h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Last night was our rescheduled company party.

First it was supposed to be on 8th July, so I arranged the Gruesomes English Jolly for the week after (totally forgetting about the HP6 book - but it turned out ok in the end).

Then it was cancelled, and was last night. No Gruesomes, which disappointed them and some of the other kids, but not me or . Actually, I didn't want to go, but you know how it is: they are often the parties you enjoy best. And what a party!

We got there at 4pm, some were already there, with one of my American colleagues in tow. First we got a lei (lay? no idea, you know, those Hawaiian jobbies) and a small packet of Jelly Bellys. Right there I thought "great party". Then it was a glass of sekt and just saying "hi" to people.

After that they had organised a clown for the kids - all the wee Korean kids were so cute with him, not only the wee ones come to that. For the "grown ups" there was a bucking bronco. had a go, so did our MD and quite a few of the girlies. Great fun, and I got loads of good pictures for our company magazine.

Then there was a BBQ and salads & stuff, very nice indeedy. Plenty of Kinchi for me - what can I say, I'm addicted to the stuff.

During the evening there was a prize draw, with some nice things to have. Coffee machines, a really expensive shaver, and among other stuff an iPod Mini. Which I would like to have won, but it wasn't to be. Instead I won a 90 minute flight in a Cessna. Which is pretty cool (except I'm not allowed to actually fly the thing...)

Plenty of beer, and shots with Brause - which is fizzy stuff kids put in water to make a kind of soda drink. First you put that in your mouth, so it goes all fizzy then either Vodka (me) Korn (some of the Germans) or Tequila (the 2 American) shots, which you have to swoosh round to make it fizzy then swallow.

It sounds gross. Actually it is gross. But great fun.

We also had some of those stilt things for kids, which are like upturned buckets with strings that you pull up to hold them to your feet. One of the girlies (a younger version of me, which should scare the rest of the office, but they haven't realised it yet) had a race, then made other people pair up and do it. The sight of our very straight laced MD racing his daughter was a scream.

Speaking of his daughter, he has 2. One reads all the time. I first met her 2 years ago reading HP5, and we always talk about books. In fact it was her HP that I managed to get when mine didn't turn up from Amazon (she bought one on Saturday) and we had a good chinwag about HP, LOTR and the Nancy Drew books. She loved the Dark Materials trilogy too, which I made her dad buy for her.

There was also a DJ, so lots of dancing. There are a fair few of us who prefer rock music, and against his will made the DJ play AC/DC. The dancefloor filled, and after that it's all a bit ... well, drunken!! A fantastic party though, and we've decided that a lot of us will go to see Coldplay in October. Fantastic!

Fantastic!



So, is HP6 better than the last one? (Which I'm *still* reading to Andrew)

Sounds like you had a fun time! (sorry, musta missed this first time round).

I work for an American Corp too...haven't been to any of their events yet, but they sound a little bit like "enforced fun" to me at the moment. Probably a bit different to yours.

RF

mine are Korean... when they say "fun!" we say "how much shal we smile?"

Actually, i can't knock them, they are a lot more understanding of family needs than a lot of other companies.

oh and RF nice to see you!!! I haven't written to Ang yet.

GB: I liked 5 because it is so impossibly angsty, but 6 is pretty good if you like Dark Stuff etc. Possibly too much snogging for Andrew though - most of the teenagers I've spoken to about it didn't like all the snogging!

An example from my company: if you work really hard, go above and beyond the call of duty, they will reward you with a cruise round Florida with a bunch of other hardworking company employees.

Sounds like my idea of hell. That is a disincentive to work, as far as I'm concerned.

RF

eek... that is scary!

I got a nice trip to Korea for working hard.

To my vast horror I have discovered that I am a Harry/Ginny shipper. I wonder if it's just that she reminds me a little of Amy Kawalsky.

Sho: Pretty sure it's 'ley', as in The Angelic Angleworm the lye the protagonist tries to poison himself with turns into a ley when the 'e' slips.

Mr.P you have lost me, but I'll nod as though I have a clue what you're talking about.

Harry/Ginny???? Actually, yes, I like that one. But I won't be robbed of my Sirius/Lupin (sorry, can't call him Remus for some reason)

Although, I quite liked the idea of Neville/Ginny.

Gah, I think I have to read OotP and HBP again. Drat.

I hope Harry gets someone more exciting than Ginny - although she might turn into a stunner in a couple of years.

So - there's lots of snogging in No 6? Now I am intrigued. I caught my 16-year-old snogging (I surprised them on my bike behind the school last Saturday). He's really good. It's probably the only reason his gf is still with him I expect.

Whoops - we were talking about Company parties. Oh God I really miss the ones we used to have in the company I worked with up until 5 years ago. No fancy stuff - the biggest kick came from flirting with the reps.

And no kids.

It's quite a rare thing for a company to fork out for a big affair like that and include the kids.

As for incentive trips, instead of a cruise, where you don't have much to do all day and are practically forced to talk to the other high-performance colleagues, you can get ones where you all help out on a sailing ship. At least the subject won't get round to work all the time, when you're busy chasing ropes and scrubbing decks.

Come on; Mrs Weasely's daughter was always going to turn out fierce. Besides, she's a red-head!

16? My kids have boy/girlfriends and they're 8! Mind you, I doubt they snog; they'd probably think it was 'gay'. I'm going to miss them.

I thought it was "lei". And you did refer to them earlier on, Sho, stop feigning ignorance!

I *still* don't want to spend my holidays with my (non)work colleagues. One of the problems is that, being an American company, a lot of them will be American. Or Canadian (we have a Canadian unit, too). I've met some of them. They're terribly *earnest*. They scare me.

RF

OK I won't say that perhaps you'd find them not so earnest if you went on a cruise with them. Can't really imagine it would be much fun either. Going to the cinema or having the occasional barbecue or meal out with the folks from the office is enough, really (especially when the company or the boss pays)