# The things we do to amuse ourselves at work **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259 "2013-10-03T11:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/1 "2013-10-03T11:31:26Z")
I’m at my local grocery store looking at their cutout cookie display. There’s the typical assortment of Fall/Halloween shapes: Leaves, Ghosts, Pumpkins, Bats… and Cthulhu. :eek: Clearly, the baker has a good sense of humor. So what do you do to amuse yourself at work? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/2 "2013-10-03T13:36:40Z")
This probably isn’t uncommon, but I used to do a lot of database development and software testing, and a lot of what I needed data-wise were lists of people and companies/locations. So I used stuff like lists of serial killers, murderous dictators, famous madams, sports rosters, lists of various award winners, characters from various books, etc… It served two purposes- one, it was nice to know that release X’s test cases used the cast of the Aliens movies, and release Y was Star Wars, and it was also enjoyable to watch people see the test results and go “Fleiss, H. and Barrow, S.B… hey, wait a minute!” My favorite though, was in a testing system that had uploadable signatures for doctors, I made a testing one and uploaded that Prince hieroglyph as his signature. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/3 "2013-10-03T14:45:41Z")
This isn’t really about amusing, more about trying to get “into” my sort of undesirable position. When I was a receptionist years ago, I decided a better suited title was National Telecommunications Contact Facilitator. In my present job where I work shuffling medical-related paper basically, I like to pretend that I’m a leasing agent for a vacation rental homes company that is based in Monterey, California but has Tahoe, Seattle and Oregon satellites. Hey, whatever gets you through the day! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/4 "2013-10-03T15:01:15Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > So what do you do to amuse yourself at work? Waste time on the SDMB. I should think that would be obvious. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/5 "2013-10-03T15:13:30Z")
I’m a software tester, so I need to create various bits of data all the time. I get yelled at for this sometimes. I once used the name ‘Bob Loblaw’ as a test user for a while. That stopped when the project manager was giving some kind of demo and said the name out loud in front of some execs. I had to set up a fictional online business once, and created products like ‘A punch in the nose’ and ‘A kick in the teeth’. I was setting up various coupons for a new system (the one that prints out coupons for you after a sale at Kroger actually), and after 100s of them I started making things like ‘Buy whipped cream get 50% off handcuffs’. Had to go and delete a bunch of them before rollout. I was making test sales on a different system, and the people running it kept cancelling the sales cuz ‘they looked fake’, and no matter how many times we explained to them that they were in fact fake cuz we were testing, they still did it sometimes. It got to the point where I was using ‘Some guy making a TEST SALE’ who lived at ‘123 Obviously fake st’ with the email address ‘please@dontcancelthis.test’ in an attempt to get them to see it, and they still screwed it up. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/6 "2013-10-03T15:23:19Z")
Oh… and when I’m doing testing on mods we’ve commissioned in various medical systems, I’ll dig up the nastiest, most god-awful diagnoses and procedures that I can find. And every drug I can find is administered in the system in suppository form. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/7 "2013-10-03T15:34:52Z")
Well, after reading some of these; mine is pretty tame. I am the world champion at flicking sharpened pencils into ceiling tiles from a seated position (and of course making them stick). I only do this in other peoples’ offices or work spaces, not my own. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/8 "2013-10-03T18:33:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’m at my local grocery store looking at their cutout cookie display. There’s the typical assortment of Fall/Halloween shapes: Leaves, Ghosts, Pumpkins, Bats… and Cthulhu. :eek: > > Clearly, the baker has a good sense of humor. So what do you do to amuse yourself at work? And the pictures of cookie Cthulhu are where? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/9 "2013-10-03T18:42:25Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’m at my local grocery store looking at their cutout cookie display. There’s the typical assortment of Fall/Halloween shapes: Leaves, Ghosts, Pumpkins, Bats… and Cthulhu. :eek: Back in the olden days, I baked biscuits at McDonald’s. There was always a bit of dough left over, and we were supposed to wrap it around the last few biscuits on the tray to keep the edges soft. One day, I decided it would be more fun to make my last piece of dough into an alligator. He turned out pretty well. Some of the employees started passing him around, and one of the customers asked to buy him! Of course we just gave it to the guy. People are weird about ‘gators here in Gainesville. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/10 "2013-10-03T19:55:13Z")
> [@bump](#): > > And every drug I can find is administered in the system in suppository form. Remind me to not get you upset with me :eek: Actually when I was amazingly hyperemetic the only way I could keep most meds in long enough to work was in supposiotry form. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/11 "2013-10-03T21:52:49Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > And the pictures of cookie Cthulhu are where? 🙂 Sorry, I didn’t have my phone with me. Just picture [this](http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/010/5/7/cthulhu_christmas_cookie_by_lionheartssj-d36uyev.jpg) with blue frosting. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/12 "2013-10-03T22:11:03Z")
At Blockbuster, we used to modify “patterned” account numbers, like 2-11111-11111, into fictional characters. Darth Vader, Homer Simpson, Herman Munster, et. al. Complete with fairly accurate addresses. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/13 "2013-10-03T22:18:41Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Sorry, I didn’t have my phone with me. Just picture [this](http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/010/5/7/cthulhu_christmas_cookie_by_lionheartssj-d36uyev.jpg) with blue frosting. Sweeeeeet! ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/14 "2013-10-03T23:23:05Z")
I climb a lot of stairs at work. Sometimes when nobody else is around and I’m not holding something, I climb the stairs in a silly way (gripping the railing hand-over-hand as I climb.) I enter a lot of forms into the computer system. The forms have information, including a person’s name and the country they’re from. Often, when reading a form, I’ll read the person’s name and then based on that, I’ll try to guess what country they’re from. Some countries are easier to guess than others. One time I encountered a form where the guy’s name was very Latino-sounding, so I guessed he was from a Latin American country - but nope, he was from Finland! I’d like to meet that guy. I’m sure he’d have some exciting stories to tell. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/15 "2013-10-04T14:21:36Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > I once used the name ‘Bob Loblaw’ as a test user for a while. That stopped when the project manager was giving some kind of demo and said the name out loud in front of some execs. This made me laugh out loud, but what does it sound like? I only thought it sounded funny. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/16 "2013-10-04T14:36:27Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > This made me laugh out loud, but what does it sound like? I only thought it sounded funny. blah blah blah ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/17 "2013-10-04T15:03:02Z")
'm a retired teacher. I got regular amusement from things pupils would do or say, but here’s a couple of things I did myself: - I bought a radio-controlled helium balloon and flew it around the School Library - we used to hold exams in the Sports Hall, with around 200 pupils working silently at desks. There would be 4-5 teachers who for a couple of hours just had to watch for cheating and hand out extra paper. Very boring. We would divided the hall into 9 squares and play ‘noughts and crosses’ by alternately moving quietly around the hall to the preset positions. Harmless, but this is what I always wanted to do! ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/18 "2013-10-04T18:36:11Z")
We get a lot of antibodies shipped to us on dry ice. Once I put the antibodies in the freezer, I pour all the dry ice into the sink and then pour boiling water onto it and make the lab look like Halloween. Sometimes if we have some extra agar plates around, I like to swab the computer keyboards, the lab phone, the bottom of my shoe, um, my butt- then plate those swabs and see what’s growing on those places. Also, I like to inflate nitrile gloves and drop them in liquid nitrogen. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/19 "2013-10-04T19:17:36Z")
**Turpentine** , you’re having WAAAAAY too much fun in your lab! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259/20 "2013-10-04T19:28:07Z")
I have a large operative anoscope in the office. The obturator part of it must have a loose piece of metal in it, making it ring like a bell when shaken. A lovely, musical sound. In the office, we ring the musical anoscope for particularly noteworthy events, such as certain patients being transferred, and other celebratory events. [Musical Anoscope](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMjI-cMn_ag) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-we-do-to-amuse-ourselves-at-work/670259.md?page=2)