Back at the Major New York Financial Institution. You know, I don't really mind it that much. I'm greeted warmly by coworkers each morning. We have fancy coffee, which I like. I enjoy certain administrative tasks like get-the-boss-to-Singapore-and-back-as-directly-and-comfortably-as-possible. Or set-up-a-series-of-full-staff-meetings-in-major-business-locations-with-cocktails-following. That's kind of fun. It's the mind-numbing staring at papers or the computer screen when you run out of stuff to do rather than touring the floor gabbing it up with folk that gets me down.

Many trappings of the office appeal to me. I like my fast computer. I like my cordless headset. I like dishing with the woman sitting across from me. I like the personal phone call. I admit it: I like it lot. I don't like the little gizmo that flashes, letting people know that I'm talking on my headset. Who told these assistants that the flashing gizmos were a good idea? Up until those, the personal phone call went unnoticed.

I like the word advise. We use it a lot, here. Like "We need to chge the mtg to the 20th @ 8:30AM. Pls advise."

People dress up nicely to go to work. I think wearing a pressed shirt and tie is fine. What's wrong with a nicely pressed shirt, anyway? Nothing like a wrinkle-free shirt with a nice crease going down the sleeve. Lightly starched? Perfect.

Sometimes coworkers who don't know me treat me as though I'm a department head or something. Especially when I'm wearing my jacket. That's amusing. Except then I think about being a 48 year old temp. Or, maybe worse, a performer who needs to make money doing something else besides performing. Philip Glass had to drive his cab the day after "Einstein on the Beach" premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House. That story's getting old.

My brother says, "you always work there. Why don't you get a permanent position?" "Because I don't want one," I counter. "You're a control freak;" he says, "you want complete control over when you work in an office." Of course I do. And that's why I have this sunny disposition about my day job. Or maybe it's my bio-rhythms.