Friday, August 04, 2006

Top 10 Things to Do During a Boring Conf Call

10) Chew the end of your pen, trying to appear thoughtful

9) Play tic-tac-toe against yourself (Sometimes it can be oddly riveting)

8) Try to flip your pen across your index finger and thumb (Some people do it so effortlessly! I've been trying this unsuccessfully for several years now :-( )

7) Look at people's shoes and judge them (You could notice other things like clothes or hairdo and judge them based on that too, but I have observed that it is easier to look down than up)

6) Observe your reflection on the glass wall and fix your hair (I do this a lot as my hair is generally wavy and is cut in such a way as to fall all over my face. The challenge is do it such a way that people (read smart guys) don't see you do it and think your hair is naturally unwavy and sits quietly on your head)

5) Give missed calls to all and sundry (You might think that you can rather send smses than missed calls, but there is a two fold reason to avoid smses a) To send a sms, you will have to actually look at your mobile and type out the msg. This will take a minimum of 30 secs and doesn't show you in good light if you twiddle with your mobile for so long a time. But sending a missed call requires just a few seconds and can be done without looking at your mobile and the mobile can even be inside your pocket/bag b) Smses cost money)

4) Take your id card apart and put it back together (But remember, id cards cost money. So take care not to break the access card into two)

3) Locate new marker pens in the conference room to flick to your cube (This is a never ending cycle - I flick the pens from the conference room and bring it to my cube and someone flicks it from my cube :-( )

2) Doodle and sign your name all over your scribble pad (If my paintings are ever exhibited sometime in the future, I will publicly acknowledge my company's part in bringing out my sketching abilities)

1) Well, I guess you could try to listen to what is happening in the call and try to chip in with a few ideas. Or you could think of blogging ideas too :-)

** New look, same blogger :-) **

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

But if you give a missed call, won't the person call you back ... what do u do then ? Be part of both calls :) ?

Anyway, any missed call from you here on I'm not going to call back. Lesson learnt !!!

janani said...

@mukund - Fund ra babu! :-) I will keep cutting those calls and continue giving them missed calls. Yeah if you get a missed call from me on Tuesday and Thursday nights, its better you don't respond :-)

Anonymous said...

Hey Jan......
New look is good.... hey the pic in the top (Title) really doesn't make sense or does it? ;)

btw one can also think abt choosing a new ringtone for the mobile (may look really thoughtful :))
or ask ur frnd to humm a song b4 the call and u can try to guess the movie ;)

Jinguchakka said...

idhellAm unakke over'aa illa?
:-)
And girls preen themselves secretly (they think! lol) more if a smart guy is around. yeah, I'm thinking of myself. ;-))
This template is good. yengErundhu pudiche? solli kodu.

Sandeep said...

haha that was hilarious and ofcourse very true!!

and hey here's something from my side. Wear your spectacles to the meetng and sit facing the light. In this position trust me even if you actually close your eyes nobody can make out coz all that they'll be able to see on ur specs is the reflection of the light!So...you can happily doze away to glory!

And blog template is the sooper!!

And last but not least...adu enna smart guys?sari illaye......something wrong somewhre!.enna nadukudu ange!

Manju said...

Doubt..
Isnt it betw ur index finger and middle finger?
Hav u been tryin' it wrong all this time? hehee:)

totti said...

hee hee..nice one (both the post and the new look too)..i could use some of the *bright* ideas in the post. Hope you don't mind..and what's with your love for lists? :)

janani said...

@K - Thanku thanku thanku! :-) And yeah got your pun about the title pic ;-) Hmmm about trying to recognize songs NO COMMENTS!!!! :-)

@jinguchakka - Idellam over pechu!! NPK :-)
This template is from http://blogtemplates.noipo.org/ (I have given them a link too) Pretty easy to setup and run.

@sandy boy - Hmm, lemme try out the specs trick next time. And yeah smart guys neraiya per irukanga ;-) Any problems?

@manju - Sheesh, isn't the thumb used at all??? :-o

@totti - Thanks! :-) You are welcome to use the template and my ideas. And coming up next "Top 10 Reasons as to Why Janani Loves Lists" :-)))

Point 5 said...

Our conference calls take place at 6:30 am in the morning, and I sometimes chat with my colleagues in other offices using the company's messaging system during the call. Since my laptop screen is not visible to all, they think i am taking down details of the conference or working on some project :))

janani said...

@0.5 - Sheesh! Your idea puts all 10 of mine to shame :-( Hmm, so both onsite as well as offshore people hate conf calls :-)

Anu said...

first time here... u gave me some new ideas for those calls.. thks

Anonymous said...

hmm now I know why u have been sticking to ur cmnpy for so long...smart guys huh?!!... and no wonder u wudnt come to blr to meet ol' buddies!

Yadayada said...

I used to scribble my name on the scribble pad pretending to take notes.

Anonymous said...

Wish I was your boss reading this!!

desh said...

mast one...me new to the IT industry kachra and have been lucky enuff to do all this so soon.
What I also do is I get up and start scribbling on white-board, to my leads it seems like me noting down everything but just a thing to do timepass.
Anyway I have this unusual person in my team who just keeps staring at persons during conf calls. I mean even if you look back and show him an eye he doesnt move, kind off scary.
But that was an awesome post, so simple and still so good.

Unknown said...

Can I add that I can send SMS without looking at the phone :D And yes, I do it often in meetings for entertainment sake. Sometimes I even send it to person in the same room. Hmmm I suppose its time to grow up soon

Vinod Ramamoorthy said...

You can put it on mute and laugh at the stupid american lingos and the rude onsite co-ordinators:) ..Thats wat we do