Salt and Coal Mines

I try not to whine about work.

Mainly that's 'cause I love my job. I enjoy what I do and even the frustrations inherent in my job are a billion times better than crap I dealt with in other jobs.

I like the people I work with, for the most part. I generally get along with everyone.

The pay doesn't suck. The benefits are pretty damn good (especially the vacation). The dress code (such as we have one) is awesome. They're even flexible on my hours to accomodate my class.

My manager rocks. My teammates are cool. My immediate neighbors are all pleasant enough.

What could possibly be wrong?

Light.

Flourescent lights are the bane of my existence. I've never enjoyed them. I always got headaches when I was under them for too long, even back in school.

The lights my office currently use are particularly vile. On their lowest setting, they induce headaches in me after maybe ten minutes. On their highest setting, I nearly go into seizures.

For years now, my floor has been divided between the "light side" (meaning the lights are on) and the "dark side" (dominated by similar-minded folk who cannot handle the overheads).

That division ended today when upper management mandated that all lights are on all the time. No arguments. That is what it is. Suck it up.

Actually, we're told to complain to our managers, but that's pretty much the same thing.

So now I sit at my desk with sunglasses and a hat on in the vain hope that it will lessen the impact of the lights until my day ends.

This will all end badly. I know it.