)
You guys know I usually like to keep things positive up in here, but I’ll never forget the hilarity that ensued when I asked you about your pet peeves a while ago, so I figured I’d ask you another semi-negative question today to see what you’ve got…
What is the worst task you’ve ever had to do in a job?
I’d say driving around in a Shamu car was pretty humiliating, but cleaning locker rooms at the local pool when I was a lifeguard was n-a-s-t-y. Oh, and filing press/media clippings makes me want to pass out.
P.S. The Fashion page was updated!
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hmmm
definitely firing employees, not fun! 🙁
Setting mole traps when I was a working student at a horse farm in British Columbia. Yup, I’m a vegetarian.
ahhh!
I worked in an immunology lab extracting bone marrow from mice one summer. In order to extract the bone marrow you first have to kill the mice…well, actually you first have to anesthetize them and then take their legs off but keep them technically alive. It. Was. Awful. I, too, am a vegetarian and cried almost every day. i know it was for research and helped children with asthma and all, but oh gosh did I hate it. After that I decided I did NOT want to get my PHD after all.
Wow… i can not imagine doing that, I wouldn’t be able to do it!!! Could you have refused??
I was a waitress/hostess at a breakfast joint in high school, and the worst task EVER was cleaning the menus at the end of the day. First of all, it was the end of the day, so I just wanted to get the heck out of there. And second, there is nothing worse than getting someone else’s sticky syrup all over your hands and clothes. I have no idea how people would get that much food onto their menus, but it was gross.
ewww that reminds me of when i worked as a hostess at applebee’s and we’d have to wipe down the tables with the SAME wet rag all day long… and then the next day, too. it was never cleaned. SO, SO gross.
Hmmm… cleaning the grill when I was bartending at a golf course probably tops the list. Afterwards, you smell like grease/hamburgers/B.O. Not fun!
In my office jobs, any type of data entry takes the cake. One time I had to manually enter 200+ contacts from a bridal show . Talk about mind-numbing! 😯
Worst task probably was probably cleaning the gym locker room when I was a welcome team member. Amazing what a mess grown women can make and not even care.
I’m a Ph.D. student in biology, and sometimes I have to do experiments with mice. They are the pits! They bite ya 🙁
OK this is going to sound bad, but worst task ever would be helping children with their winter gear (I just graduated with my teaching degree). Don’t get me wrong, I love kids – they are fun, hilarious, my days were never the same or boring, but in the winter it’s cold, and they use their sleeves to wipe their noses, and then they’re like, ‘can you help me roll up my sleeves/take off my coat/put my mitts on?’ (we’re talking 5 year olds here). And then their sleeves are all snotty and it’s just…so…gross! I caught the worst flu bugs/colds of my life while teaching.
Ech! I taught preschool for a little while and all of that snotty bodily fluid-y nastiness is just SO AWFUL! I feel ya on that one!
6 words for you: Party City. Halloween Season. Clown Costume.
you win.
My first job was at Dairy Queen, and the worst job was cleaning the deep fryer!!! Bleeeeeech, so greasy!
Where do you find Carba Nada’s Julie, do you order them online?
online! i order them through netrition.com – though i’ve heard that the fresh market stores carry them, too!
I worked at a teacher supply store and we had ROWS AND ROWS of charts/posters- from multiplication tables to “busriders vs car riders.” I mean, hundreds and hundreds (I guess that would be thousands.) Every now and then, my boss got the bright idea to reorganize them- I think I did it four times in the three years I worked that. I didn’t really mind the organization, but it was a HUGE time-suck and you would always find one more Shakespeare stack right after you transitioned into science or something. Even worse- doing inventory in that store!
However, I really did LOVE working there 😀
Oh man, I had to WALK up and down the West Side Highway in nyc, from 59th st down to Battery Park (about a 5 mile stretch), it’s and record on this little computer where EVERY single manhole was. It took months and I had to be out there in all sorts of extreme weather. It was absolutely horrible. To top it off, I had to wear a fluorescent yellow reflective vest 🙁
omg, this made me laugh out loud.
it sounds like some kind of fraternity hazing activity!
I’m glad it can at least provide an entertaining story….but it was so traumatizing, it was probably worse than fraternity hazing.
And to top it off I had this disgusting, creepy boss (think Milton the stapler guy from Office Space but with like 90% less social skills) and he was overweight and clumsy and he would always try to climb on top of the median and stuff and like almost fall over. I thought for sure he’d get hit by a car before we finished.
i have to read your blog. you’re freakin’ hysterical!
Hehe, thanks 🙂 I’m afraid I don’t always insert humor into my blog since I’m always scrambling to get the recipes made and posted in a timely manner so sometimes it’s just the basics…tho I try. But I do hope you’ll come check it out!
I honestly don’t know how you find the time to get so much done in your life! It’s really impressive that you wake up SO early to get in a good workout, walk your precious pup, eat a healthy breakfast, and still have time to blog. It’s amazing. I read your blog regularly and love it 🙂
Wiping handprints and butt-prints off tanning bed acrylics….enough said.
LOL!
Ahhh! I did the SAME thing in college!
I could not get over how people couldn’t at least wipe the sweat off when they left, they were given a towel! It was so disturbing!
We also had an old man that would come in, tan, then CLIP HIS TOE NAILS and leave them. After I figured put who was doing it, I made my boss tell him that if he did it again, he would not be allowed to tan there. So nasty.
Yes!!! Omg people would leave PUDDLES of sweat even though there were stacks of towels…no shame! And that is repulsive..we used to have people that would pee in the trash cans in the rooms. Disgusting.
When I was working as an intern and PA in the film industry I had to find the weirdest things at all hours:
-prescription for antibiotics for a talent’s dog
-life size raggedy ann doll at 3am in NYC
-a horse small enough to fit in a bathtub
Once I had to coordinate 7 mini coopers driving in a line around Columbus Circle in New York. That was stressful and one of the cars got into an accident.
It’s a weird business!
…a horse small enough to fit in a bathtub?
Deep-cleaning days when I was waitressing during college. Bleh. We even had a cleaning crew but once a month or so, the waitstaff had the pleasure of turning the lights up (normally a moody, dim place) and rolling the tables out, lifting bench cushions out, taking pictures off the wall, etc. OH EM GEE it was gross. How things even got in places or what they originally were, I have no idea. I “had class” most of those nights, lol.
I was a host at a chain restaurant in high school. I was often force to clean the bathrooms. They were known for serving people too much alcohol. I more than once refused to clean up vomit in the bathroom. And that’s why I decided to go to college 😉
My worst task was also when I was a hostess at a big chain restaurant. It was our responsibility to do basic (and I stress basic!) bathroom checks… restock toilet paper, fill soap dispensers, ensure there are paper towels, etc. We had to do the men’s room as well.
Anyway, one Friday (probably a hockey night) I was re-stocking the men’s room when I noticed that somebody shat IN THE URINAL!! My manager was expecting me to clean it up, but luckily I knew what was expected of me and what wasn’t, so I just about walked out of there. He ended up being the one to deal with the mess! 🙂
Although, I guess it was an “almost-task” since I never actually did it…
Oh yes, that happened there as well. People are gross!!
ew. ew. ew.
Yes, that’s beyond the call of doody (DUTY, get it?? 😉 ).
Hehe! Clever. 🙂 That’s exactly how I should have phrased it to my manager…
It would have to be when I was hired on as a “communications coordinator” and found out about two days in that I was actually just a hyped up assistant. I basically had to book this really mean Executive’s world wide flights all day long and then have him call me up in between countries (sometimes two-three per day) screaming the f-word at me that his layovers were too short or his flights/seats weren’t up to par, etc. I only stayed there a month … and walked out of the building and OUT of corporate life all together after that.
yup. i was an “activities coordinator” and i had to deal with the same b.s. my boss was a big bitch.
wow, we might have worked at the same place. I feel your pain.
Probably cleaning the popcorn machine when I worked the concession stand of a movie theatre. I had to do it every night I worked, and I never wanted to go out after, because I felt so sticky and gross from the oil in that machine.
I worked at a gas station when I was 16 and whoever closed that night had to clean the bathrooms. Clean the bathrooms at a gas stations?! No Thank You. Every night I would bargain with my coworker, which usually meant that I did all of the other 12 jobs we had to do just so I didn’t have to be the one to clean the toilets. gross.
Frying bacon at a golf course! Lakes of grease.. I can’t eat bacon anymore!! Haha. The huge tub of “heavy duty” mayonnaise wasn’t my favorite either! 😀 Happy Friday!!
PS- what kind of makeup do you wear?? It always looks great!
thank you! check out “my makeup routine” post on the “favs” page!
I was a temp one summer in college and on one assignment I ended up at a very small office that produced health videos and shipped them to customers. One day the mid 20’s age guy who was in charge of me told me that they had lost the script for one of their videos and they needed me to watch it and write down word for word everything in the video. The subject? Erectile Dysfunction! At the time I thought nothing of it (although totally embarassed) but in the years since I wonder if they were pulling a prank on me….
hahahahahahhaa
Copies! I.HATE.MAKING.COPIES. It’s the worst when you have to remove staples, make sure you keep all the papers in the right order, and then restaple. And don’t even get me started on paper jams!
don’t forget to collate! 😉
Haha. You can tell I’m an accountant and have had a lot of office jobs and not any of these truly “dirty” jobs!
I’d have to say changing diapers from my babysitting days in high school. Now I understand I’ll have to change my children’s diapers some day but that will be different – it’ll be MY kid!
oh my gosh… i suck at editing.. actually I’m fine when its a writing piece. but when i comment on blogs or even write my posts, i totally use improper grammar because I write EXACTLY how i speak!! funky words and high emotions!!
It’s technically not MY worst thing I’ve ever had to do, but I work in cancer research, and our Graphic Designer has literally made a career out of photographing dead animals and tumors. Sick.
Personally, the worst thing I’ve ever been asked to do was just “Call Delta” when there was no flight that fit someone’s work schedule. Oh yes, let me get right on that!
I was a “Safari Guide” (aka waitress) at Rainforest Cafe and sometimes I would have to dress up as Chacha the Tree Frog. This meant hours of mingling with young (and often screaming) children while being stuffed inside a hot and smelly frog suit.
One summer in high school I worked for a company that brought those huge bouncy castles to parties. We had to drag the deflated castles (um, SO heavy), set them up, and then police them to make sure people were being safe. Once, I did it at a July 4th party at the nice country club in my town and saw a bunch of people that I knew partying while I wore this too-big company polo and helped kids out of the castle. Embarassingggg
Yummm! I’ve never tried canned clams, but definitely plan to after reading this!
Poopie diapers and babies throwing up during years of babysitting comes to mind. Also, during a game once I was reffing I got kicked in the nose with a soccer ball and broke my nose. Cute. But two years of burning my fingers and arms on hot popcorn oil, scrubbing grimy floors, and sweeping up every imaginable snack at the movie theater was the worst!
worst task ever was to clean the pool after kiddos (I was a lifeguard too–and required to help clean the pool). YUKK.
I want clams in my sauce now too!!!! wahhh. thanks for the idea, though 😉
I agree with the first commenter–firing people!
In high school, I worked for Chick Fil A and the owners of my store lived in a neighborhood that always did a big 4th of July parade. Everyone knew they were owners because they drove the Chick Fil A car and they were super nice to everyone. So… that year, they asked me and another person to be the cow and chicken IN THE PARADE!! I had to be the chicken, when meant wearing these awful chicken feet shoes and yellow tights while prancing around, talking to all the kids and giving out coupons… saying “eat more chicken” which basically meant to eat me. It was so hot, I was dripping sweat and I still wonder why the chicken costume had to come out and not just the cow 😉
I worked at the Local YMCA in the wellness area cleaning the gym equipment….it was so gross! People can be so nasty. There was always suspicious looking hairs….ew!
I did that for two years, too!!!! It was soooo disgusting!!!! I still work out at the same Y and feel so bad for the people currently working the floor who now have to do it…
When I first moved to Boston I didn’t have a job, so I started temping at my uncle’s company. The job they hired me to do? Cross people’s names off of xrays. Yeah. The company processed all kinds of medical imaging used in clinical trials, and these xrays were done before all the new HIPPA laws came out, so I had to take a paint marker and cross off the patient name, birthday, and hospital name on every single xray. There were HUNDREDS of boxes. I’m a pro at making a straight line with a marker now…
there has always been some task at everyjob that was less than ideal … lifeguard :cleaning bathrooms too, Current bank job, stuffing envelopes once a month bc technology isnt doing its job, but the task I loathed was when I worked at a video store and I would have to stock movies for hours and hours and hours! i did not stay there long I need more stimulation.
I agree on the editing. I was a book editor for years and it is SO draining. I was averaging about 20,000 words a week for a while. I felt LITERALLY drained afterwards. (once I cried when my husband opened the door for me because it scared me so much hahaha).
No other nurses here to talk about bedpans…and when patients can’t even tell you that they need a bedpan??
Actually, that will probably be a big part of my weekend! Fabulous.
I hear ya there Susan–not quite a nurse yet but my CNA days have given me plenty of those days!
When I worked at a Gymnasium we had a guy run out of the basketball courts and puke all over the hallway. It was so disgusting and huge, all the way down the tiled hall. I was gagging the whole time!
These noodles look delicious indeed!
Go into the “lock down” area of a nursing home and give them their weekly money allowance.. whew!
I used to have to call people and ask if they were interested in writing histories of their communities. Of course, presumably I was calling people who already were interested in local history, but still I hated having to pitch the idea of why someone should want to write a book that wasn’t going to make them any money.
WHERE do you find those noodles??? I tried looking at whole foods and trader joe’s and didn’t see them…
I was a server and have all your classic server horror stories, but that wasn’t even what I consider to be my worst job. I very naively took a sales job right out of college where I was told I would be paid $500 a week during training and would then switch to commission-based pay after that. I had to wear a full suit and heels (which I couldn’t afford so my mom gave me some of her old ones), and on my first day realized I would be cold-calling all day. I then found out that you had to ask the unsuspecting “customer” to let you look at their phone bill. No one liked that. The job required you to use your cell phone a lot but did not reimburse your phone bill. I didn’t have an unlimited plan, so they told me maybe I could ask to use the customers phones (crazy!). The days were 10 hours long, you were pretty much forced to buy your lunch out every day, and you were expected to use your own vehicle to drive all over your assigned “area” and they did not reimburse you for gas or mileage. I trained for almost week before I was told that I wouldn’t be getting paid for the time I was putting in training until I met a certain sales quota after completing my training. I was appalled. They also expected me to go out on all these sales calls alone. I live in Minnesota and quickly realized that there was no way I would ever be willing to go on cold sales calls all alone, dressed in a suit and heels, in the middle of winter, all while using my own car and cell phone without being reimbursed for using them. The last day I trained, the girl I was training with asked to use my cell phone because her phone’s battery was dead. I reluctantly let her use it, and about half-way through her call she walked into the bathroom still chatting on my phone! She talked on my phone the whole time she was using the restroom! I was so disgusted. I didn’t go back after that.
OMG i worked for the same weirdos. did you have a pep rally every morning? i only lasted a couple of weeks, and promptly said f-this and went back to college. lol
Yep! They even made me give the stupid pep rally one morning. I had to be at work by 7am and most days worked past 7pm. Then they would want everyone to go out for dinner and drinks. I was soooo broke when I took the job, I couldn’t afford to go out but they would pretty much force me to. I spent so much money buying shoes for the job, buying lunch every day, and I they never paid me one penny. Thankfully, my serving job took me back until I found a real full time job.
Oh! One more thing! I realized that this job was super bogus when I had a dream that I got to be the secretary instead of a sales person and I was relieved beyond belief. When I woke up, I was really sad.
I worked in HR for 5 years and I can honestly say that firing people is awful!!
That pasta bowl looks deeelicious!!!!! 😀
Haven’t had a job yet, so I don’t have any good stories…..
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
awww hahaha! I love that you drove around in a shamu car! I think I’d be proud actually–I went to seaworld for the 1st time this year and it was awesome! shamu rocks my socks 🙂
How do Carba Nada noodles taste? Do the taste similar to the real thing?
I worked for a janitorial company a few years ago selling products and had to install dispensers. Big, heavy, awkward dispensers. So I’d be in heels and sometimes a dress, full face of makeup, drilling holes into tile and sweating like a prostitute in church while big burley men watched and smirked. Not my finest moment… but kind of badass 🙂
The worst part of one of my jobs was inspecting student houses that hadn’t been cleaned or had a window cracked open for 2 full semesters…
‘scustin’!
I worked the front desk at a hotel for a year and a half and I regularly worked the 3pm to 11pm shift. Unfortunately, all of the cleaning and maintenance staff went home by 7, and since guests felt the need to clog their toilets the second no one was there to unplug them, I often found myself hunched over toilets with a plunger. And seriously, I don’t know what those people were doing to the toilets, but it was nasty. I always wanted to shower afterwards. Yuck.
Cold-calling!!!! Sucks. Big time.