New Beginnings - MonkeyDuty.com

Many of you may have been wondering, "why so few posts in the recent weeks?" Well,the answer is...making new content for this blog takes up alot of free time. Like most people, we have jobs, so our free time is very limited. And when there is something else that needs to be done, you have to sacrifice some of the things that you used to do on your free time (i.e. new blog posts) to make room for what you want to do, like improving the website and attracting more readers.

One of those things that need to be focused on was the legitimacy of the comic. It needed to look better, and  it needed to be published. So alot of time and effort was spent trying to accomplish those things. And I can proudly say, the hard work paid off. I present to you the first publication of Monkey Duty.

It may look familiar (it's essentially the same as the first comic of Throwing Mud). It's just been redrawn to reflect the better artwork that has evolved over time. The comic also needed a catchier name since "throwing mud" means "to besmirch someones's character", which wasn't really the point of the comic. A nice double-entendre, like Monkey Duty, sounds much better.

As you may have also noticed, the comic has a new home:  www.MonkeyDuty.com. This was necessary so that I could redraw many of the older comics to a quality level acceptable for publishing, yet still present them as new comics. Afterall, there is still a huge audience out there that hasn't read any of them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what's next????  

Well, with founding member Jacko leaving...and the comic moving to a new home...perhaps it's best to just make it a full transition. So we invite you all to join us at our new home: www.MonkeyDuty.com , where all the original stories have been copied over and all future stories will be posted!

Many thanks to all the previous contributors, especially Jacko and NunnMcCurdy, who had the imagination and foresight to set up this original blog. We'd also like to give thanks to Mr. Sunshine for providing his awesome rock throwing propaganda art work. (For all the Mr. Sunshine fans out there, make sure to "Like" him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Sunshine/225009100910307 )

And of course, many thanks to our fans, whose appreciation gave us the energy to keep going, to keep telling our stories, to keep throwing rocks.

And we will continue to throw rocks. We hope to see you there with us at:

Our new home: www.MonkeyDuty.com 

Jacko's Last Chapter

January 3^rd was the first day back to work after the holiday break (holiday break is a misnomer, it’s really just all the holidays he should have gotten throughout the year stacked up at the end of the year), so I did the only thing I could think of, I put in my two week notice and decided to take 2 weeks of vacation which ended this past Friday!

Why did I wait until the beginning of the year?  I wanted to make sure I got my bonus from last year (which you don’t get if you leave on your own) and I wanted to get my holiday time off with pay. 

So what happened?  During the break, I was watching TV and What Happens in Vegas came on.  There was one line in the movie that really struck a chord with me:  “I'd rather do nothing and be happy than do something I know I don't love.”

It was at that point I decided I was going to quit and figure out what to do after that. When I walked into my flunktional manager’s office to tell him, he was a little shocked.  When he asked me why I was leaving, he just had a blank look on his face when I simply said “I’d rather do nothing and be happy than do something I know I don’t love."  He then asked if I had an offer at another Shitshiow, I answered with continued "I don’t have another offer, I just know I can’t work here anymore."  The blank look on his face was worth a million thrown rocks. 

Because I hated my job, I threw the only rock I had left to throw and quit. 

P.S.:  Stay tuned for an update about this blog, there’s some exciting news to share and I don’t want you to miss it!

Promoted

Every now and then I almost convince myself that management decisions at the Shitshow aren’t as bad as I make them out to be, that perhaps I tend to exaggerate things.  But every time I do, something like this happens.

A coworker of mine, who is actually half way descent, just returned from a 6 month leave of absence.   Taking 6 months off isn’t that big of a deal, and I actually think it’s a good way to throw rocks if you can afford it.  But what boggles my mind is the day he got back from his leave of absence he got a promotion.  That’s right, taking ½ a year off, only adding cost to the Shitshow, lead to a promotion.   

In the meantime I’m mentoring people 2 levels above me, doing a good portion of Queen Perfume’s work, babysitting “senior” engineers, and working over the holiday break and what do I get?  Absolutely nothing!

Because the fastest way to the top is to take vacation, I throw rocks. 

Holiday Depression

Every year during the holiday season people get depressed, for some it’s a serious issue.  Well at the Shitshow, holiday depression has its own twist.

Usually holiday season depression is a result of people missing loved ones or feeling lonely As the holidays approach and on the actual holiday.  However, that’s not the case at the Shitshow. At the Shitshow people are elated as the Holidays approach.  Why you might ask? It’s simple, the Shitshow closes down for almost 2 weeks, and we still get paid! 

Of course Shitshow minions still get depressed but that depression usually doesn’t start until a couple of days before the holiday break is over with the depression going into full swing that first week back.

Because I’m too depressed to work, I throw rocks.  

Don’t Call us, We’ll Call You

This story was submitted by a long time fellow rock thrower.  He left the company about 6 months ago but still gets reminded of his past almost everyday.  When he told me why, I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

When I worked at the Shitshow I never liked working in my cubical.  From my cubical neighbor insisting on using the speaker phone to a girl down the row from me cussing at her mom on almost a daily basis, I’m sure you can understand.  So I’d spend my day walking around or hanging out at my friends cube. 

Since the Shitshow wouldn’t approve a cell phone for me, nor could I have voice messages forwarded to my pager, I decided to have calls to my office voice mail forwarded to by personal cell phone.  I figured this would make it seem like I just stepped away from the cube if my manger called or something like that.

Well when I left I asked my manager and HR what would happen to my voicemail and the call forward feature.  The both assured me it would automatically be disconnected within 24 hours of my last day and I didn’t have to do anything. 

Guess what?  My Shitshow voicemail is still active and I get a forwarded call about once a day.  I tried contacting King Kong multiple times without success.  I finally got a hold of him and told him my situation.  He said he’d have to submit a work order to get this fixed but would have to do a lot of extra paper work since the work order was for a phone number no longer associated with an employee.  That was 2 months ago, and so far today I’ve received 3 forwarded messages. 

Because I’m reminded daily that I worked at the Shitshow, I still throw rocks. 

You’re a mean one, Mr. Guard

As it’s been pointed out many times before in the InSecurity posts, the Shitshow security brings us safety only the Shitshow could be proud to contract out.  Well I’m sure this story would bring even a smile to the Grinch.  

Last Friday I saw a Shitshow legend (on the status of Bob), trying to bring in pre-wrapped presents to give to all the managers he works for and all of their office administrators.  Much to his surprise, after walking past the same InSecurity guard he has for the past 2 years without ever being asked to inspect a bag, the guard asked to see the bag full of presents. 

After a long explanation the InSecurity guard was not satisfied and demanded that all the presents be unwrapped so he could inspect them for security threats.  Despite your thoughts about this, the Shitshow factor kicks in big time is that during this whole incident other employees were walking in with laptop bags and oversized purses without being checked!  

Because not even the Grinch could come up with such and awful good security plan, I throw rocks. 

Mr. Sunshine - The Writing is in the Heart

Mr. Sunshine just sent me his latest piece.  He titled in "The Writing is in the Heart" which I'm guessing is a play on words from The (Revolving) Door Code - III.  Whatever the inspiration was, it's another classic.  Feel free to print it out and hang it with pride!

Because receiving this image was the best part of my work day, I throw rocks.