**I’m fully aware that I’m stereotyping here… but it is necessary for my story. And since it IS my story….

After transitioning to my current responsibilities at work, I’ve discovered what I like to call the Brick Wall. This is something that I tend to encounter every afternoon at about 2:30. This brick wall is not one that you will find as an architectural structure or feature, but rather one that seems to knock me out.

You see, my new job has a lot of preparation time for activities that eventually happen – or sometimes get cancelled entirely. So I spend a good portion of most days reading and typing, trying to understand the upcoming activities. I have meetings in the morning, but not too many in the afternoon, and it seems like most of the excitement happens before lunch.

At Noon I typically leave my desk for an hour-long lunch break. I typically go home for lunch and prepare something quick and easy. “Quick and easy” doesn’t always mean “healthy and nutritious”, but I do make an effort to eat fairly healthy and balanced.

When I get back to work, I’m always excited to see what emails have arrived in my absence. I’m starting to learn, though, that EVERYone else takes an hour-long lunch break at Noon, too, so there typically aren’t any emails for me to review and address. So I return to my reading and other preparations.

And this is when I hit the Brick Wall.

It’s as if someone walks by my desk with a tranquilizer gun or something… at 2:30, I CANNOT keep my eyes open. I start to nod-off, which I’m sure entertains anyone that sees it, including the guy that sits across the hall from me that can see directly into my cubical at all times, and I eventually have to get up and walk around the office to get over it.

Other than the monotony of my job, though, I can’t figure out what is causing it! I’ve tried eating different foods at lunch. I’ve doubled-up and/or laid-off the caffine. I’ve tried listening to a completely different genre of music. I’ve tried sitting cross-legged in my chair, hoping that the discomfort would help keep me awake. I JUST CAN’T SEEM TO BEAT IT.

So this is why the Mexicans are so smart – they don’t fight it. They embrace it. Can you say “siesta”? (Hint: SEE-ess-tah) I hereby vote to have a siesta every afternoon for the remainder of my career.

(The sad thing is that there is a “rest area” at work where we are allowed to drop in and take a brief nap during the day. I’ve yet to even open the door to this room, but I may start to investigate it very soon…)

(source)

Sorry, y’all. I’ll try to do something creative tonight to get refueled. Hopefully I’ll get something decent posted soon.

So, I’ll do a little blog-like housekeeping.

First of all, I have received quite a warm welcome to the local blogging scene. For those who haven’t heard the story, I was noticed by another blogger here in town who casually mentioned me in a blog post of his own. From there, things have escalated to the point where I can’t possibly keep up with the all of the blogs that now “follow” me. I am totally enjoying it and and just need to figure out how to do all of the blogging that I’d like.

Secondly, I’m looking for ideas. We can call this a little bit of blogger brainstorming. I’m a member of a Toastmasters Internation club, which encourages improvement in leadership and public speaking, and I have signed up to give a speech on Monday. I had a topic selected and had started gathering thoughts/material, but I’ve since ditched that topic because I just wasn’t “feelin’ it”. But as I already mentioned, I’m stuck in a rut where the creative juices just aren’t flowing for me. Does anyone else have any ideas?

The speech is supposed to be between 5 and 7 minutes long. That isn’t a whole lot of time to develop a deep topic. As such, I have a history of keeping my speeches very light and almost silly. Previously I have spoken on the topics of People Watching and Starting a Blog, so I’m game for just about anything. The speech can be informative, persuasive, or merely for entertainment. But, with all of this freedom, I’m struggling to get a decent topic. All suggestions are gladly welcomed, and I’m excited to see if I can make a speech out of something that is suggested through the blog… perhaps that will be something for me to write about later .