It seems we're not alone.

Of course, that much is obvious. Everyone complains -- we know that. But it's always refreshing to see someone acknowledge and discuss it. Eric Weiner (pronounced whine-er...and yes, he sees the irony in that) recently wrote this article titled A Traveler's Fine Whine.

He talks about the cathartic value of complaining (which I've always maintained, as evidenced in this blog) and also delves into the differences between the different types of complaints that travelers make.

He ends the article with this great quote from Ziggy:

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

There's two sides to everything. Every rose has its thorn. Just like every night has it's dawn...

The BIG hiatus.

OK, deep breath.

As if to reinforce my decision to put this little project on hold, we were hammered today at work. As the systems around this place seem to deteriorate and any changes "they" make seem to cause major issues (I mean, is there any testing done at all?), it's clear that successfully completing 21 straight days with no complaints is next to impossible.

I'd like to say I'm better than that, but the truth is, I'm not. I find too much comfort in the complaint.

The bright side to this, is that I can pinpoint the source of 95% of my complaining (work). With us on the downhill slide to our stint in Australia--we have just over 5 months left--we feel confident that this challenge, once we end our jobs, will be, for lack of better words, less challenging.

So unless we somehow stumble upon zen, it's time to put this aside until then.

In the meantime, please follow us at The Long Layover. I may come back here to post interesting contemplations on the whole complaining thing. Or maybe just to rant.

Thanks for reading so far!

And now, in the words of the immortal Arnold Schwarzenegger, "we'll be back".

Take 2. Day 18. Is this impossible while working a job?

Or just impossible while working MY job?

This week we've been half-staffed, which means a lot more work for me, which means I talk to a lot more people, which means I talk to a lot more stupid people.

Which means I complain more.

Yvonne isn't satisfied with her work either. The bright side is that we have less than six months left. I have a feeling the no complaints thing will be easier once we're out of the 9-5 life.

It's a terrible way to live, we think. As Loverboy said, "everybody's working for the weekend". How can this be? That we spend five out seven days where the main goal is to make it to the sixth day? And then after the seventh day start the whole cycle again?

This is mental. I couldn't be more over the 9-5 thing.

Take 2. Day 16. Not the only one full of it.

So, it appears I'm not the only one who's full of shit. One of our neighbour's dog is too. As we went downstairs we were greeted at the common entrance by a fresh pile of stinky dog poop. Not just that, a couple meters away was a pool of yellow piss. To be clear, this is INSIDE the building.

Nice.

Consecutive complaint-free days:

Carlo: 0
Yvonne: 0

Take 2. Day 13. The streak is over.

Dangit. It was a simple slip of the tongue, but as soon as I said it, I knew. The jig was up.

Since the meditation weekend I've incorporated a 15 minute meditation into my daily routine. I'd like to think this had something to do with me being unusually placid at work this week, and letting the frustrations roll off my back.

A funny thing happened after uttering that complaint. I was agitated all day and had zero patience with callers. Almost like I had a wall up protecting me, and when that I made that complaint, some bricks were knocked out making me vulnerable.

Or, maybe I'm just full of shit.

Consecutive complaint-free days:

Carlo: 0
Yvonne: 0